Ep. 157: A conversation with Lauren Honig about land politics in Zambia and Senegal

Lauren Honig is an assistant professor of political science at Boston College whose work addresses questions of property rights, the roles of informal and customary institutions, natural resource politics, and state-citizen linkages. Lauren talks to Kim this week about her new book, Land Politics: How Customary Institutions Shape State Building in Zambia and Senegal. Plus, in Read More…

Ep. 156: A conversation with cohosts Kim and Rachel on accusations of corruption in Malawi

We’re in conversation this week about the recent arrest of Malawi vice president Saulos Chilima. Kim, our resident Malawi expert, answers Rachel’s questions about what is happening, the historical context, and more. In Kim’s recent article for The Monkey Cage, she writes: “Malawians have seen tensions between their presidents and VPs before. They may be somewhat cynical about government attempts to fight corruption.”

Ep. 120: A conversation with Zachariah Mampilly on researching African politics

Joining us this week is friend of the show, Zachariah Mampilly! He speaks with Kim about researching and teaching African politics, as well as his Program on African Social Research (PASR) which supports junior African scholars as they work to publish in academic journals.

In the news wrap, Kim and Rachel talk about the Islamic State in Mozambique, news from Nigeria, and political updates in Côte d’Ivoire.

Ep. 118: A rerun of our conversation with Ashley Currier about LGBT organizing in Africa

This week, we are re-airing Kim’s interview with Ashley Currier, whose work looks at LGBT organizing in Africa. Currier spoke to Kim about her books, “Out in Africa” and “Politicizing Sex in Contemporary Africa,” visibility of African activists, and homophobia on the continent.

In the news this week: a coup in Mali, volcanic eruptions in eastern Congo, and reduced food rations in Rwandan refugee camps. Plus, Kim and Rachel share a summer music recommendation!

Don’t forget to also send us your good news! We will be sharing the wins of our listeners in a future episode, anything from exciting graduation announcements to book publications to being reunited with a family member after getting vaccinated! Email us a phone recording of your good news to ufahamuafrica@gmail.com.

Ep. 115: A conversation with Robtel Neajai Pailey on citizenship and Liberia

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.

Ep. 103: A conversation with Cyril Obi of the African Peacebuilding Network

Joining us in conversation this week is Cyril Obi, program director of the African Peacebuilding Network, to talk with Rachel about the geopolitics of oil in Africa, his work with the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program, and the great work of the African Peacebuilding Network.

And if you’re still looking for gifts for your African studies friends, check out this week’s news wrap where Kim and Rachel share the books we should be reading. In other news, we talk Ghanian elections, all of the happenings in the Sahel, and Malawi being selected as the country of the year.

Ep. 92: A conversation with entrepreneurs on the continent about innovation, COVID, and more

  The news wrap for this week’s episode offers insights into legislative elections in Mali, COVID and politics in Malawi, and more.  This week, we highlight a panel conversation with entrepreneurs from the Africa Summit at Princeton University on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation was hosted by Bayo Read More…

Ep. 81: Another Africa Podcast Mashup: Kim Yi Dionne on AIDS interventions in Africa, podcasting, and more

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.

Ep. 69: A conversation with Boniface Dulani on Malawi’s elections, chieftaincy, and more

We start this week’s conversation with an update on the South African elections, but turn our focus to Malawi, which is scheduled to hold elections on Tuesday. We also talk about Facebook and fake news in African elections.

Our featured conversation is with with Dr. Boniface Dulani (@bonidulani), a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Malawi, the fieldwork operations manager for Afrobarometer and senior partner of the Institute of Public Opinion and Research in Malawi. He shares his expertise on Malawian politics, especially with respect to the coming elections. Our conversation with him begins at 14:47.

Ep. 67: An Africa podcast mashup

Our show this week begins with the elections in Benin, peacekeeping in Liberia, elections in South Africa and Malawi, and the Caster Semenya gender and racing saga. We also share an update on Ugandan musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine.This week’s in-depth conversation is really special: it features a mashup of four podcasts: Ufahamu Africa, On Africa, Into Africa, and African Tech Roundup. The hosts of all four shows come together to talk about a few things, including why we launched our respective shows. In addition to Ufahamu Africa’s hosts Kim Yi Dionne and Rachel Beatty Riedl, you’ll hear Travis Adkins (@TravisLAdkins), adjunct professor at Georgetown University in African Studies and Security Studies and the host of On Africa; Judd Devermont (@JDevermont), the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and host of Into Africa, and Andile Masuku (@MasukuAndile), a Zimbabwean broadcaster and entrepreneur based in Johannesburg, South Africa and host of African Tech Roundup. We all owe a big thanks to Judd and his team at CSIS for hosting this mashup, which begins at 12:55.

Ep. 62: A conversation with Khalid Medani on protests in Sudan

We begin this week’s episode discussing protests and democracy in Benin, the damage from Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, and the consequences of climate change more broadly. Our featured conversation is with Khalid Medani, an Associate Professor of Political Science and Islamic Studies and the Chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University. He has published widely on the on the roots of civil conflict and the funding of the Islamic movement in Sudan, the question of informal finance and terrorism in Somalia, the obstacles to state building in Iraq, and the role of informal networks in the rise of Islamic militancy. He provides insights on the current protests in Sudan and puts them in context. His conversation begins at 10:02.