Joost Vandecasteele

Do we still sing the praises of folly like Erasmus, or is it trendy again to be smart? And if so, who is the smartest? Who can talk about the medals won at the Olympic Games in London, but at the same time knows who Captain Haddock is? Who knows whether Lacan was a hair growth product or a psychoanalyst and can also program their own digital television? Who has déjà vu when leafing through the Encyclopedia Britannica and when reading the interviews with the new Miss Waregem Koerse? Who, oh who, is the smartest person in Flanders, Belgium, Europe, and by extension, the world? That is determined by a fierce battle between three fellow human beings. Every day, someone is eliminated, someone who may not be the smartest, but who is perhaps cherished in their family circle because of their many other talents. The others advance and are joined by a new challenger every day.

Fed up with her banal existence, Ann ditches her life as it is. Dragging her two best friends along, she navigates a year of brutally-honest madness, enlightened by mental field trips to the Stone Age and unsolicited superhero advice.

In this end of the year special, Joost Vandecasteele profiles himself as a correspondent of the only war everyone is involved in, including Aunt Trudy, namely the culture war. Prepare for sharp jokes, blunt insults and unnecessary outpourings.