I missed week 48 as I decided to take the time to do something else that needed to be done at home and take some other work that had slipped by during my trip away.

I finally completed all episodes of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy BBC Radio 4 series I downloaded from Dimsdale. I have to say that it holds up really well still. Despite having some of the sensibilities of a past era, the humour is still funny, and the self-reflection on society is as relevant today as it was then. In fact, there are some things that you hear and think about things happening today. I recommend it.

I’ve been listening to the BBC Reith Lectures, as I do every year, and this year’s have not disappointed me. The main topic has been about Violence.

This topic piqued my interest as I have been thinking about the levels of violence in societies I frequent and know about. From my isolated and anecdotal point of view, it does feel like there is more gratuitous violence than I remember. Is it objectively true, though?

The first lecture is entitled “Is violence normal?” and Dr Gwen Adshead —this year’s lecturer— touches on some cold, hard facts about the human condition and about how we, as essentially animals, use violence to express emotions and control our surroundings, both physically and interactively with our peers. Does that mean it is normal? That is the question she tries to answer. She notes that even primates, of which we share 98% of our DNA, have rules about the use of violence. But that 2% difference accounts for major differences in how we interact in relationships and our actions.

I don’t write reviews, so I’ll leave you to listen to the four episodes—all available now if you live in the U.K. If you don’t, the first two have been released. As a bonus, the BBC provides transcripts of the lectures and the conversation before and after. These are very useful for reference and further reading.

I don’t know if my mind is telling me something, but I’ve been listening to another podcast on a similar topic for the last several weeks. It is called Kill List. It charts the story of a journalist and an ethical hacker who broke into a dark web “hitman for hire” website that was a scam and ripped off its customers to the tune of many tens of thousands in Bitcoin.

What is most interesting about this podcast is what they do with that list of targets, how they contact them, how they try to warn them, and the potential victims’ reactions and surprising responses. It is such a well-told series, and I’m enjoying every episode.

We’re getting to the end of the year, and this year has been more frustrating than I had anticipated. I will need to come to terms with this and work on it for the next year.

I try to write a self-review and then work on next year’s priorities, but this year, I haven’t given myself the time to do so yet.

I would hope to do that in the coming weeks and have something structured before the end of the year.

I live and work in a French territory, and the way Bank Holidays work in France is a little strange for an ex-pat. If the day in question falls on a weekend, it isn’t moved to the following Monday like in the U.K. It falls on that day, so if it is a Sunday, so be it, and it is lost.

Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday this year, and France doesn’t have a Boxing Day, so the week will be split into two parts unless I plan to take time off.

I haven’t decided yet.

9 December 2024 — French West Indies