African Roots: Shadows of German Colonialism
Injected with fear: the legacy of colonial era vaccination programs artwork

Injected with fear: the legacy of colonial era vaccination programs

African Roots: Shadows of German Colonialism
11:49
Play episode

Show notes

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.

More from this show

More
  1. Culture in Chief: Oba Ewuare and Leopold Sedar Senghor

    Cai explores how Senegal's first president, poet Leopold Senghor, believed a mix of African and French culture could carry Senegal into independence. Meanwhile, Laila tells Cai how…

    21:06
  2. Namibian women keeping traditions alive and history near

    The atrocities of German colonialism remained largely, and purposefully, obscure as Namibians endured successive German and British colonial administration. Under the South African…

    11:17
  3. From Douala to Ngonnso: How women fought resisted German colonialism in Cameroon

    In 1893, Dahomey men and women revolted against abuse by German colonial officers in Cameroon in a famous uprising that Germany was unprepared for. We look at how female resistance…

    11:22
  4. Who was Li'ti Kidanka, the Queen of the Bees?

    As German colonialists swept into East Africa, they came up against a force none had reckoned with: Li'ti Kidanka. Shrouded in folklore, we tell the story of a Tanzanian heroine wh…

    10:23
  5. How Nduna Mkomanile fought German colonialism

    Nduna Mkomanile tried to unite East African communities against German colonialism during the Maji Maji war in the early 20th century. She's now regarded as one of Tanzania's most…

    08:16
  6. Reclaiming Heritage: Dinknesh and Sarah Baartman

    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 Ethiopia…

    19:39
Now Playing