


We step away from the gold coins and political treaties to look at Mali’s cultural heartbeat. This episode explores the role of the jeliw, or griots, who served as the living libra…

We often hear that Mansa Musa was incredibly wealthy, but the true scale of his impact is found not in Mali itself, but in Cairo during his 1324 pilgrimage. We explore how a single…

We trace the dramatic rise and violent end of Mansa Sakura, the former Wangara merchant who seized the Malian throne through a daring coup against his predecessor. While previous e…

We’ve covered the Kouroukan Fouga and the rise of the Wangara traders, but this episode zooms in on the single event that put Mali on the global map: Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mec…

While Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Cairo dominates popular memory, the Mali Empire’s true strength lay in its complex urban networks and military logistics along the Niger River. Thi…

While Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Cairo is well-known, Mali’s eastern frontier tells a different story of gradual power shifts. This episode explores the rise of Gao as a critical t…
