The rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, becomes emotional when explaining the honoris causa he has just awarded to the medical director of BioNTech: “They are one step away from finding a vaccine for cancer. Do you know what that means?” He tells us this to a group of members of the UB Social Council, gathered on a cold March morning. The German Özlem Türeci has indeed predicted that in ten years, treating cancer with mRNA vaccines will be commonplace. This is one of the “wonderful things,” as the rector says, that happen in our universities daily and which do not always receive the attention they deserve.

I've had the opportunity to observe female entrepreneurship both through social research and my own experience. This dual perspective allows me to state quite emphatically that when women become entrepreneurs, they not only create companies, but they also silently challenge the model of leadership and success that we have thus far taken for granted. It's not just about how many companies they run, but about how they design them, what relationships they build, and what kind of impact they seek.

Every day, headlines and sweeping statements about artificial intelligence and work circulate, fueling collective anxiety: that AI will destroy millions of jobs, that it will replace people, that it will end up controlling us, or that it is a threat to society. These are expressions of a diffuse, often irrational fear, characteristic of what psychology identifies as confusional anxieties: when the risk is not well defined, the fear is magnified. The only way to reduce this anxiety is to confront it with data and sound judgment, distinguishing what is true and what is not regarding the real impact of AI on the world of work.

Amid the avalanche of pink gifts and gifts to "feel like princesses", influencers Or actresses, makeup for 3-year-old girls shines brightly. "Fun and family-friendly" makeup for before school, according to retailers. So the answer to the question that heads this article is YeahMany mothers and fathers will be giving a gift this holiday season. kit of makeup to their three-year-old daughters... perhaps without realizing that, with that seemingly innocent gift, they are also giving them a critical view of their own bodies from ages when they should be able to live freely, without pressure, without aesthetic self-censorship and without the feeling that they must "improve" themselves to be good enough.

Every December, the conversation resurfaces in gatherings and after-dinner conversations: should we spend money on Christmas lights, or is it an unnecessary expense? Figures are thrown around—economic cost, commercial return, energy consumption—and, almost always, the debate ends there. But this way of thinking reveals much more about how we view life than about the lights themselves. It has invisible but significant shortcomings. Reducing a public initiative to a cost-benefit analysis is a convenient, but inadequate, way to understand what truly motivates people.

Every year, Barcelona becomes a showcase of the urban future. Robots that clean streets, smart grids, sensors that monitor air quality and mobility... While technology advances at a breakneck pace, one question arises forcefully: can a city truly be "smart" if it doesn't improve the emotional, relational, and community lives of its inhabitants? After more than a decade of smart citiesIt seems clear that technical intelligence is not enough. The great task ahead is to evolve towards a new paradigm: the "City 5.0," where technology serves human well-being, not the other way around.

With this dramatic plea – "Don't take away our hours of sunshine!" – many people have expressed themselves on social media after learning that the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has proposed to the European Union to abolish daylight saving time that occur twice a year (we just had the one corresponding to autumn) and leave only one stable schedule throughout the year.

There is a commodity scarcer than water and more precious than gold: the time that eludes us. Everyone talks about it, everyone pursues it, but not everyone possesses it equally. In societies that advance and generate new rights, the right to time emerges with force. But who can truly exercise it?

There are injections that heal, but others can hurt deeply. The images ofinfluencers and celebrities promoting themselves on social media with Ozempic slimming syringes are leaving a lasting impression on adolescents. Almost half of Catalan girls aged 12 to 16 (47%) want to lose weight—according to the Catalan Women's Institute—although the vast majority already have a healthy, balanced body. This unfounded desire erodes self-esteem, fuels obsessive thoughts, and triggers anxiety to the brink of depression. The allure of extreme thinness, presented as a desire, becomes a path to emotional pain.

An English proverb says that every cloud has a silver lining, and this is a beautiful definition of hope. When a bright spot opens in a dark political moment, it's worth celebrating. A successful shared leadership experience has both surprised and excited many people affected by so-called "democratic fatigue." On June 13, Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander, Chief Financial Officer of the City of New York, announced a cross-endorsementMamdani asked his voters to vote for Lander as a second candidate, and Lander, in turn, did the same for Mamdani. The two were vying to win the Democratic Party nomination for mayor of New York, but their rivalry didn't prevent a close alliance. If one of them was eliminated, the other's votes would flow directly to the incumbent candidate, strengthening his position. Together, they were much stronger than apart: Lander brought political structure, his base in Brooklyn, and enormous experience; Mamdani ran a vibrant campaign among young people, immigrants, and progressive communities.

The ecological transition seems to generate less and less enthusiasm among the working class, to the point that "climate denialism" continues to grow, driven by the far right. In a courageous article, the journalist. Joan Burdeos He spoke directly about the left's failure to positively lead this fight. It's paradoxical that, while the poor and working-class are the ones who suffer the most from the consequences of climate change, they are the ones turning their backs on it. If we don't address the causes of this disaffection, it will be difficult to reverse.

The generation of the baby boom We have grown up immersed in a mythical belief: significant economic growth is necessary to eliminate poverty. Only with a very large pie can there be enough slices for everyone. This metaphor has been a recurring theme in speeches. The idea of "making the pie bigger so everyone can eat" has been part of the Spanish political discourse throughout the democratic era as the best way to reduce poverty and increase general well-being. This logic is particularly invoked in debates against proposals that prioritize redistribution without prior growth.

I read: "How could I have been so wrong? / How did I think you would fight / for my dark history? / How did I believe you could do it all […]?" and immediately all the relationships I've had throughout my life come to mind, my own and others', all with their hidden corners of doubts, fears, tenderness, and longings. This is one of the superpowers of poetry: with a few verses it draws an entire life, tears it open, and caresses it.

A few days ago, a professional named Anna shared a recent experience on LinkedIn. She wanted to share it because it had had a profound impact on her. A close person, who loved her, made her think deeply. Anna is going through a difficult personal process, but it's "human, normal, and everyday," in her words. The person close to her asked her to see her doctor for a treatment prescription. "Treatment?" Anna asked. "Yes, for depression or anxiety or whatever it is you have." And her response was clear and direct. "I don't suffer from depression or anxiety. I experience sadness at times because of the mourning I'm experiencing, for what is no longer, and never will be." She then recounted how surprised she was to have to manage any emotion she simply had to live with and let go with drug treatment, a pill. She concluded that this is an increasingly common mistake in a society where it's easier to numb the symptom than to address the source.

The business world tends to practice discretion in political terms in order to maintain a certain neutrality that does not harm its interests. But we are immersed in uncertain times and some companies are beginning to speak out in defense of the values that have seen them born and grow, the founding values of European democracy.