Thousands of kilometres from the devastating war it's been waging in Ukraine, Russia has involved itself in a swathe of other conflicts that attract much less attention: in Africa. Why? This week we speak to Beverly Ochieng, a self-described Wagner Group stalker, about what Russia is playing at. We're also talking about a foul-mouthed (?) Eurovision controversy, and why none of the world's big bad tech giants come from Europe.
Beverly is a senior analyst for francophone Africa at Control Risks and a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. You can follow her
here on Bluesky and
here on Mastodon. Check out our full conversation with Beverly on
our YouTube channel.
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This week's Inspiration Station recommendations:
Codenames and
The Economist's Glass Ceiling Index.
Other resources for this week's episode
European Alternatives - euro-companies making all kinds of digital products:
https://european-alternatives.eu/
Jitsi, the great Zoom alternative created by a swing-dancing Erasmus student:
https://jitsi.org/
'The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World' by Anu Bradford:
https://academic.oup.com/book/36491
Fact-check: Does the EU really buy 80% of its weapons from overseas? (No, no it doesn't.) Bluesky thread by The Economist's Stanley Pignal, March 9, 2025:
https://bsky.app/profile/spignal.bsky.social/post/3ljxd4r4cos25
Miriana Conte - Kant (‘Singing’); National Final Performance, Eurovision Song Contest 2025:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qNK1tt6L5k
00:33 Smellovision and feminist babies
03:32 Bad Week: Skype
25:19 Good Week: Language prudes
37:39 Interview: Beverly Ochieng on Russia's African antics
53:40 The Inspiration Station: Codenames and The Economist's Glass Ceiling Index
56:44 Happy Ending: Easier breathing for Londoners
Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
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