Rose Galt

What did you find most encouraging?
For a decade that started so full of hope, it deteriorated pretty rapidly. In the aftermath of 9/11 we inhabit a war-torn world threatened by terrorism on the one hand and global warming on the other. There seem few reasons to be cheerful, but what I did find encouraging was the continued flourishing of the arts, particularly the ones I am most interested in. It's easy to join the (largely middle-aged) chorus of disapproval about 'Strictly', 'The X-Factor' and 'Big Brother'. But the '00s also saw some remarkable TV. Series like 'The Sopranos', 'The Wire' and '6 Feet Under' simply raised the bar in terms of compelling drama. The superlative Coen brothers gave us two magnificent movies, 'No Country for Old Men' and 'A Serious Man' and lest my list is too transatlantic BBC2 gave of the mega-swearing Malcolm Tucker and 'The Thick of It'. Joy indeed.

What did you find most discouraging?
I find it rather discouraging that in the year in which we celebrated the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th of the publication of his great work there seems to be a growing retreat from rationality into mumbo-jumbo. I gasped open-mouthed when a science teacher (!) talking to Richard Dawkins on TV claimed that the world was 4,000 years old and that children and dinosaurs once gambolled merrily together. That supreme example of irrationality, organised religion, offers us the possibility of the death penalty for homosexuals in Uganda, the total denial of climate change and the prospect of Sarah Palin as the next president of the USA. The world of pseudo-pharmaceuticals thrives despite the absence of research-based evidence as to its efficacy. That the NHS spends my money to finance homeopathic medicine – that's the theory that water retains 'a memory' of anything dissolved in it – is a disgrace. I am pleased, though, that one of this season's bestsellers is Ariane Sherine's 'An Atheist's Guide to Christmas' which has found its way into several of my friends' stockings.

Which public figure did you most admire?
It was not a good decade for women. On the world stage Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest; two of the very few (ever) female heads of state, Helen Clark of New Zealand and Michelle Bachelet of Chile, have gone and Berlusconi-type chauvinism seems the order of the day. The old feminist goal of achieving parity of esteem between men and women seems further away than ever. A few examples: conviction rates for rape remain appallingly low at around 7%; too many police forces still adhere to 'The Sweeney' view of young women out enjoying themselves ('Slags!') and a tabloid newspaper felt able to describe the brutal murders of six sex-workers in Norwich as 'not much of a loss'. The scandal over MPs' expenses poured much more opprobrium over women like Jacqui Smith than on her male counterparts. So my admiration goes to Hillary Clinton who has picked herself up from her presidential failure to become a splendid Secretary of State. I'll even forgive her her crush on David Miliband since I think he's pretty dishy too.

Which public figure did you least admire?
I have honestly tried not to state the obvious, but it has to be George W Bush, the dangerously inept 43rd incumbent of the office once graced by giants like Lincoln and Adams. In the face of the pleasure offered by the plethora of desk calendars chronicling his faux pas and cringe-making gaffes, it's easy to dismiss him as a buffoon. Until you remember Iraq – 'Job Done' – Afghanistan and Hurricane Katrina. May he subside into the obscurity from which he should never have arisen.