Derek R. Peterson is Ali Mazrui Collegiate Professor in the History Department and the Department of Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan. He is the author of many books and articles on East Africa, including A Popular History of Idi Amin’s Uganda, just published this year, and co-author of The Unseen Archive of Idi Amin: Photographs from the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.

In this episode we cover:

* Idi Amin's rise to power

* Amin's charismatic personality

* The new technology of radio—the Twitter of Uganda in the 1970s—that allowed Idi Amin to communicate directly with the populace

* How the Amin government relied on local officials to implement policies without providing necessary resources

* The expulsion of the Asian community, and Amin’s “Economic War”

* Zohran Mamdani’s Ugandan background

* The media environment of Amin's Uganda and contemporary America

* Lessons for America from the Rwenzururu Kingdom about living off the grid

The Rhyming Chaos podcast is produced by Jeremy Goldkorn and Maria Repnikova, and edited by Cadre Scripts. The theme music is Paper Boy, composed and performed on the guzheng by Wu Fei. Our closing music is Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, arranged and performed by Wu Fei. Our cover art is by Li Yunfei.

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