In 2025 it felt as though the world itself had dementia. But though incurable, it’s a disease that can be treated

A few days before he took his last, mercifully peaceful, breath, my husband, Ian Reinecke, looked at me intently and asked: “Is there anything going on in the world I need to know about?”

“No, nothing,” I said as calmly as I could to the man with whom I had intensely discussed events in the world and at home for nearly 50 years.