he prestigious cultural festival “News from Amiata – Words of the Contemporary Age” returns from 31 July to 2 August on Mount Amiata, featuring writers, journalists and intellectuals who will discuss a number of contemporary issues.

The initiative, conceived and curated by Mariolina Camilleri and Alessandra Sardoni and organised in collaboration with the municipalities of Santa Fiora, Castel del Piano, Arcidosso and Seggiano, as well as the Santa Fiora Cultura and Le Radici di Seggiano foundations, marks the significant milestone of its tenth edition this year.

Former Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni will open the Festival on Friday 31 July at 7.00 pm in Piazza Bellavista, Castel del Piano, alongside *La Repubblica*’s Berlin correspondent Tonia Mastrobuoni and Maurizio Mannoni, a regular at the event since its very first edition in 2016. The debate will take as its starting point a word that carries particular weight in the current context: ‘defence’.

On Saturday 1 August, at 7 pm, in the Daniel Spoerri Garden in Seggiano, the eminent immunologist Alberto Mantovani will engage in a discussion with journalist and writer Marco Ferrante on the many meanings of the concept of ‘Human’, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence.


Sunday 2 August features a double bill: at 11.00 am, at the Cascata d’Acqua d’Alto in Arcidosso. The discussion will centre on the word ‘masochism’, featuring psychoanalyst and writer Vittorio Lingiardi, ambassador and geopolitical analyst Piero Benassi, and Rai Radio3 presenter Rosa Polacco.

To round off 2 August, at 7 pm, at the Auditorium della Peschiera in Santa Fiora, Francesco Piccolo and Lella Costa will discuss what it means to them to be ironic and what irony is – this being the key word in the dialogue between two of the most brilliant intellectuals on the current scene.

On the closing evening, the President of the Tuscany Region, Eugenio Giani, will also be a guest on *Notizie dall’Amiata* and will introduce the event.

Admission to all events is free, subject to availability.