The Action&Reflection conversation series at La Pedrera comes to an end.

The Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation is concluding the fifth edition of the Action&Reflection conversation series which has featured prominent personalities from culture and society to warm audience acclaim. In the 2019 edition, the series sought to reflect on issues that are so universal that we should all be questioning our ways of thinking and acting, like fake news, veganism, digitalisation and freedom of expression in humour.

Fake news: disinformation or the culture of deceit with Marc Amorós and Begoña Román, moderated by Glòria Serra.

The journalist Marc Amorós said: “We have made the truth something that can be personalised. If a fake new confirms that we're right, we believe it. We take fake news items and share them in spaces with opinions similar to ours.” The philosopher Begoña Román stressed that when fake news is spread, “there is a desire to do evil. There is no culture of effort, no dialogue, no time invested.”

Veganism: The future? with Marta Martínez and F. Xavier Medina, moderated by Gaspar Hernàndez.

The anthropologist Francesc Xavier Medina emphasised that veganism “is essentially an ethical principle. On a political level, some left-leaning parties are adopting part of the 'veggie’ discourse. Meanwhile right-leaning parties are in the opposite camp, promoting hunting, bullfighting, etc.” The famous influencer Marta Martínez, who is behind the ‘My Vegan Diet’ social media profile, said that “veganism is not synonymous with health. There are some processed organic, vegan foods which aren’t healthy.”

Digitalisation and dispersion with Genís Roca and Vicenç Villatoro, moderated by Xantal Llavina.

Genís Roca and Vicenç Villatoro reflected on digitalisation and dispersion based on the social and cultural transformations that have occurred throughout history and on the future of the digital world of big data, spotlighting the concepts of trust and commitment as key values. Roca noted that “technology allows us to have a new relationship with information, but a new model has emerged with no rules. Rules on data ownership, users’ rights, etc. have to be discussed.”

Humour and freedom of expression with Queco Novell and Guillermo Martínez-Vela, moderated by Toni Clapés.

Guillermo Martínez-Vela, editor-in-chief of the magazine El Jueves, and Queco Novell, a popular actor from the TV show Polònia, chatted with the comedy host Toni Clapés about the limitations on humour today. Martínez-Vela, who is facing accusations after telling a joke related to the Police, said that “humour is a conversation; it is the complicity between the humourist and the audience. When that complicity doesn’t exist, everything is suspect.” Novell added that the deceased comedian Pepe Rubianes “would be facing all sorts of accusations today”. The editor-in-chief of El Jueves also reflected on communication channels: “Internet and the social media have taken our jokes to people who can't stand us. Before, only readers saw them.”