Welcome to the Reason Roundtable, your weekly pod from the magazine of free minds and free markets.

Now in its 57th calendar year of existence. I am Matt Welch, joined by Peter Souterman, Catherine Mangue Ward, and a triumphantly returning to these United States of America, Nicholas, Dr. Nicholas Gillespie.

Happy January 6th, everyone.

Howdy, Matt?

Hi, Matt.

Happy Snow Day from Washington, D.C.

Not just Washington.

All the Mid-Atlantic, Peter, is enjoying a snow day.

Nick, do you want to give us any teasing morsel of what you learned about yourself and society

and the world at large now that you got your passport stamped?

Yeah, I went to Italy as part of my two-part honeymoon,

and I visited in a very white lotus fashion.

I visited the village that my Italian grandparents were from.

Oh.

Oh.

And found out a lot of interesting information about that, including that my grandparents

who had an arranged marriage in that village, Franieto Montfort, which is outside of Benevento,

which is kind of near Naples, that my grandparents were the only two who left for America.

Really?

Yeah, out of families of about six kids on each side.

And, you know, looking at how my relatives are doing, I kind of wonder why they left,

to be quite honest.

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