María Kodama, Widow of Jorge Luis Borges, on the Ghosts That Inhabit Us
Introducing The Quarantine Tapes Argentina
Hosted by Paul Holdengräber, The Quarantine Tapes chronicles shifting paradigms in the age of social distancing. Each day, Paul calls a guest for a brief discussion about how they are experiencing the global pandemic.
The Argentine edition, presented by journalist Sergio Cohen, highlights guests from Latin America and Spanish-speaking communities around the world.
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In the first episode of The Quarantine Tapes Argentina, Sergio Cohen talks with María Kodama about the impact that quarantine had on her daily life and how she carried out her work. Anecdotes abound in this rich conversation, revealing little-known aspects about María. And of course, the talk glides into Kodama’s love for her late husband, Jorge Luis Borges.
María also talks about the value of freedom, democracies in South America, and how her father influenced how she thinks of existence, reincarnation, absences of loved ones, and the ghosts that inhabit us.
From the episode:
María Kodama: When I was a kid I played war with my friends at the park. One day, I was about five or six years old, a police officer came and told me, “Your army has been defeated. You are our prisoner. Let’s go to prison.” And I responded, “Kill me first!” The kids, in a desperate state, told me, “No Maria, this is not the game,” thinking I was really going to be killed. … Now this came to my mind why? Because Borges said that I was “the first prisoner of freedom,” and that in order to be free, I would let him fall as well.
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To listen to the episode, as well as the whole archive of The Quarantine Tapes, subscribe and listen on iTunes or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts.
