Lorenzo Berardi

3rd Feb 2021 - An interview on Radio Radicale regarding the ongoing demonstrations against the recent anti-abortion legislation in Poland. What impact might these civil society protests have on Poland and might they result in a stronger opposition?

2nd Feb 2021 - An interview on Radio3 Mondo regarding the resurgence of protests in Poland upon the further limits imposed on legal abortion from January 27. Whilst Aneta, a Polish teacher, talked about the demonstrations she has been joining and on their goals, I focused on the political climate surrounding them. For the current tightening of the legislation on abortion backed by the government is intertwined with recent, controversial, judicial reforms and with changes to the national media landscape.

15th Jan 2021 - A recap of the massive protests happening in Poland since October 2020 against the decision of the Constitutional Court to restrict further the possibility of having legal abortions in the country. Shortly after my piece, on 27th January, the ruling of the Court was published on the Official Journal of Law. It limits legal abortions only to cases of rape, incest or risks to the mother's survival: by far the strictest legislation in the EU.

22nd Nov 2000 - A poem on realia for the weird times we're living in and published by the American-Indian literary mag The Bombay Review.

30th Oct 2020 - An article in Italian complementing the podcast to recount and clarify what's going in Poland when it comes to abortion rights and the struggle of Polish women to keep them. Co-written with my three colleagues of Centrum Report: Salvatore Greco, Matteo Tacconi and Fabio Turco.

30th Oct 2020 - A podcast interview - in Italian - giving voice to two Polish women of two different generations. Amidst an ongoing pandemic, Anna Osmólska-Mętrak and Aneta Wielgosz took to the streets together with hundreds of thousands of compatriots. They took a stand against the controversial decision of the Polish Constitutional Court which might make up to 98% of legal abortions that occurred in Poland illegal.

13th July 2020 - Poland's incumbent president Andrzej Duda prevailed over liberal candidate Rafał Trzaskowski in the second round of the presidential elections by a narrow margin of 500k votes. I talked about these elections and their aftermath on Radio 3 Rai.

30th Jun 2020 - An interview on the Swiss newspaper Corriere del Ticino regarding the first round of the Polish presidential elections.

30th Jun 2020 - My opinion on the first round of the Polish presidential elections for Radio 3 Rai. The polls will be seeing incumbent president Andrzej Duda challenged by opposition candidate and current mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, in the second round on 12th July.

11th May 2020 - A recap of the situation in Poland upon the postponement of the presidential elections that should have been held on May 10th, but are now due in the summer. The political reasons behind this last minute decision and its impact on Polish democracy in the current times of pandemic. For Rai Radio3 Mondo.

10th May 2020 - A short video interview for Rai TG3 Mondo regarding the postponement of the Polish presidential elections and why this last minute decision - in the way it was taken - isn't a success for anyone involved.

31st Mar 2020 - A long interview with Italian broadcaster Radio Radicale on how the V4 countries have been dealing with the Covid-19 emergency. The focus is on Hungary where prime minister Viktor Orbán has been given full powers by the parliament in a step that raise concerns about democracy in the country. The situation is also worrying in Poland as the government want people to go voting for parliamentary elections on 10th May despite the current pandemic outbreak.

28th Mar 2020 - Jerzy Kulczycki was a Polish adventurer and a polyglot who lived in the XVII century. In 1683 he played a key role in helping breaking the Ottoman siege of Vienna. Shortly after, he opened the first coffeehouse in Central Europe thanks to the coffee beans left behind by the Turkish troops. It was Kulczycki who had the idea of adding milk, honey and sugar to the bitter brew, hence boosting the world reknown Viennese coffee culture.

26th Mar 2020 - Hungarian born Gábor Szabó was one of the greatest guitar players of the XX century. He started playing jazz as a teenager living in Budapest, then he left his country in 1956 upon the Soviet invasion settling in San Bernardino, California. While in the US, Szabó developed his own playing style combining Hungarian, gypsy and Indian elements. Among others he played with Louis Armstong, Dizzy Gillespie, B.B King and paved the way for a young Carlos Santana. I talked about Gábor Szabó and his legacy with Maria Baldovin on 'Kiosk', a program of Radio Beckwith.

27th Jan 2020 - I took part in a debate on the importance and the relevance of memory in Poland - and how the Holocaust is remembered there today - 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz and the end of the Nazi occupation. It went live on Radio 3 RAI.