Although there are several theories about the origins of ‘Boxing Day’, the name probably derives from the tendency to give gifts to the poor or, more specifically, money ‘boxes’ to those in need. Postal and other service workers in South Africa used to knock on the door around this time, asking for a ‘Christmas box’. I remember receiving several such ‘boxes’ or envelopes around this time when I was a newspaper delivery boy. Today, the practice is mostly dying out – or even outlawed – but the idea remains in Santa Shoeboxes, a project to distribute personalised gifts to underprivileged children across South Africa.
This year I want to ‘give’ my Christmas box to those service providers who’ve added more value to 2022 than what I gave in return.
In 2022, I discovered podcasts. I’ve known about them for a while, of course, but I just never ‘had the time’. With a new addition to the household at the end of 2021, and the need to take him for walks around the block, 2022 gave me the ideal opportunity to dive into podcasts. And how I enjoyed them!
Steven Levitt’s People I Mostly Admire has been fantastic. There are many fantastic episodes, but I particularly enjoyed his conversations with his publicist Suzanne Gluck, cosmologist Max Tegmark, geographer Jared Diamond, historian Brad Gregory, geneticist Jennifer Doudna and, most recently, the author John Green. I also recommend Russ Roberts at EconTalk and Tyler Cowen at Conversations with Tyler. Tyler’s conversation with poet Dana Gioia is memorable. I’ve also listened to several episodes of Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth’s No Stupid Questions. And most recently, I’ve discovered history podcasts, notably, The Rest is History with Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. Recent ones on the death of Michael Servetus and Dutch maids stand out.
Continuing the Dutch theme, this was a year in which travel opened up again. It was wonderful to visit old places (Lund and Utrecht) and new ones (Gran Canaria). I particularly appreciated attending the valedictory lectures of Jan Luiten van Zanden, my PhD supervisor, and Maarten Prak at an inspiring event in the Dom cathedral in Utrecht. (The timing was good, too, as it followed my inaugural lecture at Stellenbosch only a month earlier.)
Jan Luiten and Maarten have a new book, Pioneers of Capitalism, which should be on everyone’s reading list for next year. There were several books I particularly enjoyed this year. To name just three relatively unknown ones: The Social Instict by Nichola Raihani, a book about cooperation and competition in human and non-human species, The Power Law, by Sebastian Mallaby, on the dawn of the venture capital industry, and, in Afrikaans, Joan Kruger’s Wieg, the biography of Marie Buisset – Maria du Plessis – who would become the progenitor of the Du Plessis and Snith families in South Africa. Thank you to those authors who certainly gave me more value than what I paid for.
What first-time authors often don’t know, as I certainly did not, is that finishing the manuscript is only half the effort. Marketing a book requires as much, if not more time, dedication, and patience. After Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom was published in August by Cambridge University Press, many told their friends about it. I was invited to talk at several events, including a trip to Amsterdam. Tyler Cowen even gave a shout-out on Marginal Revolution.
Marginal Revolution is a blog I frequently read, but the one I follow on an almost daily basis is Arseblog. Voiceover and Arsenal fan Andrew Mangan started Arseblog in 2002, and this year celebrated two decades of daily posts about the English football club Arsenal. That is an unbelievably impressive achievement. Arseblog has been part of my lunch routine for the better part of a decade, and it keeps on getting better. Thank you, Andrew. Other recommended blogs are Isaac Samuel’s African History Extra, Erik Hoel’s The Intrinsic Perspective, Noah Smith’s Noahpinion and Bryan Caplan’s Bet On It.
Finally, a big thank you to you, the reader. In July, I switched from WordPress to Substack. Since then, my readership has grown by 80%. It was this post that particularly attracted many new subscribers. There are now more readers of a single Our Long Walk post than all the students I taught across all my classes in 2022 combined! Thanks to everyone who has liked, commented on, or shared posts. There are some exciting plans for next year to expand and deepen the conversation. More on that soon.
For now, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. On to 2023!
Photo by Maja Il on Unsplash. Also, a big thank you to Codera Analytics, who faithfully provide the graphs that populate most of my columns. And to Substack, who has made blogging fun and easy. If you’re an aspirant author, consider starting your own Substack.