The greatest emperors, for centuries, knocked themselves out trying to unite distant and disparate peoples through military and political dominion. Looking back, it's like watching a Disney villain who wants to rule the world and asking yourself: to do what, exactly? Then you have to administer it, manage it, field the complaints, watch your back for knives. Sounds awful.
All that effort, completely wasted — when all you really need to do is give everyone an internet connection.
There are, in fact, technological empires, which organise our lives more and more — you'll have noticed. Keeping teenagers off social media took an act of parliament in Australia. You can't exactly ask adults to prove they're adults, which is a shame.
The camera in our phones has made us dimmer, sure. They used to say the same about video games; today those are worth enough that a consortium led by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund bought Electronic Arts: along with the games, the entire imaginary world that comes with them. But artificial intelligence will make us even more stupid. Buckle up.
Despite all the premature obituaries, Meta still controls the communication arteries of half the planet and allows Mark Zuckerberg to change strategies, allies and promises as he sees fit. Davide Piacenza walks us through it.
Some empires govern bodies. Fashion, platforms and pharmaceuticals are making a certain idea of thinness dominant again. After years of telling ourselves that fat is beautiful, anorexia is becoming fashionable. An article written purely for the excuse of putting Divine on the cover — John Waters's muse — you're welcome.
But if a fat body can't be discussed, a stick-thin one can't be judged either. Which is why American newspapers can't write about Ariana Grande without a thousand disclaimers first.
Sometimes losing or gaining weight isn't enough to feel better. We asked a trans sociologist to write about the relationship between her own identity and the models of femininity surrounding her. What happens when you want to live as the woman you know yourself to be, but everyone around you has a very fixed idea of what a woman should look like? Your name, your make-up and your healthcare depend as much on identity as on economic resources and the gaze of others.
Other empires govern taste, in fashion and in art. For decades Vogue decided which clothes, bodies and images deserved to become necessary across different countries. Our correspondent Daria writes about it, and about the time when magazines were alive.
Lately the children of the famous try to break free from the surname, but keep on living inside the shadow it casts. Assia Neumann Dayan wrote about it.
Beyoncé has built a court capable of turning music, fashion and political memory into a single form of power, writes Antonio Mancinelli. Strictly speaking it might be a kingdom, but Beyoncé's empire has crossed borders.
Passion has its imperatives too, and they cost a great deal. In fandom even proximity to an artist gets organised into pricing tiers, memberships, priority access and exclusive merchandise. If you go to more than one concert a year, you'd better cut back on meat.
Then there are empires that outlive their own authority and empires that end without so much as a whimper. Striscia la Notizia — Italy's long-running satirical TV show — exits the stage without answering the questions it spent thirty-eight years putting to everyone else. The end of the television empire Antonio Ricci built over thirty-eight years.
The virtual palaces bought in the metaverse during the NFT frenzy lasted a few seasons. Other empires become habits, or annuities.
I wrote about the only emperor I submit to.
We called this issue Imperi. We cast a wide net.
I've written for Il Foglio, Linkiesta, Link Idee per la tv and elsewhere. I have never published a book. I have far more ideas than I feel like acting on.