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Uncommon Decency


Sep 28, 2022

“To you, who have been born in Italy, God has allotted, as if favouring you specially, the best-defined country in Europe”. Thus wrote Giuseppe Mazzini in his landmark essay Duties of Country (1860). Mazzini believed that Italy was unified by geography and language, and that through unification, Italians would gain the power to improve their economic and social conditions. Today Italians remain united by language and geography, but they are dissatisfied and disillusioned with their politics. This weekend’s election saw the lowest turnout of any Italian election in history. Fratelli d’Italia’s Giorgia Meloni is poised to become the next Prime Minister and the first woman ever to hold that position. Centrists and social democrats spent the campaign warning of the dangers of a right-wing coalition, and accused Meloni of having fascist sympathies. This week, we spoke to Alessandra Bocchi, a freelance journalist, and Thomas Fazi, who writes for UnHerd, about what the Lega/Fratelli/Forza Italia coalition will do in government, the accusations of extremism levelled against Meloni, the future of the Italian left, and the legacy of Mario Draghi. For our Patreon subscribers, there is an extended conversation on Italy’s relationship with the EU. We hope you enjoy this episode and decide to subscribe in order to access the full episode.

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