Elephant Memories History Podcast

Max Siollun

Historian and author Max Siollun brings you a monthly African history podcast that never forgets to remember. The world needs an African history podcast - because African history is box office! Revolutionaries, intellectuals, and villainous assassins: Africa had them all. Dramatic blow by blow reconstructions of explosive historical events, and interviews with historical eyewitnesses and experts. This is a podcast that never forgets to remember.

Episodes

  1. Umaru Dikko Kidnapped in London: Secret Agents, a Diamond Dealer, and a Politician

    5D AGO

    Umaru Dikko Kidnapped in London: Secret Agents, a Diamond Dealer, and a Politician

    When military intelligence agents from Nigeria and Israel abducted Nigeria’s former Minister of Transport Umaru Dikko in broad daylight on a London street in 1984, it triggered a spectacular three-country international scandal that involved secret agents, anti-terrorist police, fake passports, a diamond dealer, planes being impounded, a dramatic airport rescue, and the worst ever diplomatic crisis between Nigeria and Britain. This episode reveals the hidden story behind one of the most dramatic international espionage incidents in history.

    10 min
  2. The Hidden Causes of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War

    APR 1

    The Hidden Causes of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War

    Nearly 60 years after Nigeria’s civil war started, the war’s legacy still holds Nigeria hostage. The memory of the war between Nigeria and its breakaway south-eastern region which called itself Biafra, is simultaneously a cause for national disunity and national unity. Yet there is no agreement on what caused the war. Although the war started in 1967, most are not aware that the long road to war started 14 years earlier. In this episode, social historian and filmmaker Ed Keazor joined me to discuss the long term causes of the war that have been overlooked for several decades. This is the first of two episodes with Ed about the Nigerian civil war.

    48 min
  3. Yoruba History: The Rise and Fall of the Oyo Empire

    APR 1

    Yoruba History: The Rise and Fall of the Oyo Empire

    The Oyo Empire was the most famous and powerful of the Yoruba kingdoms in West Africa. The Oyo Empire’s history is box office! It had regicide, revolutions, intrigue, ancestral curses, a scheming court official that engineered the death of four kings he worked for, and back stabbing that Game of Thrones would be proud of! Aside from its high stakes, cut throat drama, Oyo also had one of the most sophisticated government systems of any pre-colonial African state. It had a separation of powers, checks and balances between the different branches of its government, and appointed foreign ambassadors nicknamed “the king’s eyes” to keep watch over conquered foreign vassal states and its provinces. In this episode, writer and Oyo Empire expert Tunde Leye (author of two books about the Oyo Empire: "Afonja The Rise" and "Afonja The Fall") joins me to discuss the Oyo Empire’s spectacular rise and fall.

    1h 28m
  4. The Benin Bronzes, the British Museum, and the Benin Massacre

    APR 1

    The Benin Bronzes, the British Museum, and the Benin Massacre

    The Benin Kingdom (in modern-day Nigeria) was one of West Africa’s most sophisticated and powerful states. Its government had inter-continental diplomatic relations with European countries, a powerful military, and a brilliant guild of artists who made the "Benin Bronze" sculptures that were so technically brilliant that an astonished curator at the British Museum said: "there is absolutely nothing like them in any other part of the world". The sculptures were actually a side show in a wider cat and mouse game between the British colonial officer James Phillips and the King of Benin. Phillips insisted on visiting Benin (despite Benin's king repeatedly telling him that he was not welcome). When Phillips ignored the King of Benin's objections and travelled to Benin in January 1897 with a group of British military officers, Benin's people interpreted his visit as an invasion. Phillips triggered consequences far beyond the wildest imagination of himself, the British government, and the King of Benin. Find out how British history and African history intertwined, in this conversation with Barnaby Phillips (a journalist and author who wrote a book about Benin entitled Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes).

    54 min
  5. Third Podcast Trailer: A 4 minute crash course on the causes of the Nigerian civil war

    MAR 7

    Third Podcast Trailer: A 4 minute crash course on the causes of the Nigerian civil war

    This is the third trailer for my upcoming "Elephant Memories History Podcast". This trailer tries to do something impossible (!): summarise the long term causes of the Nigerian civil war in only 4 minutes. Listen, enjoy, and to subscribe to the podcast here, or on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts – and the other usual podcast outlets.

    4 min
  6. Second Trailer for the Elephant Memories History Podcast

    MAR 2

    Second Trailer for the Elephant Memories History Podcast

    This is the second preview of what to expect from my upcoming African history podcast: dramatic reconstructions of historical events, and interviews with eyewitnesses and experts.

    1 min
  7. First trailer for a new African history podcast

    JAN 24

    First trailer for a new African history podcast

    A preview of the Elephant Memories History Podcast: a new African history podcast - coming soon.

    1 min

Trailers

Ratings & Reviews

About

Historian and author Max Siollun brings you a monthly African history podcast that never forgets to remember. The world needs an African history podcast - because African history is box office! Revolutionaries, intellectuals, and villainous assassins: Africa had them all. Dramatic blow by blow reconstructions of explosive historical events, and interviews with historical eyewitnesses and experts. This is a podcast that never forgets to remember.

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