I hope you and yours are staying well and relatively cheerful through this holiday season. Our family experienced a seismic shock last week and I’m feeling quite rattled. More on that below…

This dreadful year has made me more thankful than ever for a wee bit of humor. People like Janey Godley, who can make us laugh through our despair and tears, deserve a medal. I’d love to nominate her for a Covid Humanitarian Award, for bringing a smile to our faces and a belly laugh to our bodies when we needed it most. 

Last night, my sadness was more local. I took a walk through the neighborhood and it was deeply unsettling. Here in California we’re under a new, stricter Covid shutdown that lasts through January 4th: no travel, no eating out, no large family gatherings. You know the drill! As I explored the empty streets, it seemed like we were back in March, except that now it feels much, much worse. The streets have a trickle of traffic, the restaurants are deserted, and shoppers few and far between. How are these small businesses going to survive? I worry about the laid off waitresses, shop assistants and support staff going through another round of layoffs. The holiday lights and “cheerful” Christmas music pulsing through an open-air mall felt, well… rather pathetic. I shivered, as I passed shiny-new outside eating areas, and parklets with tall plastic canopies. Rapidly erected for Covid-compliant dining, they now lie neglected, like abandoned relics of a bygone age. 

Although there is light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, I fear they won’t stop this rising death-toll overnight, and the rollout will be painfully slow. And perhaps too slow for me to make it back to Britain on time…

Last weekend my 88 year-old mother took a turn for the worse. When we spoke on Sunday, I didn’t recognize her. Something has shifted in her brain: she was agitated and impatient. She talked nonstop and wouldn’t let me get a word in. After the call, my first instinct was to jump on the next flight back to London to be at her side, but I know that’s foolish…and dangerous. I feel a million miles from her, cut-off and helpless, just like it felt in March, when she ended up in hospital with a broken pelvis. The distance makes me feel impotent and even more furious at Trump. Not only did he mishandle the Federal pandemic response, it turns out he refused an offer to buy more of the Pfizer vaccine, earlier this year, which puts America at the end of the line for the second batch of the vaccine. 

But instead of ruminating, I force myself to remember my mother’s regular advice when things get hard: 

You know you’ve just got to get on with it!

So, in that spirit, let’s get on with it. Here are highlights from my latest appearance on the BBC World Service. I’ve chosen to feature a lighthearted discussion with the BBC’s Jamie Robertson. We explored Covid etiquette and what the Scottish government is doing to keep everyone not just safe, but civil during the next few months. 

You’ll meet two women I admire more than ever this year: Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, whose steady leadership and regular Covid briefings have shown world leaders how to be strong, principled and keep a good sense of humor. The second is writer and comedian Janey Godley whose regular voice-overs of Nicola has kept our family chuckling through some of the darkest days of the pandemic. If you haven’t discovered Janey Godley’s Twitter feed or YT channel, get on it, today! 

In this excerpt, you’ll also hear about the mantra I’m trying to follow this festive season: Assume good intent! 

In today’s world of high anxiety, it’s more relevant than ever…

Also, for the politicos listening, you’ll find a wee politics extra at the end of this podcast. During my BBC appearance, I talked about the incredible hypocrisy of the Trump administration. You might be thinking: [...]