Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita talk to Kim Sherwood

An evening filled with sixteenth-century wisdom, laughter and hope for our anxiety-ridden contemporary lives. No matter what the century, nuns know best! When most of us think of nuns, we picture cloistered halls and hands clasped in prayer. But what about the nuns who erupted into jealous fights over makeup or crushed on their girlfriends? These women were no one-dimensional martyrs. Scholars, podcasters and best friends Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita lift the veil on monastic life, sharing the infectiously edifying advice of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century nuns, with writer Kim Sherwood Resourceful, rebellious and refreshingly relatable, the nuns offer guidance on everything from procrastination to imposter syndrome, friendship drama to creativity slumps – with a wink and a prayer. “Las Hijas de Felipe” is a podcast that explores the Spanish Baroque through stories of nuns, duels, alchemy, and the “secret” life of convents. Hosted by Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita, the programme uses anachronism to reflect on the present, drawing comparisons between modern social networks and the Baroque miscellanies exchanged among contemporaries of the period. The podcast’s format is one of “Baroque gossip”, and its protagonists are often nuns. Created during the pandemic, the programme has been warmly received for its humorous and critical approach to Spain’s Golden Age.