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Fascism, Anti-Racism

Fighting Fascism & Britain’s ‘Divide and Rule’

28th September 2022
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The story of Balwinder Singh Rana, an Indian activist who has been fighting racism and structural attempts at division in Britain for decades. Read my article for the Byline Times here. And for more on the ‘Brick Lane Project’, here’s an article about Barbara Beese and the Mangrove Nine https://bylinetimes.com/2020/09/29/the-woman-with-the-afro-the-story-of-barbara-beese/

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Amarcord Fellini

Federico Fellini

29th January 2020
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Film director, Federico Fellini, created such masterpieces as La Dolce Vita (winner of the Palme d’Or in 1960), and 8½ (listed by Sight & Sound as the 10th greatest film of all time). And four of Fellini’s films appear in the BBC Culture’s poll to discover the 100 most popular foreign-language films. Fellini Museum In 2020, Rimini celebrated 100 years…

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Pellegrino Artusi, Forlimpopoli

Pellegrino Artusi

28th January 2020
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Cooking Science and the Art of Eating Well In La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangier Bene (1891), Pellegrino Artusi considered the scientific role of food in well-being. Was his interest sparked by a near-fatal visit to Livorno in 1855? After eating a bowl of ‘minestrone’, Artusi suffered terrible stomach pains. Days later he discovered…

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Tunisian mother & girls copy

Tunisia

8th February 2015
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Tataouine, in southern Tunisia, is famous for the trogolodyte buildings of the native Berber* population. It’s so other-worldly, that director George Lucas used it as a backdrop for one of his Star Wars films. The buildings are actually ancient grain stores, or ksour, and you can read more in my Time Out article here.

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Krakow Schindler Factory

Krakow

13th March 2013
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The German army marched into Kraków on 6 September 1939. By November, all Jews over the age of 12 were commanded to wear armbands. This was the beginning of the occupier’s segregation of the population.

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Ferrari Museum, Modena

Modena

29th July 2012
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Balsamic, Bottura and beautiful cars…

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Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

6th June 2012
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The Faroes – a group of 18 islands located in the Norwegian Atlantic – are halfway between Scotland and Iceland. I’d heard of them, of course; I’m a Radio 4 listener, fan of the arcane Shipping Forecast

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mexico, naples

Naples

7th March 2012
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I decided to skip the private jet, and take the overnight train to Naples. I was about to spend the next seven days cycling and sailing. It’s cheap, eco-friendly and a lot of fun…

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