ARC

In this ARC Interview: "What’s Real About Race?" we speak with Dr. Phila Msimang, a philosopher at Stellenbosch University whose research critically assesses the uses and abuses of group descriptors like race and ethnicity in the sciences, and Dr. Tessa Moll, an anthropologist whose work explores medicine, reproduction, and the politics of health in South Africa. Using their collaborative infographic on the shifting history of racial classification, we unpack how race has been invented, imposed, and contested over centuries, and why, though socially constructed, it continues to have very real effects in our lives today.The infographicARC Angel FacebookInstagramTiktok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his book Letters of Stone professor Steven Robbins tells the deeply moving story of his quest to find out what happened to the family members he only knew from a picture on the wall of his childhood home in South Africa.In this interview Steven reveals the surprising connections between his family members murdered in nazi death camps, the race science done by people like Rudolf Pöch in the Kalahari and the connections between struggles of land and identity across time and space. All of which is connected to the sleepy town of Williston in the middle of the Karoo.ARC Angel FacebookInstagramTiktok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the first in our new episode format: ARC Interviews — conversations with people whose stories and work challenge the way we see the world.We begin with Brain Miennies — community leader, activist, and a key voice in Unburied. After sharing the episodes of Unburied with Brain, we sat down with him to reflect on the series, the ongoing struggle for the repatriation of Indigenous ancestors, and why this work is about more than returning bones. It’s about forgotten history, dignity, and ultimately— justice.Unburied is a production by ARC in partnership with Iziko Museums of South Africa.Written, produced and sound designed by Rasmus Bitsch and Neil Liddell.ARC Angel FacebookInstagramTiktok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Rudolf Pöch prepared to leave Southern Africa in 1910, he left behind a legacy of exhumed graves, stolen bones, and silenced voices. But he also left behind a trail — one that leads, unexpectedly, to a small cemetery in Kuruman and a moment of reckoning.In this final episode, Unburied follows the remains of Klaas and Trooi Pienaar, two ordinary people caught in an extraordinary story. Thanks to the disturbing decisions of Pöch’s assistant Mr. Mehnarto, their bodies — packed in barrels of salt — were preserved and labeled. Unlike the hundreds of others, their names survived.We follow the global effort to return their remains: from a conference in Vienna that turned into a reckoning, to a ceremonial reburial we are reminded why this matters: “As long as they don’t rest, we can’t rest.”Unburied is a  production by ARC in partnership with Iziko Museums of South Africa. Written, produced and sound designed by Rasmus Bitsch and Neil Liddell.ARC Angel FacebookInstagramTiktok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1970s, a bookish young man was sorting shelves in a dusty library in apartheid South Africa. He noticed something strange — the way books were classified looked eerily similar to the way people were categorized outside. Years later, he would link that system back to a name few in his community had heard: Carl Linnaeus. In this episode, Unburied follows the legacy of racial classification from Sweden to the Kalahari, and into the hands of Austrian anthropologist Rudolf Pöch. With insights from Nama crowned prince Samuel Dawids, anthropologist Alan Morris, historian Ciraj Rassool, and researcher Anette Hoffmann, we trace how systems of knowledge were used to rank, reduce, and collect human beings — all in the name of science.Unburied is a  production by ARC in partnership with Iziko Museums of South Africa. Written, produced and sound designed by Rasmus Bitsch and Neil Liddell.ARC Angel FacebookInstagramTiktok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inside an archive in Vienna, the grooves of old wax cylinders hold forgotten voices. These are the sonic remains of Rudolf Pöch’s expedition to the Kalahari in the early 1900s.In this episode, we follow the distorted “language samples” Pöch left behind and the people whose lives — and deaths — they documented. From the field expertise of Xhosi Tshai to the frustrated warnings of Kxara the Elder, we finally get a glimpse into a perspective other than the anthropologist’s. With historian Anette Hoffmann, we confront the limits of colonial archives by paying attention to the echoes.Unburied is a production by ARC in partnership with Iziko Museums of South Africa.Written, produced and sound designed by Rasmus Bitsch and Neil Liddell.ARC Angel FacebookInstagramTiktok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1907, an Austrian anthropologist rode into the Kalahari on an oxwagon and left with bones from more than 170 human beings. This episode begins our investigation into Rudolf Pöch — the man who (unwittingly or not) helped pioneer race science, the communities he studied (and exploited), and the legacy of human remains kept in museum boxes today.We follow Pöch’s trail through the red dunes of the Kalahari, to the archives of Vienna, and into the lives of those living with his legacy. Featuring interviews with community activist Brian Mienies, Rietfontein resident Willie Philander, and historians Walter Sauer and Sophie Schasiepen, this episode asks: why did Rudolf Pöch take all those bones from the Kalahari?Unburied is a production by ARC in partnership with Iziko Museums of South Africa.Written, produced and sound designed by Rasmus Bitsch and Neil Liddell.Become an ARC Angel or visit us at:ARCFacebookInstagramTiktok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unburied Season 1: Built from BonesSeason one of the Unburied series retraces the footsteps of Dr. Rudolf Pöch, an Austrian anthropologist who traveled through the Kalahari in the early 20th century. The series investigates how Pöch dug up graves and took the remains from more than 170 indigenous people and used the bones for race science, to justify white supremacy. Unburied seeks to understand what happened in the Kalahari and how those events have shaped the lives of the indigenous communities in the Kalahari and the world at large.Unburied is a new series by ARC coming out very soon. Subscribe now so you don't miss it.Produced in partnership with Iziko Museums of South Africa.Written, produced, and sound designed by Rasmus Bitsch and Neil Liddell.ARC-AngelFacebookInstagramTiktok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've got news: Sound Africa is becoming ARC. A new name for a new vision, but the mission stays the same. Independent, non-profit documentary storytelling. Check out: https://www.arcdocs.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this final episode of Hustling The African Dream we look at where the term "hustle" actually comes from, how it has evolved over time and what the term means to young Africans living their own hustle today. Hustling the African Dream is produced by Sound Africa in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation. External Media (YouTube):04.26 – Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Richie) 04.44 - Nino Brown - The definition of a Hustler 07.15 - Gary Vaynerchuk 07.25 – Rick Ross, XXL 07.37 – Jay Z 07.59 – CBS News 08.03 - Greg Edwards, Wisecrack 08.12 – The Life Formula Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about innovative young Africans and their hustles. In this episode we speak to one truly remarkable young Kenyan who is bending the rules just enough to make an unjust system work for him. This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation.https://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about innovative young Africans and their hustles. In this episode Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Emmanuel Ampomah, takes us to Ghana where we hear from young people who have struggled to find a job immediately after graduating. This series has shown that having a degree isn't always a ticket to employment, and in this episode we hear firsthand that expectations about jobs… and reality… are two different things. This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation.https://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ External Media (YouTube):00.41 - Vusi Thembekwayo, Keynote Speaker Speech, ALU graduation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about innovative young Africans and their hustles. In this episode Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Theresa Ayerigah, takes us to her home country of Ghana to see how innovative young Africans are turning food into profit. This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation https://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ External Media (YouTube) 06.04 – Newzroom Afrika 06.07 - Clive Butkow, CEO of Kalon Venture Partners, Newzroom Afirka 06.11 – Newzroom Afrika 06.18 - Andrew Darfoor, Group Chief Executive of Alexander Forbes, CNBC Africa 06.21 - Newzroom Afrika 06.24 - Newzroom Afrika Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about innovative young Africans and their hustles. In this episode Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, James Tayali, takes us to Malawi where some young boda-boda drivers, risk their lives to make a living. This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation. https://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about about innovative young Africans and their hustles and in this episode Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Ibrahim Bahati, heads back to his home country of Uganda where art and the hustle come together in unexpected ways. This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council with support from The Mastercard Foundation https://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about innovative young Africans and their hustles. In this episode Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Anita Owiti, takes us to Kenya to see how innovative young Africans are tackling the environmental crisis and climate change. This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation https://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ External Media (YouTube):04.48 – David Ewusi-Mensah, Co-founder Eco Amet Solutions, AFRICER Project 04.59 – Gayle King, CBS News 05.07 – Malcolm Webb, Al Jazeera 05.11 - David Ewusi-Mensah, Co-founder Eco Amet Solutions, AFRICER Project 25.40 – Leah Namugerwa, Climate Activist, COP27 26.06 – Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, COP27 26.14   – Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, COP27 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about innovative young Africans and their hustles. In this episode Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Zimie Sigenu, goes back to the Eastern Cape of South Africa where we explore the urban-rural divide in South Africa and meet young Africans who are dealing with the harsh realities facing graduates. This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation.https://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about innovative young Africans and their hustles. In this episode Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Sabelo Mpisi, takes us to South Africa where land and gender dynamics are forcing some women into the hustle. This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation.https://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ External media used in this episode (YouTube):02.53 - Fergal Keane, BBC Africa 02.56 - Dr Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, Founder of the Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh Xperience 03.00 - Kiran Moodley, Channel 4 News 03.06 – VOA Africa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about innovative young Africans and their hustles. In this episode Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Alumni, Liona Muchenje, heads back to her home country of Zimbabwe, where formal jobs are scarce and inflation never sleeps, everyday people are rewriting the rules of survival—turning hustle into a way of life. This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation https://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ External media used in this episode (YouTube):00.23 – CNA News 00.27 – John Dickerson, CBS News 00.31 – Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News 00.34 – Nate Burleson, CBS News 00.41 – Elon Musk, 2022 All In Summit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hustling the African Dream is a podcast about innovative young Africans and their hustles. Produced in collaboration with The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in partnership with The Mastercard Foundationhttps://hsrc.ac.za/https://mastercardfdn.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.