A podcast about life and politics on the African continent
We’ve got another deep dive episode this week, featuring a conversation between Kim and Rachel on COVID-19 vaccines, global distribution, and the difference between equality and equity.
They also take us through some of the top news stories of the week, including ongoing talks about a hydroelectric dam on the Nile River in Egypt, the election in Djibouti, and more.
This week’s news wrap featured discussions about recent election updates in Burundi and Benin, leadership changes in Lesotho, and more news regarding summer bonus content! In this episode, we highlight a panel discussion from an event with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Our very own cohost, Kim Yi Dionne, was a Read More…
This week’s brief episode focuses on what our hosts — Kim Yi Dionne and Rachel Beatty Riedl — are reading and learning related to the COVID-19 pandemic and responses by African governments. There is a lot that has already been written and we share what we think are some important questions and arguments that we as scholars of pandemics and authoritarian politics think our listeners should be thinking about.
Did we miss something important? Email us your ideas for episodes that will expand our audience’s understanding of African citizens and states navigating this pandemic.
Bamba Ndiaye Bamba Ndiaye is a visiting assistant professor of African studies at the Oxford College of Emory University. Before joining Emory, he held a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship and Lectureship at Cornell University’s Society for the Humanities. He earned a PhD in comparative humanities at the University of Louisville. His research interests are the intersection Read More…
In this episode, our fellow from last season, Samah Fawzi, does a deep dive into the Western Sahara, its history, composition, and current affairs. She engages in discussions with Sahrawi people from different professional backgrounds and geographical location, with the aims of detangling complex and at times contradictory historical tales, shedding light into the often Read More…
In this episode, fellow Chido Nyaruwata speaks to professor Zethu Matebeni , a sociologist, activist, and writer researching African queer theory, sexuality, and gender. Matebeni is a co-editor of Queer in Africa: LGBTQI Identities, Citizenship, and Activism. Surya Monro and Vasu Reddy worked with Matebeni to edit this highly interdisciplinary and rich volume on different Read More…
Earlier this year, Liliane Umubyeyi and Amah Edoh joined Cornell University’s Institute for European Studies to talk about their collaborative work on reparations, especially related to Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We share selected excerpts of their talk in this week’s episode, and you can find a link to watch the full panel in this week’s show notes.
In the news wrap, Kim and Rachel talk about the arrest of former South African President Jacob Zuma and the subsequent protests. Plus, more about COVID vaccines on the African continent.
Robtel Neajai Pailey is a writer, activist, and academic whose recent book engages with the topic of citizenship in Africa, especially in Liberia. She joins Rachel for a great conversation about her work, the scholar-activists who influence and inspire her, and how to make our work ethical, emancipatory, and accessible. We conducted this interview on the sidelines of the 52nd Annual Liberian Studies Association conference, hosted by Cornell University’s Institute of African Development.
In the news wrap, Kim and Rachel talk about academic freedom in Zambia, the corruption trial in South Africa against its former president, and legal challenges surrounding closings of Kenyan refugee camps, and Twitter’s move to Ghana.
Special guest Dan Eizenga, research fellow at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, joins us to share his expertise on Chad and the recent death of Idriss Déby. Listen to learn what happened, who is in charge of Chad now, and what it all means.
In the news wrap, Kim and Rachel talk about new restrictions from the U.S. on Ugandan officials, share new resources like an edited volume on coronavirus politics, and a new postdoc opportunity on global racial justice available from Cornell University.
Kim and Rachel take a deep dive into the protests in Senegal, explaining everything you need to know about what’s happening and what it means. They also talk about the recent death of Tanzanian president, John Magufuli.
And in lieu of a guest, we feature our student essay competition winner, Hammed Kayode Alabi! Hammed is a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh studying Africa and international development. He reads for us his winning essay, called “#EndSARS Movement We Will Remember.”
N’Dri Thérèse Assié-Lumumba joins us in conversation this week to discuss her new book, the history of human capital theory, education in Africa, and tells us what is giving her hope.
In this week’s news, we announce the winner of our student essay competition, share links to a virtual symposium on immigration and the changing dynamics of blackness, and talk about what is going on with COVID-19 vaccines on the African continent.
In our last episode of Black History Month, Rachel interviews political theorist Adom Getachew on her new book, “Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination.” Her book reconstructs an account of self-determination offered in the political thought of Black Atlantic anticolonial nationalists during the height of decolonization in the twentieth century.
We have lots of great recommendations for listeners this week, including books on race and feminism, a virtual event on African folktales, a virtual resource for those of us missing travel and fieldwork, podcast episodes you should listen to, and more!