Ep. 189: Paul Friesen on Local Democratic Resilience

We’re wrapping up our panel on democracy from the African Studies Association with a presentation from Paul Friesen on local democratic resilience under national autocracy. Friesen is a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies’s Democratic Threats and Resilience research team. His research and teaching interests focus on Read More…

Ep. 169: A conversation with Oumar Ba, Marame Gueye, and Bamba Ndiaye on Senegalese democracy

Today’s episode is a roundtable discussion with Rachel and guests Oumar Ba, Marame Gueye, and Bamba Ndiaye who shed light on the state of Senegalese politics and democracy.  We discuss Senegalese president Macky Sall and his unwillingness to say whether or not he will run again, leading opposition politician Ousmane Sonko’s rape and defamation cases, Read More…

Ep. 162: A conversation with Idayat Hassan about the upcoming Nigerian elections

Idayat Hassan is the director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), an Abuja-based policy advocacy and research organization focusing on deepening democracy and development in West Africa. She talks to Rachel this week about the upcoming Nigerian elections and all there is to be hopeful about – the possibility for change, engagement from Read More…

Ep. 119: A conversation with Shamiran Mako and Valentine Moghadam on “After the Arab Uprisings”

In their upcoming book, “After the Arab Uprisings: Progress and Stagnation in the Middle East and North Africa,” Shamiran Mako and Valentine Moghadam share their work on democracy and social transformation in North Africa after the Arab Spring. In an interview with Rachel, Mako and Moghadam talk about the six years of research leading up to the book and explain the four key frameworks of their analysis: state and regime type, civil society, gender relations and women’s mobilizations, and external influence.

There’s no news wrap this week, but you can still see what we’re reading, listening to, and learning this week in the show notes on our website, ufahamuafrica.com.

Ep. 111: A conversation between Kim and Rachel about the protests in Senegal

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.”

Ep. 110: A conversation with N’Dri Assié-Lumumba about education and human capital in Africa

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.