A podcast about life and politics on the African continent
In her book, “Branding Humanity: Competing Narratives of Rights, Violence, and Global Citizenship,” Amal Fadlalla writes about the Save Darfur movement and how it gained an international following. We bring her onto the show this week for a conversation about her work and her expertise in Sudan.
In the news wrap, Kim and Rachel talk about global climate change, more updates from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the protests in Eswatini, and more.
Hear us on Foreign Policy Playlist this week when Rachel and Kim talk about Ufahamu Africa’s vision and mission and the show features Kim’s conversation about the genocide in Ethiopia’s Tigray region with Dr. Goitom Gebreluel from episode 117.
As violence and unrest in the Tigray region of Ethiopia continues, we bring Goitom Gebreleul on the show. Gebreleul is a researcher in international and comparative politics of the Horn of Africa at Hatèta Policy Research. In his interview with Kim, he shares the evidence that this is a genocide and tells listeners what they can do to help.
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.
In a special podcast mashup with Migrations: A World on the Move, hosted by Cornell postdoc Eleanor Paynter, we interview Nanjala Nyabola on human mobilities, asylum, vaccine nationalism, and activism that centers human experiences. Her new book, Travelling While Black, is a collection of essays on her experiences traveling to over 70 countries. Plus, she offers us a number of African novels on migration that we should read next!
This conversation was recorded at an event held on April 12 called Race and Racism Across Borders, hosted by Cornell University’s Migrations initiative and the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.
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.
Listen to our interview with Siba Grovogui about race and racism in international relations, in French! In this week’s news wrap, Kim and Rachel talk about Zambia’s COVID response, a crisis in Ethiopia, and the passing of Jerry Rawlings.
We also announce our Ufahamu Africa essay competition. Submit a one-page essay reflecting on a topic of your choice within the broad scope of life and politics in African politics to win some podcast swag or a chance to read your essay on a future episode.
Happy #100EpisodesOfUfahamu! For our 100th episode, Rachel interviews Siba Grovogui about race and racism in international relations. You can listen to the interview in English or French! Kim and Rachel talk about Zambia’s COVID response, a crisis in Ethiopia, and the passing of Jerry Rawlings.
We also announce our Ufahamu Africa essay competition. Submit a one-page essay reflecting on a topic of your choice within the broad scope of life and politics in African politics to win some podcast swag or a chance to read your essay on a future episode.
In the newswrap this week, we talk about Ethiopian politics, Zambia’s third term debate, elections in Namibia, and more.
This week is another African podcast mashup special — featuring a conversation with Ufahamu Africa’s own Kim Yi Dionne (@dadakim) in commemoration of World AIDS Day this weekend. Kim is a professor of political science at UC Riverside and an editor of The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post. She is also the author of Doomed Interventions: The Failure of Global Responses to AIDS in Africa, published by Cambridge University Press in 2018. This week’s conversation with Kim is shared courtesy of the Africa Past and Present Podcast, hosted by Michigan State University historian Peter Alegi (@futbolprof), who was a guest on Ufahamu Africa in Episode 3. Peter talks to Kim about her book on AIDS in Africa, the role of village headmen in AIDS interventions, what turns Malawians out to vote, podcasting, and more. Their segment begins at 9:11.
This week’s episode opens up with discussion about the recent elections in Botswana and Mozambique, the anti-sanctions protests in Zimbabwe, post-peace prize Ethiopia, and more.
Co-host Rachel Beatty Riedl moderates this week’s conversation on agriculture and innovation in Africa. Our guests are Kudzai Kutukwa, Kitso Dube, and Andrew Dillon. Kudzai and Kitso were YALI Mandela Fellows at Northwestern University earlier this year, when this conversation was recorded.
Kudzai is the co-founder and CEO of Mobbisurance, which is a startup that develops multi-based crop insurance products and other financial services for small-holder farmers. Kitso currently serves as a loan officer for FBC Holdings, helping communities that are marginalized access financial services in Zimbabwe. Andrew is a development economist, appointed as a Clinical Associate Professor within the Kellogg School of Management’s Public-Private Interface Initiative and a Research Associate Professor in the Global Poverty Research Lab at the Buffett Institute. The panel discussion begins at 12:36.
In this week’s episode, we talk about Google’s top search items in African countries in 2018, how Kenyans did in the Singapore marathon, Trump’s new Africa policy, and more. Our featured conversation is with Boston University political scientist Michael Woldemariam (@MikeWoldemariam), who shares his expertise on the Horn of Africa region, where he has conducted extensive fieldwork. He is the author of a new book published earlier this year by Cambridge University Press, Insurgent Fragmentation in the Horn of Africa: Rebellion and Its Discontents. We spoke with Mike a couple of weeks ago at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association and we thank the ASA for making their ASAPOD booth available to us for this interview. His segment begins at 7:58.
In this episode of Ufahamu Africa, we talk about a new West African currency, media freedom in Tanzania, and an Ethiopian satellite that will launch soon. This week’s featured conversation is with Dr. Anthonia Kalu, a professor of comparative literature and gender and sexuality studies at UC Riverside. In our chat we talk about kola nuts, cross-cultural digital possibilities, writing, and African storytelling. Her interview begins at 6:44.