Home

Regional Spotlights

‘We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey’ – John Hope Franklin.

Regional Spotlights is the attempt to capture this in a radio show; we explore different areas of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Each episode focuses on one aspect of whichever part of the world we are looking at – the politics, the language, the music, or anything else.

Sometimes, we will investigate major events and issues from angles which perhaps haven’t been fully explored elsewhere. At other times, we will focus on lesser known aspects of a society. Enjoy.

Africa Regional Spotlights - Politics and Music in Senegal

Regional Spotlights Africa

Tue, 2012-02-21 01:41

In part II of this two-part special on 2012 Elections in Africa, our producers interview Senegalese artists and activists who discuss the political forecast for heavily contested presidential elections scheduled on February 26, 2012. There has been an uproar about standing President Abdoulaye Wade, 85, seeking a third term even though he initially promised to step down after his second term. The bulk of the opposition voices have been young men, with a politicised musical movement gaining momentum in poor communities throughout the country. Their message? They want change, and they want it NOW.

Regional Spotlights Middle East: The 'Arab Spring' one year on, Part 3 – Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan

Regional Spotlights Middle East

Mon, 2012-02-20 09:54

While Egypt and Syria attract the full glare of the world media spotlight, and other countries like Bahrain and Yemen catch a few of its rays, there are also protest movements in the Arab world that remain firmly in the dark, such as the 25th of February movement in Mauritania and recent student protests in Morocco. Clearly, the protest movements that have swept across the Middle East affect the entire region in a much wider scope, than one could tell from mainstream media. Therefore we interviewed two young Sudanese, asking how the Arab uprisings are perceived in their country.

Regional Spotlights Middle East: The 'Arab Spring' one year on, Part 2 – Bahrain and Yemen

Regional Spotlights Middle East

Thu, 2012-02-16 10:19

In this episode we’ll look at two of the countries at the periphery of the Arab Uprisings, Bahrain and Yemen, where protests haven’t garnered as much attention in the West.
Dr Corinna Mullin, lecturer at SOAS in comparative politics, talked to us about the role that the international community is playing in Bahrain and how it affects the recent developments. And British-Yemeni freelance journalist Abubakr al-Shamahi informs us about the current situation in Yemen.

2012 Elections in Africa

Regional Spotlights Africa

Tue, 2012-02-07 09:44

In 2012 alone, almost 20 African countries will be conducting presidential and general elections. During part I of this two-part special, Africa Regional Spotlights host Robtel Pailey interviews academics from the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS, Drs. Phil Clark and Dave Harris, to discuss whether or not elections represent the panacea to democratic consolidation in Africa.

Ghanaian singer Zagunor is our featured artist.

Executive Producer: Zoe Glatt
Associate Producers: Aminat Agoro and Catarina Inverso

Africa Regional Spotlights - Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Regional Spotlights Africa

Fri, 2012-01-27 08:00

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a documentary about the courageous efforts of Liberian women who mobilised for peace in 2003, when a raging civil war threatened to spiral into anarchy in their country. In part II of this two-part special on the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, our presenter Robtel Pailey interviews members of the production team and cast of the film, which features 2011 Liberian Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee. Abigail Disney, Gini Reticker, Leymah Gbowee, Asatu Bah Kenneth, and Etty Weah are our featured interviewees. Beninois singer Angelique Kidjo is our featured vocalist.

Nobel Peace Prize 2011

Regional Spotlights Africa

Thu, 2012-01-05 08:00

During part I of this two-part special, we hear from Liberian women who attended the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, where two of their own, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and peace activist Leymah Gbowee, were honored with Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman on Dec. 10, 2011 for their women's rights advocacy.

Africa Regional Spotlights - Redefine, Re-imagine Africa Part 2

Regional Spotlights Africa

Mon, 2011-12-26 18:00

For the second part of this two-part special, Africa Regional Spotlights went to the TEDxEuston conference in London on November 26, 2011. We hear from the best and brightest of Africa’s emerging intellectuals, artists, politicians, activists, entrepreneurs. This year’s theme was redefine, re-imagine Africa.

In this show, our presenter Robtel Pailey interviews IT mogul Herman Chinery-Hesse, writer Chika Unigwe, artistic director of the World Festival of Black Arts in Senegal, Kwame Kwei-Armah, and eco-fashion designer Jose Hendo.

Producer: Zoë Glatt

Africa Regional Spotlights - Redefine, Re-imagine Africa Part 1

Regional Spotlights Africa

Tue, 2011-12-13 15:59

For the first of this two-part special, Africa Regional Spotlights went to the TEDxEuston conference in London on November 26, 2011. We hear from the best and brightest of Africa’s emerging intellectuals, artists, politicians, activists, entrepreneurs. This year’s theme was redefine, re-imagine Africa.

In this show, our presenter Robtel Pailey interviews Hadeel Ibrahim of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, Western Nigeria, and actress and presenter, Moky Makura.

Producer: Zoë Glatt

Regional Spotlights; Asia - Xiao Yue Yue

Regional Spotlights Asia

Tue, 2011-12-13 11:43

In October, two-year-old Wang Yue was killed in a road accident in China's Guangdong Province. CCTV footage showed 18 people walking or cycling past without stopping to help. Does the story reveal a failure of morality in modern Chinese society? What does Chinese philosophy have to say about helping strangers? Should there be a law to make people stop and help?

Dr Zhu Sanzhu from the School of Law and Dr Lu Xiaoning from the Chinese Department join us in the studio...

Regional Spotlights Middle East: The 'Arab Spring' one year on, Part 1 - Egypt and Syria

Regional Spotlights Middle East

Mon, 2011-12-12 15:06

The ongoing upheavals in the Middle East region, that kicked off in December 2010 in Tunisia, had been quickly placed within the framework of the 'Arab Spring'. But does the term fit one year on?
In our first part of this Spotlight we will have a look on the current events in Egypt and Syria.While the revolution in Egypt was succesful in ousting Mubarak, by now the country goes through what some call its 'second revolution'. Meanwhile, Syria is still faced with Bashar al-Assad and a worrying trend of growing levels of violence.
What are the prospects for the countries still gripped by this so-called 'Spring'? Addressing this questions, we visited an anti-regime demonstration outside the Syrian embassy in London and interviewed the renowned Prof Sadik al-Azm.

Listen to our online stream

Pop-up window
Requires Adobe Flash

Stream Links 
mp3 HQ | mp3 LQ
ogg | Mobile Devices

Connect With Us

User login

Shibboleth login

Popular content

All time:

Languages

SOAS Logo
Copyright © 2010 OpenAir Media. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer