Today, comics, video games, cosplay and role-playing games have become mass cultural phenomena, and there is no longer any need to be ashamed of being a nerd. The 60th anniversary of Lucca Comics & Games tells this story: a transformation that affects not only entertainment, but entire generations of enthusiasts

“His secret? Simple songs and the power of a beaming smile. He was sorry he couldn’t play well; he regarded Lucio Dalla and Pino Daniele as two great poets: ‘Quando’ was perhaps his favourite song.” Interview

 The Lega claims it wants to hold the vote at a leisurely pace, in September. Forza Italia says the same, though it is unclear whether they are bluffing. Meloni has instructed her MPs to act as if the vote were to take place in the spring, and she genuinely believes this will be the case. However, there are certain laws that can help us understand the political landscape over the coming months

In this ritual – so technical and so deeply rooted in time and programming, as if it were the blueprint for a colossal enterprise – there lies, paradoxically, an attempt, difficult for us to grasp, to immortalise human activity, or, rather, to seek the eternal in human activity

The book, recently published by Rizzoli and written by the Oscar- and Nastri d’Argento-winning costume and set designer, is a memoir that explores cinema and the capital, regarded as a safe haven for those not born on its streets

It’s not just about business and industrial units. A less frequently considered but crucial aspect is the social impact that will be felt within a few years in the western sector, where local authorities are currently feeling the pull of Milan, particularly amongst young people. What’s new (with a few unknowns) on the western front 

From Jean-Louis Cohen to Trump, architecture reflects the ambiguous relationship between power and politics: regimes use it to legitimise themselves, construct a national memory and represent their ambitions. But the buildings of power can also become targets of political violence

Italy talks obsessively about old age when it comes to pensions, but far less so when it comes to losing one’s independence. Politicians, holed up in their ivory towers, recognise those who already have a public voice; they struggle to see those who depend on the voices of their children, spouses or carers. And when a need does not make the headlines, it often does not even make it onto the agenda.

For Beijing, the Three Gorges Dam is a symbol of government efficiency: a colossal project, completed in record time, capable of generating enormous economic and strategic benefits. But it is here that the Chinese narrative reveals its greatest grey areas. As is always the case in China, all that glitters is not gold.  

In his book “La titanica giornata del professor Rossi”, Rocco Pezzimenti describes how trust in institutions crumbles amid bureaucracy, poor service and the precariousness of everyday life. It is in everyday frustrations, rather than in grand ideologies, that the roots of the protest vote lie.

I rise and switch on the light. He lies down on the floor. I switch it off, and there he is again, on the alert. Blessed are cats: free to see the invisible.

Leo Spitzer’s critical approach champions the value of the hermeneutic circle: it begins with a ‘click’ – an unpredictable, overarching intuition – then seeks to ground it in individual textual clues, before returning to an overall view, in a ceaseless back-and-forth. From Carocci, "Un profilo intellettuale" by Riccardo Donati  

Paweł Pawlikowski’s "Fatherland" recounts the German writer’s first trip to Germany. The film, however, seems to foreshadow his death some time later, so that it is the great author’s corpse – albeit still breathing – that is driven around Germany by his all-too-patient daughter Erika.

In his piece “Il paradosso verde”, the former president of Legambiente traces the conservative and reactionary roots of environmentalism, challenges the myth of nature as inherently good, and acknowledges the role of profit and globalisation. A reflection on the contradictions within the environmental movement, between green orthodoxy and the need for change.

The story of Konstantin Rodzaevskij, one of the founders of the Russian Fascist Party, is now recounted by Andrea Tarabbia in “Dio Nazione Lavoro. Anima russa e pensiero reazionario”, due to be published on 3 November by Feltrinelli. The author describes it as ‘a small, absurd story’, but perhaps it is not quite as marginal as it seems  

Just like the Groningen gas boom in the 1970s, the AI boom may impoverish the rest of the economy whilst enriching just a few sectors and a handful of investors. In the United States, investment in technology is surging, whilst investment in other sectors is stagnating. And traditional remedies no longer seem adequate

Fictitious quotations, imaginary novels and false autobiographies. An entire bibliography constructed to mislead the reader, because literature is under no obligation to resemble reality. The National Prize for Literature

Femicide, the rule of law, bullying, emotional education, the Mafia, anti-Mafia movements, women’s emancipation, exemplary lives, martyrologies, beatifications. In the streets, ‘no values’; on screen, far too many. And as usual, never a middle
ground.

The democracy with the highest voter turnout and birth rate. From the strength of its institutions to its economic vitality, from scientific research to social cohesion, Israel continues to defy the gloomiest predictions. An isolated country at war, where confidence in the future endures more than anywhere else. The Happy Satan

The FIGC commissioner had miraculously managed to get everyone to agree. But those who vote for you then want to be listened to, or at least consulted. Thus came the rift within the Serie A League and, above all, the revolt by two other groups which together account for 30 per cent of the votes

“What do I expect from the future? In the long term, I’d love to win a Classica Monumento and another Olympic medal,” says the Italian champion following his move from Netcompany Ineos to Lidl-Trek

Remote controls, buffets and body-swapping. From Hollywood to Villa Giulia, Alessandro Piperno discovers he’s a bit of a rough-and-ready sort (and he’s proud of it). “The raid on the Roman buffet is like the stagecoach raid in John Ford’s American films”

Luciano Spalletti is experiencing his time at Juventus as a sort of penance from which he cannot escape. Rarely have we seen him so at a loss when searching for a solution. The team has no style of play, no heart, no vision – it has nothing 

Ahead of the 2027 local elections, the alliance in the capital is shaping up to be flexible, centring on the relationship between Conte and Gualtieri – Conte’s minister in the red-and-yellow coalition government – and on the mayor’s reformist stance, which is not hostile to supporters of Renzi and Calenda.

In Milan, the new call for tenders for social housing has also been a flop: just two bids, despite changes made by the City Council. Builders are complaining of unsustainable financial conditions, but on the left, Majorino is promising bold decisions and Pacini is envisaging homes at even lower prices