Le Weekend: Elon Ming, Māori Painting Record, Vatican Mag

⬇️  STARTER 

Is Trump a fascist? German historians provide a closer look

Making a contemporary comparison to fascism, American historian Robert O. Paxton wrote in 2016, usually generates more heat than light — more outrage than insight, more uproar than understanding. Indeed, the rhetoric surrounding a would-be "fascist" Donald Trump during the U.S. presidential election campaign sparked unprecedented heat. It didn't help.

Now that Trump has, as he claims, led “the biggest movement in U.S. history” to the finish line and is putting together a cabinet of hardliners, conspiracy ideologues and loyal followers, the question is how much light the historical analogy sheds on the present and the near future.

Will a fascist elected to office by a clear majority move into the White House in January?

If one understands fascism as an ultranationalist, racist ideology that seeks to violently suppress opposition, glorifies social Darwinism, demands unconditional loyalty from a party and masses to a charismatic leader, then Trump seems to fit the definition of a fascist perfectly.

The problem is: There are many books on fascism. Few political terms are as catchy yet simultaneously as vague as this one. So who better to shed light on this matter than historians from both sides of the Atlantic?

The concept of fascism has been problematic from the outset, says Andreas Wirsching, who heads the Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) in Munich.

Originally self-designated by Italian "Fascists" after their symbol, the fasci (or fasces in Latin, a bundle of sticks), it served primarily as a political battle cry for communists during the interwar period. They directed it against social democracy, which "blurred the categorical distinction between democracy and dictatorship," Wirsching explains.

This continued during the Cold War. "The accusation of fascism was the harshest charge in East German propaganda," says contemporary historian Norbert Frei. "In the 1950s, for example, there were references to the 'clerical-fascist Adenauer regime.'" [...]

— Read the full article by Christian Staas for Die Zeit, translated from German by Worldcrunch.

🎲  OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ

What do you remember from the news this week?

1. Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon that was brokered by the U.S. and which other country?

2. What did U.S. President-elect Donald Trump say he would do to China, Mexico and Canada on day one of his second term?

3. Violent clashes rocked Pakistan as protesters demanded whose release from jail?

4. Which off-Broadway show is ending its run after 33 years in New York?
The Blue Man Group / Little Shop of Horrors / Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street / Wicked

[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]

#️⃣  TRENDING

An AI video featuring Elon Musk as a Ming dynasty official has gone viral on Chinese platform Bilibili. Created by a user with the nickname "Dark Tone," the clip overlays Musk's face onto a character from the 2011 martial arts film Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. In the video, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is reimagined as a kung-fu master and leader of the Western Depot, a Ming dynasty secret service agency, tasked with enforcing government efficiency: It’s a reference to the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) that Musk will supposedly head in the upcoming Trump administration. It’s another sign of China’s unexpected and seemingly paradoxical fascination for Trump and Musk.

🎭  5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW

• Palestinian artists announce Gaza Biennale. More than 40 Palestinian artists in Gaza announced they are planning to stage a “biennale” exhibition as “an act of resistance and survival” in a context of “war and oppression.” The project will involve showcasing work in Gaza itself but also sending pieces to be exhibited abroad, with the artists calling for support from galleries overseas. “While Israel focuses on erasing life and culture in Gaza, my continuity in art proves that life is still going on, and that the Palestinian identity will not be erased,” said artist Rufaida Sehwail. The Gaza Biennale has also launched a crowdfunding campaign.

• Māori painting and Australian sculpture break auction records. An oil painting by famed New Zealand artist Charles Frederick Goldie fetched a record price of $2.2 million at an auction, making it the most valuable artwork of its kind in the country’s history. Thoughts of a Tohunga is a 1938 portrait of Wharekauri Tahuna, a priest who is believed to be one of the last tattooed men of his generation. Meanwhile, the monumental 13-foot copper artwork Tide, crafted in 2000 by the late Sydney artist Bronwyn Oliver, became the most valuable Australian sculpture ever offered for auction in the country, fetching $1 million.

• Vatican to publish new monthly magazine and launch livestream. As part of the outreach program for its 2025 Jubilee Year, the Vatican has announced several initiatives, including the publication of a new magazine called Piazza San Pietro, which will include a “Letters to the Editor” column in which Pope Francis will respond to readers’ letters. The magazine will be published in Italian, English and Spanish. The pope will also inaugurate a livestream of St. Peter's tomb in the Vatican on Dec. 2.

• Criticism over startup’s plans to publish 8,000 books using AI next year. Writers and publishers are criticizing Spines, a new AI-powered publishing platform, which plans to charge authors between $1,200 and $5,000 to have their books edited, proofread, formatted, designed and distributed with the help of artificial intelligence. “These aren’t people who care about books or reading or anything remotely related,” said Nigerian author Suyi Davies Okungbowa. The tech company said it was “just trying to speed up” self-publishing and that using AI could reduce the time it takes to publish a book to two to three weeks.

• Van Gogh returns to Seoul in new exhibition. “Van Gogh: The Great Passion” opened this week at the Seoul Arts Center’s Hangaram Art Museum, marking the first retrospective featuring the Dutch master’s original artworks in South Korea in 12 years and the largest ever staged in the country. The exhibition offers a chronological journey into the life of Van Gogh, displaying 76 pieces loaned by the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands.

🐋 SMILE OF THE WEEK

In New Zealand, locals teamed up with conservation workers to rescue more than 30 stranded pilot whales, carrying them back to the ocean using bedsheets. While four whales sadly didn’t make it, the rest swam off, thanks to hundreds of people who turned up for this giant group effort. A Māori ceremony was even held for the three adult whales and one calf that died.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇮🇱 Netanyahu has been clear: The ceasefire in Lebanon will allow him to focus on Iran and on Syria. But the underlying factors are Iran’s nuclear program and Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
— FRANCE INTER

👀 The initiative led by Open AI CEO Sam Altman to create a global identity system through iris scanning has landed in Brazil. But what about privacy, transparency and the ethical implications of such a vast biometric project?
— AGÊNCIA PÚBLICA

🤝 One might think that the rush to announce the completion of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal refers to its preemptive failure with each party blaming the other for this failure. But there are many moving parts in the negotiations, like there are in the region.
— DARAJ

💼 The Macron government says France needs to work more and it has a point. But the French people disagree… and they’re not wrong.
— LES ECHOS

🎥 “When I was a child, I didn’t entirely understand what exactly happened in our family.” Many Holocaust survivors’ descendants are returning to Poland to learn about their family history and transform it into artistic works.
— GAZETA WYBORCZA

♻️👰  BRIGHT IDEA

A project at Scotland’s Glasgow Kelvin College that is based on repurposing old bridal gowns into new designs has won an international Green Gown award for sustainability. Students unpicked donated sample wedding dresses and used their parts (including buttons, zippers and some £25,000 worth of pre-loved fabrics) to create 16 new designs, including modern bridal wear with trousers and capes. The initiative taught sustainable "slow fashion" principles, focusing on quality and minimizing waste, as the reused materials would have otherwise ended up in landfill.

👓 WORLDCRUNCH MAGAZINE

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⏩  LOOKING AHEAD

• Taiwan President Lai Ching-te plans to visit Hawaii and the U.S. controlled island of Guam during a Pacific trip aimed at reinforcing cooperation with the United States, a move that has sparked strong Chinese condemnation. Beijing may stage military drills near Taiwan as a retaliation, further escalating tensions during the U.S. presidential transition.

• Iceland will hold parliamentary elections on Nov. 30 after its three-party coalition government, formed by right-wing, pro-business Independence Party, centre-right Progressive Party and the Left Greens, fell apart over disagreements ranging from asylum policies to energy efficiency. The elections come at a delicate time for the Nordic island country, after a recent string of volcanic eruptions forced thousands to leave their homes, adding fuel to discontent over an economy already facing high inflation and interest rates.

• Grab that royal popcorn: a new documentary, titled Harry – The Lost Prince is premiering Dec. 3 on Germany's ZDF channel. It promises to offer exclusive insights into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s impact on the monarchy and to delve into the couple’s post-Megxit challenges, public controversies, and evolving roles within and without the British monarchy.

News quiz answers:

1. People displaced from southern Lebanon are returning home as the ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah came into effect this week, after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the U.S. and France, ending 13 months of fighting. The Israeli military has warned though that it wasn’t safe yet to return to certain areas. Lebanon’s army said it was preparing to deploy an expected 5,000 troops to the south as part of the deal.

2. In a series of posts to his Truth Social account, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump vowed to impose sweeping tariffs on major trading partners Mexico, Canada and China, promising duties of 25% on all imports from the former two and 10% on goods from China. Experts predict significant economic repercussions, with analysts noting that the tariffs could push up inflation and strain cross-border ties.

3. Pakistani authorities reopened roads linking Islamabad with the rest of the country on Wednesday, ending a four-day lockdown, after the party of the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan suspended protests seeking his release due to the “government’s brutality.” This followed media reports of hundreds of arrests by security forces in a sweeping midnight raid in the capital, after the protests resulted in the deaths of at least six people, including four security officers and two civilians.

4. The Blue Man Group announced it will wrap up its New York City run in February 2025 after more than 33 years. Since bursting onto the scene in 1991, they’ve performed over 17,000 shows, becoming a beloved staple of the city's off-Broadway world. The group is set to keep the show going in Las Vegas, Boston and Berlin.

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*Photo: International Art Centre