Selam & Hello

Award-winning actor, director, and writer Mugambi Nthiga joins Lilly for an episode all about the movies. Following the Oscar nominations, Lilly and Mugambi talk about their favorite films of 2022, the celebration of films such as blockbuster and diaspora-inspired Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , and the apparent snubs of The Woman King and Nope . They also explore the importance (if any) of insti...

On International Day of Education, Lilly speaks to 'educators for liberation,' Sagda Khalil and Amin Hussain. They explore their journeys to becoming educators both on the continent and abroad and their approach to education as social justice. They share the ways they are celebrating the wisdom and brilliance of every child and decentering the dominant culture in education through both their pedag...

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King, Lilly speaks to peace activist and musician, Emmanuel Jal. In this episode, Emmanuel talks about his experience as a child soldier during the Second Sudanese Civil War, the immense challenges navigating life in Nairobi and why he used to think Biggie Smalls was Kikuyu. Emmanuel shares how storytelling can be used as a tool for healing a...

In 2022, Food4Education served its 10 millionth meal! Wawira Njiru, the Founder and Executive Director of Food4Education joins us to share the journey and incredible impact that the organization has had in Kenya since they began their work a decade ago. Wawira and Lilly discuss how to tell dignified stories about poverty, carrying forward the legacy of committed (and shoeless) parents and the impo...

In this episode, Lilly talks to East Africa correspondent for the New York Times, Abdi Latif Dahir. They explore the nuanced experience and incredible responsibility of writing about Africa as a child of the continent who has an international platform. Abdi discusses how his personal ties and experiences in the region inform his role as a journalist and the challenges he and other reporters face w...

In a special collaboration, the Kilimani Project Foundation and Up/Root talk with Dr. Githinji Gitahi about the rollout of the vaccine on the continent. Dr. Githai answered questions from the community and addresses the science - and rumors - that remain. This is the episode to share with all the aunties, cousins and grandparents who need information that speaks to our experience as African nation...

Would you choose to leave your home and your family if it meant preserving your self-worth? Is choice a commodity of the privileged? Has Kenya mourned together well? Has Kenya healed? We didn't ask any easy questions as the wonderful women from my book club help me interview brilliant author Wanjiru (Shiro) Koinange about her debut novel 'The Havoc of Choice.' In this season four premiere, Wanjiru...

Would you choose to leave your home and your family if it meant preserving your self-worth? Is choice a commodity of the privileged? Has Kenya mourned together well? Has Kenya healed? We didn't ask any easy questions as the wonderful women from my book club help me interview brilliant author Wanjiru (Shiro) Koinange about her debut novel 'The Havoc of Choice.' In this season four premiere, Wanjiru...

Joy. Joy is a choice. Today artists extraordinaire June Gachui and Pete Odera join me to SING, talk, share what this year has been for them and how they have chosen joy in their work and personal lives. Many of you know June Gachui (@junegachui) for her many roles on stage as a speaker, singer, actress and host but she is also an intellectual property lawyer who is passionate about the law and art...

Njeri Mwangi and I spend this episode talking, laughing and shedding a few tears as we talk about the importance of human rights. Njeri co-stars with her husband, activist Boniface Mwangi, and family in the documentary film Softie (https://www.softiethefilm.com/) which tells their story and invites us to see ourselves in the love, struggle and fears they experience as human rights defenders, paren...

Welcome back to Up/Root! As the holidays approach - there are few things that I actually want - and none of them can be bought. Peace of mind is a gift that 2020 has tried to take from all of us and today my friend Julie Githiri-Goko (@julie_githirigoko)will give us practical advice on how to manage our stress, support our kids and enjoy the festive season. Julie is a psychodynamic psychotherapist...

This episode is a tribute to all the aunties, sisters, cousins, godmothers and women out there who make our lives so rich with laughter and wisdom! On today's show, sisters Annie and Shazz Nderitu, who are two of five siblings, share with us how they survived the Westgate terror attack, how they celebrate and support one another and why sisterhood is such an important part of their identity and li...

Today on the show we will continue in our series of topics on why Black Lives Matter by discussing why Black Journalism Matters with award-winning Kenyan journalist and filmmaker, Elijah Kanyi. Elijah is the 2017 and 2019 Annual Journalism Excellence Awards Journalist of the Year, an acclaimed investigative reporter with Africa Uncensored and founder of SautiTV, a mentoring program for young journ...

Black Lives Matters - and so does Black Joy! In part two of our series, Christian Lwanda joins us and shares how he defines joy, what his grandmother Selah taught him and how he walks with both joy and suffering in his life. We shared experiences and laughter in this conversation as well as the strengths of Kenyan culture that have guided the country through generations of change and resistance. S...

Today I talk to you from my home and my heart. "Black lives matter" is a cry that has been heard worldwide as protests in over 60 countries have shaken the world. It's also what we tell our Black children and ourselves as we face the world - and wherever we are in the world. Black lives are a triumph and Up/Root is embarking on a new series to explore the complexity and power of our community and...

Daniya, Mandisa and Jason join Up/Root today for a live show from the International School of Kenya and enlighten us on what makes them "proud to be me." Identity certainly develops throughout life and these cross-cultural students who have grown up between cultures and countries took us to school about the assumptions they face and how they navigate expectations in their families, schools, and co...

Do you remember your senior year of high school? Thoughts of the future, prom, freedom, finally graduating? The pandemic has put a damper on the plans - but not the spirits - of graduating secondary students across the world. Today on Up/Root, five students - Hilary, Jaya, Matias, Selah and Troy - share their thoughts on the "new normal" of their lives, their thoughts on the future and how they ar...

Health is a human right - and in a pandemic, human rights must continue to be protected and promoted. Irungu Houghton, Kenya Executive Director of Amnesty International joins Up/Root to share his thoughts on how humane policing, good citizenship and community involvement are critical elements for any country to survive a crisis. Irungu has spent his professional career fighting corruption and spea...

History has taught us that during times of global crisis and epidemics - longterm outcomes are worse for women than for men. Data indicates that women make up a majority of essential workers, from health care to markets, and in the midst of lockdowns and school closures - domestic labor and the education of children falls disproportionally on female caretakers. Julie Mwabe, a Gender Advisor in the...

Dr. Michael Chung is an infectious disease and internal medicine physician with an MD from the University of Chicago and a Masters of Public Health from Harvard University School of Public Health where he also completed his internship and residency. He and his family have lived in Nairobi for 18 years and he is a Professor at and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Aga Kahn University in Nairob...

It is an absolute honor to welcome Freweini Mebrahtu to Up/Root! Freweini is a global leader in menstrual health management and CNN's 2019 Hero of the Year for her work to eliminate the stigma associated with periods and her 15-year campaign to provide women and girls in Ethiopia equitable access to reusable pads. She started Mariam Seba Sanitary Products Factory in Mekelle, Ethiopia in 2005 and h...

Author and professor Samual Nyanchoga joins Up/Root to talk about why Black History Month still matters, Black historical heroes and how Blackness is a universal civilization. Dr. Nyanchoga is a Dean of Faculty at the Catholic University of East Africa and Fulbright Scholar (Boston College) and is the author of seven books: Author of Aspects of African History, Contemporary Issues in Kenyan Histor...

In part 2 of our conversation, some of the Too Early for Birds family, Ngartia, Abu, Mercy and Mugambi, talk more about the role gender, language and joy played in creating this three-hour epic story of one of Kenya's native sons and heroes, Tom Mboya. We talk Jay-Z, we cry, we laugh and by the end - they offer us hope for the future and clear direction on how to support the arts and make sure the...

Tom Mboya is a hero of Kenyan history and in October 2019, the Too Early for Birds storytelling theatre production group told Mboya's story in the "dopest, funkiest ways you can imagine." This is the fifth show they have put on in Nairobi and their performance was so popular they had to add four more shows in November 2019. The Tom Mboya edition was transformative, electric and challenged all of u...

Olympic marathon gold-medalist and world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge is a living legend and a global inspiration for his incredible feats of athletic dominance. In October, he became the first person to run a sub-2hour marathon and captured the imagination of an international audience with his endurance, tenacity and brilliant run. Kipchoge shares with Up/Root how he trains, who his heroes are, w...