Silvia Marchetti
23 April 2024
Where are Italy’s doctors?
The brain drain of talent from the poorer south to the richer north has created a crisis in the country’s health sector
Read the full article03 April 2024
Finding DH Lawrence in the Italian ‘far west’
Locals have opted to negate the fact that Lawrence’s vision of Italy wasn’t entirely idyllic
Read the full article06 March 2024
The Sicilian town that named the Brontës
Exploring the surprising link between a small town in the shadow of Mount Etna and the most celebrated siblings in English literature
Read the full article14 February 2024
Meloni writes sport into Italy’s constitution
Is the prime minister’s amendment a push for sports culture or a faint echo of the country’s fascist past?
Read the full article07 February 2024
In Italy, ‘cuckolds’ are gods
Residents of one south Italian village are reversing the negative meaning of being a "cuckhold"
Read the full article17 January 2024
Italy’s patriotic and pungent cheese wars
The country’s cheesy heritage is up for dispute
Read the full article10 January 2024
The Vatican grants trans people the right to baptism
The shock decision is a first for Italy
Read the full article20 December 2023
Our fascist Christmas witch
How part of Mussolini’s “fascistisation” of society outlasted Il Duce to become something much less sinister
Read the full article06 December 2023
The Italians won’t take earthquakes seriously
The country's citizens have always been fatalists but now it's getting out of hand
Read the full article04 November 2023
Italy’s ancient war with Halloween
The Catholic church does not approve of zombies
Read the full article11 October 2023
There’s no spaghetti bolognese in Bologna
Bologna is at risk of being turned into a tourist’s vending machine
Read the full article04 October 2023
Rome baffled by the Ryder Cup invasion
Golf gave Romans something to cheer for. But, the culture around the sport still perplexes Italians
Read the full article20 September 2023
Living among the ghosts of Italy’s past
The country's ghost villages deserve to be reinvented for modern use
Read the full article06 September 2023
A bridge too far in Messina
The problem with Italy’s transport isn’t its bridges, but its roads, trains and green infrastructure – or rather lack of
Read the full article30 August 2023
Giorgia Meloni has a moderate makeover
Italy’s prime minister has a new look, but have her politics changed?
Read the full article23 August 2023
Good riddance to the free money that cost Italy
The “citizenship wage” created nightmares for the country’s productivity. Its abolishment was needed
Read the full article16 August 2023
Luxury at your convenience: Naples’ bathroom revolution
A brand new luxury toilet has sprung up in Naples, the last of all places it may have been expected
Read the full article19 July 2023
That’s no pizza in Pompeii’s newly discovered fresco
This “ancient pizza” is a phoney. The world media has – mistakenly – got excited over a large terracotta plate or flatbread
Read the full article12 July 2023
Naples declares war on sunbathers, just in time for summer
The mayor of Naples has decided to cap the number of sunbathers on Posillipo’s beaches. But, Neapolitans are good at finding loopholes
Read the full article05 July 2023
Italy has a new on-screen heroine to replace Montalbano – finally
Meet Italy’s new Wonder Woman, Inspector Imma Tataranni
Read the full article21 June 2023
How Brexit killed the expat dream
Post-Brexit travel rules are killing any hopes of la dolce vita
Read the full article31 May 2023
Beware the cannibal turtles of Rome
These atypical creatures are causing havoc and holding the city hostage
Read the full article24 May 2023
Starbucks takes on the Eternal City
Does Rome’s first Starbucks threaten Italy’s coffee tradition?
Read the full article17 May 2023
Millennials love the lure of a simpler life
Italy’s younger generations are swapping rush-hour in the city for country roads. Who can blame them?
Read the full article26 April 2023
In search of Homer’s inspiration
The story of Odysseus’s Italian origins are surprisingly popular and Sicilian tourism companies know how to capitalise on this
Read the full article