The comforting tourist-brochure idea of what Italian food looks like obscures a story shaped by hunger, migration and innovation, says Alberto Grandi, author and professor of food history
All national cuisines are myths:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/15/myth-traditional-italian-cuisine-food
The “Italian” cuisine that conquered the world was not the one Italians carried with them when they emigrated. They had no such cuisine to carry. Those who left Italy did so because they were hungry. If they’d had daily access to tortellini, lasagne and bowls of spaghetti as later imagined, they would not have boarded ships for New York, Buenos Aires or São Paulo to face discrimination, exploitation and the occasional lynching. They arrived abroad with a handful of memories and a deep desire to never eat bad polenta again”
“And then something miraculous happened: they encountered abundance. Meat, cheese, wheat and tomatoes in quantities unimaginable in the villages they had fled. Presented with ingredients they’d never seen together in one place, they invented new dishes. These creations – not ancient recipes – are what later returned to Italy as “tradition”. In short: Italian cuisine did not migrate. It was invented abroad by people who had finally found something to eat.”
The oil and gas industry must be legally bound to cut methane emissions. With climate tipping points approaching, time is running out, says the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley
This is another ‘ozone layer’ moment. Now, we must urgently target methane | Mia Mottley https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/16/ozone-layer-moment-methane-emissions-oil-gas-industry-climate-tipping-points #Oilandgascompanies #EuropeanCommission #Pacificislands #Climatecrisis #Fossilfuels #Micronesia #Worldnews #Barbados #Cop30
He is descended from Russian Jews—you know, the kind of people who were once denounced as alien and unassimilable. Today, his project is to unleash government persecution of those he deems alien and unassimilable. How far will Miller’s sadistic designs go?
#StephenMiller's project is to🚨unleash govt persecution of those he deems alien & unassimilable *hatred of migration, affinity w white nationalists.
Many Americans didn’t think ppl like his ancestors were fit to become a part of the US *targeted by nativism -re race—rooted in claim: new arrivals suffered from a social degeneracy... threat to the “civilization." New #immigrants: inferior to Ams -descended from: “pioneer breed”➡️🚨path to “extinction: awaits."
#Racism #USPol
https://newrepublic.com/article/204191/stephen-miller-maga-terror-state-dark-plot
programming isn't a competition
Join us in London on Feb 4-5, 2026
We're very excited to announce that we're sponsoring Protocols for Publishers - @team - in London.
As well as helping support the event, @saskia will be joined by Siddhartha from The Bristol Cable to talk about building a social app for a local community, with their local news publisher.
Find out more here: https://protocolsforpublishers.com/london-2026/
#ProtocolsForPublishers #ActivityPub #SocialWeb #Fediverse #SocialMedia #Mastodon #Event #London
Unless urgent action is taken life will be fundamentally altered for the ancient communities who live on its banks
Today, I want to share some additional thoughts with you on this...
A price will be paid by Silicon Valley #billionaires for overt support of an increasingly unpopular Trump administration
Both Trump and the #technogarchy have tied their futures to the questionable near future state of #AI. Voters are becoming increasingly wary of the virtues of AI, realizing they and their labor are to be cast aside when convenient. Backlash anyone?
Josh Marshall captures this restiveness well 👇
Geopolitics: Russians and Americans are making plans, to which Europeans then react with panic – that's how it usually goes these days, observes Steven Everts . This week's EU summit is a crucial moment to change this.
Beneath an alarming number of executions in 2025, there are signs of continued growing opposition. Also: USA Today's ICE propaganda. And, for paid subscribers: Closing my tabs.
NEW: Florida's year of executions mask broader discontent with the death penalty.
Beneath an alarming number of executions in 2025, there are signs of continued growing opposition.
Tonight, at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/florida-executions-death-penalty
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