[Review] The Mask of Anarchy

[Review] The Mask of Anarchy

From 1945, when Germany was divided into East and West, until 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War power dynamic defined international relations. The term “Third World” was coined by economist Alfred Sauvy to refer to those countries in...
[Go Global] Tapes from Africa

[Go Global] Tapes from Africa

A new category on this here blog: go global. I would be skeptical if I were you, dear reader, but the goal is to inspire more global curiosity with a new theme each week and two or three links to explore the theme. This week: African music. [Tangent: for all of you...

[Review] GraceLand

In the very first scene of the book, when the protagonist Elvis is awoken by a pounding Nigerian rainstorm, we read this: The book he had fallen asleep reading, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, fell from his side to the floor, the old paperback cracking at the...

Chris Abani at TED

I’ve been meaning to watch this video forever. There are worse things to do with 17 and a half minutes of your time. Now, time for me to go review Graceland at GoodReads.

[Review] Dreams, Miracles, and Jazz

This is the first book I’ve reviewed on Goodreads written by a Goodreads friend, but I have a feeling it won’t be the last. My friend and colleague Mialy is one of 27 writers featured in Dreams, Miracles and Jazz. From her bio: Mialy Ravelomanana...

Africa, Global Voices, and "Cool Anglocentrism"

I was originally going to post this translation of David de Ugarte’s criticism on Global Voices itself, but the site has had plenty of meta-conversation over the past week so I’ll publish it here instead. I’ve also translated one of the comments on...