Africa Knows

Africa Knows Collective

Every other Monday, Africa Knows brings you conversations with African(ist) scholars, teachers, and thinkers who talk about their own work and the knowledge revolution taking shape all over the African continent. We are a collaborative platform, with co-hosts calling in from different locations - go to africa-knows.captivate.fm for more details. Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana are our first ports of call, but we aim to expand our reach over time. Interested in collaboration? Contact us at africaknowspodcast@gmail.com. Music: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod https://bit.ly/3sscIwc

  1. FEB 9

    Abdourahmane Idrissa on wrestling with the state in West Africa and the Sahel.

    This week, we get to hear Dr Abdourahmane Idrissa, a Nigerien philosopher and political scientist based in Leiden but who has worked and lived all around the world. Idrissa’s areas of research expertise include the state, Islam, democracy, and security in the Sahel and West Africa more broadly. In this episode, he speaks with Henry and Gaddafi a truly wide range of subjects, from the impact of 9/11 on his academic path to the birth and death of the Songhai empire, and from the intellectual prophets of the 1960s to West African social structure - and, of course, the security crises in the Sahel.

    1h 5m

  2. JAN 26

    Samuel Ntewusu on chieftaincy, social change, and being a teacher in Ghana

    In this episode I'm speaking to Dr. Samuel Ntewusu, the director of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana in Accra. Prof. Ntewusu is an expert in African history and politics and teaches African studies and specifically courses on chieftaincy and development in Africa. We talk about moral icons, chiefs, the impact of the display of wealth by Ghanaian politicians, how to be approachable as a teacher, and a lot more.

    29 min

  3. JAN 12

    Mildred Ambani Songoro on urban planning in Kenya

    In this episode, you’ll hear Dr Mildred Ambani Songoro, a university lecturer and Land Use Planner, GIS Expert, and Cartographer with over ten years’ experience in Nairobi, Kenya. In this episode, Charity talks with her about why “planners come after God”, about what it means to teach urban planning in the aftermath of COVID, about her research on industrial gentrification in Nairobi, and how to prevent a PhD from giving you permanent head damage.

    34 min

  4. 12/22/2025

    Angela Adeoye on conflict, gender-based violence, and subjectivity in academic research

    In this episode, we are introduced to Dr. Angela Adeoye, a senior lecturer at the University of Jos whose work sits at the intersection of gender, conflict management, and development. Drawing on her research in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Northern Nigeria, she reflects on how gender-based violence is shaped by conflict and displacement. Dr Adeoye also speaks candidly about the realities of Nigerian academia, including mystification, chronic underfunding and its impact on research quality.

    46 min

  5. 12/09/2025

    Zubairu Dagona on Trauma, Healing, and Science in Africa

    In this first episode of the brand new season, we are introduced to Dr. Zubairu Dagona, a professor at the University of Jos who specialises in Clinical Psychology at the University of Jos. In this conversation, he shares how engagement with qualitative methods has shaped his understanding of trauma and healing within the Nigerian context. Dr. Dagona also articulates a compelling argument against the reliance on Western instruments, suggesting that such practices can perpetuate neocolonial attitudes in research. Besides that, he critiques the prevalent academic culture that dismisses qualitative research as inferior, advocating for a comprehensive approach that includes both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

    30 min

  6. 05/30/2022

    Abraham Dogo on phytomedicine and academic life under COVID

    Abraham Dogo is a Professor of Veterinary Parasitology, Entomology and Public Health at the University of Jos, Nigeria. In this final episode of the season, he talks with Henry about phytomedicine, his directorship at the Africa Centre of Excellence in Phytomedicine Research and Development, and his work as a clergyman - all in the unusual times of COVID-19. They also touch on the potential of COVID-tea and other herbal solutions to the coronavirus, the positive impact of lockdowns on innovation in the church, ASUU's never-ending strikes, anti-snake-venom vaccines, and the central role of church care groups in Nigeria.

    27 min

  7. 05/09/2022

    Aliyu Isa Aliyu on being successful in Nigerian academia

    Gaddafi meets Aliyu Isa Aliyu, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at Federal University Dutse, Nigeria, and Senior Research Associate at Sun-Yatsen University in China. Dr Aliyu speaks about his work and academic career, including his recipe for a successful PhD, the high quality of Nigerian undergraduate math courses, the role of complex mathematics in fixing hospital queueing, lie symmetry analysis, the need for a total overhaul of Nigerian basic education, GPS software that can help you locate your cars and loved ones, and even the potential of politics to give back to society.

    28 min

  8. 04/25/2022

    Ibrahim Bello Kano on the romance and politics of academia

    Gaddafi talks to Ibrahim Bello Kano ("IBK"), Professor of English Studies at Bayero University Kano and vocal critic and public intellectual. They talk about the romance of academia but also its (sometimes ugly) political economy, and also touch upon: the growing historical ignorance of students; the importance of the literary analysis of nonfiction writing; the place of non-African sources in a decolonised curriculum; why staying in university housing makes academics subservient; the threat of intellectual ghettoisation; the central place instability should have in our social analyses; and the challenges of Nigerianisation versus universalist thought.

    58 min
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Trailer

About

Every other Monday, Africa Knows brings you conversations with African(ist) scholars, teachers, and thinkers who talk about their own work and the knowledge revolution taking shape all over the African continent. We are a collaborative platform, with co-hosts calling in from different locations - go to africa-knows.captivate.fm for more details. Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana are our first ports of call, but we aim to expand our reach over time. Interested in collaboration? Contact us at africaknowspodcast@gmail.com. Music: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod https://bit.ly/3sscIwc

Information

  • Creator
    Africa Knows Collective
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2021 David Ehrhardt
  • Show Website
    Africa Knows