African Arguments Podcast: Recent Episodes

Peter Dörrie and Desné Masie

Hosts Peter Dörrie and Desné Masie discuss Africa's vibrant political, cultural, economic and social affairs with changing guests.

View Details

Not least due to the underwhelming performance and controversial behavior of President Jacob Zuma, the ANC has experienced a historic defeat in last week's local elections. Together with Nick Branson and Nompumelelo Runji, we discuss the details of the outcome, analyse winners, losers and surprises and ask how the venerable could come back from this setback, if indeed it can.

View Details

The Panama Papers have laid bare the extend of illicit financial flows and the impact of tax havens on the world. But how are these revelations connected to the African continent? Host Desné Masie discusses with journalist Nicholas Shaxson, author of "Treasure Islands".

View Details

Only hours after President dos Santos declared his intention to step down in 2018, we sat down with Angolan journalist/activist Rafael Marques de Morais and journalist/scholar Justin Pearce to discuss Angola's current situation.

View Details

Mansour Sy and Lorenzo Fioramonti join us to share quite different, but equally interesting visions on how to approach the issue of radically falling prices for commodities that has thrown many African economies into disarray.

Find the shownotes on www.africanarguments.org/podcast

View Details

We are joined by Martin Plaut and Gushwell Brooks to discuss the deplorable state of South African politics.

Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • Martin Plaut (guest): Twitter
  • Gushwell Brooks (guest): Twitter
  • African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * William Kentridge "Notes Towards a Model Opera" exhibition at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg * Justice Malala - We have now begun our descent: How to Stop South Africa losing its way * "West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song" exhibition at the British Library in London * JT Rappé

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at africanargumentspodcast@gmail.com.

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

View Details

Ugandan Journalist Rosebell Kagumire and Crisis Group analyst Magnus Taylor join us to discuss Uganda's upcoming elections.

PLAYER

Download: MP3

Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • Rosebell Kagumire (guest): Twitter
  • Magnus Taylor (guest): Twitter
  • African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * IOL -  Sparrow and Hart: ‘Racists should leave SA’ * BBC 4 - The Boat Children * Reports by Raymond Mujuni on YouTube * International Crisis Group -Burkina Faso: Transition, Act II * Mail & Guardian Africa * Articles by Christine Mungai

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at africanargumentspodcast@gmail.com.

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

View Details

We are joined by Richard Dowden, Director of the Royal African Society and and Yinka Adegoke, the editor of Quartz Africa, to discuss the big trends of Africa's 2015.

Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • Yinka Adegoke (guest): Twitter
  • Richard Dowden (guest): Twitter
  • African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * Recommendations + Defining the Narrative - group exhibition at the Gallery Momo in Cape Town + Boris Lojkine's "Hope" at the IMDB + Moussa Touré's "La Prigoue" at the IMDB and Amazon + "Fortunes of Africa: A 5,000 Year History of Wealth, Greed and Endeavour" by Martin Meredith + "Im Schatten des Baobab: Tic Toc Tausendbein und andere Geschichten aus Burkina Faso" by Anne Wenkel

  • Main discussion
  • "Winner Take All: China's Race For Resources and What It Means For Us" by Dambisa Moyo
  • The strange case of 77 blue-collar Chinese migrants that Kenya is calling “cyber-hackers”

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at africanargumentspodcast@gmail.com.

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

View Details

West Africa experts Cynthia Ohayon and Kamissa Camara join us to talk about the outcome of this year's elections in West Africa and their national and regional implications.

Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • Cynthia Ohayon (guest): Twitter
  • Kamissa Camara (guest): Twitter
  • African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * Recommendations + We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie + Every 16-year-old in Sweden will get a copy of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s feminist manifesto + The original Ted-Talk + South African Institute of International Affairs + The International Crisis Group's West Africa publications + National Endowment for Democracy Africa page

  • Agenda
  • Black Georgians - The Shock of the Familiar
  • Sekouba Konaté pleads guilty to smuggling $64,000 into the US

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at africanargumentspodcast@gmail.com.

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

View Details

We are joined by Deborah Brautigam, author of "Will Africa feed China" and "The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa" to talk about Chinese-African relations and misconceptions of China's role on the African continent.

Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • Deborah Brautigam (guest): Twitter | Blog
  • African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * Recommendations + Desne's review of "The Book of Memory" by Petinah Gappah - The Book of Memory on Amazon

  • The Royal African Society's "Whats_on Africa"
  • Graeme Wood: What ISIS really wants
  • Kongo: Power and Majesty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • Chris Blattman's blog post on the exhebition

  • China in Africa

  • 2005 BBC article on dynamite factory explosion in Zambia

  • Eckart Woertz: "Oil for Food: The Global Food Crisis and the Middle East"

  • Agenda

  • Africities 2015 Summit
  • 7th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
  • Deborah's talk at Wits University: "Feeding Frenzy – Fictions & Facts about China, Africa & the Media" on November 17

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at africanargumentspodcast@gmail.com.

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

View Details

We talk with Morten Jerven, author of "Poor Numbers" and "Africa: Why Economists get it Wrong" about the quality of economic statistics in Africa and why it matters.

Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • Morten Jerven (guest): Twitter | Homepage
  • African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * Recommendations: + Infographics on the MTN fine + Coverage of the MTN fine by IOL.co.za + New Frontiers in African Economic History Workshop + African Economic History Network - Free Textbook on the History of African Development

  • Beasts of no Nation on Netflix

  • Economic Statistics in Africa

  • "Rwanda accused of manipulating poverty statistics" by F24
  • Filip Reyntjens' article on the issue on African Arguments
  • "Africa's middle class is dramatically smaller than we think" by Quartz
  • Transcript of Thomas Picketty's Mandela Annual Lecture 2015

  • Ease of Doing Business Rankings

  • Agenda

  • African Studies Association Annual Meeting
  • United Nations Security Council Resolution on Burundi
  • Chatham House Event: The Pace of Change in Ethiopia: Present Day and Prospects Ahead

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at africanargumentspodcast@gmail.com.

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

View Details

Five months after taking office, President Buhari has finally named his cabinet. Journalist James Schneider and analyst Lagun Akinloye join us to discuss why it took so long, explain the ramifications and debate if Buhari's anti-corruption drive means anything in the long term.

Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • Lagun Akinloye (political analyst on Nigeria and the head of Public Relations for the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK): Twitter
  • James Schneider (senior correspondent at the New African Magazine): Twitter
  • African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * Recommendations: + The website of the Economic Freedom Fighters + China in Africa Podcast on iTunes + China in Africa Podcast episode with James Schneider + China-Africa Reporting Project + AKÉ Arts & Book Festival + The Drone Papers and Target Africa

  • Nigeria and the Buhari Administration
  • Buhari's first 21 appointments analyzed
  • Reuters: Without a cabinet, Nigeria is stuck 'on hold'
  • New York Times: Nigeria President Escalates Campaign to Stem Corruption
  • UNECA High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows

  • Buhari locates looted Nigerian funds stashed away in the US and European banks

  • Agenda

  • Film Africa 2015
  • Homepage of the India-Africa Forum Summit 2015
  • Quartz: Everything you need to know about India’s trade with Africa, in six charts
  • Quartz: Completely outspent by China, India is sticking to its own plan to win over Africa
  • Homepage of Larry Ekundayo

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at africanargumentspodcast@gmail.com.

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

View Details

We talk with Jabulani Sikhakhane, deputy editor of The Conversation Africa about his publication's special approach to journalism and the state of the fourth estate across the continent.

Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • Jabulani Sikhakhane (guest, deputy editor of The Conversation Africa): Twitter | The Conversation Africa
  • African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * Recommendations: + Zambian Economist + Chola Mukanga on Twitter + Zambia is downgraded again! + Closing the research gap between Africa and the rest of the world + Future (im)perfect? Mapping conflict, violence and extremism in Africa

  • The Conversation Africa
  • 10 ways the The Conversation is different
  • The Conversation France
  • The Conversation Republishing Guidelines

  • Contribute to The Conversation

  • Agenda

  • Red Media Summit
  • Livestream
  • Chude Jideonwo on Twitter
  • StateCraft
  • Binyavanga Wainaina on Twitter
  • James Schneider on Twitter

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at africanargumentspodcast@gmail.com.

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

View Details

Jason Stearns joins us to talk about electoral politics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We get into President Joseph Kabila's strategy for political (and physical) survival, China's role in Congolese politics and Moise Katumbi, Kabila's heir apparent.

Subscribe: RSS | Soundcloud | iTunes (coming soon!)

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • Jason Stearns (guest, expert on politics and security in the DR Congo): Twitter | Blog
  • African Arguments/Royal African Society: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * Dancing in the Glory of Monsters - Jason's fantastic book on the Congo conflicts * How will the oil price collapse affect the Africa Rising story? by Desné Masie on African Arguments * Africa's oil boom goes bust by Luke Patey on African Arguments * Mathematiques Congolaises by Jean Bofane * Congo Kitoko - Exhibition in Paris on Congolese modern art * Daniel Eizenga's Burkina Faso updates on the Sahel Blog * Congo’s Katanga Governor Moïse Katumbi leaves ruling party, breaks silence by Kris Berwouts on African Arguments * Thomas Piketty at the Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture * The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at africanargumentspodcast@gmail.com.

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

View Details

This is a teaser episode for the upcoming African Arguments Podcast with special guest James Wan, editor-in-chief of African Arguments. We discuss African Argument's publishing strategy, James' experiences from his first weeks on the job and how the podcast fits into all of this.

Subscribe: RSS

Follow us and our guests:

  • Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter
  • Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage
  • James Wan (editor, African Arguments): Twitter
  • African Arguments/Royal African Society: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage

Notes * Quartz: Lessons from Thomas Piketty for South Africa, one of the most unequal countries in the world * African Arguments: The Old Guard vs. The People, Round 2 * African Arguments: After the coup in Burkina Faso: unity, justice, and dismantling the Compaoré system * Joe Penny's Twitter profile * African Arguments + Royal African Society + Making Sense of the Sudans + The Nigeria Forum + The Central Africa Forum + African Journalism Fund

  • Articles by Morten Jerven on African Arguments
  • Books on Desné's reading list :
  • Ricardo Soares de Oliveira - Magnificent and Beggar Land: Angola Since the Civil War
  • Morten Jerven - Africa: Why Economists Get it Wrong
  • Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo - Poor Economics: Barefoot Hedge-fund Managers, DIY Doctors and the Surprising Truth about Life on less than $1 a Day

Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch!

The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.