Podcast Summary: Hoy por Hoy | ¿Cuáles son tus preocupaciones?, el viaje de ida de Irene Claremont y la charla con Janet Novás | Magazine

SER Podcast – 3 de diciembre, 2025

Overview

This episode of Hoy por Hoy Magazine, hosted by Àngels Barceló and including voices like Marta Sanz, Manuel Delgado, and special guest Janet Novás (National Dance Prize and Goya winner), is structured around three main axes: reflections on the nature of preoccupations (preocupaciones) and anxiety in everyday life; a biographical and historical journey exploring the lives of Irene Claremont & José Castillejo, central figures in Spain’s Silver Age; and an intimate conversation with Janet Novás about dance, the body, and the precariousness of the profession.

The episode is rich with personal stories, cultural musings, and audience participation, maintaining its signature blend of wit, depth, and relatability.

1. “El Rincón y la Esquina”: On Worries and Preoccupations

Origin of the Theme

• Prompted by a behind-the-scenes anecdote: the team’s concern when Severino Donate failed to send the program script on time, triggering a spiral of imaginative, anxious scenarios among Marta Sanz, Reina, and Manuel Delgado.
• [03:00] Reina: “Yo creo que nuestras preocupaciones nacen un poco de nuestra capacidad para anticipar los problemas... la fantasía y las preocupaciones tienen mucho que ver.”
• [04:33] Manuel Delgado: Defines preocupación (worry) as what comes before an ‘occupation’, an anticipation triggered either by real circumstances or by our imagination.

Typology and Mechanisms of Worry

• Personal Anxiety:

  • Some people, especially imaginative or “peliculeros”, are more likely to foresee multiple scenarios and thus worry more but maybe find more creative solutions.
  • Somatization: Worry manifests physically—people look distracted, “tienen cara de preocupado.”
  • Obsession: The extreme form of worry.

• Strategic Pessimism:

  • [06:24] Manuel Delgado: “Siempre es mejor ponerse en lo peor. Lo que sea siempre será mejor de lo que nos hemos imaginado.”

• Cultural Differences:

  • The myth of the carefree Mediterranean vs. the “efficient, worried, and punctual” northern European is discussed, though everyone agrees these stereotypes often don’t hold.
  • Reference to Billy Wilder’s “Avanti!” and how worry manifests culturally.

• Categorizing Worries:

  • [13:00] Manuel Delgado: “Hay el tema de la preocupación cósmica… de dónde venimos, a dónde vamos.”
  • Connects with existential questions à la Woody Allen: “¿Existe Dios? ¿Cuál es el sentido de la vida?” and notes their impossibility.

Notable Exchange (humor & gender):

• [06:31] Manuel Delgado: playfully references men and pajama-wearing habits, drawing laughs and quick rebuffs; a lighter moment showing how trivial worries can spiral.

Collective and Induced Worries

• Media & Politics:
  • Many collective anxieties are “induced” by media, states, and institutions that benefit from keeping citizens worried (pandemics, terrorism, climate catastrophe).
• [17:52] Manuel Delgado: “Tenemos que tener siempre una razón profunda para estar acojonados.”
• Agenda of Worry:
  • What constitutes a “real” worry is influenced by social hierarchy, gender, and privilege.
  • [19:20] Reina: “La agenda de nuestras preocupaciones siempre tiene que ver con nuestra cultura, nuestra raza, nuestro género, nuestra clase...”

Worries and Gender

• Historically, “women’s worries” (care, domesticity) have been sidelined as secondary concerns.
• The importance of acknowledging different scales and hierarchies of worry.

The Role of God and Cosmic Worrying

• [21:16] Marta Sanz: poses, tongue-in-cheek, whether God worries about us.
• [21:23] Manuel Delgado: “Dios está ahí, pim pam, a su rollo, pero tiene un tipo de obligación con respecto a los que somos los inquilinos de un planeta…”
• References to biblical floods and whether God, too, gets tired of “our constant worrying.”

Quote:

• [25:28] Reina: "Hay que vivir pese a la preocupación y las preocupaciones… hay que mantener la alegría pero sin caer tampoco en el gilipollismo."

Music and Pop Culture on Worry

• Expresses aversion to oversimplistic “smile, don’t worry” songs like “Don’t Worry Be Happy” or advertising jingles, which trivialize the seriousness of some concerns.

2. Listener Participation: Testimonies and Perspectives on Worry

Rosario from Málaga [30:13]

• Shares the evolution of maternal worry: from manipulative anxiety while raising children to learning to manage stories once her now-adult children tell her things mostly “so she gives them the reason, not for her to fix them.”
• “Si yo no lo puedo solucionar, no me lo cuentes. Cuando esté todo arreglado, viene y me lo dice.”
  [30:41]

Arantxa from Madrid [34:46]

• Perspective on the relative scale of problems; after losing family members, everyday worries are insignificant—what matters is to “poner perspectiva”.
• “En esta vida lo único que no tiene solución es la muerte.”
  [36:02]

Reflection on Parental Worry

• Parental worry can morph into over-protection and anxiety, as humorously portrayed through references to Finding Nemo.
• Manuel circles back to the idea that most “preoccupations,” even about health, were rarely as bad as imagined.

3. Biographical Segment: The Journey of Irene Claremont and José Castillejo

(Reported by Pepe Rubio with contributions from multiple voices)

Background

• Their story illustrates educational modernity and the cultural ferment of Spain’s Silver Age.
• Irene Claremont: English, intellectual, “lady” turned rural Spanish wife and memoirist
• José Castillejo: Roman law professor, pedagogue, modernizer.

Key Moments and Quotes

• Contrasts and Encounters:

  • Irene’s first impression: “No me interesó su calva… pero aún no lo había visto cara a cara y no era consciente de un encanto abrumador.” [43:08]

• Their Life Together:

  • Rural life in Madrid, open house to all, educational reform, excursions by burro or train, crossing caste and culture.
  • “En España no hay español capaz de hablar y andar simultáneamente.” [49:34] (Irene’s wry outsider view)
  • Castillejo’s educational legacy: fundamental in bringing scholarship programs (“the first Erasmus”), austerity, and shaping cultural elites of Spain’s Silver Age.

• Exile and War:

  • Hardship of the Civil War, false accusations, survival thanks to contacts and embassies, subsequent exile in London and Geneva.
  • “Me llevaron para matarme”, susurró todavía con miedo y horror en los ojos. [53:32]

• Aftermath:

  • Irene’s resilience: Instead of succumbing to nostalgia, she becomes a student of Jung and pursues a career in child psychology.

• Conservation of Memory:

  • The Olivar de Castillejo in Madrid, both as a physical and metaphorical space of memory and resistance.

4. Interview – Janet Novás: Dance, Body, and Creativity [from 59:01]

Identity and the Body

• Janet reflects on dance as an embodied knowledge, a “conocimiento ancestral”.
• The importance of the body as memory, history, and essential connection, especially in times of disconnection.
• “En tiempos como los que corren, volver al cuerpo es una urgencia…”
  [63:17]

Formation and Family

• Early experiences: rhythmic gymnastics and traditional Galician dance.
• The “pulse” of baile gallego continues to influence her work.
• The challenge with parents, “Deja que la niña baile”, and later the shock when the “career” becomes serious.

Artistic Transmission

• Her aim is to reach not just “artistic” audiences, but her own roots—rural, older people, embodying a sense of justice and accessibility.

On Emotion and Artistry

• For Janet, emotion predates comprehension:
  • “Primero viene la emoción, que es la que activa algo… nos coloca a todos en un mismo nivel.”
    [67:22]
• The (im)possibility of lying with the body: “El cuerpo no miente.”

Precarity of Dance

• Despite dance pervading pop culture (videoclips, tiktoks), there is little institutional support.
• “Tener tres funciones seguidas en un teatro es muchísimo. Lo normal es una.”
  [69:32]
• She laments the lack of cultural policy, the lack of circuits (“la pescadilla que se muerde la cola…”), and the media’s focus elsewhere.

Media and Visibility

• The contrast in the visibility and audience impact between cinema and dance.
• “Me quedó impresionada de la repercusión de la prensa con la película Ocorno… pero eso no se traslada a la danza.”

Her Artistic Path

• She doesn’t “fit” easily in categories, oscillates between mainstream and ‘underground’, and this sometimes complicates her career.
• Even her cinematic break (“Ocorno”) came through dance.

Creative Exhaustion and Freedom

• Janet shares the exhaustion of constant self-direction, the attractivity of being “told what to do”, and the perspective gained from working in film.

On Her Parents’ Reaction

• Family found more connection and pride in her film work than in her avant-garde dance career.

5. Closing Reflections & Memorable Moments

On Everyday Objects and Memory

• Light-hearted segment on souvenir magnets, swords from Toledo, and childhood “machete” memories—an exploration of how gifts carry stories (or confusion).

Final Thoughts

• Marta and Janet stress the importance of living with worry but not succumbing to its most paralyzing or trivializing forms, maintaining joy without “gilipollismo”.
• Music and laughter—ending the episode dancing “canciones que ni conocemos, pero bailemos…” [85:13]

Notable Quotes

• “La fantasía y las preocupaciones tienen mucho que ver.”
  — Reina, [03:00]

• “Siempre es mejor ponerse en lo peor… porque lo que sea siempre será mejor de lo que nos hemos imaginado.”
  — Manuel Delgado, [04:33]

• “Dios está ahí, pim pam, a su rollo, pero tiene un tipo de obligación…”
  — Manuel Delgado, [21:23]

• “Hay que vivir pese a la preocupación… mantener la alegría pero sin caer tampoco en el gilipollismo.”
  — Reina, [25:28]

• “Primero viene la emoción, que es la que activa algo… nos coloca a todos en un mismo nivel.”
  — Janet Novás, [67:22]

• “El cuerpo no miente. Con la palabra se miente. El cuerpo no miente.”
  — Marta Sanz & Janet Novás, [67:54-67:59]

• “Es que no hay circuito… Los teatros no apuestan por la danza porque está el público, la danza contemporánea no se entiende…”
  — Janet Novás, [69:40]

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------|---------------| | Origin & Definitions of Worry | 01:17–06:29 | | Collective and Gendered Preoccupations | 16:44–21:16 | | Listener Calls & Reflections | 30:00–36:44 | | Journey of Irene Claremont & Castillejo | 40:20–58:45 | | Interview: Janet Novás | 59:01–76:16 | | Life Objects, Gifts & Farewells | 80:07–84:54 | | Final Dancing & Closing Remarks | 84:54–85:54 |

Tone & Language

The episode is witty, intellectual yet down-to-earth, balancing deep philosophical reflections on worry with humor, storytelling, and emotional candor. The voices of Marta, Manuel, and Janet are conversational and relatable, blending self-deprecation with poetic insight.

Summary Takeaway

Hoy por Hoy's December 3, 2025 episode uses the thread of everyday worry to unravel complex webs of personal, cultural, and existential themes, celebrates hidden stories from Spain’s past, amplifies the voices of artists who work with their bodies, and invites us to dance, in every sense, despite it all.