Bassas and Alfageme, together in a podcast to understand life and the world

BarcelonaThere are particular states of mind that are, in reality, widely shared by society. Exploring this collective dimension of certain ailments is what prompted journalist Antoni Bassas and psychologist Alba Alfageme to sit down together in front of the microphone to create the podcast. The clear water"The Importance of Caregiving," "I Suffer for the World We Will Leave to Our Children," "What Happens to Men," and "They Are Preparing Us for War" are some of the starting points for the ten episodes that have already been recorded. Each episode also features a notable interview with names such as Marina Garcés, Genís Roca, Carme Colomina, and Ferran Sáez-Mateu.

The introductory episode, which premieres this Tuesday, is titled "I Don't Watch the News Anymore," and features journalist Gemma Nierga as the guest. A second episode is also available ("Is a Lifelong Partnership Possible?", with gynecologist and sexologist Raquel Tulleuda as the interviewee), and the rest will appear periodically throughout the remainder of the year, with the aim of making more seasons if the reception is good.

"The podcast world is very Spanish-speaking, except for a few very specific successful titles, but we want to believe there's room for offering content in Catalan," Bassas explains to the ARA. "We want to focus on issues that create real and objective social unrest, but that are transmitted in an atmosphere highly charged with different types of violence and tension. Ultimately, it's about recognizing and addressing the problem, to make people understand that they are not alone, that the evil is shared, and therefore, that we can think together as a group."

Alfageme, for its part, champions the value of emotional comfort in the face of "the crisis of values that, unfortunately, accompanies us." In fact, one of the podcast's guiding mottos is "understanding the world to live better" and, thus, believes that these conversations and interviews can be "an intellectual, emotional, and even spiritual refuge with which to find answers to the big questions." And some of the questions are current, but others are the same ones that generations and generations have asked before. Perhaps now we should also talk about emotional hardship... and try to offer shelter."

The psychologist and columnist for ARA also claims that The clear water, with its generous 50 minutes in length, is "a calm podcast, in which people speak calmly," and in Catalan. "There are many podcasts about psychology made in Spanish, but this creates a linguistic distance. In Catalan... it comes across differently, and it's more experiential. So, apart from language activism, we could also talk about emotional activism, because we want to make it relatable," he concludes.

The podcast is a production of Alguien Pregunta, Bassas's company responsible for formats on various Catalan and Spanish television channels such as APM?, Beasts & Flames, Fitmés, Feministic, Frikiliks and What can come of harm?