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2009
December 16, 2009

The Attack on Berlusconi and the Vicious Climate of Italy's Political Discourse

Judith Harris
A model of Milan's Duomo cathedral - like the one used to batter Italian PM Silvio BerlusconI

The action of an isolated, disturbed youth would seem to reflect the harsh language and vicious climate that has become the hallmark of discourse between government and opposition..

December 11, 2009

Leonardo Sciascia’s Mafia

Judith Harris

Predictably, rhetoric marked the twentieth anniversary of the death of Leonardo Sciascia on November 20. But rhetoric was the opposite of Sciascia. If anything, the Sicilian...

December 7, 2009

Supergrass Gaspare Spatuzza links Italy's Premier Silvio Berlusconi to the Mafia

Judith Harris

A heated weekend unfolds in Italy while media and politicians discuss new "revelations" about the relationship between Mafia and politics.

November 24, 2009

Sicilian Opera at La Scala. Director Emma Dante's Unorthodox "Carmen"

Judith Harris
Emma Dante

On the occasion of the opening of the grand opera season at La Scala Theater in Milan, Emma Dante, a brave new theater director from Palermo, is presenting what promises to be an...

October 15, 2009

A Week in Politics, Italian Style

Judith Harris
Italy's Chaber of Deputies

Italy's political discourse today is particularly interesting to me as a foreign journalist, but also as a writer...

September 8, 2009

L’Aquila: Riccardo Muti and Music for Hope and Brotherhood

Judith Harris

Riccardo Muti led a free concert in L'Aquila for survivors of the earthquake. The conductor, between engagements in Salzburg and Chicago, directed an all-Abruzzese scratch...

August 30, 2009

Pre-rinsing the news

Judith Harris

Manipulation of the news creates its own truth, and this is a danger for democracy.

August 24, 2009

Italy Seen from the Beach

Judith Harris

For journalists this is traditionally the silly season, when anything goes, as long as it’s entertainment. Alas, this beach season has brought a host of serious problems...

July 24, 2009

Hot Pot Stirs up Sizzling Debate

Judith Harris

The "hot pot" was stolen from a tomb at the ancient Etruscan site of Cerveteri, on the seacoast due north of Rome, and was illegally marketed to the Met. Although today the museum...

July 14, 2009

Whatever happened to culture?

Judith Harris
Woman Reading Mujer Leyendo, a painting by Fernando Botero

Some of Italy’s top museums and archaeological sites are showing a decline in popularity, reversing the trend for steady growth for the first time in two decades. Moreover,...

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