Born in 1940 in British-occupied Kenya, Wangarĩ Muta Maathai learned at a young age how the environment and poverty were inextricably linked. As one of Africa's first women to obtain a PhD, she dedicated over forty years of her adult life fighting to teach the people of Kenya about sustainable farming and standing up against the corrupt institutions of her h ... Show More
Jul 2019
Rachel B. Herrmann, "No Useless Mouth: Waging War and Fighting Hunger in the American Revolution" (Cornell UP, 2019)
When the British explored the Atlantic coast of America in the 1580s, their relations with indigenous peoples were structured by food. The newcomers, unable to sustain themselves through agriculture, relied on the local Algonquian people for resources. This led to tension, and th ... Show More
43m 28s
Oct 2024
Bananapocalypse: Plantation Southeast Asia and Its Many Afterlives
This episode focuses on a cluster of issues of longstanding significance in Southeast Asia and in Southeast Asian Studies – plantation agriculture, global commodity chains or supply chains, exploitation of labour and environmental degradation, and resistance. To discuss these iss ... Show More
46m 22s
May 2024
Workers: Hiratsuka Raichō
Hiratsuka Raichō (1886-1971) was a Japanese feminist and social reformer, who founded a literary magazine by and for women. After becoming a mother, she became an advocate for working women in Japan, fighting for suffrage and better working conditions.
For Further Reading:
“In ... Show More
7m 33s
Dec 2023
Benjamin A. Wurgaft and Merry White, "Ways of Eating: Exploring Food Through History and Culture" (U California Press, 2023)
What we learn when an anthropologist and a historian talk about food.From the origins of agriculture to contemporary debates over culinary authenticity, Ways of Eating: Exploring Food Through History and Culture (U California Press, 2023) introduces readers to world food history ... Show More
1h 2m
Feb 2024
Youjin B. Chung, "Sweet Deal, Bitter Landscape: Gender Politics and Liminality in Tanzania's New Enclosures" (Cornell UP, 2024)
During the “global land grab” of the early twenty-first century, legions of investors rushed to Africa to acquire land to produce and speculate on agricultural commodities. In Sweet Deal, Bitter Landscape: Gender Politics and Liminality in Tanzania's New Enclosures (Cornell UP, 2 ... Show More
52m 4s
Jul 2024
231. Kenya, Energy & the IMF with Jusper Machogu
Kenyan farmer Jusper Machugo joins us to tell us about the awful reality of agriculture without hydrocarbons, and how the Kenyan government, the IMF, and international organizations make it harder for Africans to get the energy they need.Jusper Machogu's X account - https:// ... Show More
1h 41m
Nov 2019
John Edmonstone the Former Slave who Taught Darwin
John Edmonstone was born into slavery in the former Dutch colony of Demerara in the late 1700s but died a free man in Scotland having taught one of the greatest men in the history of science, Charles Darwin, the skill of taxidermy. We speak to Dr Angelina Osborne, independent res ... Show More
38m 1s