'Anyone who reads a column titled “I keep sighing. Is it because of my odd socks?” cannot legitimately complain about a lack of drama,’ wrote Dowling in his summary of 2020. He has been writing a much-loved weekly column about his family and life in London as an American for 14 years, detailing the inanities of the everyday with tenderness and humour.

Freeman has been writing for the Guardian since 2000 and her regular Saturday column is as broad-ranging as her own interests. “I am very familiar with being accused of caring too much about frivolity in times of gravity,” Freeman wrote last year in a column arguing that talking about ‘extremely stupid stuff’ was a necessary tonic in these times.

From interviewing celebrities in bed to feuding with squirrels, they have given their own personal responses to a year under lockdown. But what is it like producing a weekly column when you are stuck in your own home? And how does a columnist respond to a crisis of this scale? Freeman and Dowling will join chair Zoe Williams as they share their experiences of 2020, and answer your questions at this livestreamed event.

Running time: 60 minutes

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