There’s no shortage of discourse and debate out there right now, but what happened to keeping it civil? All too often, what passes for debate on politics or the economy or the environment is little more than a steady stream of sensationalistic attacks and unreasoned cajoling.

Ludwig Guttman is one of the unsung heroes of our times, the man who transformed the life chances and expectations of millions of spinally-injured people throughout the world, and who — incidentally — was the founding father of the international Paralympic movement.

Buying into a particular life script — a sequence of life stages that define what we do and when we do it — is easy to do without full consideration. Are we living old, inadequate scripts or are we adapting to new times and circumstances?

Charlie Sheen and Bernie Madoff are just two of the latest examples showing that yes, character really does matter. As I state in the title of one of my books, character disturbance is the phenomenon of our age.

You’re going about your daily business and suddenly some music starts and a man or woman next to you begins singing along; other people join in, and before you know it, you’re witnessing what seems to be a random group of people coming together to perform a kind of miracle — a shared experience of sheer delight.

For about five days in January, Atlanta was paralysed by a freak ice storm that turned mighty interstates into ice rinks. However, the real spectacle was watching Atlantans deal with this unexpected and unwelcome visitor.

Many interviewers have seemed uncomfortable with the Ted Williams story, and in particular his not very politically correct assertions about character deficiencies and shame. Personally, I am inspired.