Podcast
History of South Africa podcast
Episodes — page 5
- Episode 217 - Lovedale, amaXhosa Chiefs Languish on Robben Island and the American Civil War
A quick thank you to all those who’ve been donating towards the upkeep of this series, particularly Chereen and Gerhard, your continued support is making a difference. And Adi the…
- Episode 216 - Mpande and Cetshwayo’s Shakespearean Drama Continues, it’s all King Lear, Richard III and Macbeth
It’s episode 216 and we are lurching back to the north east, to Zululand. The heat is building up, and the conflicted relationship between King Mpande kaSenzanghakhona and his…
- Episode 215 – Ostriches Trump Elephants in 1860 and John Dunn: Musket Trader Extraordinaire
Episode 215 has a rather grandiose title but let us stop for a second and take stock. This southern land, swept by thunderstorms that appear as if by magic, and lash the landscap…
- Episode 214 - Booming Port Elizabeth, Cunning Cape Town, Indentured Indians and Quarrelling Republics
This is episode 214 and we’re going to probe the fascinating and these days, hidden history of Port Elizabeth or Gqeberha, a bit about indentured Indians arriving in South Africa,…
- Episode 213 - Grey Mediates, Boshof Fulminates and Moshoeshoe Vacillates before the Treaty of Aliwal North
This is episode 213, and Sir George Grey, the Cape Governor was peering intensely at the Boer Republics to the north. The Free Staters under Boshof had failed in their mission…
- Episode 212 - The Basotho-Boer War of 1858 leads to a Burgher Backfire
Episode 212 it is - we’re cruising into 1858 but wait! The sounds of gunfire! Yes, it’s that old South African tune, war, set to the music of the guns. Our society is st…
- Episode 211 - “Native” Hut Taxes, Blackbirding and other Revelations of 1857
Episode 211 - the year is 1857 heading into 1858. Lots the talk about! The original frontier republics and wildlands were being transformed - turning into governed territtories.…
- Episode 210 - Social Bandits on the Borderlands and other hybrid tales of Nomansland
This is episode 210 - Barbarians on the Borderlands - the 1857 Basotho Free State conundrum Last episode we plumbed the depths of the amaZulu civil War battle of Ndondakusuka,…
- Episode 209 - Cetshwayo attacks Mbuyazi at the Battle of Ndondakusuka where the Crocodiles Feast
IF you recall a few episodes back, 204 to be exact, we were introduced to the conflict between the sons of Mpande kaSenzangakhona, Cetshwayo kaMpande and Mbuyazi kaMpande. Mpan…
- Episode 208 - Believers vs Unbelievers, Ancestor Veneration and the Stupifying Logic of Global Millenarianism
Episode 208 it is .. where the steely grip of starvation takes hold of the amaXhosa nation by December 1856. Self-induced, a response to years of colonial expansion, incroachin…
- Episode 207 - A Moon of Wonders and Dangers, Supernatural Horsemen and HMS Geyser Turns Tail
We’re in the midst of 1856. This is the year lung sickness took hold of the country, and it’s effect was to push some people of the land over the edge. Nongqawuse living in Gxarha…
- Episode 206 - Nongqawuse’s Bush of Ghosts, Mhlakaza’s Anglican Episode and Sarhili Goes to Gxarha
his is episode 206 - all fire and brimbstone, a horror show. The squeamish should gird their loins, prepare the poultices, polish your monocles and tighten your bootstraps, grab yo…
- Episode 205 - A Crimean/Russian Struggle Thread, Two Disabled Free Staters and a Surveyor Surge
Episode 205 of the series covers the A Russian Struggle Thread, Two Disabled Men in the Free State and a Surge in Surveyors. Sprinkled with tales of Hoffman. That would be…
- Episode 204 - Planet Earth 1855, the Regal Cetshwayo kaMpande and Natal Land Realities
Episode 204 - A quick whip around the globe in 1855 and Cetshwayo kaMpande makes his Regal Entrance. First up, a quick thank you to Adi Badenhorst at AA Badenhorst family wines…
- Episode 203 - The Siege of Makapansgat and Misnomerclature
We’re picking up speed from here on, the fulcrum that was the mid-19th Century is passed and our story is developing quickly - this is episode 203 the Siege of Makapansgat and Reco…
- Episode 202 - America’s Constitutional link to Boer Republics and a Cave Looms large
This is episode 202, the sounds you hear are the sounds made by wagons rolling across the veld — because we’re going to join the trekkers who’ve mostly stopped trekking. For th…
- Episode 201 - Labour, Lovedale and Roads are all the Rage in 1854
This is episode 201. The sounds you’re hearing are those of roadworks, because South Africa is upgrading. Quickly. The arrival of governor sir George Grey in 1854 heralded…
- Episode 200 - Sir George Grey’s Racial Amalgamation Thesis, its Maori Roots and Opiate Dependency
This is episode 200 - we have reached the double century milestone on our winding journey through the past. When I began the series in 2021 after some years of planning, I had no…
- Episode 199 - Cognitive Dissonance, Desiccated Hags, a Trail of Tears and Ssehura Baartman
Episode 199, cognitive dissonance, desiccated hags, a Trail of Tears and Ssehura Baartman — Almost two hundred episodes exploring a land rich with some of the earliest examples of…
- Episode 198 - 1853: The Crimean War, Historical Doppler Effects and Quitrent in Keiskamma Hoek
This is episode 198 — and good news! Apple has listed this podcast as one of South Africas five shows they liked in 2024 — and we are also the third most shared podcast in South…
