When I finished writing Teaching Is Deciding, I thought the text had more or less found its form. Or at least the form I was capable of giving it. Because, in truth, this book never really had much of a vocation to be a “book”, as I explained in a previous post (in fact, I still think it is more of a “pamphlet” than a book), even once it was clear that it would eventually be published. I suppose that is because I still do not experience it as an academic text that closes debates, organizes a field, or proves very much of anything.
It was born more as a long conversation with myself. And maybe that is why, while I was writing it, I often had the feeling that I was “hearing” it more than writing it. As if the natural tone of the text was not exactly that of academic writing, but something closer to talking with someone for hours about teaching, universities and pedagogy (those of you who know me know that talking is very much my thing). I suppose that is how the idea of the audiobook appeared.
At first, just as a kind of experiment, I recorded a few fragments to see what happened when the text left the page and returned to the voice. And I realized something slightly strange: some parts actually worked better when listened to than when read. Or at least they changed. They became less forceful and more conversational. Closer to doubt than to categorical statements. And I think that was good for the text.
I was also very interested in the idea that it might accompany people who care about these issues but simply do not have the time (if there is one thing teachers do not have, it is time). That it could be listened to while walking, driving, or doing almost anything else. That it would not require sitting down to “study” a pedagogy book. Because an important part of this text comes precisely from my discomfort with certain ways of turning pedagogy into something inaccessible, excessively technical, or full of languages that operate almost like barriers to entry. So I decided to record the whole thing.
And yes, it has been recorded very much “with sticks and string”. At home. In spare moments. Sometimes struggling with background noise, with my voice, or with the very strange sensation of hearing myself speaking slowly for hours (I have genuinely tried to sound like a proper narrator and leave behind the machine-gun speaking mode that usually characterizes me). Although I think it still preserves a very “Linda” tone (a friend recently told me that the audiobook “sounded very Linda”, and I think that pleased me more than I expected), because deep down what I wanted was precisely that: for it to continue feeling like a conversation, and not like a solemn or over-produced version of the text.
Today I uploaded the introduction and acknowledgements of the audiobook/podcast. And from June 1st onwards, the rest will begin to appear: four parts and an epilogue. Each week one part will be published, and throughout those days the chapters that compose it will appear.
All of it openly available.
And, if everything goes well, the full text of the book will also be available that same day. For the moment it is only available in Spanish, at least in this first version.
In case anyone feels like listening to it, it will appear here: https://www.lindacastaneda.com/mushware/podcasts/esdecidir/
And also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and iVoox.