On Tuesday, pundit Sarah Santaolalla left the debate table of the program En boca de todos in tears, on Cuatro. Not only did she suffer the abusive and degrading treatment of another collaborator, Antonio Naranjo, but the most sensationalist and cynical presenter on current television, Nacho Abad, tolerated it for the sake of the show.Santaolalla has become a very popular progressive and feminist political analyst on various debate shows. Her combative spirit has made her a highly sought-after collaborator. She has been the victim of harassment, threats, escraches and aggressions by the far-right, including the pursuits of the incendiary Vito Quiles. For a week now, the pundit has had her arm in a sling due to a tug from this character when he was provoking and filming her with a camera. Last monthLast month she also received the sexist disdain of Rosa Belmonte on El hormiguero, who sexualized her to intellectually humiliate her.All of this has gone viral on social media. Logically, the confrontation scene on En boca de todos too. Later, Santaolalla issued a statement renouncing her continued participation in the program. The spectacle, which provokes revulsion, hints at the aggressiveness allowed against female pundits, especially if they are young. Naranjo, Ayuso's soldier in debate tables and a propagandist on her Telemadrid show, turns incessant and inflammatory verbosity into a weapon of destruction. It was sad that, after this scene, Pilar Rahola, who was observing it via video call, instead of lamenting it as a pundit experienced in these discussions, limited herself to listing all the threats she had received as if it were a competition with Santaolalla. Ego over common sense.The show alerts us to two not-so-innocent television trends, which have to do with the programs that have at some point hired Santaolalla as a pundit: En boca de todos, Todo es mentira, Mañaneros 360 and Malas lenguas. They call them talk shows, but they have become confrontation machines to generate viral clips. Provocation is encouraged, and antagonists are chosen to maximize the clash. Everything is designed to favor clickbait. Covertly, it is a disciplinary practice, because the participants themselves know that they must contribute effectively to the circus if they do not want to be expelled. It has nothing to do with journalism. It is a way of polarizing and degrading public discourse. The codes of reality are invading the talk show genre. This strategy brings to light another more subtle aspect: these programs look for young and vehement female pundits who best fit hegemonic beauty standards, so they contribute to the appeal. It is easier for veteran men to attack them. No matter how valid they are, more and more aesthetic pressure is exerted on political analysts to aestheticize the battlefield. Words matter less and less to them.

In recent months, one name has appeared frequently on television: Sarah Santaolalla (Salamanca, 1998). With a progressive outlook and a law degree, she often appears as a political analyst on various programs and has moderated important events—such as the Spanish government's commemoration of International Women's Day (March 8th) or the Conversation between Gabriel Rufián and Emilio Delgado—and has engaged in heated verbal clashes with the PP. Four months ago, in an interview with The CountryShe recalled that her childhood dream was to be president of the Spanish government and has explained several times that she doesn't rule out eventually entering politics, although not in the short term. For now, she's on the front lines, both on and off television: the far right leaked her phone number and has flooded her WhatsApp. She admits that she finds it difficult to be around people who don't understand her positions—"it's not sectarianism, it's solidarity," she says—although her "closest" friends are right-wing.