The Africanist Podcast
Episodes
Hospitality and Power in the Teranga Republic
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of The Africanist Podcast, host Bamba Ndiaye sits down with Dr. Emily Jinan Riley of El Colegio de México to explore her groundbreaki...
Mapping Defiance: Dr. Mark Deets on the Casamance Conflict
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of The Africanist Podcast features a rich and thought‑provoking conversation with Dr. Mark Deets of the American University in Cairo, w...
Tanzania’s Political Crisis: State, Protest, and Consequences
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this installment of our series Podcasting African Democracy, we sit down with Dr. Aikande Kwayu to unpack the turbulent aftermath of Tanzania’s r...
Textual Life: Shaykh Musa Kamara and the Politics of Knowledge
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Wendell H. Marsh (Mohammad VI Polytechnic University) to explore his groundbreaking book Textual Life: Islam, Af...
Insistent Presence: Reimagining the Human Figure, Histories & Identities
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Ph.D candidate, (in Art History) Margaret Nagawa discusses "Insistent Presence", her curated exhibition at Emory University's Michael...
Taxed to the Limit: Kenya’s Youth Uprising and the Fight for Economic Justice
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the first installment of a new series entitled Podcasting African Democracy. It was recorded on August 5th, 2025. In this episode, we ...
Sonic Scholarship: Teaching, Research and the Academic Podcast
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode recorded live at the 2024 African Studies Association's Conference in Chicago, we delve into the vibrant world of academic pod...
Africanfuturism vs. Afrofuturism
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Step into the imaginative realms of Africanfuturism in this insightful episode featuring Prof. Kimberly Cleveland of Georgia State University in conve...
Projections of Dakar: A Conversation with Devin Bryson and Molly Krueger Enz
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Profs Devin Bryson (Illinois College) and Molly Krueger Enz (South Dakota State University) discuss their co-authored monograph, Proj...
Shadows of Conflicts: Eastern DRC's War and Regional Tensions
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
NB: This episode was recorded on February 8, 2025. Since then, the conflict in Eastern DRC has dramatically evolved with more than 7000 fatalities, th...
Mozambique: Political Protest & Electoral Violence
27 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Natàlia Bueno, researcher at the Center for Social Studies (Coimbra University), to explore the recent politica...
Perfect Marriage: A Conversation with Ba Mulenga Kapwepwe
01 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is a conversation with distinguished Zambian writer and activist Ba Mulenga Kapwepwe, who was recently invited to Emory University's Inst...
Coup Attempt in The Democratic Republic of the Congo
15 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On May 19, 2024, an attempted coup occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The assailants targeted President Félix Tshesekedi and the...
Insignificant Things: A Conversation with Matthew Rarey
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Nyaradzai Mahachi (Emory University) discusses with Dr. Matthew Rarey (Oberlin College) about the latter's first monograph, Insignifi...
The Demise of Senegalese Democracy?
10 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Michelle Gavin (CFR), Rachel Beatty Riedl (Cornell University) and Bamba Ndiaye (Emory University) discuss the ongoing political...
Islam & Anarchism: A Conversation with Mohamed Abdou
19 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Co-Host: Eman Ghanayem In this episode, we discuss Mohamed Abdou's (Columbia University) Islam and Anarchism. "Islam and Anarchism is a highly origina...
Seeing the Unseen: A Conversation with Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi
16 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Chelsy Monie and Dr. Susan Gagliardi (Emory University) discuss, the latter's recent monograph entitled Seeing the Unseen: Arts of Po...
Decolonizing the Mind: In Conversation with Ngūgī wa Thiong’o
22 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, renowned Kenyan writer and thinker Ngūgī wa Thiong’o discusses crucial issues in African literature including the 1962 African Wr...
PART-TWO: The Sentencing of Ousmane Sonko & Another Uprising in Senegal
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 thr...
PART-ONE: The Sentencing of Ousmane Sonko & Another Uprising in Senegal
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 thr...
PART-TWO: Why The Current Politico-Legal Unrest in Senegal?
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 1...
PART-ONE: Why The Current Politico-Legal Unrest in Senegal?
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 1...
Dispossession, Slavery and Inequality in West-Central Africa
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, historian, Mariana Candido (Emory University), discusses her recent book entitled Wealth, Land, and Property in Angola: A History of ...
Written Out of History: A Conversation with Joel Cabrita
23 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, historian, Joel Cabrita (Standford University), discusses her recent monograph Written Out: The Silencing of Regina Gelana Twala (O...
Policing Social Activism in Africa
25 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Ugandan social activist and scholar, Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire (Institute of African Studies, Emory University), discusses the policing ...
Opposing Apartheid on Stage: A Conversation With Historian Tyler Fleming
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Associate Professor of History, Tyler Fleming (University of Louisville) discusses his book Opposing Apartheid on Stage: King Kong th...
Discussing Scripts of Blackness with Dr. Noémie Ndiaye
26 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Dr. Noémie Ndiaye (University of Chicago) discusses her recent monograph, Scripts of Blackness: Early Modern Performance Culture and...
Military Coup and Political Impasse in Burkina Faso
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The recent coup in Burkina Faso continues to raise many questions about the political future of the country as well as the relationships between Burki...
Challenging the Executive: Legislative Election in Senegal
28 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On July 31, 2022, Senegal held its legislative election which resulted in a historical "split" parliament between the presidential coalition Benno Bok...
Popular Uprising in Senegal: A Year Later
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, the Drs. Oumar Ba (Cornell University) and Marame Gueye (East Carolina University) discuss the recent developments following the 2021...
The Lemba People of South Africa and Jewish Genetic Ancestry Studies
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Dr. Noah Tamarkin (Anthropology, Cornell University) talks about his recent book, Genetics Afterlives: Black Jewish Indigeneity in So...
The Muridiyya on the Move: Islam, Migration and Place Making
02 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Prof. Cheikh Anta Babou (University of Pennsylvania) discusses his latest book, Muridiyya on the Move: Islam, Migration and Place-Mak...
”Decolonizing Diasporas”: A Conversation with Dr. Figueroa-Vásquez
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Dr. Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez (Associate Prof. at Michigan State University) discusses her recent book entitled Decolonizing Diaspora...
Military Coup in Guinea and the Arrest of President Alpha Condé
24 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Professor Mohamed Saliou Camara, Chair of the African Studies Department at Howard University discusses the recent military coup in G...
Idriss Déby's Death and the Political Transition in Chad
02 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"If you were to look closely at his time in power, it is punctuated by rebellions, it is punctuated by coup attempts, it is punctuated by civil unrest...
The Current Popular Uprising in Senegal
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Senegal, one of the model democracies on the African continent has been experiencing an unprecedented popular uprising following the arrest of opposit...
The Evolution of Hip Hop in Urban Senegal_A Conversation with Dr. Catherine Appert
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"One thing I push back against a little in the book is the sort of emphasis on resistance in scholarship on hip hop. Not because resistance isn't, or ...
Graduate/Doctoral Research Amidst a Global Pandemic
16 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"The Pandemic started when I was finishing my dissertation. I have done a lot during this pandemic, it kind of forced me to finish." "I was suppose...
#EndSARS: Protest Against Police Brutality in Nigeria
06 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Ph.D candidate and #EndSARS protest facilitator, Shamsudeen Abubakar, talks about the origin and manifestations of the #ENDSARS prote...
African Philosophy and the "Existential" Quest
12 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Dismas Masolo (University of Louisville) revisits historical attempts to deny the existence of ...
Pan-Africanism Today: Linking Africa & the Diaspora for Cultural, Economic and Social Empowerment
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the outcome of a Zoom panel that The Africanist co-organized in the framework of the annual African Heritage Festival of Louisville, K...
On Black Liberation Movement, Capitalism and Spirituality
22 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Dr. Tony Van Der Meer from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, talks about his activism and his involvement with the black libera...
Ajamization, Islam in West Africa and Racism in the Arab World: A Conversation With Prof. Fallou Ngom
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Fallou Ngom (Boston University) discusses his award-winning work on Ajami and the diffusion of Islam in West Africa. He also talks about rac...
Tragedies, Solidarity & Black Social Protest Part 2
09 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Aukram Burton, Executive Director of the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, discusses Black activism in the 1960s and 1970s in relation to...
Tragedies, Solidarity & Black Social Protest Part 1
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Aukram Burton, Executive Director of the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, discusses Black activism in the 1960s and 1970s in relation to...
Postcolonialism in Theory and Practice
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Mawuena Kossi Logan discusses Postcolonial Theory in relation to literary productions and the African experience. He also examines how a postcolon...
Discussing an Africa and African Diaspora-centered non-profit organization: Bridge Kids International.
08 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk with Stacy Bailey Ndiaye, founder, and director of Bridge Kids International, a global non-profit organization that serves Af...