I’m all for the freedom of the press. But a conversation with a friend about the mafia recently provoked the most bizarre dream – and one that, on waking and remembering, is probably on the boundaries of “hot or not”.

See, a brave young woman journalist had just written a story exposing mafia corruption. It had attracted plenty of attention; the local mafia don was most displeased and demanded that she be taught a lesson in discretion. So his henchmen snatched her from the street. They took her to a disused warehouse, stripped her, tied her naked with her arms suspended from the ceiling, and whipped her soundly.

On being freed, she naturally wrote another article, this time describing her ordeal. And that evening, there were three naked girls tied in a line being flogged – the journalist’s sister, her closest work colleague, and her best friend.

Sometimes I think my subconscious might be a tad perverted…