Books in the Passenger series

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: 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.