Podcasts about West Africa

We look at the rising threat of kidnap for ransom. In West Africa, it's a growing criminal industry.But how should any of us respond if or when the worst happens to us and a loved one is taken?If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.ukPresented and produced by Ed ButlerBusiness Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.Each episode is a 17-minute, daily deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Canva, Melanie Perkins.(Picture: Security officers stand guard next to a bus carrying freed worshippers at the Government House in Kaduna on the 5th of February 2026. More than 160 Christian worshippers were initially feared kidnapped during coordinated attacks on three churches in Kurmin Wali, Kajuru area, on the 18th of January. Credit: Getty Images)

We are introducing a brand-new segment where we explore reptiles from different regions around the world, starting with West Africa! We talk about some of the incredible species found there, including a lineup of venomous snakes that are equal parts fascinating and terrifying. Lyssa also debuts her newest tattoo and we get into the full story! To finish the episode, we dive into a very real girlhood conversation about “pink vs. blue jobs” — who actually does what around the house, how couples divide chores, and why “fair” doesn't always look 50/50.Get early access to episodes: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-wild-type-podcast/subscribeFollow the podcast: - https://www.instagram.com/thewildtypepodcast/- https://www.tiktok.com/@thewildtypepodcast- Merch: https://the-wild-type-podcast-llc-shop.fourthwall.com/Follow Neptune the Chameleon:- https://www.youtube.com/c/NeptunetheChameleon/- http://instagram.com/neptunethechameleon- https://tiktok.com/@neptunethechameleon- http://facebook.com/neptunethechameleon- https://www.neptunethechameleon.comFollow Lyssa's Lizards:- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmZaN6Q4yOt1j36J0-Ml6LQ- https://www.instagram.com/lyssaslizards- https://www.tiktok.com/@lyssaslizards- https://m.facebook.com/p/Lyssas-Lizards-100064470381677/- https://www.lyssaslizards.comSponsors:- https://www.pangeareptile.com/wildtype- https://coldbloodedcaffeine.com/- https://symtonbsf.com/- https://reptilekages.com/

Ghana is often remembered for the 1980s “Ghana Must Go” expulsions of migrants from Nigeria. But years earlier, Ghana carried out one of West Africa's largest expulsions.In this episode, we explore the Aliens Compliance Order, when hundreds of thousands of migrants were ordered to leave within two weeks. Why did Ghana introduce the policy, and what were the consequences?Plus in our PSA, we spotlight comedian Ayoade Bamgboye, who is on tour.Ghana's Independence BattleChagos Islands episodeFollow us on IG: itsacontinentpod and Twitter: itsacontinent. It's a Continent (published by Coronet) is available to purchase: itsacontinent.com/book We're on Buy me a Coffee too: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/itsacontinentVisit our website: itsacontinent.comArtwork by Margo Designs: https://margosdesigns.myportfolio.comMusic provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTgWarm Nights by Lakey Inspired: https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired/...Follow us on IG: itsacontinentpod and Twitter: itsacontinent. It's a Continent (published by Coronet) is available to purchase: itsacontinent.com/book We're on Buy me a Coffee too: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/itsacontinentVisit our website: itsacontinent.comArtwork by Margo Designs: https://margosdesigns.myportfolio.comMusic provided by Free Vibes: https://goo.gl/NkGhTgWarm Nights by Lakey Inspired: https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired/...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Send a textWhat if the body already knows how to heal itself — and we've simply forgotten how to listen?In this fascinating episode of Self Reflection Podcast, host Lira Ndifon sits down with Kevin “Free” Francis, a former professional basketball player turned wellness practitioner, to explore the hidden intelligence of the human body.After spending years playing professional basketball across the world — including China, Finland, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia — Kevin's journey eventually led him somewhere unexpected: The Gambia in West Africa.There, he began developing a holistic system called G God Body, a philosophy and practice centered around movement, nervous system regulation, and liquid fasting as tools for restoring balance in the body.Drawing from over 14 years of experience in physical therapy and biomechanics, Kevin shares how modern lifestyles often push our bodies into chronic stress, inflammation, and hormonal imbalance — and why the body may be constantly trying to repair itself beneath the surface.But the question becomes:Are we giving it the space to do so?In this episode, we explore:• The difference between digestion and absorption — and why it matters for energy and healing • How stress, hormones, and inflammation are deeply connected • Why many people unknowingly store emotional and physical stress inside the body • The science behind liquid fasting and metabolic reset • How the nervous system regulates healing • Why movement patterns can shape long-term health outcomes • The philosophy behind “adapting instead of coping” in life and wellness • Kevin's experience relocating to Africa and reconnecting with a different way of livingKevin also explains why he believes the body is more than just a physical structure — it is a temple, a system designed with extraordinary intelligence that can recalibrate when given the right environment.This conversation challenges many of the assumptions we hold about health.Instead of constantly pushing harder, working more, and stressing the body further… what if healing begins with slowing down, resetting, and allowing the body to do what it was designed to do?A Moment for Self ReflectionIf your body has been trying to send you signals…Have you been listening?Catchy OutroAt Self Reflection Podcast, we believe that healing, growth, and transformation all begin with one simple step:Pausing long enough to reflect.Each conversation is designed to explore mental health, personal development, and the deeper issues affecting our communities — while helping us reconnect with ourselves.And this episode is a powerful reminder that sometimes the answers we're searching for externally… may already exist within us.Support the showCall to Action: Engage with the Self-Reflection Podcast community! Like, follow, and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube (Self-Reflection Podcast by Lira Ndifon), and all major podcast platforms. Share your insights and feedback—we value your contributions! Suggest topics you'd like us to explore. Your support amplifies our reach, sharing these vital messages of self-love and empowerment. Until our next conversation, prioritize self-care and embrace your journey. Grab your copy of "Awaken Your True Self" on Amazon. Until next time, be kind to yourself and keep reflecting.

This Day in Legal History: The AmistadOn March 9, 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. The Amistad, ruling that a group of Africans who had seized control of the Spanish ship La Amistad were free individuals who had been illegally enslaved. The case began after the captives, led by Sengbe Pieh—often called Cinqué—revolted against the ship's crew while being transported from Cuba in 1839. They had originally been kidnapped in West Africa and sold into slavery in violation of international agreements banning the transatlantic slave trade. After the revolt, the ship was intercepted near Long Island and the Africans were taken into U.S. custody. Spanish officials demanded that the United States return both the ship and the captives to Cuba. The U.S. government supported Spain's request, arguing that the captives were property under Spanish law.Abolitionists rallied to the Africans' defense and secured legal representation for them in American courts. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, where former President John Quincy Adams joined the legal team arguing for the captives' freedom. Adams delivered a lengthy and passionate argument emphasizing natural rights and the illegality of the slave trade that had brought the Africans to Cuba. Writing for the majority, Justice Joseph Story concluded that the captives had been unlawfully enslaved and were therefore not property. Because they were free individuals, the Court held that they had the legal right to resist their captivity and fight for their liberty. The Court ordered that the Africans be released rather than returned to Spanish authorities.The ruling was celebrated by abolitionists as an important moral and legal victory in the fight against slavery. Although it did not end slavery in the United States, the decision demonstrated that courts could recognize limits on the slave trade and acknowledge the legal claims of enslaved people.Thirteen major U.S. book publishers have filed a copyright lawsuit against Anna's Archive, a website they describe as one of the largest “shadow libraries” distributing pirated books and academic papers. The publishers—including HarperCollins, Wiley, McGraw Hill, and Cengage—filed the complaint in federal court in New York, alleging that the site hosts more than 63 million books and 95 million research papers without authorization. According to the lawsuit, Anna's Archive allows users to download these materials directly or through torrent networks, making copyrighted works widely available for free. The publishers claim the site openly presents itself as a pirate platform and intentionally violates copyright law.The complaint also alleges that Anna's Archive was created in 2022 after copying entire collections from other illegal book repositories and has continued expanding its database. The publishers say the site operates anonymously and frequently changes domain names across different countries to avoid enforcement efforts. They further claim the platform targets artificial intelligence developers by offering large datasets of books and papers. While free users can access files slowly, the complaint states that faster downloads are available to users who make donations through untraceable methods like cryptocurrency or gift cards. The publishers allege that these donations can reach roughly $200,000 for high-speed bulk access. In response, the plaintiffs are asking the court to shut down the site and award statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each infringed work.The lawsuit follows a separate case brought by Atlantic Recording Corp., which earlier obtained a preliminary injunction preventing Anna's Archive from distributing millions of music files allegedly copied from Spotify. That case resulted in a default after the site failed to respond to the complaint. However, the publishers argue that the earlier injunction does not cover books, allowing the alleged book piracy to continue. The Association of American Publishers has publicly supported the lawsuit, describing the scale of digital piracy as extremely large and urging legal action to stop the operation.Publishers Sue ‘Shadow Library' For ‘Staggering' Book Piracy - Law360Companies that operate in California are facing uncertainty as the state moves forward with major climate disclosure laws while a federal appeals court considers whether the rules should be blocked. The laws—California Senate Bills 253 and 261—require large companies doing business in the state to disclose information about greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks. In late February, the California Air Resources Board approved initial regulations explaining how the reporting system will be administered and how companies will pay implementation fees. At the same time, the Ninth Circuit has temporarily blocked enforcement of S.B. 261 and is reviewing a request from business groups to halt both laws entirely.Because of this parallel regulatory and legal process, many companies are unsure whether they should invest heavily in compliance or wait for the courts to rule. S.B. 253 applies to companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue and requires reporting of Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, which include direct emissions, energy-related emissions, and emissions from supply chains. S.B. 261 applies to companies with more than $500 million in revenue and requires disclosure of climate-related financial risks and mitigation strategies. Attorneys say collecting this data could be difficult, especially for companies that only have limited operations in California or that must gather information from suppliers and partners in other regions.The reporting requirements could also affect businesses outside California because companies subject to the law may need emissions data from their partners and vendors. Regulators have begun setting deadlines for initial reporting, including an August deadline for certain emissions data, but many details about how the system will function remain unresolved. Meanwhile, business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce argue the laws violate the First Amendment by forcing companies to speak on controversial issues related to climate change. With rulemaking still underway and litigation ongoing, companies are left trying to prepare for possible compliance while waiting to see whether the courts ultimately uphold or invalidate the laws.Companies In Limbo Over Calif. Climate Disclosure Laws' Fate - Law360In a major California bellwether trial over claims that social media harms children's mental health, the plaintiff has finished presenting her case against Instagram and YouTube. The plaintiff, a 20-year-old referred to as Kaley G.M. to protect her identity, alleges that features on the platforms contributed to anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia she experienced as a minor. Her attorney, Mark Lanier, chose not to call Kaley's mother to testify live, instead presenting a brief portion of her deposition to the jury. The decision appeared partly influenced by strict time limits imposed by the judge during the trial. In the deposition testimony, the mother acknowledged she had little knowledge of her daughter's social media use and did not monitor her phone because she viewed it similarly to a household landline.Defense attorneys have argued that Kaley's mental health problems were caused by difficulties at home rather than the platforms themselves. Evidence introduced at trial suggested the plaintiff had conflicts with her mother, including allegations of neglect, verbal abuse, and limited supervision of internet use. The defense also pointed to bullying and other personal issues as alternative explanations for the plaintiff's struggles. Meanwhile, a former Meta employee testified that internal company information suggested Instagram could be addictive and harmful to young users, although defense lawyers challenged his credibility and the extent of his involvement with safety issues.The plaintiff's final expert witness discussed ways social media companies could design safer platforms for children. After the plaintiff rested, Meta began presenting its defense with testimony from school administrators connected to the plaintiff. The case is the first bellwether trial among thousands of similar lawsuits consolidated in California, with outcomes potentially shaping settlement negotiations and future trials. TikTok and Snap previously settled with this plaintiff, but the broader litigation against social media companies continues.Meta, Google Begin Defense As Mental Harm Plaintiff Rests - Law360 UKThe U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency told a federal trade court that it expects to create a system within about 45 days to process refunds for tariffs that were previously imposed under President Donald Trump and later ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. The tariffs generated roughly $166 billion in payments from about 330,000 importers, and the Court's decision did not specify how those funds should be returned. As a result, government lawyers and a judge from the U.S. Court of International Trade are working to establish a practical process for issuing refunds.Under the proposed plan, importers would submit a declaration through CBP's electronic system detailing the tariffs they paid. The agency would verify the information and then issue a single payment from the Treasury Department to each importer, including interest. Officials say this approach would avoid forcing businesses to file individual lawsuits to recover their money. The judge overseeing the matter recently modified an earlier order that required immediate refunds, acknowledging that the agency needs time to build a workable system.CBP explained that its current administrative system cannot automatically process refunds on the massive scale required. Importers paid tariffs on more than 53 million shipments, and manually reviewing each transaction could require millions of hours of labor. Several large companies, including affiliates of Nintendo and CVS, have already filed lawsuits seeking repayment, though the government hopes a broader refund system will resolve claims more efficiently.Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have supported the proposal, saying it could simplify the process for smaller companies. However, officials noted that relatively few importers have registered for the electronic refund system created earlier this year. The court continues to oversee the development of the refund process through a test case that could guide how payments are returned to all affected businesses.US customs agency expects tariff refund system to be ready in 45 days | Reuters This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

In this episode of Out of the Clouds, host Anne V. Mühlethaler welcomes Katia Dayan Vladimirova, a senior sustainability policy expert with almost fifteen years of research experience at the intersection of fashion, policy, and social change. Katia is the founder of the Post Growth Fashion Agency, a boutique advisory service working with local and national governments and NGOs to transform how we consume and dispose of fashion. She is also the author of the Substack Post Growth Fashion, the founder of the International Research Network on Sustainable Fashion Consumption — now hosted at Yale and bringing together close to 180 researchers globally — and the founder of Well Rounded, the first plastic-free underwear brand made in Europe, with a supply chain traced all the way to cotton fields in Greece. She holds a double PhD in climate ethics and political science, and has studied and worked at institutions including the London School of Economics, MIT, ULB in Brussels, LUISS in Rome, and UNIGE in Geneva.The conversation begins with Katia sharing her story. Anne and Katia then get into the ideas at the heart of Katia's work. She unpacks degrowth and sufficiency, making the case that the labels do these concepts a disservice, since studies show overwhelming public support for the underlying principles once they are actually explained. Applied to fashion, she is interested not in restricting creativity but in shifting how we experience clothing: through swapping, renting, repairing, community events, and a deeper relationship with what we already own. She talks about the Rule of Five, how we would each need to limit ourselves to in order to stay within the planetary boundaries aligned with the Paris Agreement's target. The pair also discuss the role of cities in managing textile waste and Katia's work with Geneva, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, and others to make sustainable fashion alternatives viable at a local level. She notes that in Geneva, only 3% of donated garments are redistributed locally; the rest enter a global stream that ends up, in large part, in open-air landfills in West Africa. Katia then shares the argument at the heart of her essay The Trojan Horse of Fashion: that the oversupply of secondhand. itself a product of fast fashion overproduction, is creating a bubble that will burst within five to ten years, forcing a major restructuring of the industry. An exceptionally knowledgeable, warm, and surprisingly joyful conversation on one of the most urgent topics of our time. Happy listening!Connect with Katia Dayan Vladimirova:Find Katia on LinkedInPost Growth Fashion SubstackPost Growth Fashion AgencyInternational Research Network on Sustainable Fashion ConsumptionWell Rounded — Katia's circular underwear brandReferenced in the episode:The True Cost movie — Documentary (2014) directed by Andrew MorganRana Plaza — Background on the 2013 factory collapse in Dhaka, BangladeshHot Cool Institute — Berlin-based think tank; co-authors of the 2022 global fashion consumption reportThe Rule of Five — Campaign inspired by the five-garment-per-year findingParis Agreement — The 2015 climate accord and its 1.5-degree targetVestiaire Collective — Secondhand platform referenced by AnneHUT / Caritas Luxembourg — One-stop sustainable fashion hub in LuxembourgKate Fletcher — Pioneer in sustainable fashion, featured in Katia's webinar seriesDilys Williams — Sustainable fashion academic, featured in Katia's webinar seriesJason Hickel — Degrowth scholar referenced in the conversationProject 333 — Capsule wardrobe challenge referenced in the conversationGabriela Hearst — Designer referenced by Anne for her approach to materialsSatoshi Kuwata — Milan-based designer mentioned by Katia as an example of genuine creative resilienceTim Lomas — Positive psychology professor, featured in an earlier Out of the Clouds episode, Your Story Your Map: — a contemplative guide to help you trace the arc of your life with intention. Get it hereVisit our website Out of the Clouds : https://outoftheclouds.com/Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_outofthecloudsAnne on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annvi/Anne on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/annvi.bsky.socialAnne on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-v-muhlethaler/Please subscribe and leave us a review ✨ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why schools need data that helps every child be seen, heard, and belong. About Paul Swanson Paul is the Director of Innovation and Institutional Research at Atlanta International School. Drawing on experience as a teacher, coach, and school leader in international schools around the world, he is passionate about helping schools use data and technology to better understand the whole child and support meaningful learning. Paul Swanson on Social Media https://www.linkedin.com/in/teacherpaul/  https://www.linkedin.com/company/data-talks-podcast/  About Matthew Savage Formerly an international school Principal, and with 23 years of school leadership experience in the UK and internationally, Matthew is the founding director of The Mona Lisa Effect, whose mission is to help ensure that every single student - with exception, condition or compromise, be seen, be heard, be known and belong. Through his speaking, writing, coaching, mentoring and thought partnership, he supports schools worldwide in the intersecting fields of leadership and governance, data and assessment, and inclusion, wellbeing and belonging. Matthew is a CIS Affiliated Consultant, an Affiliate Member of SENIA International, a board member at international schools in Europe and West Africa, and a member of both the Advisory Council for Parents Alliance for Inclusion, and the ‘Circle of Influence' at the Global Equality Collective. He lives on the Isle of Skye. Matthew Savage on Social Media https://www.linkedin.com/in/themonalisaeffect/   Resources https://www.linkedin.com/company/data-talks-podcast/  https://monalisaeffect.me/  John Mikton on Social Media LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmikton/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmikton Web: beyonddigital.org Dan Taylor on social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/appsevents  Twitter: https://twitter.com/appdkt  Web: www.appsevents.com Listen on: iTunes / Podbean / Stitcher / Spotify / YouTube Do a full security audit of your Workspace for free at https://workspaceaudit.com Would you like to have a free 1 month trial of the new Google Workspace Plus (formerly G Suite Enterprise for Education)? Just fill out this form and we'll get you set up bit.ly/GSEFE-Trial

It's very rare for me to demand that the readers of my #AmReading substack pre-order something. And the bar to be my “Just One Book” is high. But here we go: The book is The Fountain—debut speculative fiction from Casey Scieszka—and you'll want to read it, but even more, you'll want to hear us talk about what it took to pull this big, beautiful novel from her Tuck-Everlasting-loving soul. And here's the question her agent asked her that is now stuck on a post-it on my computer and may be my next tattoo: How can you reveal these things in action?Casey is reading:Open Throat by Henry Hoke (“It's funny and deeply tender and unlike anything I've ever read.”Follow Casey on Instagram and Substack: Spruceton Inn.Transcript Below!EPISODE TRANSCRIPTKJ Dell'AntoniaThis is the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast, the place where we help you play big in your writing life, love the process, and finish what matters. I am KJ Dell'Antonia, and today we're talking with Casey Scieszka. And I meant to ask Casey how to pronounce her last name before we started. How'd I do?Casey ScieszkaI think you did great. Especially over in Poland, we say “SHESH-kah” over here, but I've been corrected many times. I think it's supposed to be more like what you said. So… bravo!KJ Dell'AntoniaOkay… SHESH-skah… SHESH-kah… all right, off we go. Y'all, you're going to want to know how to spell it, because you're going to want to order Casey's debut novel, The Fountain, and it is spelled S-C-I-E-S-Z-K-A. But to carry on with my introduction, Casey is a ridiculously well-traveled innkeeper in upstate New York, and we are just going to let that fantasy sit there for a minute without talking about the amount of snow she's going to be shoveling tomorrow, because we're recording this in January and are talking about the fact that I can see her and she is wearing a full-on puffer. So… romance, Hallmark, innkeeper, debut novel—all the things—and also a puffer and snow shovels and pipes and, yeah. You will hear this episode just as Casey's first book, The Fountain,, comes out, and that is what we're here to talk about, because I happened to have gotten an advanced copy of it, and I happen to actually have read it—which does not always happen—and even more relevantly, loved it. Therefore, here we are. And Casey, welcome to Hashtag AmWriting.Casey ScieszkaThank you so much. I am so thrilled. I'm like really just beyond that you enjoyed it so much.KJ Dell'AntoniaAh, I'm so—I'm, I really did. I will be encouraging everyone to pick it up. It's mind-boggling that it's not… and it is your debut. So I'm going to go ahead and—is it, is it really? Like, I mean, I know it's your debut, but like, is it the first book you've written? Oh no, you've, you've got a kind of a memoirs situation out, right?Casey ScieszkaI wrote like a young adult travelogue with my now husband that he illustrated about when we lived like in China and West Africa and wound up literally out in Timbuktu. So I had some experience that way, but that was nonfiction and for a totally different audience. All that said, this novel is my first published one, but you better believe I have a bin in the drawer.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's what I meant.Casey ScieszkaDrawer. (laughing)KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah. Yeah. So, The Fountain, is—just as briefly as possible—it's the story of an immortal woman who really would like to die, for excellent reasons, because immortality is a weight that is really, really heavy, and you convey that beautifully and wonderfully in this book. And so I want to just start right off—I maybe should let you describe the book—and then I'll just warn you that my next question is going to be, “Man, how did you have the guts to swing for the fences like this?”Casey ScieszkaWell, I think it probably began when I read Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting as a fifth grader in English class, which is about a family that—or a little girl who comes across a magical spring that an immortal family is guarding, and then she has to decide, ultimately, throughout the book, what she's going to do with this information and this knowledge while other people are hunting it down as well. And those questions just haunted and delighted me for decades, and I kept returning to them, and at some point I was working on a novel, had a whole manuscript going, was deeply frustrated, and I started a little something on the side where I was like, this will just be a short story. We'll see where this goes. This is nothing, and I think, because… I don't know, maybe you've experienced this before too, where if you're not looking it directly in the eye, sometimes it can just take off, and it all of a sudden had a life of its own. Essentially, this grown-up version of Tuck Everlasting, where it's about a woman who has come back to her small hometown in the Catskill Mountains, where she was born in the 1800s, 214 years later, to figure out what did this to her so she can reverse it and finally be released.KJ Dell'AntoniaWow, you really have the… the short pitch. What's your book about? Down! Congratulations! That's a tough one. Yeah, you, you nailed it. That is what it is about. And I will say that it took—one of the things that I loved about it, and that I like in a book—is that not only was I not sure at some points what the protagonist wanted for herself, I was not sure what I wanted for her. All I knew was that I wanted “something” for her. And that makes for a really interesting reading experience. Because normally, you know, you find yourself sitting there going, well, just, you know, just tell the person, or just, you know, kiss them or accept your reality, or you'd normally—you know what you want—like, take the ring, Frodo, or whatever. Or don't take the ring, Frodo. And now there's no book. But, and in this one, we didn't. How hard was—was that for you to write—sort of, I don't know… did you know what you wanted the protagonist—or what you wanted the reader to want for her? Or…?Casey ScieszkaYes and no.KJ Dell'AntoniaHow did you feel about that?Casey ScieszkaRight. Yes and no, and yes and no. I think when you're writing, ultimately, later on in draft, you have to be very clear about what your character wants. But in the early process, I had no idea. The whole thing, like I said, began as a short story, and that's really just the first chapter or two, and then I was essentially hunting with her. When I was writing that first draft, I was like, what are we looking for? What has happened in the past 200 years in your life that would make you feel one way or another? And then every time I had a different little angel or devil on my shoulder, whatever you will, who was the—well, what about this point of view? What if? Wouldn't this type of—wouldn't someone say, well, living forever would be amazing, because you could share that type of science with other people, and you could, you know, have these wonderful medical advances or, you know, things like that? I could then have other characters essentially embody those, those other points of view as well. Although, I'm really glad that you say that in your reading experience, you still weren't quite sure what she wanted, because I definitely didn't want, you know—I mean, no, no author wants characters to just be symbols for points of view.KJ Dell'AntoniaOh yeah, no, absolutely not. And I should say that I know that she wants to reverse this. That's never in question. But this sort of—there—you're always aware of the question of what does she really want? Because that's kind of only part of it to want…Casey ScieszkaRight.KJ Dell'AntoniaAn end to this pain, but, but why and what other alternatives there are. And then, of course, I just—I did not know how you were going to end it. I could not imagine how you were going to land that plane. It must have been a tough one. Did you always know where you were going? We will not in any way spoil this.Casey ScieszkaRight. No spoilers.KJ Dell'AntoniaNo, no spoilers.Casey ScieszkaI'd say that about halfway through my first draft, I just saw the ending. I was like, “Oh, this is…”KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's amazing.Casey ScieszkaThis is like that very last moment. I was like, this is where I need to get. And those handful of chapters before the penultimate one, whoa, boy, those were the ones that are like I wrote, like seven different books, you know?KJ Dell'AntoniaOh yeah.Casey ScieszkaCompletely different versions to actually get there.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo what was your… what's your hope for the reader experience of this book? Besides, you know vast entertainment and pressing it into the hands of their friends.Casey ScieszkaRight. Naturally.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah…Casey ScieszkaBeyond that…KJ Dell'AntoniaWe love that.Casey ScieszkaUm, I mean, I love books that essentially look at what it means to be human and what makes a life worth living. And those are the type of questions that I hope someone would then linger on in their own life after putting down the book. Even in between chapters, you know? That you would be able to reflect on the choices that each character is making and think, like, oh, I would do this. I wouldn't do that. Or, you know, to kind of just bring that back into your own life that way. Because… I don't know. Time is perspective, like ever—what is—what does it mean to live forever? What is a long life? Is it? You know, when you're when you're little, a summer lasts an eternity. I guess what I'm saying is like our perspective of time is always bendy, and that was an interesting challenge in trying to write a 214 year old woman, where it was very tempting to just turn her into a superhero, where I'd be like, “Oh, well, she'd know 10 language.”KJ Dell'AntoniaShe'd know things, yeah.Casey ScieszkaAnd she'd be like, amazing at all these things. And I had to be like, Casey, you have a lot of time on your hands as well. Like, you're, you know, you're 40 years old. And do you know 10 languages? Do you know five languages? Like, what are, like what are we talking about here?KJ Dell'AntoniaOn that ratio you should at least know two. (laughing) Uh, maybe three. If we're going to say 200 is 10… you know you got, yeah, you should have at least two.Casey ScieszkaExactly. So just kind of examining, like, why would I—why would I have expectation, different expectations for someone simply because they've lived longer, and, you know, those types of things?KJ Dell'AntoniaSo you mentioned that you had a bunch of books in a drawer. So what's bigger about this project than maybe the thing that you put aside to focus on it? Is it bigger?Casey ScieszkaI don't know if it's bigger. I think I just had, I had better tools in my toolbox at this point. Like I might return to that other one, but I didn't have the full heart of the question I was getting at there. I think I had more of a premise, or something like that. Whereas this one, when I was writing, I felt like the problem was I had own—like in the writing was like I had too much meat, I had so many questions, I had so much I was wrestling with. And then it also really helped that, I mean, it's, its set in a small town in the Catskills, and, spoiler alert, that's the type of place that I now live.KJ Dell'AntoniaRight.Casey ScieszkaAnd knew. People always tell you like, write what you know. I am, I am not, secretly, 214 years old. I know you can't see me on camera, guys.Multiple Speakers(both laughing)Casey ScieszkaMy skin's not that great for a… you know? But, but I do know what small-town life is in the Catskills. I do—there are some characters who are opening up a business. I know what it's like to open a business. Like, it was really fun for me. I felt like I had this endless well of inspiration to keep pulling from that way. And that was something I couldn't have written 10 years before. You know?KJ Dell'AntoniaYou also handled the depth of the questions that you're dealing with remarkably tightly. Did you have to clear away a lot of like… asking for a friend…(laughing). Did you have to clear away a lot of mulling over these questions by people or? I guess what I'm getting at is these are really deep and big questions, like you said, but I don't feel—you did not Atlas Shrugged these. You know, there's not like a 20-page dissertation by John Galt in the middle of it. How hard was it to keep that from happening? Or did it come a little more easily for you?Casey ScieszkaI think, nothing, nothing, none of it comes easily. We know this.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Casey ScieszkaI mean, sometimes you reach the flow state, you know? And it is funny to even think back on these things, because I have a, like, a willful blindness, almost in the same way that, like, I have given birth to two children, and, like, I can't believe I did it a second time, you know? But it's by, you know, it's by design, some—perhaps similar with writing. Once you know how the sausage is made, sometimes it can be hard to do again. But anyway, all of this is to go back and actually answer your question. I was very wary of doing the… this is how I feel about something info dump. And one of the things that my agent as an editor has been helpful with from early drafts was, how can you reveal these things in action? So anytime I was tempted to just start explaining things, I was like, Casey, is this happening in action? Like, is this a character actually finding something out? Like from another character in a natural way. So that…KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's a great question.Casey ScieszkaRight. That really, that really helped me. And then also sometimes with the writing I did, just let myself write a whole bunch, you know, because sometimes, especially if you know it's the beginning of your writing day, maybe it's, it's that equivalent of the throat clearing—you're just or the dog who's doing circles before they sit down, like you're, you're getting around to the thing that you actually want to say. And then when you re read it, you're like, “Oh, well, those first four paragraphs can go, and here's where I actually start to say…”KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, here's what i meant to say.Casey ScieszkaYeah. Yeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaTake this. Put it up at the front— delayed all this. Yeah. No. I get it. So how long did this take you?Casey ScieszkaWell, I started the short story in 2021 and then it comes out now. I will say we had, like; everything was in the can, if you will, at least, like a year and a half ago, just kind of waiting for this springtime pub date. But, yeah, it's a journey. That's a—I feel, you know, like another thing you don't want to hear when you're like, 25 and are like, I'm going to write a book, and you hear an interview with someone who's like, it took me 10 years, and I was like, my god. And I'm like, well, girl.KJ Dell'AntoniaI can do it faster than that.Casey ScieszkaThis one is five years. But…KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, yeah, no, it takes, it takes a long time, and it's hard, and it takes a lot of painful thinking, and yeah, all of those things are true. So now, now that you can look back at this project with hopefully a little bit of distance, and you're about to be talking about it a lot, I suspect. What do you love most about it?Casey ScieszkaOoh. I love most that these characters feel so real to me still that I sometimes catch myself wondering, like, what they're doing. You know?KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's amazing.Casey ScieszkaLike I lived with them, and I just, I'm so excited that I actually, like made—was able to make that for, you know, not just myself, though, that I surely entertained myself in the process. But it is such a humbling dream that this story is now existing in other people's brains, that these are characters who have felt real to other people as well.KJ Dell'AntoniaWhat, as you look back, what would you say was the hardest part of the process?Casey ScieszkaAside from all of the waiting?!KJ Dell'AntoniaAll of it! Aside from all of it.Casey ScieszkaWhich felt like…KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah I was going to say aside from…Casey ScieszkaIt felt eternal.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah. Yeah.Multiple Speakers(both laughing)Casey ScieszkaI think the very hardest part is early on, when you don't know—well, the earliest, earliest is delightful, because you're in just your little creative cocoon, and you're having these wonderful ideas, and you don't have to solve any of the plot problems yet, or things like that. You know, you're just like being your own little creative genius for yourself. But then it's I feel like that, that first real revision phase when you don't know fully if this is actually going to become a book where you're—and time, you know, to talk about time again, is precious, like I, you know, I run this other hotel. It's open half the year. But when I began it, it was open seven days a week, all year long; I had two children under the age of four at the time. Like, time was precious. I was writing during nap time, like things were being sacrificed in order for me to do this. And it is. It just feels audacious and possibly insane to be doing it when you're in it, and when you're on the other side, you're like, oh, but the road was always pointing here, and you just, you just don't know that when you're in it.KJ Dell'AntoniaNo.Casey ScieszkaYeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaYou could easily have, really think, you know, you could easily still be sitting on this going, well, I'm going to finish this…Casey ScieszkaExactly. And, you know…KJ Dell'AntoniaWhen the kids are… you know… or whatever.Casey ScieszkaYeah, exactly I have these other, you know, unfinished or manuscripts that haven't seen the light of day. But, at this point, I tell myself, and I 99.9999% believe it that those were necessary to write in order to write this.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, I sure hope so.Multiple Speakers(both laughing)Casey ScieszkaThere's just that other point 0.0001 that's like—KJ Dell'AntoniaWhat?!Casey ScieszkaYeah, it's like, no, no, it really was necessary.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, no, you have to. You have to do it. Well, I hate to be, you know, not trying to raise the bar here, but, but what is next after, you know, a topic like this and a big book like, like this? Do you know yet? Are you, are you thinking about it? Where are you in your process?Casey ScieszkaI have been working on something else which is fun. And I definitely have, like, you know, while as much as I know how, how wild it is with how the sausage is made and what I'm, you know, the many revisions and things I'm looking down the barrel at, I also have another level of excitement, because I know, like, wow, I have an agent this time who's actually excited to read it, and I have a working relationship with an editor. Like, I'm trying to appreciate that…KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, because it's what you wanted before.Casey ScieszkaAnd it can be so easy to just, you know, slip back into the like; you know, I don't know, the chaos feelings. But, I will say, I'm not going to say much about the project, other than historically, for everything I've ever been drawn to, and including stuff I love to read. I always love when character, when there's a character who knows like way too much or way too little, like in their situation.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's a very like tempting pitch without having anything you'd like to put your fingers in.Casey ScieszkaWithout…KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's good. That's good, that's clever.Casey ScieszkaI told you nothing.KJ Dell'AntoniaYou told me nothing, and yet I'm like, ooh yeah, that does sound… that does sound interesting. Well, I as I've as I've said I wholeheartedly enjoyed this. It was twisty. You had me thinking things that were not what was so at many, many points of the book.Casey ScieszkaI love to hear this. Love to hear.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah and when we are off, off recording, I'll tell you some of them, because that is always kind of fun. I really feel like this book is such an achievement. For someone who's just getting started, it's great. I can't wait to see what you do next. And I guess, on that note, what's something you have read recently where you also felt like the writer was, was really big, really playing big. Is there anything that you would like to press on into people's hands the way I want to press The Fountain, into their hands?Casey ScieszkaI've loved this. Thank you again. One book I keep pressing into many people's hands is Open Throat by Henry Hoke.KJ Dell'AntoniaOkay.Casey ScieszkaIt's very slim. You can read it in like a day, although I recommend taking a little bit longer, because you'll want to enjoy it. It is told from the point of view of a mountain lion who lives under the Hollywood sign.KJ Dell'AntoniaOh, I—I think I've heard the description, even if I don't remember the—okay.Casey ScieszkaIt's so funny and so deeply tender, like and just unlike anything I've read recently, and I just really felt like, like he was swinging for the fences with this, like it's from the point of view of an animal, which should be ridiculous, but after…KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd not just an animal, but an animal that lives under the Hollywood sign.Casey ScieszkaYeah, like that's a mountain lion who's—it open up or he's overhearing like you know hikers discussing therapist, you know? It's just, it's so silly, but it's also so deep and kind of truly experimental, but still so accessible and I just feel like it's the type of thing that I don't know. Maybe when he sat down to write it, he was like, this, someone's going to tell me, I'm nuts, but I just connected with it so much.KJ Dell'AntoniaI…yeah. Alright I love that then, and that is a great response to the question, because that really is somebody else swinging for the fences, and that's what we're just trying to talk about here for everyone. So where? Well, listeners can find you, obviously they can, they can buy The Fountain,, and they should. You're inn is called?Casey ScieszkaThe Spruceton Inn, a Catskills Bed & Bar. We're a little nine-room hotel.KJ Dell'Antonia(laughing) Bed and bar. That's awesome.Casey ScieszkaYeah. I mean, I don't, I don't really mess with breakfast. I mean, you get very nice coffee and some pop tarts. I love a good highbrow, lowbrow, and we are five miles down a seven mile dead end road in the middle of the mountains.KJ Dell'AntoniaOkay, I love this for everyone. And is there any particular social media where you are fun and joyful?Casey ScieszkaYeah, you can find us on Instagram at sprucetoninn. That's also like some writing stuff and same with Substack. Only other thing I'll say about the inn is we also run an artist residency program, an annual one. So every August we open it up to folks, writers, 2D artists. Basically, if you can make it in a motel room without disturbing your neighbors, come on and make it with us, and you get, you get, like, a week-long stay. No cost, in the month of November.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat is so fun and so cool. And I bet you're going to get a lot more applications than you can handle this time around. Alright, well, thank you so much for spending this time with me.Casey ScieszkaThank you so much for chatting.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd amazing best of luck with the book, which I loved. All right, kids, I'm signing this off with our new sign off. Until next time, stop playing small and write like it matters.NarratorThe Hashtag AmWriting Podcast is produced by Andrew Perrella. Our intro music, aptly titled, Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output, because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Erik Futtrup has been to every country in the world Hey now, I am your host, Ric Gazarian. In this episode, I had the pleasure of meeting Erik at ETF II in Bangkok, and I am looking forward to seeing him this October for ETF III. Erik is looking forward to joining the stage at ETF for the UN Master photo as he just accomplished his quest just last year. Erik was early to the internet, real early, in the late 1980s. Erk was connecting with travelers in the early 90s. Think EPS but from 25 years ago. Erik shares his journey to 193, balancing work, family and travel. I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons. You know them, you love them! Bisa "fully nomadic" Myles, Ted Nims, Adam "one-away" Hickman, Steph "Phuket" Rowe, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Ed Hotchkiss, Barry Hoffner, Philippe "BC" Izedian, Gin Liutkeviciute, Sunir Joshi, Carole Southam, Sonia Zimmermann, Justine, Per Flisberg, Jorge Serpa, Sam Williams, Scott Day, Peter Fenger, Mihai Dascalu, Ryan Knott, Zipping Around The World Podcast, and Shawn McDonough for supporting this podcast. You can support this podcast by going to Patreon.com/CountingCountries. My patrons will hear the entire conversation with Erik. And I would like to introduce three new patrons! Welcome guys!! Shawn McDonough of Chicago has joined as a Patron as well as coming to ETF III in Bangkok. He is currently on track to hit his 50th country before his 51st birthday. And in the next couple of years, he is planning on picking up his travels as he transitions to being a digital nomad. And I also want to welcome Dan, who is also the host of his podcast, Zipping Around The World. Dan is nearing 50 countries on his journey. On his podcast, he is providing audio overviews of his trips, in essence a guide book. Check out his podcast and subscribe. And let's not forget Ryan. He started listening to podcast while roadtripping between North Carolina and Kentucky while visiting family. He has visited all 50 states and visited over 50 UN countries! His goal? To hit 100 before the age of 40. Good luck! Thanks everyone for their support. Please remember the next Extraordinary Travel Festival will be on October 22-25 in 2026. You can join the event and use code BANGKOK. I am excited to share a new keynote speaker, Eunhee Park. She is an extraordinary traveler but not in the traditional sense of what we are familiar with in our community. Eunhee was born in North Korea, and she embarked on a dangerous journey as she escaped DPRK at the risk of losing everything as she made her way to freedom. She will share her journey with us at the ETF. Check out Extraordinary Adventures on the website. Consider joining our Instagram and Facebook groups and signing up for the ETF newsletter. Any questions, please let me know. And a public service announcement, former Counting Countries guest and ETF keynote speaker, Barry Hoffner has written a book, Belonging To The World. I just finished reading this book, and it is a great and compelling read for those in the extreme travel community and beyond. All proceeds go to fund Barry's efforts in West Africa as he empowers women through education. Pick up your copy today and learn about Barry's journey as he deals with the grief of losing his wife through travel. I was in Bangkok while Erik was in Denmark for this recording. Please listen in and enjoy. Thank you to my Patrons - you rock!! … Bisa Myles, Ted Nims, Adam Hickman, Steph Rowe, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Ed Hotchkiss, Barry Hoffner, Philippe Izedian, Gin Liutkeviciute, Sunir Joshi, Carole Southam, Sonia Zimmermann, Justine, Per Flisberg, Jorge Serpa, Sam Williams, Scott Day, Peter Fenger, Mihai Dascalu, Ryan Knott, Zipping Around The World Podcast, and Shawn McDonough. Be the first on your block to sport official Counting Countries apparel! And now you can listen to Counting Countries on Spotify! And Alexa! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today! And write a review! More about Erik Futtrup Counting Countries: Instagram And check out Thor Pedersen: The Impossible Journey (Amazon US Kindle (affiliate)): https://amzn.to/46pRuDi Other book options: Thor Pedersen | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok | Linktree About Counting Countries Counting Countries is the only podcast to bring you the stories from the dedicated few who've spent their lives on the singular quest of traveling to every country in the world. Less people have traveled to every country in the world than have been to outer space. Theme music for this podcast is Demeter's Dance, written, performed, and provided by Mundi. About GlobalGaz Ric Gazarian is the host of Counting Countries. He is the author of three books: Hit The Road: India, 7000 KM To Go, and Photos From Chernobyl. He is the producer of two travel documentaries: Hit The Road: India and Hit The Road: Cambodia. Ric is also on his own quest to visit every country in the world. You can see where he has traveled so far and keep up with his journey at GlobalGaz.com How Many Countries Are There? Well… that depends on who you ask! The United Nations states that there are 193 member states. The British Foreign and Commonwealth office states that there are 226 countries and territories. The Traveler's Century Club states that there are 329 sovereign nations, territories, enclaves, and islands. The Nomad Mania divides the world into 1301 regions. The Most Traveled Person states that there are 1500 unique parts of the world. SISO says there are 3,978 places in the world. And the video that explains it all! Me? My goal is the 193 countries that are recognized by the UN, but I am sure I will visit some other places along the way. An analysis of these lists and who is the best traveled by Kolja Spori. Disclaimer: There are affiliates in this post. Erik Futtrup Counting Countries

Most development histories focus on large-scale projects and multi-year plans. But how would we understand development differently if we chose a different starting point? In Village Work: Development and Rural Statecraft in Twentieth-Century Ghana (Ohio UP, 2021), Alice Wiemers exchanges the center for the periphery. Writing outwards from Kpasenpke, a village in northern Ghana, Wiemers shows how the daily labor of rural people, local officials and family networks have all shaped a practice of rural statecraft centered on developmentalism. By insisting on the specificity of the hinterland and interchangeability of its so-called “developers”, Village Work proposes a new framework for approaching Ghana's twentieth century. Elisa Prosperetti is a Visiting Assistant Professor in African history at Mount Holyoke College. Her research focuses on the connected histories of education and development in postcolonial West Africa. Contact her at: www.elisaprosperetti.net. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Send a textTrust isn't a slogan when children's safety is on the line—it's a discipline. We sit down with Naomi Schalm, Executive Director of Trust for Africa in Lesotho, to unpack what radical trust really requires in cross-cultural child welfare: honest power-sharing, rigorous accountability, and local decision rights that outlast any single grant. Lesotho is moving toward family-based care and codifying foster pathways, even as economic shocks and reduced aid strain communities. That tension reveals a core mistake many outsiders make: confusing “orphan” with “child with nobody.” Research and experience point another way—prevention, kinship care, and reintegration anchored in the real context families live in.Naomi explains why good intentions aren't a system. Clear policies, safeguarding, and transparent financial practices protect children, caregivers, and staff while making collaboration possible. We get practical about the difference between accountability and control: control is one-sided; accountability shares standards and outcomes. We also push into the hard part—money. When the Global North holds the purse, it often holds the steering wheel. Shifting proposal design and decision rights locally, diversifying income, and refusing “donor-as-owner” governance are non-negotiables if we want integrity and impact.Inside organizations, trust grows through rupture-and-repair, not perfection. That means making room for dissent, modeling apology, and building collaborative leadership that can challenge assumptions. On the ground with families, hope is a first intervention: trauma-informed support, consistent structures, and practical tools help parents who've been dismissed for years believe in their capacity again. The pay-off is safer children and stronger communities, measured over time rather than headlines. If you're a funder, practitioner, or curious listener ready to rethink how aid, ownership, and outcomes connect, this conversation offers a candid, field-tested guide.If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a rating or review to help more listeners find these stories. ____Firmly Rooted - A new documentary on orphanage response - the right way!To view the released trailer and sizzle reel, go to https://firmlyrootedfilm.com/or to https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org__________ ____Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how. ___________Family Empowerment Advocates support the work of family empowerment experts at the Child Reintegration Centre, Sierra Leone.  Your small monthly donation,  prayers, attention & caring is essential. You  advocate for their work to help families bring themselves out of poverty, changing the course of children's lives and lifting up communities. joinSupport the showHelpingchildrenworldwide.org

Most development histories focus on large-scale projects and multi-year plans. But how would we understand development differently if we chose a different starting point? In Village Work: Development and Rural Statecraft in Twentieth-Century Ghana (Ohio UP, 2021), Alice Wiemers exchanges the center for the periphery. Writing outwards from Kpasenpke, a village in northern Ghana, Wiemers shows how the daily labor of rural people, local officials and family networks have all shaped a practice of rural statecraft centered on developmentalism. By insisting on the specificity of the hinterland and interchangeability of its so-called “developers”, Village Work proposes a new framework for approaching Ghana's twentieth century. Elisa Prosperetti is a Visiting Assistant Professor in African history at Mount Holyoke College. Her research focuses on the connected histories of education and development in postcolonial West Africa. Contact her at: www.elisaprosperetti.net. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Full Text of Readings Saturday of the First Week of Lent Lectionary: 229 The Saint of the day is Blessed Daniel Brottier Blessed Daniel Brottier's Story Daniel spent most of his life in the trenches—one way or another. Born in France in 1876, Blessed Daniel Brottier was ordained in 1899 and began a teaching career. That didn't satisfy him long. He wanted to use his zeal for the gospel far beyond the classroom. He joined the missionary Congregation of the Holy Spirit, which sent him to Senegal, West Africa. After eight years there, his health was suffering. He was forced to return to France, where he helped raise funds for the construction of a new cathedral in Senegal. At the outbreak of World War I, Blessed Daniel Brottier became a volunteer chaplain and spent four years at the front. He did not shrink from his duties. Indeed, he risked his life time and again in ministering to the suffering and dying. It was miraculous that he did not suffer a single wound during his 52 months in the heart of battle. After the war he was invited to help establish a project for orphaned and abandoned children in a Paris suburb. He spent the final 13 years of his life there. He died in 1936 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Paris only 48 years later. Reflection Blessed Daniel might be called “Teflon Dan” since nothing seemed to harm him while in the midst of war. God intended to use him in some pretty wonderful ways for the good of the Church and he willingly served. He is a good example for all of us.Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

The futures markets are moving fast this week. From a 20% surge in Lithium to the continued "annihilation" of Cocoa bulls, Mark Longo and Dan Gramza break down the top 15 most active contracts and the year-to-date movers you need to watch. In this episode: Crypto Uncertainty: Why Bitcoin and Ether are struggling to find sustainable footing despite recent bounces. Agricultural Deep Dive: Exploring the global supply chains of Coffee (Arabica vs. Robusta) and the unique production systems of Cocoa in West Africa. Energy Outlook: Why Crude Oil is currently an "anticipation market" rather than a supply-demand story. Metals Momentum: Is Silver finally ready to lead Gold, or is it just a byproduct of industrial demand for solar cells? If you're ready to move from listening to trading, head over to tastytrade.com/podcasts to get started with the tastytrade platform.  

What happens when a body arrives at a hospital morgue without any record of how it got there? In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro examine a disturbing class of real-world cases involving unidentified bodies that appear in hospital morgues with no paperwork, no chain of custody, and no clear explanation. The episode begins with a firsthand email from a night-shift worker who briefly stepped away from an empty morgue—only to return to find a body placed neatly in the room, as if it had always belonged there. From that moment, the discussion expands into documented incidents across U.S. hospitals and medical examiner offices, where decedents entered official custody before they technically existed in the system. Drawing on acknowledged cases in California and Illinois, professional standards from the National Association of Medical Examiners, and historical precedent, Kat and Jethro explore how modern medical systems quietly normalize these unexplained arrivals by assigning case numbers and moving forward—without ever addressing the moment something appeared where nothing had been before. The episode then shifts to a seemingly unrelated but deeply connected subject: how human societies remember lives at all. Long before databases and paperwork, entire civilizations relied on living memory. Kat and Jethro explore the tradition of griots and other oral historians across West Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Asia—individuals entrusted with preserving genealogies, histories, and identities entirely through story, music, and performance. Backed by neuroscience research, the episode examines why rhythm and narrative are so effective at preserving memory, even when written records fail. Together, these two topics form a quiet, unsettling question at the heart of the episode: what happens when systems designed to document human existence fall short—and who remembers us when they do? Grounded in documented cases, historical tradition, and modern science, this episode blends true mystery with cultural insight, revealing how bodies can arrive without histories, and histories can survive without bodies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zainab Sow returns to Test Those Breasts to share how daily self-exams helped her find a 1.8 cm lump at 38 and led to a Stage 1 IDC diagnosis. We talk family history without BRCA, survivorship realities, and the side effects many women face after treatment, especially aromatase inhibitors and medically induced menopause. Zainab is a three-time author and founder of Melanin Breast Cancer Alliance, Inc., a nonprofit providing grants to newly diagnosed patients in the U.S. and West Africa, and shares why self-advocacy and boundaries matter.Find Zainab: Instagram @zainab_underscore_air to breast cancer | Heir to Breast CancerHope Beyond Hormones

This month's podcast episode takes us to Ethiopia, specifically the rock-cut church of Wuqro Cherqos in Tigray where a tantalisingly cryptic piece of carved stone can tell us a whole story of interconnection up and down the Red Sea. This is a journey of merchants, artistic ideas, and political power in a place where you may not have expected it.Our guest is Mikael Muehlbauer, Lecturer in the Discipline Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. He is a specialist in the architecture of Medieval Ethiopia and Egypt, with a broad interest in interfaith exchanges and historical memory. He received his PhD from Columbia University. He is the author of the 2023 book "Bastions of the Cross: Medieval Rock-Cut Cruciform Churches of Tigray, Ethiopia" as well as an upcoming book "Inventing late antiquity in Fatimid Egypt,". This episode is part of our series Peripheries which seeks to push our understanding of the cultural heritage of the Islamic world away from the traditional centres that we associate with it. With a fantastic range of guests we will examine places and topics often considered peripheral to the Islamic world and understand why they are in fact of central importance to the region's cultural heritage, from Armenia to England, from Ethiopia to West Africa.

How can brands show up in culture without looking like they're “dad dancing” their way through TikTok trends?In this episode of the PRCA Fuse Podcast, we're joined by Gerald Sagoe – writer, director, producer and creative director – who specialises in content rooted in cultural authenticity. Gerald has worked with high-profile names including Anthony Joshua, Lethal Bizzle, the Mayor of London, and Sky, and has created campaigns across markets from West Africa to Dubai.Together, we unpack:What cultural authenticity really means in brand storytellingWhy some brands have no right to play in certain cultural spaces – and how audiences call that outThe backlash to Sky's Halo TikTok channel and what it teaches us about misreading cultureHow brands like Adidas grew organically with hip hop culture, versus those trying to retrofit “cool”The Oatly x Giggs collaboration and why it worked so well across Instagram and TikTokThe rise of personal branding and employee influencers in corporate communicationsHow a business advisory firm used a mental health podcast to humanise its brandWhy investing in self-branding benefits both the individual and the organisationWhat Gerald learned about storytelling and nuance while setting up an agency in DubaiWhy storytelling (not traditional advertising) is the future of brand communication

Angola Project began as a graduate idea, but the real question is this: what happens when you turn a passion into your entire life? In this conversation, Ana Lucia Soares shares why she chose to leave stability in Portugal and commit full time to building shark conservation in Angola, and why that decision matters for ocean protection in underrepresented regions. Shark conservation in West Africa is not simple, and that is exactly the point. Ana Lucia explains what it takes to launch Elizmo Angola, navigate funding uncertainty, create local partnerships, and build trust in communities where conservation infrastructure is still developing. This is not just about sharks; it is about leadership, risk, and long-term impact. Starting an NGO sounds inspiring, but it is also deeply personal and emotionally demanding. One surprising insight from this episode is how clarity often comes not from certainty, but from stepping into uncertainty anyway. The move to Angola was not guaranteed to succeed, but waiting for perfect conditions would have meant never starting at all. Listen to the full episode. The Angola Elasmo Project: https://www.angolaelasmoproject.org/ Connect with us: Website: https://bit.ly/37TMqeKInstagram: https://bit.ly/3eorwXZ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beyondjawspodcast7591 Dave:  Website: https://www.lostsharkguy.com/ Instagram: https://bit.ly/3q1J9Q5 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lostsharkguy Andrew: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://bit.ly/37g5WkG YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpeakUpForBlueTV  

For this creative project, my starting point was an archival recording of a Yoruba chant from Nigeria, recorded around 1911. I chose to work with this sound because, living in West Africa, these sonorities immediately resonated in me. They echo my daily environment, my personal history, and my fieldwork, which lies at the intersection of culture, music, and museum practice.In my creative process, I deliberately chose to work with electronic instruments. This choice may appear paradoxical, as I am myself a kora player and am surrounded by traditional artists and musicians. However, this approach was central to my intention: to bring the past and the present into dialogue, to confront archival material with contemporary creation, and to explore the relationship between sonic memory and current technologies.It was essential for me not to alter the sound quality of the original recording, in order to respect its materiality, its texture, and its historical character. The electronic work therefore positions itself around the sound, creating a space of dialogue without ever dominating the recorded voice.This artistic choice is part of a broader reflection on colonial sound archives, their circulation today (repatriation?), and the possibility of giving them a living, sensitive, and contemporary presence without freezing or betraying them. The aim is not to reinterpret the past, but to create an bridge between different temporalities, allowing the archival sound to continue speaking for itself.Igbo vocal group with leader and percussion reimagined by Jerome Evanno.———Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds

Kavita Shah is an Indian-American award-winning vocalist, composer and polyglot. She's been hailed by NPR for possessing an “amazing dexterity for musical languages”. Her music covers modern jazz, new music, and her own exploration of folk traditions from Brazil to West Africa to India. Her album “Interplay” was nominated for France's Victoire de la Musique for Jazz Album of the Year. She regularly performs at major concert halls, festivals, and clubs on six continents. And she started a record label called Folkalist to focus on female voices of the Global South.My featured song is “Feeling So Good” from the album Bobby M and the Paisley Parade. Spotify link.—-----------------------------------------------------------The Follow Your Dream Podcast:Top 1% of all podcasts with Listeners in 200 countries!Click here for All Episodes Click here for Guest List Click here for Guest Groupings Click here for Guest TestimonialsClick here to Subscribe Click here to receive our Email UpdatesClick here to Rate and Review the podcast—----------------------------------------CONNECT WITH KAVITA:www.kavitashahmusic.com—----------------------------------------ROBERT'S LATEST RELEASE:“MA PETITE FLEUR STRING QUARTET” is Robert's latest release. It transforms his jazz ballad into a lush classical string quartet piece. Praised by a host of classical music stars.CLICK HERE FOR YOUTUBE LINKCLICK HERE FOR ALL LINKS—---------------------------------------ROBERT'S RECENT SINGLE“MI CACHIMBER” is Robert's recent single. It's Robert's tribute to his father who played the trumpet and loved Latin music.. Featuring world class guest artists Benny Benack III and Dave Smith on flugelhornCLICK HERE FOR YOUTUBE LINKCLICK HERE FOR ALL LINKS—--------------------------------------ROBERT'S LATEST ALBUM:“WHAT'S UP!” is Robert's latest compilation album. Featuring 10 of his recent singles including all the ones listed below. Instrumentals and vocals. Jazz, Rock, Pop and Fusion. “My best work so far. (Robert)”CLICK HERE FOR THE OFFICIAL VIDEOCLICK HERE FOR ALL LINKS—----------------------------------------Audio production:Jimmy RavenscroftKymera Films Connect with the Follow Your Dream Podcast:Website - www.followyourdreampodcast.comEmail Robert - robert@followyourdreampodcast.com Follow Robert's band, Project Grand Slam, and his music:Website - www.projectgrandslam.comYouTubeSpotify MusicApple MusicEmail - pgs@projectgrandslam.com  

Denise and Leo Sawadogo, owners of Montclair Brewery out of Montclair, New Jersey. The conversation focuses around the unique ingredients collected from around the world and how he learned to brew beer from his mother in West Africa. We learn how they built a strong community in Montclair and their plans to expand that community to East Orange, NJ. Now grab a beer and enjoy the show! If you would like to contact the show you can reach the hosts through email at tapthecraft@gmail.com, or interact with us on Facebook at facebook.com/tapthecraft and for all our links visit tapthecraft.com/linktree. We have a voicemail number...you can call 208-536-3359 (208-53ODDLY) to leave feedback or questions and have your voice heard on the show. We invite you to visit our website at tapthecraft.com for more craft beer content. If you enjoy our content and want to Toast Your Hosts, then please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/tapthecraft You can follow Denny on Instagram and Untappd @lucescrew. You can follow Kris on Untappd at @K9Hops and on our Facebook page. Find more links at tapthecraft.com/linktree. Discord server at tapthecraft.com/discord BEERS MENTIONED ON THE SHOW:Deschutes Brewery Jubelale Mother Earth Brew Co Cause & Effect Hazy IPABert's Brewing Peel Out Grapefruit WC IPABert's Brewing Ryeway to Hell Rye Lager Vice Beer TED 2025 NZ IPAFirestone Walker Anniversary XXIX (29) Ale (2025)pFriem Family Brewers Las Pinas Barrel Aged Ale (2023)Danico Brewing Lost Hills Bierstadt Lagerhaus Slow Pour Pils Outer Range Brewing Co WhishhhLINKS TO ARTICLES DISCUSSED:Montclair Brewery website

We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!8:05 PM: Northeast Arc has received a transformative $2.2 million gift from the Estate of Dick and Gail Jauron. The gift is the largest in Northeast Arc’s 72-year history. Ensures the long-term accessibility of Northeast Arc’s Special Olympics and social programs that promote a healthy lifestyle for kids and adults with disabilities. Guest: Kacy Jauron – Daughter of Dick and Gail & previously part of Northeast Arc’s Development Team 8:15 PM: The remarkable true story of Phoenix Air. A behind-the-scenes account of the unprecedented air evacuation of Ebola patients from West Africa in 2014—an operation that changed the course of global medical response. Guest: Kevin Hazzard - former paramedic, journalist and award-winning author of the non-fiction book NO ONE’S COMING: The Rogue Heroes Our Government Turns to When There’s Nowhere Else to Turn 8:30 PM: Addressing homelessness reform in America and a look at current homelessness policy in the U.S. Guest: Michele Steeb – Advisor | Thought-Leader | Speaker | Author & CEO of the Free Up Foundation (a nonprofit that addresses homelessness) 8:45 PM: The Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF) Festival 2026 Happening Wednesday, March 18 through Sunday, March 22 at the Brattle & Coolidge Corner Theatre. Guest: Phil Healy - BUFF co-director See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

African aviation is shaped by geography — from Southern Africa's efficiency to East Africa's structural challenges and West Africa's untapped demand. The future depends on reliability, partnerships, and stronger aviation ecosystems.

From the inception of its Dawah, Islam transformed societies and built a global civilisation rooted in faith, justice, and human brotherhood. And from the beginning, Africa has been part of that story. It was the original safe haven for Muslims during the first hijrah, and over the centuries Islam flourished across the continent — shaping kingdoms, scholarship, trade networks, and vibrant communities from North and West Africa to the Swahili coast.

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Ukraine launches its fastest series of counterattacks since 2023, reclaiming more than 200 square kilometers in just five days. What shifted on the battlefield — and could a breakdown in Russian command and control be behind the sudden momentum? Boots on the ground in Nigeria. One hundred U.S. troops deploy to support local forces battling Islamic militants as extremist violence threatens broader stability across West Africa. India detains three U.S.-sanctioned tankers tied to Iran, tightening enforcement against illicit oil shipments and signaling increased maritime pressure on Tehran. In today's Back of the Brief — U.S. forces destroy three more suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean, as counter-narcotics operations intensify at sea. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Sundays for Dogs: Upgrade your dog's food without the hassle—try Sundays for Dogs and get 50% off your first order at https://sundaysfordogs.com/PDB50 or use code PDB50 at checkout. American Financing: Call American Financing today to find out how customers are saving an avg of $800/mo. NMLS 182334, https://nmlsconsumeraccess.org APR for rates in the 5s start at 6.196% for well qualified borrowers. Call 866-885-1881 for details about credit costs and terms. Visit http://www.AmericanFinancing.net/PDB Cozy Earth: Visit https://www.CozyEarth.com/PDB & Use code PDB for up to 20% off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a: 'Best of Super Great Kids' Stories' selected from our Archive. Anansi the spider is up to his tricks again. In order to win the King's gold, he has to eat a large bowl of super hot pepper soup. Will he outwit the king and the other competitors? Listen to Tuup telling this lively song-story from West Africa and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Denver comedian Josh Blue may be best known for "putting the cerebral in cerebral palsy," but there is so much more to his life than laughing audiences know. In his new autobiography, "Something To Stare At," Blue recalls his formative years in West Africa, his Paralympic soccer career, and his comedic rise. Enjoy a mix of stand-up and conversation with Sr. Host Ryan Warner — recorded at The Dairy Arts Center in Boulder. 

In recognition of NAPE week in Houston, we are delighted to welcome back David Bat, President of Kimberlite Research, to explore the latest OFS activity, trends, and technologies. David brings more than 30 years of experience spanning upstream, power, and oilfield research. Prior to joining Kimberlite in 2015, he served as VP and General Manager of Constellation New Energy, President of Welling & Company, and President of Stream-Flo USA. He began his career as a geologist with Chevron. Kimberlite is an international oilfield research firm that draws on insights from more than 20,000 hours of annual interviews with industry professionals to analyze market trends and benchmark performance for oilfield equipment and service providers. We were excited to hear David's perspective and latest insights. In our conversation, we cover Kimberlite's research model, the data it captures from operators, and how the firm uses AI as an enabling tool. David shares Kimberlite's 2026 operator sentiment and activity outlook and highlights regional hot spots for expansion (including Latin America, the Middle East, Norway, and West Africa) and discusses key technologies improving recovery and efficiency, as well as the runway for further gains. We compare international versus North American market structure, noting that the “Big Four” hold roughly 80% share across much of the international/offshore oilfield services market, while North America is highly fragmented with many specialty providers. We touch on the Permian as a global incubator for innovation, the Haynesville as a proving ground for high-temperature tools, David's longer-term outlook for the Lower 48 Tier 1 runway, operator-to-operator differences in service outcomes, and supplier performance dispersion and benchmarking, with performance and fit varying by basin. We explore upstream digital transformation strategies, why domain expertise matters for applying AI, hydraulic fracturing digital dynamics, and where digital value is expected to emerge, especially in production optimization. We also cover why consolidation is viewed as desperately needed in oilfield services yet hard to execute, Canada's market dynamics, and the strong demand for qualified personnel and quality equipment in international and offshore markets. David shares his exploration outlook, potential drivers of improved recoveries, newer tech players, and Kimberlite's Net Promoter Score (NPS) work, which he says correlates strongly with future financial performance and competitive strength; fewer than 10% of the OFS companies Kimberlite tracks exhibit truly distinguishing, scalable, "elite" customer-focused characteristics. A few select slides from David's presentation are linked here. It was a wide-ranging discussion and we're grateful to David for sharing his expertise with us all. Mike Bradley kicked off the discussion by noting that the 10-year U.S. bond yield appears to have stabilized in the 4.0% to 4.10% range after plunging last week on a cooler-than-expected January CPI report. In crude markets, WTI price has been stuck over the last several weeks between $60-$65/bbl and inched a little lower to start this week (~$62/bbl) following reports that Iran and the U.S. have a “general agreement” on the basis for a potential nuclear deal, which could eventually lead to an ease in Iranian sanctions. An agreement in the next couple of weeks could lead to an additional pullback in oil prices if the oil market narrative shifts away from a modest “war premium” towards the IEA's 2026 global “oil glut” (~3.7mmbpd) narrative. On the natural gas front, he highlighted that the recent Arctic-driven winter premium for prompt gas price (~$3.00/MMBtu) and 12-month strip (~$3.50/MMBtu) have been completely u

What does the future of facility management look like in Africa?In this episode, Lara Paemen, Managing Director of IFMA EMEA, sits down with Sheriff Daramola, President of the IFMA Nigeria chapter, and Sampson Opare-Agyemang, President of the IFMA Ghana chapter. Together, they explore how FM is evolving across West Africa, from growing professional awareness and skills development to pressing challenges around energy, sustainability and infrastructure. The conversation highlights why Africa represents a major opportunity for FM professionals, organizations and investors alike. 00:00 Introduction 00:52 Exploring FM Trends in Africa01:35 Meet the Experts: Sheriff Daramola and Sampson Opare-Agyemang03:13 FM in Ghana: Progress and Challenges04:12 FM in Nigeria: Growth and Opportunities04:46 Comparing FM in West Africa07:43 Client Awareness and Appreciation of FM12:02 Opportunities and Challenges in FM Across Africa14:12 Energy Management and Sustainability in FM17:53 Future of FM in Africa20:46 Final Thoughts and Messages to the Global FM Community22:00 Closing Remarks and Call to Action Connect with Us:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifmaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFacilityManagementAssociation/Twitter: https://twitter.com/IFMAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifma_hq/YouTube: https://youtube.com/ifmaglobalVisit us at https://ifma.org

Niger sits landlocked in the heart of West Africa's Sahel, where sand meets sky in dramatic fashion. Named after the mighty river that curves through its southwestern corner, this is Africa's largest nation by area, though much of it consists of the Sahara Desert in varying moods. It's hot, remote, politically volatile, and utterly mesmerizing – a place where ancient trade routes still whisper stories and the horizon seems to stretch into eternity.Love the pod? Get the guide! Out with each new podcast, we publish a guide to the country. Buy the TrodPod guide to Niger for just $3: https://www.patreon.com/c/trodpod/shop. Better yet, become a TrodPod member for just $5 a month and access TrodPod guides to every country in the world, released weekly with each new podcast episode! Sign up now: https://www.patreon.com/trodpod/membershipThanks for all your support!TrodPod is Murray Garrard and Elle Keymer. Sound editing by Leo Audio Productions. Design and marketing by GPS: Garrard Powell Solutions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She studied philosophy at UPenn, sharpened her Spanish watching telenovelas with a host mom in silk robes and kitten heels, then moved to Peru and built staircases so families wouldn't fall carrying water. Laura Keen's path wound through cocoa farms in West Africa, anti-trafficking work in the Amazon, and the inner workings of fair trade — each stop ultimately leading her to GiveDirectly and a radically simple idea that's reshaping how we think about poverty. References for Our Discussion◼️The US town that pays every pregnant woman $1,500: ‘We're not OK with our babies being born into poverty' ◼️Direct Unconditional Cash Transfers Boost Well-Being for Mothers and Babies ◼️Perinatal Cash Transfers and Birth Outcomes: A Population-Based, Quasi-Experimental Study of the Rx Kids Unconditional Cash Prescription During Pregnancy and Infancy ◼️Hardship and Hope: The Relationship Between Unconditional Prenatal and Infant Cash Transfers, Economic Stability, and Maternal Mental Health and Well-Being◼️To End Extreme Poverty, Give Cash — Not Advice | Rory Stewart | TED◼️New research: Cash for pregnant moms in Flint led to healthier births and millions in healthcare savings Guest◼️Laura Keen, U.S. Program Director, GiveDirectlyHost◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®Producer◼️Gordon Thane, BMSc, MPH, PMP®◼️Abhinya GulasingamProduction Notes◼️ Music from Johnny Harris x Tom Fox: The Music RoomLeave Us Some FeedbackIf you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcast or Spotify, and spread the word to your friends to help us get discovered by more people. You can also interact directly with the podcast episodes on Spotify using the new “comment” feature! We'd love to hear what you think.Send us a Text Message to let us know what you think.

Justin's guest for today is Julian Fisher, a former British intelligence operative espionage specialist and author of Think Like A Spy. Following a stint in government service, Julian headed up Africa operations for a private military company and then founded his own intelligence boutique specializing in Africa. In 2017, he was the lead trainer on the Channel Four reality series Spies, which put 16 ordinary members of the public through a series of challenges to find out if they had what it takes to be a spy. Julian has led an unusual life in his time. He's seen off camel wrestlers in Somalia, faced down gun toting soldiers in Congo, trained a newly formed intelligence service in South Sudan, and been invited to help plot a coup in West Africa, which he declined. Julian can show you how to take the hard lessons learned over centuries of international espionage and use those same strategies to accomplish your goals in almost any environment or context. Connect with Jules: julesfisher.com LinkedIn: Check out the book, Think Like A Spy, here. https://a.co/d/0ecDQ3sm Connect with Spycraft 101: Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here. spycraft101.com IG: @spycraft101 Shop: shop.spycraft101.com Patreon: Spycraft 101 Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here. Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here. Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you celebrated Valentine's Day over the weekend, chances are you noted that tariffs are driving up the cost of flowers, chocolates, and many other items associated with the holiday. Many of the products that define Valentine's rely heavily on imports. The United States imports nearly all the cacao used to make chocolate, primarily from West Africa, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. About 80 percent of cut flowers sold in the U.S. are also imported. To get a better idea of how across-the-board tariffs are impacting consumers, we checked in recently with two small business owners in Raleigh and in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Sam Ratto is the owner of Videri Chocolate Factory in downtown Raleigh and Abigail Helberg-Moffitt is the owner of Bloom WNC in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Click here to listen to their story. Read their full story here.

In this episode of Let's Talk Micro, Luis is joined by Dr. Joel Mortensen to discuss a study examining intestinal parasites in pediatric patients in Guinea, West Africa. They dive into the real-world challenges of diagnosing parasitic infections in resource-limited settings, including reliance on stool microscopy, the use of rapid antigen tests, and how seasonal changes influence infection rates. Dr. Mortensen walks us through the study design, key findings, and what the data revealed about protozoal infections, as well as the role of microscopy in identifying helminths in this setting. This conversation highlights the critical role of clinical microbiology in global health, the importance of diagnostic context, and how laboratory data can directly inform patient care and public health strategies in underserved regions.   Check out Dr. Joel Mortensen's previous episodes If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to check out previous episodes featuring Dr. Mortensen, where we dive deeper into his work in Guinea, laboratory capacity building, and global health challenges in resource-limited settings:

Episode 225: Student Movements and Transnational Connections in Tunisia's 1968 In this podcast, Burleigh Hendrickson discusses his book, Decolonizing 1968: Transnational Student Activism in Tunis, Paris, and Dakar (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2022). The book was awarded the French Colonial Historical Society's 2023 Alf Andrew Heggoy Prize for best book published in the preceding year dealing with the French colonial experience from 1815 to the present. Decolonizing 1968 focuses on the postcolonial relationships between France and its former colonies during the global protests of 1968. Combining multi-sited archival research with the oral histories of former activists, his research makes visible the enduring links between France and its ex-colonies at the end of formal empire. Burleigh Hendrickson an Assistant Professor in the department of French & Francophone Studies at Penn State University. A scholar of French Empire and decolonization, his research and teaching apply transnational and comparative approaches to the history of the Francophone world, with emphasis on the Maghreb and West Africa. He is also interested in cultures of protest, knowledge production, and historical claims for human dignity. He is the past recipient of Mellon research and writing fellowships from the Council for European Studies and the Social Science Research Council (IDRF), as well as a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship and the Society for French Historical Studies. More recently, he received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to France to carry out research on his second book project, “Losing Empire: Dignity and Indignation from the Enlightenment to the Arab Spring.” This episode was recorded on the 9th of November, 2023, with Luke Scalone, at the Centre d'Études Maghrébines à Tunis (CEhttps://www.cematmaghrib.org/MAT). We thank our friend Mohamed Boukhoudmi for his interpretation of the extract of "Nouba Dziriya" by Dr. Noureddine Saoudi for the introduction and conclusion of this podcast. Production and editing: Lena Krause, AIMS Development and Digital Resources Liaison.

Send a textIra Chaleff is an author, speaker, and executive coach in the greater Washington, DC, area. His extensive experience with the US federal government includes directing and chairing the nonpartisan Congressional Management Foundation, where he is now Chair Emeritus. Ira co-authored the original handbook for newly elected Members of Congress, now in its fifteenth edition, and has facilitated over a hundred retreats for congressional offices. He has led and participated in Democracy strengthening programs in Asia and West Africa and consulted for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Eastern Europe.He has been an adjunct faculty member at the Federal Executive Institute and a visiting leadership scholar at Churchill College, Cambridge University in England. Ira served two terms on the Board of Directors of the International Leadership Association and is the founder of its Followership Community.Ira speaks on courageous followership and intelligent disobedience at a wide variety of institutions, including the US Department of State, the US Naval Academy, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the European Commission of the EU, and many others.Quotes From This Episode“Sometimes it's courageous to conform. Discernment matters as much as courage.”“Followers are as responsible for bringing out the best in leaders as leaders are for bringing out the best in followers.”“If followership education only teaches compliance, should we be surprised when adults conform to poor leadership?”Resources Mentioned in This EpisodeBook: The Courageous Follower by ChaleffBook: Intelligent Disobedience by ChaleffBook: To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Political Followers by ChaleffAbout The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals interested in studying, practicing, and teaching leadership. About  Scott J. AllenWebsiteWeekly Newsletter: Practical Wisdom for LeadersMy Approach to HostingThe views of my guests do not constitute "truth." Nor do they reflect my personal views in some instances. However, they are views to consider, and I hope they help you clarify your perspective. ♻️ Please share with others and follow/subscribe to the podcast!⭐️ Please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your platform of choice.➡️ Follow me on LinkedIn for more on leadership, communication, and tech.

Today we are joined by Claire Nicolas, a chercheuse du Fonds National Suisse at Basel University, a holder of a prestigious Ambizione Research Grant, and the author of Une si longue course: Sport, genre, et citoyenneté au Ghana et en Côte d'Ivoire (années 1900-1970) (Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2024). In our conversation, we discussed physical culture in colonial and post-colonial Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, the differences and the similarities between the imperial and post-imperial biopolitical strategies in both places, and the way that sports histories benefit from sustained engagement with critical theory. In Une si longue course, Nicolas engages in a sustained comparison between the colonial and post-colonial physical cultural life of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. She organizes her work into two sections: one on colonial West Africa and another on post-colonial West Africa. Each section has three chapters covering physical education, scouting and sports. Her work addresses athletic life from the top down and the bottom up. In doing so, she shows that contrary to any simple history of teleological progress or sport as a crucible for nationalism, physical education, scouting and sport have been imperfect tools for imperial and post-imperial states. Athletes, scouts, and students found innovative ways to reshape the physical cultural priorities of the state to suit their own agendas. This deeply ambitious work significantly adds to our understanding of physical culture in colonial and post-colonial West Africa through a comparative approach. It draws upon extensive primary source research: Nicolas works in the archives of the British and French colonial states, the ministries of post-colonial Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, and the repositories of international sporting organizations in Switzerland. She also relies upon oral histories conducted with Ghanaian and Ivoirian sportsmen and women. Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Great Britain, and France: their physical cultural programmes shared continuities and ruptures. Colonial empires concerned with the mise en valeur of their subjects sought biopolitical solutions to increase the birthrate, expand agricultural and industrial production, and prepare men for the defence of the empire. They worried that physical cultural programs – if poorly managed – would become sites for resistance, but Nicolas' work shows that sporting clubs, scouting halls, and schools could confound any simple collaboration/resistance dichotomy. Nicolas' work also demonstrates the deeply gendered nature of both colonial and post-colonial physical culture. Newly emergent post-colonial nations sought to produce new men (and women) in ways that replicated the essentialism of their imperial predecessors. Nicolas' engaging work, thoroughly researched, and beautifully presented will be of broad interest to people invested in British, French, and West African history. It has broader conclusions for people interested in colonial and post-colonial theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Today we are joined by Claire Nicolas, a chercheuse du Fonds National Suisse at Basel University, a holder of a prestigious Ambizione Research Grant, and the author of Une si longue course: Sport, genre, et citoyenneté au Ghana et en Côte d'Ivoire (années 1900-1970) (Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2024). In our conversation, we discussed physical culture in colonial and post-colonial Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, the differences and the similarities between the imperial and post-imperial biopolitical strategies in both places, and the way that sports histories benefit from sustained engagement with critical theory. In Une si longue course, Nicolas engages in a sustained comparison between the colonial and post-colonial physical cultural life of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. She organizes her work into two sections: one on colonial West Africa and another on post-colonial West Africa. Each section has three chapters covering physical education, scouting and sports. Her work addresses athletic life from the top down and the bottom up. In doing so, she shows that contrary to any simple history of teleological progress or sport as a crucible for nationalism, physical education, scouting and sport have been imperfect tools for imperial and post-imperial states. Athletes, scouts, and students found innovative ways to reshape the physical cultural priorities of the state to suit their own agendas. This deeply ambitious work significantly adds to our understanding of physical culture in colonial and post-colonial West Africa through a comparative approach. It draws upon extensive primary source research: Nicolas works in the archives of the British and French colonial states, the ministries of post-colonial Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, and the repositories of international sporting organizations in Switzerland. She also relies upon oral histories conducted with Ghanaian and Ivoirian sportsmen and women. Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Great Britain, and France: their physical cultural programmes shared continuities and ruptures. Colonial empires concerned with the mise en valeur of their subjects sought biopolitical solutions to increase the birthrate, expand agricultural and industrial production, and prepare men for the defence of the empire. They worried that physical cultural programs – if poorly managed – would become sites for resistance, but Nicolas' work shows that sporting clubs, scouting halls, and schools could confound any simple collaboration/resistance dichotomy. Nicolas' work also demonstrates the deeply gendered nature of both colonial and post-colonial physical culture. Newly emergent post-colonial nations sought to produce new men (and women) in ways that replicated the essentialism of their imperial predecessors. Nicolas' engaging work, thoroughly researched, and beautifully presented will be of broad interest to people invested in British, French, and West African history. It has broader conclusions for people interested in colonial and post-colonial theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sports

Today we are joined by Claire Nicolas, a chercheuse du Fonds National Suisse at Basel University, a holder of a prestigious Ambizione Research Grant, and the author of Une si longue course: Sport, genre, et citoyenneté au Ghana et en Côte d'Ivoire (années 1900-1970) (Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2024). In our conversation, we discussed physical culture in colonial and post-colonial Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, the differences and the similarities between the imperial and post-imperial biopolitical strategies in both places, and the way that sports histories benefit from sustained engagement with critical theory. In Une si longue course, Nicolas engages in a sustained comparison between the colonial and post-colonial physical cultural life of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. She organizes her work into two sections: one on colonial West Africa and another on post-colonial West Africa. Each section has three chapters covering physical education, scouting and sports. Her work addresses athletic life from the top down and the bottom up. In doing so, she shows that contrary to any simple history of teleological progress or sport as a crucible for nationalism, physical education, scouting and sport have been imperfect tools for imperial and post-imperial states. Athletes, scouts, and students found innovative ways to reshape the physical cultural priorities of the state to suit their own agendas. This deeply ambitious work significantly adds to our understanding of physical culture in colonial and post-colonial West Africa through a comparative approach. It draws upon extensive primary source research: Nicolas works in the archives of the British and French colonial states, the ministries of post-colonial Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, and the repositories of international sporting organizations in Switzerland. She also relies upon oral histories conducted with Ghanaian and Ivoirian sportsmen and women. Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Great Britain, and France: their physical cultural programmes shared continuities and ruptures. Colonial empires concerned with the mise en valeur of their subjects sought biopolitical solutions to increase the birthrate, expand agricultural and industrial production, and prepare men for the defence of the empire. They worried that physical cultural programs – if poorly managed – would become sites for resistance, but Nicolas' work shows that sporting clubs, scouting halls, and schools could confound any simple collaboration/resistance dichotomy. Nicolas' work also demonstrates the deeply gendered nature of both colonial and post-colonial physical culture. Newly emergent post-colonial nations sought to produce new men (and women) in ways that replicated the essentialism of their imperial predecessors. Nicolas' engaging work, thoroughly researched, and beautifully presented will be of broad interest to people invested in British, French, and West African history. It has broader conclusions for people interested in colonial and post-colonial theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-studies

Today I talked to Florian Wagner about his new book Colonial Internationalism and the Governmentality of Empire, 1893–1982 (Cambridge UP, 2022). From its founding in 1893, to its decline in the 1970s, the International Colonial Institute (ICI) was one of the most powerful nongovernmental actors on the colonial scene. Styling itself a reformist institution, the ICI applied the tools of transnational scientific exchange to “rationalize” the practice of colonial rule. As part of this reformist project, members of the ICI mobilized progressive ideas in ways that built broad political consensus across Europe while also furthering inequality, exploitation, and segregation in the Global South, even beyond the end of formal empire. Tracing the long history of the ICI reveals fundamental continuities, argues Florian Wagner, that colonialist narratives of change obscure. Elisa Prosperetti is an Assistant Professor in International History at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. Her research focuses on the connected histories of education and development in postcolonial West Africa. Contact her at here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Today's episode is a subject that has been prominent in the last few years, the Atlantic slave trade, and today's book, Survivors is a quite brilliant one that focusses on one voyage in particular, the Clotilda. Joining is Hannah Durkin who tells the harrowing tail of one boat's enslaved people, from when they are capture in West Africa, through to their journey across the Atlantic, to Mobile Alabama, and then the story of the descendants. Hannah Durkin Links Survivors: A History of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade Ukraine Links Convoy for Ukraine, run by my friend Ian Wilson-Young ⁠History Book Club Shop⁠ Oliver Webb-Carter Links ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Who Cares Who Wins? ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Paean to Patrick Leigh Fermor⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ Email me: owcpods@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today I talked to Florian Wagner about his new book Colonial Internationalism and the Governmentality of Empire, 1893–1982 (Cambridge UP, 2022). From its founding in 1893, to its decline in the 1970s, the International Colonial Institute (ICI) was one of the most powerful nongovernmental actors on the colonial scene. Styling itself a reformist institution, the ICI applied the tools of transnational scientific exchange to “rationalize” the practice of colonial rule. As part of this reformist project, members of the ICI mobilized progressive ideas in ways that built broad political consensus across Europe while also furthering inequality, exploitation, and segregation in the Global South, even beyond the end of formal empire. Tracing the long history of the ICI reveals fundamental continuities, argues Florian Wagner, that colonialist narratives of change obscure. Elisa Prosperetti is an Assistant Professor in International History at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. Her research focuses on the connected histories of education and development in postcolonial West Africa. Contact her at here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/world-affairs

Today I talked to Florian Wagner about his new book Colonial Internationalism and the Governmentality of Empire, 1893–1982 (Cambridge UP, 2022). From its founding in 1893, to its decline in the 1970s, the International Colonial Institute (ICI) was one of the most powerful nongovernmental actors on the colonial scene. Styling itself a reformist institution, the ICI applied the tools of transnational scientific exchange to “rationalize” the practice of colonial rule. As part of this reformist project, members of the ICI mobilized progressive ideas in ways that built broad political consensus across Europe while also furthering inequality, exploitation, and segregation in the Global South, even beyond the end of formal empire. Tracing the long history of the ICI reveals fundamental continuities, argues Florian Wagner, that colonialist narratives of change obscure. Elisa Prosperetti is an Assistant Professor in International History at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. Her research focuses on the connected histories of education and development in postcolonial West Africa. Contact her at here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-studies

The 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games start on Friday and Canadian figure skater Elladj Baldé is representing Canada in a new way — as a special contributor on CBC. Elladj started skating at age six and, like many budding athletes, grew up dreaming of Olympic glory. But as a young Black man, he didn't always see himself reflected in the world of figure skating, and that started to impact how he felt about the sport and even himself. In this conversation with guest host Garvia Bailey, Elladj talks about the crushing disappointment he experienced after he narrowly missed qualifying for the Sochi Olympics, how a trip to Guinea, West Africa changed his relationship with skating, and how he found a new sense of purpose on the ice.

An extraordinary new exhibition has just opened in the small Alabama township of Gees Bend, and it gives us some clues as to why this community of world-famous quilters became home to one of America's greatest creative legacies.   The quilts of Gees Bend were first exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, nearly 25 years ago and today their quilts hang in many global art galleries. Since then the critics have repeatedly asked how an isolated community of Black American women could have prefigured many of the traditions of modern art without any formal training. These quilts were born of need, but they were fresh, and utterly original.     Since then not only has their legacy and reputation grown, but other African American quilters have also come to the fore. These include communities in Mississippi, as well as those who carried their southern quilt making traditions to California during World War Two.   Now the exhibition in Gees Bend tells the story of the first named quilter in the township – a woman who almost certainly arrived in America from West Africa as a child on the last known slave ship to enter US waters in 1860, over 50 years after the trade in human beings had allegedly been outlawed.   For more information about this episode and pictures of the people and places mentioned in this episode please go to https://hapticandhue.com/tales-of-textiles-series-8/   And if you would like to find out about Friends of Haptic & Hue with an extra podcast every month hosted by Jo Andrews and Bill Taylor – here's the link: https://hapticandhue.com/join/  

Given Trump’s recent, more combative approach to foreign policy, it was surprising to see the US extend the hand of friendship to West Africa’s military dictators this week. So what’s behind this new alliance?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Minneapolis isn't just protesting ICE—it's fully organizing against it. Lydia Polgreen, journalist and opinion columnist at The New York Times, joins Offline to explain the difference, share what she saw on the ground in the Twin Cities, and explain how it compares to other countries' slides towards authoritarianism. As a former foreign correspondent in West Africa and India—and having grown up in Minnesota—Lydia breaks down this civil unrest and what it spells for the future of America. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Burrough, CEO of Partners International, is a former mission trip leader and played in the NFL—including playing in a Super Bowl. Listen as he shares how taking a mission trip completely changed his outlook and how that experience could impact and change your perspective in every area of life. Partners International began in the early 1940s with a missionary to China, Duncan Roberts, and from there continued to support and grow local leaders advancing the gospel in China. Later, the ministry's work expanded into Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The focus today is on reaching the unreached parts of the world for Christ. John will share how Partners International invests in local ministries and church networks advancing the gospel in the 10/40 window, and how they come alongside locals to help them go further and faster in achieving the mission God has given them. "All missions begins with prayer," John says, and shares how the Lord is mobilizing prayer for the unreached in restricted nations and hostile areas. Listen for the amazing story of a former Boko Haram member in West Africa who came to Christ while spying on a Christian leadership training session. The former terrorist is now advancing the gospel among the people he used to work with. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily in 2026 for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria and Bangladesh, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Meet Erica Tandoh, aka DJ Switch Ghana: a creative force from Ghana, West Africa, who uses music to express herself and speak up for what she believes in. Discover how she learned to DJ in just five days (!!!), the sweet story behind her stage name, and what it felt like to play for a packed stadium full of kids and families. She also talks about the DJ Switch Foundation and why helping others keeps her hopeful—even when life gets tough. You can also learn more about her story in our book 100 Inspiring Young Changemakers. Photo Credit: Hugo Grey Photography