The Imagination Desk Center for Science and Imagination

In this episode of Griots & Galaxies, Jenna sits down with award-winning singer/songwriter and author Mohale Mashigo. In this conversation, Mohale shares her experiences in multimedia storytelling, and questions if aliens are truly as scary as Westerners seem to think. 
 
Mohale Mashigo is a best-selling multi-award-winning writer. Her work includes The Yearning (University of Johannesburg Debut Prize for South African Writing in English 2016) and a collection of speculative fiction short stories; Intruders. Mashigo also writes children's books and comic books. Some of her comic book work includes Kwezi, and various projects with both DC & Marvel Comics.Mohale was born and raised in Soweto, she is a multi-disciplinary storyteller who loves exploring the unknown. In addition to being a writer, she is also an award winning singer songwriter, who performs under the name Black Porcelain. Mashigo holds a BA (Journalism & Linguistics) degree from Rhodes University. She is currently the Narrative Director for Game Development studio Nyamakop.
 
Griots & Galaxies is produced by the Center for Science and the Imagination, with support from the Institute for Humanities Research and The Transformation Project, all at Arizona State University. The podcast is created and hosted by Jenna Hanchey, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, and Chinelo Onwualu, with the assistance of sound engineer Bailey Pyritz. The theme music is performed by Sonja Branch and Dethie Sarr Diouf. 
 

In this episode of Griots & Galaxies, Chinelo and Yvette sit down with critically-acclaimed author Tobi Ogundiran. In this conversation, Tobi takes us into horror and haunting, talking about how fairytales reveal what different societies fear–and long for.   
 
Tobi Ogundiran is the author of the critically acclaimed Jackal, Jackal, a collection of eighteen dark and fantastic tales. Tobi has been nominated for the British Science Fiction Association, Shirley Jackson, Ignyte and Nommo awards. His work has appeared in anthologies such as The Book of Witches and Africa Risen. Tobi's work has also appeared in several Year's Best anthologies. His debut novella, In the Shadow of the Fall, is out from Tordotcom in 2024. Born and raised in Nigeria, he spent seven years in Russia where he trained as a physician, and now lives and works in the southern US.
 
Griots & Galaxies is produced by the Center for Science and the Imagination, with support from the Institute for Humanities Research and The Transformation Project, all at Arizona State University. The podcast is created and hosted by Jenna Hanchey, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, and Chinelo Onwualu, with the assistance of sound engineer Bailey Pyritz. The theme music is performed by Sonja Branch and Dethie Sarr Diouf. 

In this episode of Griots & Galaxies, Jenna and Chinelo sit down with Ifa/Òrìsà scholar and writer Ayodele Olofintuade. In this conversation, Ayodele talks to us about African metaphysics and the importance of queer and gender-expansive characters to resisting colonization. 
 
Ayodele Olofintuade is yet to understand the concept of cis-heteronormativity. They are the author of Swallow: Efunsetan Aniwura, Lakiriboto Chronicles: A Brief History of Badly Behaved Women, Eno’s Story, which was shortlisted for the NLNG Prize for Literature in 2011. They are genius at creating chaos by merely existing. Their short stories, non-fiction, research and essays have been published in diverse international magazines and journals. They're an Ifa and Òrìsà scholar presently researching indigenous peoples of Yoruba and ways their practices are intertwined with stewardship of the land and nature.
 
Griots & Galaxies is produced by the Center for Science and the Imagination, with support from the Institute for Humanities Research and The Transformation Project, all at Arizona State University. The podcast is created and hosted by Jenna Hanchey, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, and Chinelo Onwualu, with the assistance of sound engineer Bailey Pyritz. The theme music is performed by Sonja Branch and Dethie Sarr Diouf. 
 

In this episode of Griots & Galaxies, Chinelo sits down with award-winning author Temi Oh. In this conversation, Temi talks to us about neuroscience, corporate control, and how futures of AI technologies relate to histories of racism and colonialism.   
 
Temi Oh wrote her first novel while studying for a BSci in Neuroscience. Her novel, Do You Dream of Terra-Two?, was published by Simon & Schuster. It won the American Library Association’s Alex Award in 2020 and was an NPR Best Book of the year in 2019. She has written stories for Marvel's Black Panther, Dr Who and Overwatch. Her most recent novel, MORE PERFECT, was published in 2023. She has written on the Netflix TV series CASTLEVANIA: NOCTURNE and the CBBC series SILVERPOINT. 
 
Griots & Galaxies is produced by the Center for Science and the Imagination, with support from the Institute for Humanities Research and The Transformation Project, all at Arizona State University. The podcast is created and hosted by Jenna Hanchey, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, and Chinelo Onwualu, with the assistance of sound engineer Bailey Pyritz. The theme music is performed by Sonja Branch and Dethie Sarr Diouf. 
 

In this episode of Griots & Galaxies, Yvette and Jenna sit down with award-winning author and editor Shingai Njeri Kagunda. In this conversation, Shingai talks to us about building community across the African diaspora, and challenges us to consider that taking African knowledges seriously means rethinking time itself.
 
Shingai Njeri Kagunda is an Afrosurrealist and Afrofuturist storyteller from Nairobi, Kenya with a Literary Arts MFA from Brown University. Shingai’s work has been featured in the Best American Sci-fi and Fantasy 2020, Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction 2021, and Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2020. Her debut novella & This is How to Stay Alive from Neon Hemlock Press was the Ignyte Award winner in 2022. She is the co-editor of Podcastle Magazine (a Hugo Award finalist for Best Semiprozine) and the co-founder of Voodoonauts.
 
Griots & Galaxies is produced by the Center for Science and the Imagination, with support from the Institute for Humanities Research and The Transformation Project, all at Arizona State University. The podcast is created and hosted by Jenna Hanchey, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, and Chinelo Onwualu, with the assistance of sound engineer Bailey Pyritz. The theme music is performed by Sonja Branch and Dethie Sarr Diouf. 
 

In this special episode of Griots & Galaxies, Yvette interviews her cohost, editor and author Chinelo Onwualu. Chinelo shares with us her experiences as cofounder of Omenana and a forerunner in African speculative fiction, and where she hopes to see the genre in the future. 
 
Chinelo Onwualu is a Nigerian writer and editor living in Toronto. She’s the nonfiction editor of Anathema Magazine, and co-founder of Omenana, a magazine of African Speculative Fiction. Her writing has been featured in several anthologies and magazines, including Slate, Uncanny, and Strange Horizons. She’s been nominated for the British Science Fiction Awards, the Nommo Awards for African Speculative Fiction, and the Short Story Day Africa Award. 
 
Griots & Galaxies is produced by the Center for Science and the Imagination, with support from the Institute for Humanities Research and The Transformation Project, all at Arizona State University. The podcast is created and hosted by Jenna Hanchey, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, and Chinelo Onwualu, with the assistance of sound engineer Bailey Pyritz. The theme music is performed by Sonja Branch and Dethie Sarr Diouf.