Passenger

Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world. IN THIS VOLUME: The Sea Between Lands by David Abulalfia; The Liquid Road by Leïla Slimani; The Cold One, the Hot One, the Mad One, and the Angry One by Nick Hunt • plus: the sounds and smells of the Mediterranean; the ceaseless hunt for tuna; the invention of the Mediterranean diet; and much more… The word "Mediterranean" has always evoked something larger than geography. For millennia, it has designated a distinct cultural and historical space, one where different peoples have met, traded, and-not infrequently-clashed. Starting from its Latin etymology ("in the middle of the Earth"), the Mediterranean is intimately connected with ideas of connection, exchange, and multiplicity. Today, however, the Mediterranean appears to be in crisis. Neglected by the European Union-which often sees North Africa and the Middle East as a threat, or at best as a source of energy-the Mediterranean is at the center of one of the greatest migrations in history. While every year hundreds of millions of vacationers flock to its shores, as in a distorting mirror hundreds of thousands of people face a dramatic journey in the opposite direction-to escape wars, persecutions, and poverty. The liquid road, as Homer called it, is increasingly militarized, trafficked, and polluted-as well as overheated and overfished. This volume of The Passenger dives deep into the complex issues and contradictions facing the Mediterranean. As the book shows, despite its problems, the Mediterranean remains a source of wonder and fascination-a space not entirely colonized by modernity, where time flows differently, and where multiple cultures and languages are in closer contact and dialogue than elsewhere.

Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world. IN THIS VOLUME: Still Becoming by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie・A Nation called Ineba by A. Igoni Barrett・The Niger Delta by Noo Saro-Wiwa・plus: independent cinema and the do-it-yourself society; indiscriminate abductions and discrimination against women; the discrete charm of repair shops and the irresistible fascination with Afrobeat, and much more… Since gaining independence Nigeria has been in a state of permanent crisis. Even the arrival of democracy in the 1990s failed to bring much improvement. It's estimated that over 100 million Nigerians, half of the country's population, live below the poverty line. Violence is widespread: from the Boko Haram terrorists to the new armed secessionist movements and the growing scourge of kidnappings. How to live in a country where the state is, at best, absent? With regular power cuts, virtually non-existent health care and education, and where the army, present in every one of the 36 states of the federation, is not able to control the violence? In these circumstances, the only possible society is a do-it-yourself one that blossoms wherever and however it can. At the first glimmer of opportunity, Nigerians bring out all their dynamism, entrepreneurial skills, and inventiveness. They develop apps to get around the inaccessibility of the banking system, use solar power to render themselves independent from the unreliable public energy grid, sometimes even resorting to artisanal (but deeply polluting) methods to refine oil/petrol, embrace e-commerce and social media to sell their goods, while films produced on shoestring budgets, books and music find success all over the world. Nigeria's energy is unlike that of any other African country. As the generation of generals who won the civil war and governed the country for 60 years dies out, and younger citizens refuse to ignore injustice and violence, the hope is born that a new, vibrant generation will take the country's future into their hands. And, as they are accustomed to doing, fix it.

Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world. IN THIS VOLUME: Paolo Macry on Naples' "monarch mayors"・Francesco Abazia on the influence of the US Army's presence on Neapolitan popular music・Cristina Napolitano on the Neapolitan diaspora, and what it means to come back・Gianni Montieri on the city's passion for football・Alessandra Coppola on the cult of the young victims of the Camorra, or the police, and much more… In recent years, Naples has been the subject of countless books, films and TV series, making it even more difficult to imagine a Neapolitan normality, if it exists at all. As Naples becomes the most filmed city in Italy, where to look for the ordinary, the average? Maybe we need to "go up" to Vomero, a neighborhood considered almost alien to the city, middle class, homogeneous, peaceful? A reality in sharp contrast with the over-the-top life of the historic centre, crossed as it is by a thousand stratifications - architectural, historical and social. And yet even there we find an alternative reading: the city as a model of coexistence between ancient and modern. While some areas have been waiting for decades for much promised redevelopment, others have benefited from cutting-edge projects with far-reaching positive impact, representing a Naples that attracts talent, exports models, and colonizes instead of being colonized.

Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world. IN THIS VOLUME: Night, Sleep, Death and the Stars by Lauren Groff・The Universe Underground by Paolo Giordano・We All Hated Each Other So Much by Frank Westermann・plus: discovering new planets and destroying satellites; returning to the Moon (this time to stay); the Mars delusion; the hunt for extraterrestrial life, and much more… In the 1960s, the rivalry between the superpowers brought us into space, adding a whole new dimension to human life. The last frontier was open, the solar system seemed close at hand, Mars was the next step... Then, nothing. Between 1969 and 1972 twelve men (but no women) walked on the moon, but no one has since. The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union revealed itself for what it really was: a political and military competition between opposing nationalist narratives. Space agencies, however, have not been idle since the 1970s-quite the opposite. While funding for space missions has been cut and their objectives have changed, humanity has continued to explore the solar system with probes and robots, less costly than human astronauts, and has observed celestial bodies more closely than ever before. Without politics, science has thrived. But the lack of government funding has also opened space exploration to the forces of capitalism. NASA and other space agencies rely more and more on private companies to build modules and rockets, and a generation of visionary and megalomaniac entrepreneurs has become determined to bring humans back to space, this time to stay. The race has started again, with different rules and different players in an increasingly multipolar world. But for those of us who remain on Earth, space also offers something else-a spiritual dimension, which science keeps alive by seeking answers to fundamental questions: what is the universe made of? How did the solar system form? What are the origins of life? And while colonizing Mars might not be the solution to humanity's problems, the promise of space-whether expressed in a tweet by Elon Musk or a photo taken by a NASA rover on Mars-is to finally demonstrate that, when necessary, we are able to work together to build a common future for the whole of humanity.

Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world.  IN THIS VOLUME: Buddhism, the State, and Superpowers by Pitchaya Sudbanthad • The Country of Spirits by Emma Larkin • Monarchy Under Attack by Claudio Sopranzetti • plus: soft power and the working class, the heart of rural Thailand and the separatism of the southern peninsula, the success of Boy Love, the palm oil scandal, and much more...  Thailand's recent history has been marked by political turbulence, with palace coups, intrigue, attempted revolution, restoration, and democratic elections. In this complex democracy, the working class, progressives, and young urban professionals push for reforms, often clashing with landowners and business elites. While Thailand is perceived as permissive and tolerant, it hides a conservative core. Yet, one of its main cultural exports is Boy Love stories, romantic tales featuring male protagonists, whose success epitomises a cultural revolution that is boosting the country's entertainment industry and soft power. Behind Thailand's glittering image, exemplified by Bangkok-the world's most visited city in 2023-lie rural regions like Isaan, far from typical tourist paths. These areas reflect the country's diverse and complex identity and reveal that, despite government efforts to impose cultural uniformity, Thailand's true strength still lies in its ability to embrace diversity and syncretism.

Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world. IN THIS VOLUME: Underground Tenochtitlan by Guadalupe Nettel • Crime and (No) Punishment by Juan Villoro • The Birth of Fridolatry by Valeria Luiselli • plus: the cocaine that washes in from the sea and the pearl of the west, the jungle train and the last stop on the line, femicide and TikTok politics, mole, rice, the Virgin of Guadalupe and much more ... Once synonymous with escape and freedom, Mexico is now more frequently described as a place plagued by widespread violence, drug trafficking, endemic corruption, and uncontrolled migration. Under the patina of a tourist paradise-with its beaches, its ancient ruins, its tequila-lies a complex, dynamic country trying to carve out a place for itself in the shadow of its powerful neighbor. The most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world, Mexico is also home to 89 indigenous peoples and languages: one of the many contradictory legacies of the country's colonial past, which still permeates its politics, society, religion, food, and culture. With a fifth of the population identifying as indigenous, the issue of rediscovering and revaluing the country's pre-Columbian roots is at the center of the public debate. The controversial Mayan train project, which would connect Mexico's Caribbean resorts with the South's archaeological sites, crossing (and endangering) communities and forests, is a perfect example of the opposition between the two souls of the country. The attempts to resolve this contradiction, or better still to learn to live with it, will define the Mexico of the future. Only by recognizing equal status to ethnic and linguistic minorities will the country be able to reconcile its fractured identity.

Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world. IN THIS VOLUME: Lovestruck in Barcelona by Enrique Vila-Matas • Supermanza 503 by Gabi Martinez • The Great Barcelona Novel by Miqui Otero • plus: the complex legacy of the Olympics; the future of Catalonia; the radical left and the once best in the world soccer team; an endless subway line, and much more… Thirty years after the 1992 Olympics, which redefined the city's contemporary identity and changed its destiny, The Passenger travels to Barcelona to understand the history and future of one of the cradles of political, cultural, and urban change in Europe. From the debate about the impact of mass tourism to the search of new and sustainable models of economic and social development; from the eternal rivalry with Madrid to the rediscovery of the city's rich tradition of political activism: this volume of The Passenger offers a panoramic view of a city striving to trace a new path forward out of the current crisis, and find a way of life centered on the well-being of its citizens.

Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world. IN THIS VOLUME: Hell Joseon by Elisa Shua Dusapin • The View from the North by Lee Hyeonseo • Lessons in Democracy by Jiyoung Choi • plus: the Samsung Republic and the most militarized border in the world, the real reason why Korean women don't have children, democracy and K-pop, baseball, esports, and shamanism, and much more… From kimchi to TV series, from Oscar-winning films to K-pop, from webtoons to cosmetics, in recent years Korea has captured the global imagination, one viral trend at a time. In this volume, The Passenger sets out in search of the world's coolest nation. Eighty years ago, at the end of a devastating civil war, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world, under constant threat from the Communist regime north of the 38th parallel and completely dependent on the United States for its security and prosperity. Today, it is the world's tenth-largest economy, a dynamic and innovative country with a per capita GDP similar to that of Western Europe, a lively and participatory democracy that stands up to its larger, more powerful neighbors. And above all, the country is the origin of the hallyu-the Korean wave-which has reached every corner of the world and taken the global entertainment, food, and culture industries by storm. This extremely rapid and astonishing transformation has inevitably brought ruptures and contradictions. If the global youth looks to Korea as previous generations looked to Hollywood and New York, young Koreans instead talk about Hell Joseon: a country that is rapidly aging, an economic system dominated by powerful chaebols (family-controlled conglomerates), a fiercely competitive educational system, a generational gap in outlook and behavior and, at the center of it all, the role of women- one of the keys that The Passenger has chosen to try to decipher a complex, fascinating country, central to the dynamics of today's world, and that is often exoticized and idealized to the same extent.