Africa is a Radio: Episode #14

Cafe Bahia, The San Joaquim Market, Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

2015’s last episode of Africa is a Radio features a snippet from an extended interview with Pakistani-American journalist Rafia Zakaria, as well as a selection of tunes from Africa and the rest of the Atlantic world.

Check it out below, and see you in 2016!

Tracklist

1) Raury – Devil’s Whisper
2) Burna Boy – Soke
3) Oliver Mtukudzi – Ndima Ndapedza
4) Gah Gah – Kasbah
5) Interview with Rafia Zakaria
6) Booba – Mon Pays
7) Nasty C – Juice Back Remix feat. Davido and Cassper Nyovest
8) Ziminino – Intermitência
9) Nega Gizza – Filme de terror
10) Santos Junior – N’Gui Banza Mama
11) Fabregas – Mascara
12) Franko – Coller la petite
13) VVIP – Dogo Yaro feat. Samini
14) Kafu Banton – Vivo en el ghetto
15) Lokassa Ya Mbongo – Bonne année

Further Reading

Kenya’s vibe shift

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.

Africa and the AI race

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.

After the uprising

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.

In search of Saadia

Who was Saadia, and why has she been forgotten? A search for one woman’s story opens up bigger questions about race, migration, belonging, and the gaps history leaves behind.

Binti, revisited

More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.

The bones beneath our feet

A powerful new documentary follows Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi’s personal and political journey to recover her father’s remains—and to reckon with Kenya’s unfinished struggle for land, justice, and historical memory.

What comes after liberation?

In this wide-ranging conversation, the freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs reflects on law, liberation, and the unfinished work of building a just South Africa.

The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?

The memory keepers

A new documentary follows two women’s mission to decolonize Nairobi’s libraries, revealing how good intentions collide with bureaucracy, donor politics, and the ghosts of colonialism.

Making films against amnesia

The director of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ reflects on imperial violence, corporate warfare, and how cinema can disrupt the official record—and help us remember differently.