The jaws of victory
Plus, an extinction event in Puglia and some comedic respite from the U.S. election
Bad news once again for Italy’s fragmented left wing opposition. On Sunday, voters went to the polls in the northern region of Liguria to cast their ballots in the regional elections. On paper, based on polls, the left wing PD candidate Andrea Orlando looked set to storm the contest and had a clear path to victory. When push came to shove, however, his coalition underperfomed dramatically. As the results came in on Monday it quickly became clear that Marco Bucci, the right wing entrepreneur and ally of Giorgia Meloni, had in fact won the contest by a whisker. The result was close. Bucci came in at 48.7% while Orlando won 47.36%. The difference was a mere 8000 votes. After months of hard campaigning however, and a lot of arrogant complacency on the part of the broad left base, this is a small scale disaster. While Orlando won in all of the major cities, he failed to win any of the countryside towns and villages. And while the PD itself was the top party in the region with 27% of the vote, their coalition partners ran the alliance into the ground. The Five Star Movement, in particular, obtained an astonishingly low result of 4%; one of the worst in their history. The lesson here is clear: internal competition between the parties, the failure to cooperate, the confused and sometimes clashing messaging, allowed the far-right to succeed in a place they never should have. With turnout down from 53% in 2020 to a mere 46% this year, declining participation is fast becoming a serious threat to democracy itself.
Next up a climate change story: this time from Taranto, a port city on the south west coast of Puglia. Taranto, if you don’t know, is well known for its mussel farming, with the community’s identity and economy heavily reliant on the industry. Well, this year, with autumn sea temperatures at a record 31 degrees, mollusc farming is fast becoming impossible. It would be difficult to overstate the scale of this disaster. 70% of this year’s harvest has already perished and a large proportion of the coming year’s stock has also been compromised. This is shocking from an environmental standpoint, and a sobering reminder of how climate change is already devastating Italian society. It will also have an impact on workers and families as hundreds of jobs are now on the line. Vincenzo Guarino, general secretary of the Taranto fishermen’s association, put it bleakly: “What we are experiencing is a true environmental and social catastrophe for Taranto. It is not just an economic loss: it is a blow to the dignity of families who have lived from mussel farming for generations and who today risk losing everything. We ask the government and local authorities for urgent intervention to declare a state of natural disaster, to guarantee the reduction of tax bills and provide immediate support to operators in difficulty.”
In case you missed the memo: next year marks the Catholic Church’s Jubilee, a year of “remission of sins, reconciliation, conversion and sacramental penance” which has taken place every quarter century since 1300. Millions of pilgrims are expected to travel to Rome and the Vatican in 2025 to receive blessings from Pope Francis and to participate in a number of Holy rituals. The mood in the city is tense: construction is behind, the metro lines are in chaos and hotel prices are already through the roof. This week, with considerable fanfare, the Vatican unveiled the Jubilee’s new mascot to try and start building some enthusiasm. “Luce”, pictured below, is the creation of Simone Legno, an Italian artist and illustrator and founder of the brand Tokidoki. She’s a curious looking pilgrim; a cutesy, blue-haired, blue-eyed anime girl who is supposed to symbolise purity and peace. I get the idea, and the effort to speak to young audiences. But I have to say, the glossy imagery, so weirdly untethered from church iconography, feels more like generic late capitalist paraphernalia than something befitting of a religious mascot. Art Tribune has interviewed Legno here if you’re interested in finding out more about the rationale behind the rather garish design (ITA only).
Arts and culture: Ain’t no laughing matter
The London Review of Books published a truly fascinating piece about the author Cristina Campo last week which — while a little heavy going — I highly recommend to all readers here. ‘No Rain-Soaked Boots’, by Toril Moi, digs deep into the life and work of the curmudgeonly, ultra-conservative poet and essayist who seems to have despised just about everything about the modern world. Campo was, in Moi’s words, “a medieval soul marooned in modernity,” a “sickly” and “embittered” “champion of tradition” who considered the Renaissance a “universal disaster” and actively rejected democratic values. It’s easy to balk at such crude views, which are indeed objectionable. Moi, however, is a patient and diligent critic, and she goes to great lengths to situate Campo’s misanthropic worldview within the historical context of the collapsing fascist regime, and the complex Florentine class politics that accompanied the years of the liberation. Check out her LRB piece here, and if you’re feeling masochistic you might consider purchasing Campo’s collected essays which the NYRB released earlier this year in a new ENG translation.
Let’s face it, we’re living through bleak, anxiety ridden times right now. Doom-scrolling through news about the rise of neo-fascism, wars, economic devastation and the climate crisis does take its toll. As we all wait with bated breath for the results of next week’s American election, I thought it would be nice to share one possible coping mechanism: Italian stand-up. If you haven’t dipped your toes in the world of Italian comedy recently, you might be pleasantly surprised. Gone are the days of the slapstick male duos in the mold of Franco and Ciccio. Comedy Central Italia is now, increasingly, providing a platform for all the weirdos, freaks, nerds, hippies, and generally non-normative communities living in this country to vent against patriarchy and nationalism. One of the most talented of the bunch is Luca Ravenna, a precocious millennial Milanese edgelord who has been filling arenas for years. His most recent improv night in Pisa covers topics like TV soaps, open relationships and the gender politics of drone photography, though, frankly, it’s most pleasurable to watch the comic effortlessly bantering with his audience and forcing the crowd to open up, hilariously, about a number of controversial topics. Check this out if you speak Italian, and head over to the Comedy Central YouTube channel for a whole host of similar videos.
Recipe of the Week: Flank steak with portobello mushrooms
One of my all time favourite autumn meals and one of my favourite ways to prepare steak full stop. This recipe comes from Russel Norman’s book Polpo, a compendium of Venetian dishes that I’ve cited a few times before in this newsletter. Oddly, there’s not really anything Venetian at all about this dish; if anything it’s the kind of thing you’d be more likely to find in Tuscany or Umbria, in one of those slightly modernised traditional trattorias that are all the rage right now. But I digress. Authentic or not, this is a tremendous and simple way to treat yourself and your loved ones. Good quality, free range beef is a must here. If you live in Italy then head to your local butcher and ask for a good thick cut of chianina or fassona; both of which work well when flash fried in a griddle pan. The simple mushroom topping provides a deep earthiness that really compliments the meat while the bed of rocket provides a pleasantly peppery and herbaceous base. I like to eat this with a side of pickled onions and a glass of barbera to cut through the fats (though by all means add some roast potatoes into the mix if you’re after a more substantial meal). Here’s the link.
I’m Jamie Mackay, a UK-born, Italy-based writer, working at the interfaces of journalism, criticism, poetry, fiction, philosophy, travelogue and cultural-history. I set up ‘The Week in Italy’ to make a space to share a regular overview of the debates and dilemmas, innovations and crises that sometimes pass under the radar of our overcrowded news feeds, to explore politics, current affairs, books, arts and food. If you’re a regular reader, and you enjoy these updates, I hope you’ll consider becoming a supporter for EUR 5.00 per month. I like to think of it as a weekly catch-up chat over an espresso. Alternatively, if you’d like to send a one-off something, you can do so via PayPal using this link. Grazie!