--- As a child, did you already have a vocation for journalism? Where does it come from?
--- I've always been quite into radio. At home, I always remember having Catalunya Ràdio tuned in, with Puyal, Barça's goals… It's probably my first radio memory. And I always remember going to sleep with the radio on, as a child, listening to a Los 40 Principales program, which I think was called En tu casa o en la mía (At your house or mine). Then a lot of late-night radio, El cafè de la República (The Republic's Coffee), already with Joan Barril. And yes, I had that desire to do something in journalism.
--- You are at the helm of a program, El Suplement, which is 35 years old. That is, it's the same age as you. How do you experience this pressure?
---It's very romantic to think that the program I direct was born the same year as me. In a way, I believe that El Suplement is a program that is above each presenter who directs it. We know it's a stage. In my case, I hope it will be very long because I've already been here for six seasons and I think there will be more. We have all given it our identity: Silvia Cóppulo, Xavier Solà, Ricard Ustrell, Tatiana Sisquella… And, now, me.
--- What is your hallmark?
--- After six seasons, I believe there are some very consolidated segments that have created a brand. That is, you know that El Comunista is a brand of El Suplement, that Mayka Navarro is a brand of El Suplement, that, now, with Eclipsi we are trying to make it a brand of El Suplement… On a personal level, it's clear that with seven hours of radio you put your personality into it. I am quite proud of the interviews we do, of how we treat guests, and of the topics we bring up.
--- One of the problems of conventional media is that they fail to attract young people. Is El Suplement a youth program?
--- If you look at the EGM audience data, they tell you no. The average age of the listener is over 50. This is the reality of Catalunya Ràdio and RAC1, too. Radio consumption, the average age, is high or senior. But I do believe we have opened up the market. The fact that there are presenters who are around their thirties or in their thirties ---both at Catalunya Ràdio and RAC1--- has paved the way for young people who have an interest.
--- You started presenting very young. At 27, you were already presenting the summer El Suplement.
--- That's when I realized I wanted to do this forever. That I wanted to have a radio show.
--- Did you suffer or do you suffer from imposter syndrome?
--- No. To stand in front of a microphone for so many hours, you need an enormous ego. All of us who dedicate ourselves to this profession have it. It's not very good for me to say it, but I think I have the ego issue quite well resolved. You need to have significant self-esteem to speak seven hours in front of a microphone and want people to listen to you. I haven't had many insecurity problems; I've always been quite convinced of what I was doing. I've always dedicated many hours to preparing myself. I don't go into an interview unprepared. The day before, I need to be studying and, afterwards, have the capacity, obviously, for improvisation and knowing how to resolve things when new situations arise, which is acquired with years and experience. A very important part of doing a radio show is preparing it. I study the scripts and questions a lot. As time goes by, you go with greater confidence. Also, the management of the external world. I do the radio show I want, but there is coordination with a management, there is coordination with the rest of the shows. El Suplement is a very important show on the weekend, but we must coordinate content with El matí, with La tarda, we must fight for guests, and with the competition's guests.
--- In this series of interviews for Un Granini con..., most of the times I've asked interviewees if they had imposter syndrome, they've told me yes. Clearly there's a gender component, isn't there?
--- Yes, surely. If you look at the schedules, ours is more feminized, but there are still few women. Beyond Ricard Ustrell, it's true that the last two presenters of El Matí de Catalunya Ràdio have been women: Laura Rosel and Mònica Terribas. But as happens in the rest of society and in all professional fields, men, for many years, have had more voice. In the case of El Suplement it has been quite balanced, because there have been many years of Sílvia Cóppulo, we had Tatiana Sisquella, Núria Ferrer… Perhaps, the next presenter of El Suplement it would be good if it were a woman. But, many years from now, eh?
--- Young people, above all, listen to podcasts.
--- Every time they ask me what the difference is between radio and podcast, I give a different answer, because I don't know. I think we coexist very well. I do a radio show, but I also have the feeling that some parts of this radio show, some sections, are consumed as podcasts. I would tell you that I do radio and I do podcasts at the same time. They are like first cousins.
--- Podcast hosts are usually very active on social media. However, that's not your case. What is your relationship with social media?
--- I have a bad relationship, less than I should, surely. I simply spam the content I create and retweet interesting content from my show. I don't feel comfortable generating selfies, showing what I eat, where I have dinner, and what underwear I wear. The times I do it, I do it somewhat forced. I have the feeling that it caught me five years late, or that I saved myself from it for five years. What happens is that it also forms part of generating a personal brand. They tell me I have to do it more and I'm trying to fix it. There are also people on the team who help me. The next step I guess is to hire someone to manage my social media and generate content about me. I don't have it yet, but I don't rule it out.
--- You don't like to post things, but how many hours a day do you spend consuming social media?
--- Many. I am a slave to the infinite scroll. I have an addictive relationship with my phone and with Twitter, in particular. I have a permanent war at home with my partner and my son because I look at my phone more than I should. I am addicted, like the society we live in, and even more so when the radio show can be modified instantly, every moment, with every new tweet that comes out or with every new alert.
--- You have a very young child and you direct a radio show. How do you manage work-life balance?
--- I'm quite happy. I think we're handling it very well. These two and a half years, I wouldn't say it's been 50%, but 60-40, yes. Now we have some very complicated months ahead, in which Diana will be filming in Madrid for three months. The family logistics will be complicated. The other time it happened, because she was filming the series Valeria, I lived between Barcelona and Madrid. With the child up and down, we both made many trips on the AVE. Now we will do it differently because the child goes to nursery school. For me, working on the weekend is not a burden or a sacrifice. Logistically, it works well for me. During the week I can spend many hours with my child.
--- You work on a public radio program. How do you manage political pressures?
--- When I took over the program in 2018, I had a councilor every Saturday or every Sunday. Or a political guest. I decided to incorporate the discussion panel. Back then, there was a lot of political grind. Then the pandemic caught us, which was a very cool time to do radio. We learned a lot, I have a great memory of it. I had a very good time, despite the drama we were reporting. Now there is politics, but not so much. The discussion panel is the most listened-to hour, it's very important, but I mix it not only with political news, there's also social news in there.
--- You are and live in Sabadell. What is your relationship with Barcelona?
--- I have a working relationship with Barcelona. There has always been an option to come and live here, which we have finally ended up ruling out. For me, Barcelona is synonymous with leisure, culture, and nightlife, when I could go out. It is my city because it is where I work and where I go to work. I want to work in Catalan and I believe that my career as a journalist will be in Catalan. So, I know that Barcelona is and will be my city.
--- As you mentioned, for work-life balance reasons, you have also spent seasons in Madrid.
--- Yes. And when you spend seasons in Madrid, you value Barcelona more. And you come back, ---at least I do--- surely, more in love with Barcelona.
--- Precisely, you started your career as a journalist working at Betevé.
--- Yes, I got to know Barcelona thanks to Betevé. I traveled all over the city those three years as a reporter. All the neighborhoods and districts. Betevé does a very important job, it has done so for many years and being able to be part of that was also very cool.