Moncloa launches this Thursday a series with twenty podcasts of 20 minutes duration each chapter in which the economic, social and political challenges of the country's future are addressed. In an unprecedented initiative in the Presidency, the Government wants to reach a different audience and provide the vision of national and international experts on problems related to employment, quality of life, the energy and digital transition or taxes, among other issues.
In times of uncertainty explanations are needed. It is the maxim that Moncloa has used for this project. In total, 120 experts and citizens have offered their views on the challenges of the future, with different opinions, to try to find out what Spain will be like in the coming years. It is a job in which Moncloa has hopes as a new format of relating to citizens. That is why a recorded fieldwork has been carried out in 80 different locations and in which experts from Harvard University to a residence for the elderly in Toledo have participated.
The initiative comes from the National Office of Foresight and Strategy of the president's cabinet. The challenge is as follows: "We have asked Spaniards what things worry them about their future and we have made an audio series to shed light on them." To this end, the Presidency has been inspired by similar work already carried out by other governments around the Spanish government, such as Macron's in France or Trudeau's in Canada. The European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have also been working on these audio formats for some time.
For English speakers, the new Moncloa podcast has taken The Inquiry as its model, the BBC Radio format that is considered the jewel in the crown of the British public broadcaster.
The podcasts are available from this Thursday on a specific website (https://futuros.gob.es/nuestro-trabajo/podcast), although they can also be accessed on the Ivoox, Apple and Spotify audio platforms. They are configured through two seasons of ten chapters each. Moncloa has turned to the Story Lab company for this work, which has been recorded in 80 different locations, from experts at Harvard University to a nursing home in Toledo.
The first installment arrives this Thursday with the first ten episodes. The first, for example, is entitled "Are we slaves of now?" and tries to offer visions on whether what is urgent tends to overshadow what is important, short-termism in short. Another chapter addresses whether in 2050 public pensions can be collected. In that year, one in three Spaniards will be 65 years of age or older.
Will there be cars in that year? Will robots take our jobs? Can we prevent rural Spain from becoming empty? These are some of the episodes from the first season. And the closure: can Spain become an economic power? This episode addresses whether productivity can guarantee the country's progress.
For the second season, which will be released from October 10 at the rate of one episode per week, questions such as what will be the tax system of the future, the metaverse in Spain, the problem of housing for young people or consumption of water in certain areas.
