Italy

Italy, where I lived on and off for more than a decade, remains an abiding preoccupation. In addition to hundreds of news stories, I’ve recently profiled Nicola Gratteri, a leading Italian anti-Mafia prosecutor, for The Atlantic. I’ve written about Italy’s Covid “patient one” and how the pandemic is reshaping families, how Italy lags behind in terms of women in politics, and the vicissitudes of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. My features for The New York Times include stories on a massive rare-book theft in Naples; why Italians gesticulate; a history of pasta; Amalfi lemons; a family of centenarians in Sardinia; a Bangladeshi Cricket league in Rome; Eike Schmidt, the first non-Italian director of the Uffizi; the work of Alberto Moravia and Roberto Saviano; as well as the films of Paolo Sorrentino, Matteo Garrone, and Gina Lollobrigida. I’ve also covered the Vatican extensively, and interviewed a president of the Vatican Bank and many other Vatican officials.