The notion that anyone can pick up a microphone and record themselves is the origin of the podcast, a consolidated industry that has grown through self-management and creativity. The language of radio, which was predicted to be wiped out by the image, has proven to be one of the most fertile spaces for creation and experimentation. Philosophy, history, journalism, and literature have also found a new sphere of possibility. More and more podcasts are being developed that, like books, offer a narrative that is built up little by little, word by word and with its own sound, to introduce us to new stories and familiarize us with contemporary debates. They are essays that use sound and voices to expand the possibilities of text. Could the podcast be considered a new form of literary expression? Has it become an essential vehicle for thought today?

Coinciding with the premiere of the audio essay podcast Els visitants [The visitors], produced by the CCCB and the UOC, we are inviting several creators to engage in a debate about the challenges of a language that has expanded how we produce knowledge and explain the world around us. The conversation, moderated by the writer and literary critic Jorge Carrión, creator of the audio essay Solaris, brings together the journalist Noelia Ramírez, screenwriter and host of Els visitants; the writer Javier Peña, director and host of Grandes Infelices [Great unhappy people]; and the writer and audio documentary maker Isabel Cadenas Cañón, creator of the podcast De eso no se habla [We don’t talk about that].