Barcelona – Bob Pop, a man whose words often feel like poetry, has embarked on a journey that stretches beyond language. At 52, the Madrid-born writer, accustomed to dazzling us with his quick wit and sharp observations, now turns his ear toward something softer: the rhythm of Catalan. He listens, speaks, and, for the first time, begins to fully live in a language he had only ever touched from a distance. Through his new show, “Bob in Translation”, airing Thursday nights on TV3 and streaming across Spain, Bob invites us into this intimate transformation—one that is both deeply personal and refreshingly universal.
In his words, the show is not about mastering a new tongue, but about finding connection. “Languages are homes,” Bob reflects, “and a home should be where we love, not where we fear.” It’s a notion as old as time, and yet, as Bob shows us through his vibrant presence on screen, as tender as the moment we first learn to say “I’m here.”
The Grace of Learning, One Word at a Time
Bob’s journey into Catalan is one born not of necessity but of love—a love for community, for inclusion, and for bridging gaps that too often feel like walls. For more than two decades, he lived in Barcelona, but he existed in a kind of quiet, a space where he absorbed the language of his neighbors without yet feeling it move in his own throat.
“I feared mixing things up,” Bob says with a smile. “The languages are so close, you know? And when you work with words, the thought of blending them, of getting it wrong in both—well, that was enough to keep me silent.” But silence never really suited Bob. And so, with the warmth of a friend beside him—Catalonia itself—he chose to speak.
In “Bob in Translation”, Bob doesn’t just learn to communicate in Catalan; he learns to communicate across identities, generations, and experiences. Each of the six episodes explores facets of LGBTQ+ identity—not as a lecture, but as a celebration. There are conversations about bisexuality with Ada Colau, about transexuality with Judith Juanhuix, and even light-hearted exchanges about the complexities of poliamor with Pol Guasch. The show isn’t about proving anything. As Bob puts it, “It’s simply about being. Being seen. Being heard. And finally, being understood.”
Building Community, Not Walls
Alongside his TV show, Bob’s voice finds another home on the airwaves. “Cuenta con Bob”, his new segment on Hoy por hoy with Àngels Barceló on Cadena SER, is an open forum where listeners can bring their joys, their worries, their questions—whatever stirs the soul. Bob listens, and then, with that same gentle grace, he responds. “People always improve the ideas I think I’ve polished,” he says, laughing. It’s a humility that speaks to the heart of why so many are drawn to him.
The radio segment is not about quick fixes. It is, Bob says, the antithesis of the self-help culture that promises easy answers in a world that so rarely offers them. “Self-help,” he says with a sigh, “is a neoliberal dream. The real change happens when we stop trying to fix ourselves and start fixing the systems that fail us.”
In a world where content is often created to teach or preach, Bob Pop’s offerings are different. They are spaces where community forms not out of agreement but out of listening. It is the kind of togetherness we crave in a world that too often feels fractured. It’s a reminder, as Maya Angelou once wrote, that “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”
The Quiet Radicalism of Being Seen
For Bob Pop, learning Catalan is a radical act, not because it’s difficult, but because it’s human. His show is a gentle defiance of the forces that seek to divide—those that use language as a barrier rather than a bridge. “We are not here to preach,” he insists. “We are here to exist. And we have existed long enough in silence.”
In a country where the voices of LGBTQ+ people have been silenced for too long, Bob in Translation offers a joyous refusal to stay quiet. But it is not just about the community he represents. Bob’s story is one of finding strength in vulnerability, courage in curiosity. “It’s funny,” he says, eyes twinkling, “the more I learn Catalan, the more I understand the beauty of all languages. The way they connect us, not just to each other, but to ourselves.”
And perhaps that is Bob’s gift to us in this season of his life—the reminder that language, in all its forms, is a way of holding space for one another. It is a gift we give when we choose to listen, really listen, and then respond with love.
Final Thoughts: The Journey Continues
Bob Pop’s story is far from over. He is a man who continues to evolve, to listen, to speak, and to share. And through Bob in Translation and Cuenta con Bob, he offers us not only his words but his heart. And in those words, we hear the echoes of our own stories, our own struggles, and, most importantly, our own hopes.
In the end, Bob reminds us of a truth Maya Angelou understood so well: “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.” Whether in a new language or an old one, Bob Pop stands as a testament to the power of perseverance, community, and the simple, profound act of being heard.
