Journalist Anna Badkhen has immersed herself in the lives of Afghan carpet weavers, Fulani cow herders in Mali, and other people often ignored or forgotten—especially in the Global North. Yet our lives are entwined with others’ across the continents, and in ways that we may not even realize. Consider, for example, the dire situation in Joal, Senegal—the subject of Badkhen’s latest book—where artisanal fishermen are facing the consequences of an ocean depleted by climate change and overfishing.
Go beyond the episode:
- Anna Badkhen’s Fisherman’s Blues: A West African Community at Sea
- “Magical Thinking in the Sahel,” an essay about gris-gris and good luck in the The New York Times
- “The Secret Life of Boats,” a dispatch from Joal in Granta
- A Voice of America video report on overfishing in Senegal
- “Tackling illegal fishing in western Africa could create 300,000 jobs,” the Guardian reports
- It’s not just West Africa: how territorial disputes have put the South China Sea’s fishery on the verge of collapse
Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek.
Subscribe: iTunes • Feedburner • Stitcher • Google Play • Acast
Have suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. And rate us on iTunes! Our theme music was composed by Nathan Prillaman.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.