The Africanist Podcast

NB: This episode was recorded on February 8, 2025. Since then, the conflict in Eastern DRC has dramatically evolved with more than 7000 fatalities, thousands of displaced and sanctions against Rwanda.

In this episode we delve into the intricate and ongoing conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with our esteemed guest, Dr. Patrick Litanga (Eastern Kentucky University). Dr. Litanga, a native of the DRC and an exp...

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Natàlia Bueno, researcher at the Center for Social Studies (Coimbra University), to explore the recent political turmoil in Mozambique. The country has been gripped by violent protests and electoral violence following the contested election results that saw the ruling Frelimo party retain power.

Natàlia Bueno provides an in-depth analysis of the disputed election results, highlighting the alleg...

This episode is a conversation with distinguished Zambian writer and activist Ba Mulenga Kapwepwe, who was recently invited to Emory University's Institute of African Studies to discuss her latest novel, Perfect Marriage. In this conversation facilitated by Dr. Bamba Ndiaye, Kapwepwe dissects the complexities of Bemba society, ritual practices, and social relationships in a gripping narrative that does not shy away from the scienti...

On May 19, 2024, an attempted coup occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The assailants targeted President Félix Tshesekedi and the Economy Minister, Vital Kamerhe. They attacked both the Palais de la Nation and the Kamerhe's residence before they were swiftly pushed back by security forces. The commando's leader, Christian Malanga, was killed as a result of the security forces' response. His son Marcel Malanga an...

In this episode, Nyaradzai Mahachi (Emory University) discusses with Dr. Matthew Rarey (Oberlin College) about the latter's first monograph, Insignificant Things: Amulets and the Art of Survival in the Early Black Atlantic (Duke University Press, 2023) The book "traces the history of the African-associated amulets that enslaved and other marginalized people carried as tools of survival in the Black Atlantic world from the seventeen...

In this conversation, Michelle Gavin (CFR), Rachel Beatty Riedl (Cornell University) and Bamba Ndiaye (Emory University) discuss the ongoing political crisis in Senegal. "On Saturday, February 3, Senegalese president Macky Sall informed the nation that he was postponing the presidential election scheduled for February 25. The move was necessary, he claimed, to prevent “a new crisis” from erupting ...

Co-Host: Eman Ghanayem

In this episode, we discuss Mohamed Abdou's (Columbia University) Islam and Anarchism. "Islam and Anarchism is a highly original and interdisciplinary work, which simultaneously disrupts two commonly held beliefs - that Islam is necessarily authoritarian and capitalist; and that anarchism is necessarily anti-religious and anti-spiritual. Deeply rooted in key Islamic concepts and textual sources, and drawing o...

In this episode, Chelsy Monie and Dr. Susan Gagliardi (Emory University) discuss, the latter's recent monograph entitled Seeing the Unseen: Arts of Power Association on the Senufo-Mande Cultural "Frontier" (Indiana University Press, 2023)

In this book, "art historian Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi examines tensions between the seen and unseen that makers, patrons, and audiences of arts in western West Africa negotiate through objects, a...

In this episode, renowned Kenyan writer and thinker Ngūgī wa Thiong’o discusses crucial issues in African literature including the 1962 African Writers Conference in Kampala, language use and the specter of (neo)colonialism in literary productions and African development. He also talks about sociopolitical issues in contemporary Africa as well as personal challenges he’s faced in the past few years.

Co-H...

On June 1, 2023, a criminal court in Dakar found opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko guilty of corrupting the youth while dropping the rape and death threats charges in a historic case opposing him to Adji Sarr. The verdict plunged the country into another popular uprising resulting in more than two dozen fatalities, hundreds of injured protesters, and detentions. In this conversation, journalist, Borso Tall and the host discuss the o...

On June 1, 2023, a criminal court in Dakar found opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko guilty of corrupting the youth while dropping the rape and death threats charges in a historic case opposing him to Adji Sarr. The verdict plunged the country into another popular uprising resulting in more than two dozen fatalities, hundreds of injured protesters, and detentions. In this conversation, journalist, Borso Tall and the host discuss the o...

PART-TWO: What happened in Ngor last week, a small fishing village on the coast of Dakar, Senegal? What do we know about the death of Adji Diallo, a 15-year-old inhabitant of the village? Is the Senegalese justice system being weaponized against Ousmane Sonko and the opposition to invalidate his presidential bid? How can the legal saga against Sonko impact the 2024 presidential election in Senegal? Will President Macky Sall, run fo...

PART-ONE: What happened in Ngor last week, a small fishing village on the coast of Dakar, Senegal? What do we know about the death of Adji Diallo, a 15-year-old inhabitant of the village? Is the Senegalese justice system being weaponized against Ousmane Sonko and the opposition to invalidate his presidential bid? How can the legal saga against Sonko impact the 2024 presidential election in Senegal? Will President Macky Sall, run fo...

In this episode, historian, Mariana Candido (Emory University), discusses her recent book entitled Wealth, Land, and Property in Angola: A History of Dispossession, Slavery, and Inequality (Cambridge University Press, 2022).

In this conversation, Prof. Candido elaborates on the issues of women's land ownership, theories of "unoccupied lands and land surplus" as well as the power of written documentation under colonial rule in West-...

In this episode, historian, Joel Cabrita  (Standford University), discusses her recent monograph Written Out: The Silencing of Regina Gelana Twala (Ohio University Press 2023) She explains how a Black South African woman (Regina Twala) was systematically erased from history and from the scholarly works she helped produced. Dr. Cabrita also discusses the issues of positionality, historical erasure, and academic misappropriation as o...

In this episode, Ugandan social activist and scholar, Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire (Institute of African Studies, Emory University), discusses the policing of social activism in contemporary Africa. He also shares his personal experience in an environment where violent attacks against activists are recurrent. 

This conversation is part of a series on "Social Activism in Contemporary Africa" produced in the framework of the Ufahamu Africa...

In this episode, Associate Professor of History, Tyler Fleming (University of Louisville) discusses his book Opposing Apartheid on Stage: King Kong the Musical  (University of Rochester Press 2020).

"In 1959, King Kong, an interracial jazz opera, swept across South Africa and became a countrywide phenomenon. Its performances sold out, its LP record was widely heard, and its cast became recognized celebrities. Featuring an African c...

In this episode, Dr. Noémie Ndiaye (University of Chicago) discusses her recent monograph, Scripts of Blackness: Early Modern Performance Culture and the Making of Race (University of Pennsylvania Press 2022). The book chronicles the representation of Blackness in early modern Europe (with a focus on England, France, and Spain) through theater and performance culture. In addition to unpacking the concepts of racial matrix and race ...

The recent coup in Burkina Faso continues to raise many questions about the political future of the country as well as the relationships between Burkina Faso and its external partners in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region. In this episode, Dr. Lassane Ouédraogo (Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo de Ouagadougou) discusses the recent military coup in Burkina Faso and the removal of President Sandaogo Damiba who came to power in...