Music and Politics

By: Sean Jacobs

If you have nothing to do tonight and are in New York City, head down to The New School where Boima Tucker and I are hosting musicians Brian Jackson and Masauko Chipembere as well as writers Carolina Gonzalez, Eddie Stats Houston and Wills Glasspiegel for “A Conversation on Music and Politics.”

And this panel comes with an after party. Starting at 10pm Eddie Stats and Boima will be DJing at Cayenne Lounge on West Houston. The party also doubles as a kind of unofficial Sierra Leone 50th Independence party.

Here are the details.

Cinema against silence

Fatou Cissé

A new Malian film takes on the tradition of forced marriage with humor, intimacy, and defiance—reimagining African cinema as both tribute and rupture.

Politics

05.08.2025

The end of US empire is not the end of the world

Thapelo Tselapedi

As American hegemony unravels, the Global South must resist both nostalgia and passivity. Multipolarity won’t arrive on its own—it must be built through struggle.

Culture

05.07.2025

Re-writing the rules of Tunisian rap

Jyhene Kebsi

Blending Tunisian rap with Egyptian mahraganat, Lully Snake defies sexist norms, blurs borders, and opens a new space for feminist rebellion in North African popular culture.

Politics

05.06.2025

Sanctions as civilizational warfare

Peiman Salehi

Framed as hard diplomacy, economic sanctions are a subtler form of warfare—one that erodes sovereignty, punishes civilians, and extends colonial power under a new name.

Politics

05.05.2025

Paul Biya, the last Kaiser

Shuimo Trust Dohyee

A meditation on the oldest ruler in the world.

Politics

05.02.2025

Pan Africanism under elite capture

Naila Aroni

Recent celebrity investments in the continent raises the question: Who is it really for?

Politics

05.01.2025

An undignified democracy

Ali Ridha Khan

Three decades after apartheid, South Africans are still waiting for housing, land, and dignity—while elites ask for patience that serves only themselves.

04.30.2025

What’s left of Nigeria’s feminist left?

Hauwa Mustapha

Once anchored in mass struggle and socialist politics, the feminist movement in Nigeria now navigates the contradictions of donor dependency, digital activism, and elite capture. On the podcast, we unpack: what happened?

Politics

04.29.2025

As aid ends, empire endures

Marjorie Namara Rugunda

Western donors are cutting budgets, but the aid model they built—rooted in control, dependency, and depoliticization—still shapes Africa’s development.

Culture

04.28.2025

Art is a place for rehearsal

M’barek Bouhchichi

What happens when art steps into the gaps left by official history? A conversation on race, memory, and the unfinished work of making meaning.

Politics

04.25.2025

Kenya’s vibe shift

Achan Muga

From aesthetic cool to political confusion, a new generation in Kenya is navigating broken promises, borrowed styles, and the blurred lines between irony and ideology.

Politics

04.24.2025

Zambia’s quiet diplomacy

Kang-Chun Cheng

Long seen as a neutral player in global affairs, Zambia’s foreign policy is shifting under new pressures—from Western donors, Chinese investment, and its own strategic ambitions.

Politics

04.23.2025

The un-African mechanisms of queer repression

Ani Kayode Somtochukwu

Anti-queer laws in Africa are often framed as cultural defense—but their roots lie in colonial legacies, religious nationalism, and global reactionary alliances.

Politics

04.22.2025

Africa and the AI race

Daniel Ekonde

At summits and in speeches, African leaders promise to harness AI for development. But without investment in power, connectivity, and people, the continent risks replaying old failures in new code.

Politics

04.21.2025

The business of empowering women

Ayisha Osori

Despite decades of donor funding, the push for women in politics in Nigeria often sidelines real change in favor of workshops, buzzwords, and photo ops—leaving power structures intact.

Politics

04.18.2025

Will the future of food be genome edited?

What will we eat in the future—and who gets to decide? From lab-grown meat to agroecology, the politics of food in Africa are being shaped by tech dreams, corporate agendas, and grassroots resistance.

Politics

04.17.2025

After the uprising

Nalova Akua

Years into Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, the rebellion faces internal fractures, waning support, and military pressure—raising the question of what future, if any, lies ahead for Ambazonian aspirations.

Culture

04.16.2025

Beyond national liberation

Hein Marais

A new book issues both an indictment of South Africa’s failed transition and a call to rebuild the left through climate justice, solidarity economies, and radical humanism.

Culture

04.15.2025

A powerful storytelling tradition

Luis Castellví Laukamp

The last great Fang bard, Eyí Moan Ndong fused myth, music, and sci-fi to create epic performances that defy Western categories—and demand global recognition.

Culture

04.15.2025

Una tradición literaria poderosa

Luis Castellví Laukamp

El último gran bardo Fang, Eyí Moan Ndong, fusionó el mito, la música y la ciencia ficción para crear actuaciones épicas que desafían las categorías occidentales y exigen reconocimiento mundial.

Africa Is a Country