Step back from media leadership

Journalist Mario Calabresi announced on 1 September 2026 that he is stepping down from all roles at Chora Media and parent company Be Water Content. Calabresi, 56, resigned as editorial director and board chairman while selling his equity stake in the media company he helped found in 2020 alongside Guido Brera. Over six years, the podcast company produced 420 audio series and expanded to include Will Media, recently opening a new office on the Naviglio in Milan. Before founding Chora, Calabresi served as editor-in-chief of Italian daily newspapers la Repubblica and La Stampa. He indicated that while he will complete commitments next week, including the Seietrenta press review, American episodes of Altre/Storie, and the Future4cities festival in Turin, he is moving toward non-editorial activities.

“After six years and 420 podcast series, I am leaving Chora. Writing this sentence is difficult and makes quite an impression on me. I am leaving because I feel a strong call to pursue a new path.”

Coalition debate over primary elections

The resignation cleared the way for Calabresi's expected candidacy for mayor of Milan in the municipal elections scheduled for spring 2027. The center-left coalition has governed the city for 15 years, and current mayor Giuseppe Sala cannot run again. Calabresi previously broached the idea of entering municipal politics on 22 July 2026 during a local Democratic Party event, where he stated that he wanted to do his part for Milan. He is scheduled to appear at the Milan Festa dell'Unita on 12 September 2026, where observers expect further clarity on his campaign.

Calabresi's prospective run has opened discussions among center-left coalition parties regarding candidate selection. Centrist party Azione, led by Carlo Calenda, and European Parliament Vice-President Pina Picierno called for immediately backing Calabresi as a reformist candidate without holding coalition primaries. However, Europa Verde co-spokesperson Tommaso Gorini stated that coalition partners must establish the policy program and alliance boundaries before deciding on specific names. Democratic Party national secretary Elly Schlein also urged caution during an address at the Festa dell'Unita in Genoa.

“It is early, we are following and supporting the path of the Democratic Party of Milan, which is focusing on the issues. It will not surprise you if I also say here: first we write the program, then we find the names.”

Center-right opposition and political field

Schlein's stance keeps the primary process open for other center-left figures, including Pierfrancesco Majorino, the Democratic Party group leader in the Lombardy regional council and former member of the European Parliament. Majorino handles housing and immigration policy within the national party leadership. Meanwhile, leaders on the political right rejected any notion of endorsing Calabresi as a broad civic consensus figure. Deputy Prime Minister and Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani dismissed the possibility of cross-bloc backing, confirming that the center-right will propose its own civic or party candidate for Palazzo Marino.

“Absolutely not. We are in favor of supporting a center-right candidate: we have our ideas, we have important names to submit to our allies, both civic and from Forza Italia.”

Calabresi enters the political scene as an independent civic figure with high public recognition. He is the son of Luigi Calabresi, the Milan police commissioner assassinated by leftist militants in 1972 following the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing and the subsequent death of anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli. The center-left parties plan to meet in the coming weeks to determine the rules and schedule for their mayoral selection process ahead of the 2027 vote.