For a doubt, diversity of answers

Ashley Frangie and Lety Sahagún, the creators of the podcast 'Se regalan doubts' with
millions of followers in Latin America, took their program to book format for the first time,
where they share with readers a series of questions about life and the different answers
they give. they, and thousands of their followers, can find according to their own
experiences. Dialogue with Ashley Frangie, one of the authors.

By Helse Berkal
Gazette Correspondent

You don't have to study philosophy to discover that we all, at some point in life, always ask
ourselves the same questions... Who am I really? Why have I come into the world? What
do I desire deep inside me? I'm happy? Although sometimes it takes us a while to
understand that there is no single answer to these questions, that in fact each person must
find an answer that fits their own world. That particular answer comes to us, as Descartes
knew, when we begin to doubt and think for ourselves, which is why it is more valuable for
self-knowledge to learn to doubt, rather than waiting for answers from others.

Starting from that “infinite need to question everything, everything that is around them”,
the duo of Mexican podcasters, Ashley Frangie and Lety Sahagún, wrote the book 'Doubts
are given away', where from 18 questions on personal topics, loving, religious, among
them: What kills love? Where is God found? What would you like to forget? Can people
change? What would you do if you could go back in time? The authors exercise sincerity
and respond from their own experience, but this would be just another book by two
successful content creators, if it were not for the fact that, accompanying their own
answers, the authors include the responses of hundreds of people, from all professions. and
from different Latin American countries, whom they consulted through their podcast,
which has the same name as the book and is listened to by millions of followers. From
160,000 responses from their followers, the authors selected the best to compose 'Doubts
are given away'.

The book also includes responses from artists and personalities that the authors admire, thus
achieving a diversity of perspectives on life. In this way they converted that ability to
doubt, something that, as they confess in the book, “for years, doubts pushed us into silence
and isolated us. We believed that something was wrong with us, that we did not fit into any
system”, in an essential quality to know the world and achieve the authenticity of
discovering your own truth and sharing it at the same time, recognizing the truth that others
also discovered.

From her home in Mexico, Ashley Frangie, one of the authors, shares what her experience
was like going from the podcast format to the book with this concept of 'Doubts are given
away'.

—How did you come up with the idea of including the responses of the podcast followers
in the book?
We have a community that is extremely participatory, that writes to us on networks and
platforms, and the challenge we set for ourselves was to find a way to integrate our
followers, so we decided to open up to everyone these questions that changed Lety and I.
life, and leave them open so that everyone could express themselves. We received over
160,000 responses and we were reviewing them one by one for literally 8 months. Thus we
were selecting those that could be part of the book, but this was also partly due to the fact
that with this we wanted to create a utopia in which we could obtain as many opinions as
possible from people around us.

—Under what criteria did you select the answers that are in the book?

I think the filter was the diversity and depth of the answers, because there are very small
answers, but they can be powerful, like “Where do you find God?”, to which people can
respond with one word, or that of “What kills love?”, to which one person simply said:
“Feeling alone in company.”

—And how did you define those 18 questions that the book addresses?

What we focused on most was all those questions that changed our lives. We spent a month
on the beach doing a huge brainstorming session from which we selected the questions for
which at some point we did not have the answer and that Finding that answer took us to
different places and involved a very great process of personal transformation. So those
responses that we asked from our community were those that have been present and
continue to move our lives. We also chose questions whose answers are infinite, the idea of
success or love is always changing, as well as the idea of God, so that people had a wide
freedom to answer.

—Behind each question there is an experience of the authors, what motivated the question
“have you tried to change someone”?

That question comes from our learning that one of the greatest sufferings in life comes from
the intention to change someone, and we have both been in relationships where they have
tried to change us, and we have tried to change other people and our mothers. , to change
how we were educated, among other aspects. But this particular question is very curious,
because when Lety and I wrote the answers, and reading people's answers three months
later, we decided to change our answers because we learned a lot from people. There is a
person who writes there, who told us that we change people all the time, that with every
conversation or thing we say to them we change our surroundings and made us change,
rethink our first response. We thought not, but it is true, we are changing all the time while
we interact. This book has been one of the greatest learnings we have had.

—What is the experience of being podcasters and then writers?

Lety and I have been readers all our lives, and when we had the opportunity to publish a
book, we thought it was ideal because our community was asking us for new ways to be
present in their lives, to bring them more content in other formats, so the book was perfect
to expand our concept, also in the podcast many times we are the ones who share answers,
while in the book there is a whole diversity of people who joined and also in each chapter
we leave a blank page for each reader to write their own answer. The book is not complete
until the reader writes their own response. For me, this experience generates greater
company than when it is just Lety and I on the podcast.

—How did the concept of 'Doubts given' come about?

We recorded the first three chapters of the podcast without a title, because we couldn't
decide, we were doubtful. But, I think that for a long time Lety and I were punished for
doubting too much, for doubting the system, for questioning the education they gave us,
and in a brainstorm this caught our attention, that we always doubted and could even give
away doubts, this is how we discover the title. It wasn't like a great idea, but something that
happened in the middle of the process, we are not one of those people who get stuck in the
middle of a project, but if you don't have a part yet you skip it and continue with the rest, at
first it doesn't work. We had the name, but finally the ideal one for us arrived.

—So, what would be the importance that you attribute to the act of doubting?

Doubting is the only way to find the questions we are born with, by doubting you can
reinvent yourself and find authentic truths that resonate with your soul. Doubting allows
you to question those truths that were imposed on you at birth such as religion or gender, by
doubting you can find who you truly are.

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