Podcast
Those Who Came Before Us
Episodes
- African Spiritual Warfare: How Horns Protected and Attacked in the Great Lakes
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we explore the role of horns in spiritual practice across kingdoms like Buganda, Bunyoro, and Busoga. Often filled, sealed, and carried, these hor…
The Envoys Who Saw the World: The Story I Didn’t SaySend us Fan Mail This is the story I didn’t say. In the main episode, I focused on what the envoys meant to Buganda. Here, I slow things down and follow their journey step by step…
- Kabaka Muteesa I’s 1879 Mission to London: Survival Diplomacy in Buganda
Send us Fan Mail By 1879, the kingdom of Buganda found itself caught in the expanding shadow of empire. To the north, Egyptian forces were pushing deeper into the Upper Nile, threa…
- Master of the Waves: Mukasa, God of Lake Victoria
Send us Fan Mail Lake Victoria has always been more than geography. For the people who lived along its shores in Buganda and across the Great Lakes region, it was a living domain c…
- A Spirit World Pretending to Be a Lake: The Serpent Spirits of Lake Victoria in African Mythology
Send us Fan Mail The world’s second-largest freshwater lake is more than a body of water. It is a boundary. For those who lived along its shores in East Africa, Lake Victoria was s…
- At the Edge of Buganda: Why James Hannington Turned Back (Part 5)
Send us Fan Mail At Kagei the crucial port on the southern shore of Lake Victoria and the main gateway to Buganda by canoe, James Hannington finally steps free after his detention…
- Canoes, Cloth, and Conflict: The Wary King Romwa (Hannington Part 4)
Send us Fan Mail After a brutal trek across the interior, James Hannington and two fellow missionaries finally reach the lands of Romwa of Buzinza, exhausted, sick, and desperate f…
- The Shadow of Mirambo: King on the Caravan Road (Hannington Part 3)
Send us Fan Mail Frail and fevered, James Hannington reaches the caravan’s camp only to find them seized by dread. Beyond the horizon lies Mirambo’s domain, a land few dare to cros…
- Dust, Fever, and Bitter Water: Across the Ugogo Plains (Hannington Part 2)
Send us Fan Mail The missionary James Hannington crosses the harsh Ugogo Plains of Tanzania’s Dodoma region, home of the Wagogo people. Battling wind, dust, and disease, his faith…
- Into the Interior: The Road to the Kingdom of Buganda (Hannington Part 1)
Send us Fan Mail Today marks 140 years since the death of Bishop James Hannington of the Church Missionary Society, killed on his way to the Buganda Kingdom on October 29, 1885. Wh…
- Enkai: The God Who Changes Color
Send us Fan Mail Enkai is the creator god of the Maasai people. He reveals himself in three colors: white, red, and black. Among them, red and black speak the loudest. Inspired by…
- Dead Kings, Alive Wives: The Royal Women of Kasubi Tombs
Send us Fan Mail The king may be gone but his wives remain. At the royal tombs of Kasubi, a small community of women continues to serve long after death. They are the royal widows…
- Kasubi Tombs: Palace, Power, and the Afterlife of Buganda Kings
Send us Fan Mail What if a king never truly dies? In Buganda, power doesn’t end with a funeral. It transforms. Today, the royal palace is modern, more European in design than ance…
- The Cannibal Night Dancer | African Book of Monsters, Episode 2
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I dive into the chilling legends of the cannibal night dancer said to feast on human flesh and embody the darkest fears of African folklore. But b…
- Prankster Witch of the Night: The Night Dancer
Send us Fan Mail In this debut episode of the African Book of Monsters series, we unravel the haunting legend of the night dancer. What makes these figures so feared across communi…
- The God of Death Muteesa and the Buganda Martyrs of 1875/76.
Send us Fan Mail The Uganda Martyrs incident that resulted in the deaths of 45 christian converts in 1886 is widely known to christians worldwide. Unbeknownst to many, there is ano…
- The "Meat Giver" King & The Forgotten Micro-Kingdoms of Busiki & Busambira
Send us Fan Mail Explore the history of the Busiki and Busambira states, two forgotten micro-kingdoms of pre-colonial Uganda. While most Busoga states were ruled by the AbaiseNgobi…
- The Matriarchs of Uganda: Stories from the Precolonial Era
Send us Fan Mail Happy Mother's day to all mothers in the world. Queen - Mothers were vital to the power structures of the intralacustrine region. They were often the rallying poin…
- Sibling States: The Forgotten Micro-Kingdoms of Bulamogi and Bukono
Send us Fan Mail In this installment of "Those Who Came Before Us," we explore the intertwined pre-colonial histories of Bulamogi and Bukono. These are not just neighbouring states…
- The King of Spikes & The Defiant Cattle Keeper: Origins of The Forgotten Micro-Kingdom of Bukooli.
Send us Fan Mail While other states sought only to survive, Bukooli sought to dominate. Located at the strategic crossroads of the East, the AbaiseWakooli clan didn't just rule a t…
