Podcast Summary: La mirada | Maruja Torres: "Polarizaciones nocturnas"

Podcast: Hoy por Hoy
Host: SER Podcast
Date: September 24, 2025
Main Contributor: Maruja Torres
Segment Start: [00:08]

Episode Overview

This episode features Maruja Torres delivering her reflection, titled "Polarizaciones nocturnas," in her regular editorial-style commentary as part of the "La mirada" section. Torres dissects the current narrative around social polarization, using a sharp allegory to examine where real polarization originates and who is responsible for it. Through a personal and humorous fictional scenario, she invites listeners to exercise critical thinking and refuse false equivalence in the discourse on division within society.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Questioning False Equivalence in Polarization

• Torres challenges the common argument that polarization is mutual, or a phenomenon equally created by "both sides".
• She introduces an absurd but illustrative analogy: sharing a flat with neighbors, only to be continuously harassed by one particularly vile neighbor.
  • Quote:
    • "Cada vez que escucho o leo que existe polarización por las dos partes, desenfundo mi sentido común."
      (Maruja Torres, 00:12)

2. The Flatmate Metaphor

• Torres imagines herself as a co-owner of an apartment (in reality, she lives alone and rents—adding a touch of self-deprecating humor).

  • She humorously tells furibundos antipensionistas to leave her alone, reinforcing her distance from certain social criticisms.

• The "neighbor" in her scenario behaves abusively:

  • Leaves excrement at her door daily.
  • Publicly insults her, spreads false accusations (e.g., her "suegro tenía un burdel"), and incites others to evict her.
  • Takes his hostility to public arenas—yelling in the street, shops, even pharmacies.

• Quote:

  • "Vamos a suponer que tengo un vecino en el mismo rellano que me deja una mierda en la puerta cada mañana [...] Vamos a suponerlo así como que en cada reunión de la escalera el mencionado individuo de mi fantasía me llama hija de puta, afirma falsamente que mi suegro tenía un burdel y alienta a expulsarme."
    (Maruja Torres, 00:28–00:46)

3. On Responding to Hostility

• After enduring this provocation, Torres imagines responding not with similar aggression, but by using the hostile act (the excrement) to create a facial mask and calmly applying it to the neighbor—an act of ironic, creative retaliation.
  • The metaphor highlights the difference between reacting and being the source of a toxic dynamic.
• Quote:
  • "Un día me canso y en lugar de recoger la mierda y arrojarla en silencio a la basura, la mando a un laboratorio y allí la convierten en una mascarilla para el cutis con la que embadurno finamente el rostro del insultante."
    (Maruja Torres, 01:06–01:17)

4. Reframing Polarization

• Torres asks: Has she now "polarized" the relationship? Her answer is a resounding no—the person who enacts continuous aggression is the true polarizer, regardless of how the victim chooses to defend or respond.
• She denounces the notion that defending oneself or returning some kind of response is equated with the original hostility.
  • She closes with a sharp line about "polarizaciones nocturnas" to characterize the deep, ongoing obsession of the aggressor.
• Quote:
  • "Mi sentido común me indica que quien polariza es aquel que sigue cagando su mierda y poniéndola en mi puerta y que de pura impotencia tiene hasta polarizaciones nocturnas."
    (Maruja Torres, 01:32–01:42)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Cada vez que escucho o leo que existe polarización por las dos partes, desenfundo mi sentido común."
  (00:12) – Setting up her skepticism and wit against the 'two-sides' trope.

• "Vamos a suponerlo así como que en cada reunión de la escalera el mencionado individuo de mi fantasía me llama hija de puta..."
  (00:36) – Deploying vivid, satirical scenarios to paint the nature of aggression.

• "La mando a un laboratorio y allí la convierten en una mascarilla para el cutis..."
  (01:08) – Wry humor and metaphor about transforming toxicity into dignity.

• "¿Me he polarizado, queridos niños y niñas? No."
  (01:28) – Clearly refuting the idea that self-defense equates to polarization.

• "Quien polariza es aquel que sigue cagando su mierda y poniéndola en mi puerta y que de pura impotencia tiene hasta polarizaciones nocturnas."
  (01:34) – Emphatic, biting conclusion distinguishing the true source of division.

Structure & Tone

• Language: Sharp, witty, ironic; mixes everyday imagery with biting social critique.
• Tone: Both humorous and incisive, with moments of hyperbole used to expose the absurdity of certain political narratives.

Takeaways

• The responsibility for polarization doesn't lie equally with all parties; there are clear aggressors.
• Critical thinking requires challenging narratives that equate self-defense or creative response with the origin of hostility.
• Social debates should not default to symmetrical blame, especially when the evidence of asymmetrical aggression is clear.

Summary prepared for listeners seeking depth and nuance: Maruja Torres unpacks false proclamations of 'both-sides' polarization, using darkly funny storytelling to clarify who actually divides and who merely endures.