Episode 142 of Africa Past and Present — the podcast about African history, culture, and politics — is now available at https://afripod.aodl.org/fullPodcast/episode=142/ and on the usual platforms.
In this episode, Paul Landau (History, University of Maryland) focuses on his award-winning book, Spear: Mandela and the Revolutionaries (Ohio University Press, 2022). The interview begins with Landau’s motivations for writing the book and his sources, including oral interviews. The conversation then considers the nature and impact of antiapartheid violence, Mandela’s Communism, and Cold War intelligence intrigues. Landau concludes with a sneak peek into his new research project on the history of apartheid’s final demise.
Africa Past and Present is hosted by Dr. Peter Alegi and co-produced by Matrix (Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences), the African Studies Center, and the Department of History at Michigan State University.