Empires, Anarchy & Other Notable Moments

This is the final episode in our series on the Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya.  This episode compares Jomo to America's founding father George Washington.  It serves to detail Kenyatta slippage towards authoritarianism through the persecution of his political challengers, his fights with the press, the restablishment of oathing ceremonies, and the establishment of his personality cult...

This is the fourth in a series on the political rise and policies of Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of Kenya.  This episode looks directly at the policies that Kenyatta pursued in his attempts to create a homogenous national culture.  The material covers the IB's topic of Independence Movements between 1800 and 2000.    Updated in 2022 Contact the show by emailing us at resourcesbylowery@gmail...

This is the third in a series on the political rise and policies of Jomo Kenyatta's path to becoming the first President of Kenya.  This episode begins with the arrest of Jomo Kenyatta and then examines the trial and evidence against him and the other members of the Kapenguria Six.  The beginnings of the 'cult of Jomo' are introduced before showcasing how the movement was able to 'Free Kenyatta.'...

This is the second in a five series on the political rise and policies of Jomo Kenyatta's path to becoming the first President of Kenya.  The Mau Mau revolt/revolution thrust Jomo Kenyatta into the spotlight as the supposed leader of the movement.  This podcast goes beyond Jomo Kenyatta to look at the movement as a whole; drawing heavily from the outstanding work of Caroline Elkin's Imperial Recko...

This is the first in a five part series on the political rise and policies of Jomo Kenyatta's path to becoming the first President of Kenya.  It begins with the colonization of Kenya by the British; which sets up the grievances that result in the Mau Mau revolt (the second episode in this series).  The material covers the IB's topic of Independence Movements between 1800 and 2000).  UPDATED IN 202...

This is the final episode in a series regarding the West African slave trade from 1500-1700.  This episode seeks to detail the enduring legacy that the slave trade has had on the region (and the continent as a whole).  Effects on population, the economy, gender roles, and disease are all discussed.  The Jolof and Dahomey civilizations are each specifically discussed as examples of the slave trade'...

This is the third in a series of four regarding the West African slave trade from 1500-1700. This episode first takes a look at the modern day downfall of the city of Gary, Indiana.  It then applies lessons from the fall to the study of slavery in West Africa.  The first portion of the episode looks at the economic argument for the fall while the latter half deals with the fiscal military state, a...

This is the second in a series of four regarding the West African slave trade from 1500-1700. This episode takes a look at the unique aspects of African civilizations in order to understand why the destructive practice of the slave trade was able to find fertile ground.  Mali under Mansa Musa are discussed in depth in order to contrast the decline of West African civilizations after the introducti...

This is the first in a series of four regarding the West African slave trade from 1500-1700.  This episode takes on the concept of Social Death; the act of killing a person in order to bring forth a servant.  The bundle of traits that make up slavery will be discussed including violence designed to dehumanize.  This series serves to cover the International Baccalaureate history standards for Socie...