Hodi! Enter your Africa Podcast Day!
We are proud to announce the full program for Africa Podcast Day 2021
A Month To Give Our Dreams Wings
Hello Friends,
Audio has the potential to capture our imagination and the sweet, spicy and bitter flavour of the lived African experience. This might be why African podcasts hit differently for me. Growing up sharing the radio at home, taking weekly Ministry of Education radio lessons at our public primary school in Nairobi, I now look back and see the seeds of listener appreciation that crossed over into podcasting. The beauty of choosing what kind of shows, and when and to be able to carry that audio choice anywhere by mobile phone still amazes me. It is a big reason why I have a child-like wonder at discovering other African voices in podcasting every day. I suspect this is part of what excites you too about our work.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes, "Harlem" from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes.
What has been a dream for our team for so long is finally here. Gathering for and by African podcasters. As a fully remote team, working together to create events like last year’s Coping with COVID19 (Nov 2020) and Africa Podcasters Roll Call allowed us to feature the work, and the complex journeys of a wide variety of African podcasters in their own words and pictures. We are grateful for everyone who has taken up our calls to participate in our events and ‘opened the server’ on their process, triumphs and failures in podcasting. Our dream for gathering together finally has a date and time!
This is a year full of hopes and dreams when the forecasting feels bleak. Across Africa through watching elections in Uganda and elsewhere, calls for access to COVID19 vaccines amid broken health care systems, as we mourn with those experiencing drought, flooding, losing loved ones and what seems like unending unemployment for most of our youth, we all wait and watch for better days. It is certainly not business as usual for any of us.
What are your other dreams? Have you put some on the shelf only to have this era in our history create the space and time to explore them? As you go through this month’s newsletter, my wish for you is that you get to explore your dreams once again.
With gratitude,
Josephine Karianjahi
Co-Director, Africa Podfest
Africa Podcast Day 2021
Our Why: African podcasting has exploded - from studios in our cupboards, to the Whatsapp and Telegram distributed podcast. From Abuja, to Dodoma, Antananarivo to Gaborone, from Maputo to Johannesburg, Africa Podfest has witnessed a creative wave in the podcasting space we cannot fully capture in words. For African podcasters, and everyone who supports podcasting in Africa, Melissa Mbugua and I are privileged to co-direct this the 2021 Africa Podcast Day program. From the disappointment of 2020’s Podfest cancellation, to relearning how to gather online, to new connections with fellow African podcasters we have we are excited to introduce the very first fully virtual Africa Podcast Day 2021.
If you haven’t secured your seat for Africa Podcast Day yet: Sign Up Here
We had started 2020 by launching Africa Podcast Day on February 12, as a celebration of everything we love about African podcasting. Our plans to meet friends in podcasting from Africa and around the world in Nairobi got halted by in-person gathering restrictions in Kenya around COVID-19. We have been learning from our friends in the festival world and preparing a fly gathering for African podcasters.
We Love Event Reminders! Set this alarm for Africa Podcast Day on Youtube
Breakfast, lunch and dinner with us - you bring the bites and drinks, and we bring the virtual experience. This year, we get to give you a full day virtual celebration of community-led and Africa Podfest curated events for Africa Podcast Day. Bringing together a pan African and African diaspora collective of creatives together once again as the Africa Podfest team has thrilled and energised us. In one day, join us as we travel to Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Senegal, Lesotho, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, South Africa, and hear from African diaspora and friends in North America, Europe and France in Kiswahili, Hausa, French, English and more.
Get Your Podcast Sessions mag Jan/Feb 2021: Africa Podcast Day InDepth Coverage
Our friends over at Hindenburg, Prince Claus Fund, British Council, Baraza Media Lab, SemaBOX and individuals (via the Ko-Fi giving platform) have generously made it possible to coordinate this year’s Africa Podcast Day festivities. We are also delighted with Tinzwe Media and Podnews as our media partners.
Recap of the Past Month
Where is the Money in African Podcasting"? Jan. 30, 2021
Every quarter, the International Podcast Day hosts a Podcaster Showcase drawn from their global network of podcasters. Yesterday, Africa Podfest’s Josephine and Melissa made it a colourful all African affair and invited podcasters from Sierra Leone, South Africa and Kenya to the conversation. Vickie Remoe, Simmi Areff and Dan Aceda joined us, dropping their wisdom and other gems in a rich, warm and real chat about money and podcasting. Catch the whole segment below:
Talktime: Africa Podfest in the pods
How fast is podcasting growing? Melissa Mbugua spoke to Podland News about African podcasting trends and what we can expect on this episode (42 mins) You can also catch a new article (Jan. 21) tracing the history of podcasting from Podland News Creating a change: Josephine Karianjahi sat down with Moroccan podcaster Nes Reign on her podcast Dope and Damaged about Africa Podfest and taped this episode on making change (53 mins) Want to feature Africa Podfest on your podcast? Drop us a note here
Give it A Listen - Podcast Episodes focused on Africa
“Each time I go on the pitch I want to represent the whole of Africa. It’s about how many people you inspire. I want to leave a legacy.” Join Nigerian royalty Asisat Oshoala, a top female footballer on Nigeria’s National Team & Nigerian musical star Tiwa Savage in the latest FIFA Play On podcast. (47 mins)
“There Was No Plan B!” Egypt’s January Revolution 10 Years Later: In this podcast episode, Anne-Marie Bissada of Talking Africa Podcast speaks to three Egyptians including Mohammed Abdelfattah and Nadia Idle who took part in the 25 January 2011 revolution in their own way. Episode (Jan 29. 75 mins)
Opportunities & Resources
One World Media Awards (Deadline Feb 16.)
Podcast + Radio Award: For an audio feature, podcast, or single programme from a series, broadcast on radio or online, that deals with stories, topics or issues in, about or related to the global south. Full application details here
Podcast Sessions Digital Magazine (Rolling Deadline)
Call for Articles: The Podcast Sessions is Africa’s first (free) magazine dedicated to telling stories about the African podcasting industry. They are looking for stories from your country to publish. Submit an article for one of the next issues at: submissions@thepodsessions.com
Podcaster toolbox
The Podcaster Toolbox is a crowd-sourced guide for independent, DIY, and/or early-stage podcasters. Originally designed to support podcasters working from home at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the guide has expanded to include resources for podcasters at any stage — and place — of production. Check it out here.
JOIN THE DATABASE: Be seen, and heard across Africa by joining the Africa Podfest database of African podcasters.
Africa Podfest inspires and elevates podcasters in Africa looking to create and grow their podcasts. We organize #AfricaPodcastDay (February 12), Africa Podfest, a conference on podcasting and the Unconference on Podcasting series. These events showcase developments in African podcasting, convene players in the new media ecosystem and boost the production of podcasts in the region. We also do original research on the African podcasting ecosystem.