Timothy Harris, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, talks about the island country reopening to visitors this weekend. It has managed to keep its infection rates of COVID-19 relatively low. It put protocols and responses into effect early and had an all-society approach that incorporated all parts of its communities with shared information to help fight the virus. Locking down was only one part of the strategy, but it was a big one. Its choice was life over livelihood. It only had 19 cases, all recovered, no deaths and currently no one is in the hospitals because of the virus. He feels that the island is moving forward in the most responsible way possible.

Billy Mag Fhloinn, Folklorist, PhD in Irish Folklore, speaks about the earliest records showing Halloween, or an event close to it. The festival of Samhain was an Irish celebration of the turning point from the light to the dark. It revolved around the time of seasons and going from the harvest into the winter. There would be dancing, beer, and costumes. Many of the customs that we engage in across North America may have roots in Irish tradition. Trick or treating may date back to going around to each house and praying for the souls of the dead. You’d set out a table with food and treats for the dead that would welcome loved ones back in one last time to show that they were remembered. The supernatural association, or the eerie misconceptions, are just that: misconceptions. Samhain and these traditional festivals were always family oriented, not associated with the devil.

Rebecca Cherry Roje, American Expat & Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubrovnik, describes living abroad in the Croatian city for the last 20 years. She talks about the overtourism issues that affected the city in 2019. She also discusses how the cruise ships nearly took over. The old town already has a people counter in place so you know how many people are there at a given time and is updated every 15 minutes. The pandemic has given the city a chance to reset for the 2021 cruising season. The city will plan to make changes to modify and become more sustainable for tourists as well as its citizens.

Jelena Tamindžija, Curator of the Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, talks about the establishment of the museum in 1945. The two founders of the museum had studied abroad and brought back new styles of art and philosophies. If you want to see street art, she says you should go to Zagreb. But if you are interested in seeing Ivan Meštrović sculptors or collections from the 19th century and the contemporary post-WWII, the MOMAD is for you.

Mark Thomas, Editor of The Dubrovnik Times, Journalist and Honorary Consul of UK, has been in Dubrovnik since 1997. He talks about how the city is only at 20% of the tourist population that it used to be due to the pandemic, and you will never get to see the city like the way it is right now. He says the city was not designed to let in 2.2 million people a year, half of them coming from cruise ships. There were people counters in the old town with a limit of 5,000 people and buses would have to wait to enter from the ships. He recommends right now as a great time to visit the city and travel out of the old town to beyond the mountains to try the local wine. He also recommends seeing the Elafiti Islands northwest of Dubrovnik.

Ivan Vigjen, Art Historian from Dubrovnik, explains the history of this town as well as why people are so interested in coming here. He speaks about Dubrovnik being the first town to incorporate the quarantine law in 1377, something that we are faced with today. It is apparent from this that Dubrovnik has always been a highly developed city and culture. He goes on to talk about the inclusion of Dubrovnik as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979 and its efforts of self-preservation with the growing amount of tourism through the years. Right now due to the pandemic, the city has finally had a chance to breathe and manage itself. He suggests that people who can come here should in order to experience the city like never before.

Mato Franković, Mayor of Dubrovnik, discusses how Croatia worked hard to stay open for the United States. Croatia relies heavily on tourism from the United States. He also speaks about how Dubrovnik negotiated with cruise corporations to only have two cruise ships at a time. He says this became a win-win situation for both tourists and citizens. The conversation then turns to Viking hosting Croatia’s first cruise on January 8, 2021 and the COVID-19 center that is set up on it.

Michael Cannell, Author of A Brotherhood Betrayed, offers insight into the history of the mafia in the United States. Although we may picture seedy underground dealings, this was a streamlined industry that ran similarly to a corporation. The hub was based in New York, but had affiliates across America. One of the most fascinating aspects of the mafia was the hitmen. Hitmen looked and traveled like businessmen and were treated like that when visiting a city. Often, an affiliate would call and say a hit was needed, and a hitman was sent to take care of the situation. These hits were rarely done against civilians, and they were typically against those caught or suspected of being informants.