Ara Balears in English - Joan Cabot

Bunker life: the fear of the rich

Joan Cabot — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:30:54 +0000

A few days ago I was talking with a good friend who had just returned from a trip to Argentina and Chile. We were talking about the 'countries' Argentinians, these gated, guarded, and secure communities that the upper-middle classes have had to build to feel safe in a country where the fracture caused by inequality translates not only into a considerable crime rate, although it has been decreasing, but also into a perception of insecurity that persists despite these measures. The explanation is simple, as my friend pointed out to me: the rich are afraid. They don't live in their ivory towers, exclusive apartment complexes, and luxury penthouses for aesthetic reasons—or at least not only for that—but because they are terrified.

Living on a mitre

Joan Cabot — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 06:31:00 +0000

A few years ago I read an article by New York Times in which one of the most common mistakes in relationships was analyzed: combating emotional distress rationally. The article emphasized the obvious error: emotions don't listen to reason, even if their causes may be real, and trying to soothe certain anxieties with meticulous arguments is as absurd as saying "but I love you" when you're doing the math to see if you can afford a second mortgage.

The Rosalía effect

Joan Cabot — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 06:30:43 +0000

I stopped DJing the day I realized I wasn't playing music for the people, but against them. It's not like there's a huge market for DJs who treat their sets like doctoral theses and read the dance floor inside out, subduing the indie crowd with dancehall and hip hop, or coming out as die-hard Fania Records fans at a punk party. DJ Kabotzilla, always on point (if it's about destroying Tokyo and your desire to have a good time).

Do you want to live in a country governed by yourself?

Joan Cabot — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 18:15:36 +0000

Groucho Marx is credited with saying he would never want to belong to a club that would have him as a member. I often have to reassure my friends, when we talk about politics and I unleash my often openly boorish thoughts, that they should relax, that deep down I would never want to live in a country governed by someone who thinks like me.

The world is a bad gag

Joan Cabot — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 18:15:36 +0000

There was a brief gag from the series The young people in which Balowski enters a shop and says something like, "Good morning, is this a cheese shop?"; "No," replies the shopkeeper. "We've ruined the gag," the first one concludes. It was an absurd and delirious scene, but since we live in times where absurdity and delirium have taken over reality, perhaps it's time to accept that this running gag Life is losing all its charm.

The breath

Joan Cabot — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 17:30:14 +0000

Sometimes, important things are reduced to little.

'The Fascist Playbook'

Joan Cabot — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 17:16:21 +0000

One of my best listens this past summer has been Bukele: the lord of dreams, a podcast originally broadcast in January 2024 and produced by Radio Ambulante Studios, responsible for two other essential podcasts, such as Radio Ambulante and The Thread. In fact, they are the presenters ofThe Thread, Eliezer Budasoff and Silvia Viñas who narrate the rise of Nayib Bukele, how he became president of El Salvador and how, slowly and systematically, he knocked down every obstacle and institutional counterweight so as not to have to answer to anyone and become a textbook example of how the loss of faith in democratic institutions. like him.

'Jostissi' from the alley

Joan Cabot — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 17:15:18 +0000

I know that violence should always be the last option. Or rather, I make a daily effort to convince myself that it should be that way, although there's a part of me that would like to give in to open and unscrupulous violence, to let myself go down the slide of vengeful fury and start dealing out until I'm completely exhausted. It would be good therapy. I'll ask my psychologist about it.

How much would you be willing to pay for The Truth?

Joan Cabot — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 17:15:32 +0000

If you conduct a survey and ask how important music is to citizens, you will probably receive passionate responses and end up with the general impression that music is very important to many people. In fact, some will assure you that music accompanies them all day long, and others will tell you directly that they could not live without it. Money is invested by these same people in a cultural asset that is so important to them, whether in physical or digital format, concert tickets, or a subscription to some social media service. streaming, you'll probably pick up a fair number of uncomfortable expressions like 'ehhhh', 'uhhhh' and even the occasional 'ahhhh'.

Summertime Sadness

Joan Cabot — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 17:15:40 +0000

I know it's obvious, but we're slow and human, two attributes that, from what my friends tell me, often go hand in hand. And in my case, it's true: the subtleties of this world elude me, at least until they cease to be. So it wasn't until my last flight back to Mallorca that I became aware of a fact that many of you have probably already assimilated: Palma airport is a death trap, a labyrinth clearly designed to acclimatize tourists to the violence and hopelessness that have become Mallorca's signature product.

Capitalism and feelings of guilt

Joan Cabot — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 17:30:52 +0000

In I was here and I remembered you. (Anagrama, 2024), Anna Pacheco infiltrated the underworld of luxury hotels to try to find out how the workers of these establishments perceived their work, considering that many of them could never afford a night's accommodation in the hotels where they work.