(Episode 2) The African Anthropocene: Lived experiences

Published on 10 April 2025 - Created by LUALA Beats Podcast team

What does it mean to live in the Anthropocene?

The Anthropocene looks very differently depending on where you are in the world. In this episode on the African Anthropocene, we hear from three experts Dr. Iva Peša, Dr. Jabulani Shaba and Tholithemba Ndaba about what it means to live in highly toxic and polluted African environments. In this episode we hear about the dark side of the green energy transition, but also about activism and protest and the lived experiences of the Anthropocene with views from the goldmines in Johannesburg, oil drilling in the Niger Delta and copper mines in Zambia. How do people live with, resist and navigate toxicity and pollution? What is left of the spirit of Ken-Saro Wiwa in the Niger Delta and what is township environmentalism? While the term the Anthropocene was coined by natural scientists, we argue that history, and the social sciences and the humanities more broadly are critical to understanding and addressing these global injustices.