Anna called me yesterday. “I just watched what happened in the Oval Office,” she said, “and I need to talk to someone!” I did too; after watching it myself, I went online to read the countless condemnations from around the world, to hear Timothy Snyder detail “five failures” enacted by two juvenile bullies. It was a spectacle so disgusting and unbelievable – yet of course it wasn’t unbelievable, just another day in our new world order, where the U.S. president and the murderous dictator of Russia are best buddies, and Canada and Ukraine are the enemies! Bill Maher, last night, said, “We elected the bull in the china shoppe, and now Americans are realizing, they are the china.”

Or, as the brilliantly articulate Andrew Coyne put it in today’s Globe, “The U.S. has handed the nuclear codes to a madman, a criminal, a would-be dictator and a moron.” Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Write on, Andrew.

A good point was made by Fareed Zakaria on Maher’s show — that Zelensky made the mistake of expecting a rational discussion on national TV. Instead, he should have begun the interview by raving about Trump’s brilliance and presenting him with “a giant Ukrainian medal of honour that no one has ever won before.” He’s right. Flattery matters more than anything else.

Incidentally, Chrystia Freeland was Maher’s interview guest, introduced as “the next prime minister of Canada,” which must have been a surprise to Mark Carney, whom Maher interviewed a few weeks ago. She acquitted herself well, and Ron Graham, also in today’s Globe, cautions the Libs against jumping too quickly for the untested Carney, “a knight in shining armour who has never ridden a horse.”

It’s bitterly cold and the world is full of horror. Luckily I took myself to a wonderful film today, though I nearly froze there and back on the bike: A Complete Unknown. I’ve been looking forward to it, and rightly so; it’s superb. Chalumet as Bob Dylan deserves the raves, but Edward Norton as the gentle soul Pete Seeger is just as good. The film captures the early sixties when folk music was the insistent voice of an emerging idealistic generation – and then Dylan (and of course the Beatles, who are mentioned once) took over.

The film shows what it’s like to witness genius, up close, as it blooms. It reminded me of being at theatre school in London and watching a young actor called Ian Charleson, who was in the same year as Harriet Walter. Many were terrific, including Harriet, but young Ian was incandescent with talent, focus, and ambition. We all knew he was the one, the special one. And he was, working right out of theatre school and achieving stardom as Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire. He died of AIDS in 1990 at the age of forty, only a few weeks after starring in what was apparently the definitive Hamlet.

There are simply some people who are granted that glow of genius, although sometimes — often, as with Dylan —  at great cost to those around them. As we listen to inscrutable, self-centred Bobby Zimmerman from Hibbing, Minnesota pour out fiery poetry and haunting melodies, we wonder anew at how that happens. But praise to the gods, it does. I’ll get out my old albums and listen again, and my Joan Baez ones too, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Gordin Lightfoot, Ian and Sylvia — all those folks who sang the truth.

“She’s got everything she needs/She’s an artist, she don’t look back./She can take the dark out of the nighttime and paint the daytime black.”

If you’ll forgive a brief digression into the singing-my-own-praise department, I’d like to share a kind email a student from my San Miguel workshop recently sent. I’m far, far from a genius, but I work with what I have and hope it matters. And sometimes, I guess it does.

“I wanted to express my appreciation for the workshop you gave at SMA. It was an incredible experience. I learned so much, and the way you conveyed your thoughts and wisdom left an impression on me. Your approach is  humble, yet the moment you speak, it’s clear you’re a writer and teacher that has a lot to offer others. I appreciated the  knowledge you shared with us and found your workshop truly inspiring. I’ve placed an order for your book and am looking forward to reading it soon. Thank you again!  Your voice, insights, and guidance were all beautiful.”

No, thank you.