Podcast Summary: Hoy por Hoy
Segment: La mirada | Ignacio Peyró: "Grito hacia Estocolmo"
Date: October 10, 2025
Host: Ángels Barceló
Collaborator: Ignacio Peyró
Overview
This segment features Ignacio Peyró’s signature column "La mirada", where he offers his critical—often witty—commentary on current events and cultural phenomena. In this episode, Peyró turns his attention to the annual awarding of the Nobel Prize for Literature. He questions the system’s frequency and criticizes the sometimes unpredictable or controversial choices of laureates. Peyró’s tone is both tongue-in-cheek and pointed, deftly illustrating how such major awards can seem arbitrary—even capricious—when making choices among the world’s great writers.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. On the Frequency and Process of Major Prizes
- Peyró compares the Nobel, Cervantes, and Princess of Asturias literary prizes to international sporting events, arguing that:
“Los premios Nobel como los Cervantes o los Princesas de Asturias tendrían que ser como los mundiales de atletismo, esto es, que hubiera uno cada cuatro años.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 00:10)
- He suggests that having annual prizes leads to rushed decisions:
“…cuando hay que elegir uno al año, vienen las prisas y con las prisas vienen los horrores.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 00:16)
2. Critique of Past Prize Decisions
- Peyró references a particularly “incongruous” year when two very different poets shared the Cervantes Prize:
“…como aquella vez que el Cervantes premió a la limón a un poeta competente como Gerardo Diego y a un genio del siglo como Jorge Luis Borges.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 00:21)
3. Power and Subjectivity of Prize Committees
- He highlights the paradoxical power granted to a select group in Sweden:
“Es llamativo el poder que otorgamos a unos académicos suecos a la hora de conceder las estrellas Michelin de la literatura mundial.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 00:27)
- Points out that major Spanish writers like Galdós and Cervantes himself would likely be overlooked by today’s Nobel standards, poking fun at the prize’s alleged aversion to “lightness”.
4. Personal Reflections as a Cultural Journalist
- Peyró shares his former skepticism as a journalist:
“…siempre premiaban a un poeta islandés de poca obra al que no había leído nadie o, por el contrario, se lo daban a Vargas Llosa y había que morir en la redacción.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 00:38)
5. Reassessment with Recent Laureates
- Acknowledges a more recent satisfaction with the selection of László Krasznahorkai, admiring the consistency and quality of the Hungarian writer, despite his “impenetrable” name.
- Inserts a gentle critique of the apparent neglect of Spanish-language writers:
“…entre los 500 millones de hispanohablantes no hay ningún Enrique Vilamatas al que premiar.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 01:11)
6. Final Quip and "Advice" to the Academics
- Peyró ends with a play on words, telling the Swedish Academy not to “hacerse los suecos” (“pretend not to notice” or, literally, “act Swedish”), and wishing listeners a pleasant Friday:
“Lo diré con una frase que seguro que les chifla: En esto, señores académicos, no se hagan los suecos.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 01:19)
“Feliz viernes.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 01:27)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
“Los premios Nobel...tendrían que ser como los mundiales de atletismo, esto es, que hubiera uno cada cuatro años.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 00:10)
-
“Es llamativo el poder que otorgamos a unos académicos suecos a la hora de conceder las estrellas Michelin de la literatura mundial.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 00:27)
-
“Cuando era periodista cultural recuerdo haber aborrecido el Nobel porque siempre premiaban a un poeta islandés de poca obra al que no había leído nadie...”
(Ignacio Peyró, 00:38)
-
“Eso sí, entre los 500 millones de hispanohablantes no hay ningún Enrique Vilamatas al que premiar.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 01:11)
-
“En esto, señores académicos, no se hagan los suecos. Feliz viernes.”
(Ignacio Peyró, 01:19–01:27)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 00:08–00:16 — Introduction; critique on the frequency of literary awards.
- 00:17–00:27 — Examples of questionable prize pairings and power of Swedish Academy.
- 00:28–00:38 — Personal reflections as a cultural journalist; issues with Nobel selections.
- 00:39–01:11 — On current laureates, naming a Hungarian writer, and lamenting Spanish-language omissions.
- 01:12–01:27 — Final admonition to the Prize committee and sign-off.
Tone & Style: Ignacio Peyró maintains a clever, sharp, and slightly irreverent tone—balancing erudite observations with playful jabs at the literary establishment.
For anyone interested in how cultural awards shape public literary conversation—and in hearing candid, sharply observed commentary—this segment is a must-listen.
