Two and a Mic - The Social Podcast

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This is a short account of Libya, mainly after the arrival of Colonel Gaddafi in 1969, its history post Ottoman Empire, post-Italian rule and post-war. In 1945 when the world was finally putting away its weapons and picking up instead debris to clean away the ruins of communities the pride of ignorant men had brought about, other movements were beginning to take shape. There was an opportunity to...

This is an episode borne of a social media thread which Esheru led and I supported. This chat developed in an impromptu fashion where we were actually going to talk about something completely different. Funnily enough though this was exactly how we met. Esheru leading the fight against racism. That fight is a fight of all conscientious, understanding and awake people. Racism is a path to self-dest...

This poem by Shoshee Chunder Dutt is a wonderful collection of thoughts from the Bengali essayist, writer and poet. It is hard to find information on Shoshee, but a search for him produces a number of educational materials and documents. It is perhaps a compliment that he should be so fixedly remembered in this way, as a teacher and a guide. I would love for people to write to me of Shoshee Chunde...

In this concluding part of our discussion on Burkina Faso, Esheru and I delve into the horrific loss and significance of the murder of Thomas Sankara by his best friend Blaise Compaore. As if by means of deciding to exemplify exactly what Burkina Faso lost, Ibrahim Traore is blazing a trail of leadership that every people of every nation would wish to find in their government. When left alone to r...

There is so much to write about to introduce this episode. Instead I will leave the bare facts for people to encourage them to locate and follow the 3 fantastic guests I had here. I have also included below their suggestions for further reading and if other people have suggestions of their own to make, then please feel free to send them in. Ademola Topic: The continuing humanitarian crisis in Cong...

In this the most spontaneous of my recent episodes, Esheru, the gallant, the informed and the flexible, joins me, from a cafe in Sweden no less, to analyse as quickly as his cappuccino would allow, the result of the US Election 2024. We talk about some of the race dynamics, gender breakdown and why things turned out the way they did. Is there any solace to be found from our discussion? We have opi...

This episode delves deeper into the human wonder that was Thomas Sankara in part two of our podcast on Burkina Faso. Sankara was a visionary, a dedicated Burkinabe and someone who genuinely wanted to make the world a better place. Even when in following the letter of the law, some people who failed in a coup against him were executed, he was dismayed. He did not want them to be executed. Yet he ac...

This episode begins the multi-part journey that is the story of post-war Burkina Faso. It is so full of characters, twisting plots, love and deceit, violence and intrigue, it would have been a bestseller, had it ever been reported properly. Always remember the name Thomas Sankara! That is the way unfortunately. Once-colonial powers will cling on any way they can and on this occasion, the clinging-...

We don’t always seek alternative perspectives to our own when we are engaged in heated debate. We don’t reflect how our words may strike others. We don’t always focus on what is happening around us when we have something to say ourselves. With Lulu we discuss on the topic of feminism and how through incorporating feminist ideals into how we live, we can achieve elevated levels of understanding and...

In this episode I am joined once again by Esheru to continue our journey through the continent of Africa and to combine our thoughts on the political, social and economic factors that plague and influence the fortunes of the nation. In this episode we look at the Democratic Republic of Congo and glance occasionally across its borders and sometimes further afield when attempting to gage how far the...

Activism knows many faces. As does racism, prejudice and discrimination. We live in societies where colour is political, social and economic. It is family and it is enmity. It is a call to arms. It is a fight for justice. It is a struggle against oppression. It has long since been the latter. In this new series, I am joined by the activist who inspired it. Esheru is an activist who is indefatigabl...

Randall Jarrell was a poet who died far too young at the age of 51. There are far too many who have died at the tender age of far-too-young. Today that list grows and grows anew. This poem, entitled The Refugees and published in 1942 resonates loudly in the world that we have created or that we have allowed to be created in our name. We have not become a society overtaken by spreading apathy, we h...

In continuing the “Why the Right dislikes…” series, I take a look at a few topics in one go. The main emphasis is on the xenophobic slant of most right-wing rhetoric these days, but there is also a fair chuck of attention paid to where that xenophobia comes from, why, and what the purpose is. I don’t believe my thoughts here can be applied to every right-wing extremist; I doubt that such a general...

The genocide that Azerbaijan committed against the Armenians of Artsakh is not a question of debate. Armenians lived in their ancestral homes of thousands of years until one day they did not. They were not politely asked to leave, they did not sell their homes, they did not leave because they wanted a change. They were attacked by an aggressive dictatorship and forced to leave or die after a 9-mon...

I love reading some of these classic short stories. They serve as a record of human lives through the ages and from different perspectives. In the 1830s the sale of opium was rising rapidly under the Qing dynasty, Australia’s creation is decided and Melbourne is founded, Charles Masson conducts his excavation work around Kabul Jalalabad where he notes that Kabul in 1833 is a model of tolerance. In...

In this 200th episode I am joined by my kids to talk about their lives and interests, where they are, and what they think about topics such as education, football (Mo Salah), games consoles (Xbox and Playstation) and the planet. More importantly, I am just happy to record a snippet of our interactions so that I can revisit these days in the long distant future. Thank you boys. I love you! Enjoy! I...

This is an introduction into a long running story that some people in the west may have heard of in the periphery of their political consumption. Armenia and Azerbaijan have since the fall of the USSR been at loggerheads over Artsakh or Nagorno-Kharapagh. In the aftermath of the fall of the USSR, the populus of Artsakh implemented their right to self-determination, voted of their own accord to bec...

Ever since the first cavewoman kicked the first caveman’s ass at monopoly, there has been discrimination, and the patriarchy was established. The series is entitled Why the Right Dislikes… In future episodes I will look more specifically into various related topics and voice a few thoughts with diferent perspectives. This first episode is about why the Right dislikes...Diversity. These are but a f...

In this next episode of the Book Club with Greg, we take a lingering glance at Dissolution, the first Shardlake novel from author C J Sansom. This is Greg’s recommendation and in true delight we attack it with gusto. To set the scene, it is England in the reign of Henry VIII. Anne Boleyn has just been beheaded and Henry has taken the bold step of separating England from Rome. He also needs case an...

Ever wonder why scientists don’t always know how best to communicate with the general public? Among the many interesting topics we discuss in this episode, is an enthralling insight into the mental process of presenting an idea, from the scientific community’s perspective, and it makes a lot of sense…naturally. One of the many benefits for me in doing these podcasts is to temporarily transport int...

In this third and final part of this mini-series with Kenyan artist Omish Njash we begin with me putting to Omish the welcome activism GenZ have picked up and carried forward and how the government has tried to disrupt them. I mention unity as a key principle behind this movement, and here Omish begins the landslide of his thoughts. I could have added all of his text here as quotations but instead...

Omish Njash explains this sentiment during the podcast: there is difference between art and content. There is a realisation that there is a need for the creation of a new currency that is neither art, nor wisdom, or even sensible, to even be content. They jump on the moment to create content, which has a shorter life span and less meaningful value. “An artist is faced with their own honesty or dis...

It is not often that I can speak with someone in the middle of a historical event. For a start they are usually far more concerned with the maelstrom going on around them to take time out to talk about things. Yet Omish is reflective, perhaps because he is an artist, maybe because he is a philosopher, and in part because as an activist, he is aware of the need to spread the word, lest someone else...

This is an episode about a Russian student, interested in art, rebellious in nature, who moves to Berlin and realises she has room to extend her arms and take in a deep breath, and continues her passion as she knows best. It could easily have been a podcast about a librarian creating a podcast about librarians (there is also famously another librarian making positive waves in the US). This podcast...