PAGECAST PAGECAST

Thanks for listening to this episode of Pagecast, brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. 

From award-winning non-fiction writer Hedley Twidle comes Show Me the Place, an essay collection searching through history, memory and literature to find glimmers of utopia. The collection is a book of elsewheres; in it, the author charts a journey to find other liveable places and spaces in a troubled world.

Whether embarking on a bizarre quest to find Cecil Rhodes’s missing nose (sliced off the bust of the Rhodes Memorial) or bike-packing the Scottish islands with a couple of squabbling anarchists; whether learning to surf (much too late) in the wild, freezing waters off the Cape Peninsula or navigating the fraught politics of a Buddhist retreat centre – the author explores forgotten utopias, intentional communities and islands of imagination with curiosity, hope and humour.

Threaded through the pieces in this collection are questions of friendship and human community, of environmental destruction and repair, of landscape and memory.

In this episode, Hedley is in conversation with Mila de Villiers - Sunday Times Books digital editor.

Enjoy!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Pagecast, brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. 

Today’s podcast features the Jonathan Ancer and his latest book Bullshit: 50 Fibs That Made South Africa.

An outrageous miscellany of lies, myths, untruths, fibs and fabrications that tell the woeful history of South Africa. Aimed at offending and entertaining everyone in equal measure, this will have South Africans sniggering and spluttering into their porridge. It will also pique their curiosity.

The lies come thick and fast, like a burst sewerage pipe. Way, way back the Europeans ‘discovered’ southern Africa and found a land that was largely uninhabited. Um, no. On the other hand, Africa was a paradise before the settlers pulled in. Not quite!

Back in the darkest of ages (the 1970s!), citizens were told that there were Satanic messages if you played The Beatles songs backwards. During the civil war in Angola, there were no South African troops in that country. National icon Hansie Cronje was a paragon of virtue and integrity … until he wasn’t. President Nelson Mandela told us that we, as a nation, were ‘special’. Turns out we aren’t.

Jonathan Ancer has written, after consulting with historians and barflies, a fascinating and witty collection of the lies we’ve been told – and the lies we tell ourselves.

In this episode, Jonathan is in conversation with Rebecca Davis, Senior Journalist at the Daily Maverick and author.

Enjoy!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Pagecast, brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. 

Today’s podcast features the remarkable Karen Horn speaking about Prisoners of Jan Smuts

Equally skilled in different trades than in the art of love, the Italian prisoners-of-war who were incarcerated in South Africa during the Second World War are a source of great fascination to this day.

The first Italian POWs arrived in the Union of South Africa in early 1941, most of them being held in Zonderwater Camp outside Cullinan or in work camps across the country. The government of Jan Smuts saw them as a source of cheap labour that would contribute to harvesting schemes, road-building projects such as the old Du Toit’s Kloof Pass between Paarl and Worcester and even to prickly-pear eradication schemes.

Prisoners of Jan Smuts recounts the stories of survival and shenanigans of the Italian POWs in the Union through the eyes of five prisoners who had documented their experiences in memoirs and letters.

Many opted to remain in South Africa once the war had ended, forging quite a legacy. These included sculptor Edoardo Villa, who left an important mark in the local and international art world, and businessman Aurelio Gatti, who built an ice-cream empire whose gelato was to delight generations of South Africans.

In this episode, Karen is in conversation with Monique Verduyn author and literary reviewer.

Enjoy!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Pagecast, brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. 

Today’s podcast features the phenomenal Margie Orford, speaking about her latest book - Love and Fury, a compelling and intimate account of the life, loves and furies.

In this brave memoir, the renowned South African crime writer divulges some of the harrowing experiences that have shaped her life and influenced her writing. Through sexual assault, divorce, depression and personal loss, Orford illuminates the trauma she has navigated. Tender and courageous chapters vividly recall memories of what she has been through as a woman, mother, wife, feminist and ambitious writer.

Love and Fury shows why trauma in our past can have such an enduring and debilitating effect on women’s lives. It also unpacks the healing power of love, creativity, courage and self-reflection, ultimately offering a profound message of hope and joy for any woman who has ever questioned themselves, their trauma and who they are in the world. This book is every woman’s love and fury.

In this episode, Margie is in conversation with Barbara Boswell, feminist literary scholar and Associate Professor of English at the University of Cape Town.

I promise its a chat you will never forget.

Enjoy!

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Pagecast, brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. 

Today’s podcast features Keith Barnes, co- author of Birds of Greater Southern Africa.

This spectacular field guide includes all resident, breeding and migrant species found in Greater Southern Africa.

Comprising South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, Greater Southern Africa is a vast region and home to a truly extraordinary diversity of avifauna.

This book describes all 1,170 regularly occurring species that are likely to be encountered in the region, from the Wandering Albatross to the Pennant-winged Nightjar. Featuring 272 colour plates by three of the world’s leading bird illustrators.

Fully illustrated throughout, this is an essential reference guide for anyone visiting or living in this wildlife-rich area.

In this episode of Pagecast Keith is in conversation with Christian Boix, Author at Africa Geographic.

Enjoy the chat!

The thrilling story of the conservationist who pioneered the use of dogs in combating poachers to protect wildlife in South Africa’s game reserves. Barely out of his teens, one of Conraad’s first brushes with the reality of life at the frontline of conservation was when he shot the leader of a poaching gang during an ambush in Windy Ridge game reserve.

Much of Conraad’s work involving dogs is a continuous struggle against industrial-scale bushmeat poachers, who strangle game in snares, an even greater threat to wildlife than rhino horn poachers as the overburdened courts seem interested only in endangered species. He also works to catch poachers of critically endangered pangolins, the most trafficked animal in the world.

Conraad decided to use his almost telepathic rapport with dogs to tackle the poaching crisis sweeping South Africa. His first anti-poaching dog, a Weimaraner named Zingela, became an inseparable companion. Zingela saved Conraad’s life on numerous occasions – once when Conraad was about to be assassinated by two fellow rangers hired by poachers. Conraad’s story is an epic of modern-day African wildlife conservation, spiced with adventure, courage and romance.

Conraad De Rosner was born and schooled in Gqeberha, then Port Elizabeth. He studied nature conservation before starting work, in 1993, at Windy Ridge Game Park in KwaZulu-Natal. In 2009, he was appointed assistant antipoaching manager at SabiSands game reserve. In 2011, he formed his company, K9 Conservation, at Thanda Game Reserve. In 2015, he moved to his base training farm in Hoedspruit, where for the past six years and more, he has developed and expanded his training of rangers and dogs.