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One of the world's oldest humanoid fossils, colloquially known as Dinknesh, or "Lucy," has intrigued paleontologists for decades. But her name is also a point of pride for Ethiopians. Meanwhile Laila narrates how fascination and racist attitudes around Sarah Baartman resulted in a harrowing, cautionary tale of human exploitation.
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Tropical medicine boomed as European powers claimed territories in Africa. Germany sent the famed Robert Koch and many others to the colonies to find cures to tropical illnesses - but also to test new medicines. This shadowy practice led to Africans being mistreated, and many died in the process, leaving a legacy of physical and psychological trauma that has never been properly cured.
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Respected German anthropologists made a career from dividing people by race, a new branch of science that conveniently put Europeans at the top. While eugenics and scientific racism was widely practiced in Western nations in the early 1900s, the ideas developed by Eugen Fischer and others served as the intellectual bedrock for race-based crimes committed by Nazi Germany.
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Why does Namibia have a bizarre panhandle? Why do some Ghanaians talk of being from "Western Togoland"? Much of this has to do with African borders drawn up in Europe during late 19th century. Borders that to this day are still very much contested, and have had deadly consequences. We explore how treaties designed to prevent war in Europe have caused conflict in Africa.
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In East Africa and the Great Lakes region, German colonial conquest spurred courageous resistance from many local East African groups against well-armed and violent colonial forces.
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In the context of colonial-era injustice, the renaming of landmarks almost seems like a footnote. But in this podcast we discover how renaming mountains, towns, and even people was another form of oppression. We also meet some characters who have outlived the colonialists' names, and why renaming landmarks is a form of reclaiming heritage.
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Running a colonial empire required a reliable merchant fleet. Hamburg-based businessman Adolph Woermann and his shipping line soon exerted considerable influence over Germany's colonial policy. We explore how the Woermann Company became an unofficial instrument of German colonization.
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By 1885, Adolf Lüderitz had acquired vast territories in today's Namibia. But his contracts with local people were so dodgy that even German colonial officials doubted them.
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For our last episode of African Roots, we profile two giants: Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane and South Africa's Nelson Mandela. We look at how the two men shaped their respective nations' trajectories in different eras, and how their fight against oppression inspired thousands of young people to take up the armed struggle.
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Cai finds out how the legendary warriors, the Dahomey Amazons, have recently gained recognition - to dazzling Hollywood effects. But not all women fought on the battlefield: Laila explores how in neighboring in Nigeria, Margaret Ekpo blazed a trail for female participation in local politics as independence took hold.
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Oral histories are key to shaping nationalities, legends and identities. Cai and Laila explore the role of West African griots in keeping alive the phenomenal stories of Sunjata Keita from Mali and Nigeria's Bayajida.
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The role of women in Africa's liberation movements is underrepresented. African Roots meets Josina Machel, a freedom fighter whose efforts reshaped Mozambique's liberation movement in exile, and Bibi Titi Mohammed, who arguably won the grassroots support that drove Julius Nyerere to power in Tanzania.
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Ethiopia's Taytu Betul and Angola's Queen Njinga live large in their countries' historical memory as strong female leaders, and both embody the complicated power dynamics of their times. Just how did Taytu Betul help face down a European invasion? And why were Portuguese colonialists forced to talk with Queen Njinga on equal terms? Cai and Laila bring you their remarkable stories.
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Arguably Africa's most influential revolutionary thinker, Amilcar Cabral, never saw his country gain independence. In the 1950s, Louis Rwagasore, briefly, seemed to unite a divided Burundi, but his time was cut short. We find out the tragic fates of these visionary leaders and how their ideas spread beyond their respective nations.
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Every generation throws up a maverick - and Africa has had many! Laila introduces Cai to Wangari Maathai, who rewrote the rules for environmentalism in east Africa, and faced down stiff resistance in the process. Cai looks back to Cameroon's colonial era leader Njoya Ibrahim, a man of many talents who could have been anything - but, above all, achieved the status of an African hero.
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