In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser

One of the listeners of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser enjoyed the episode in which I engaged Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh on his book The New Apartheid and left the following generous comment on my Instagram account, "Your analysis of Sizwe's book was amazing. Perhaps it would be great for you to give us tips on how you read and subsequently analyse and or synthesise a book's key arguments...in a future instalment of your podcast."

My producer and I listen to your engagement and feedback continuously. Because the podcast belongs to us as a community, and not just to me as the host. 

SO .. in this episode I tackle the question, "How should I read a book?" I asked my good friend, and one of the country's best  minds, Professor Pumla Gqola, a brilliant feminist writer and scholar, to help me tackle this question so that we can help many more people fall in love with the magic of books, and the joy of reading. 

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh argues in his latest book that apartheid did not die in 1994 but had, instead, been privatised. In a substantive, theoretically rich, introduction chapter, he puzzles through conceptual analysis to justify his resuscitation of the dreaded apartheid-framework. Mindful of the fact that life before 1994 was, in obvious respects, uniquely evil under apartheid, the philosphical work in the introduction is important to avoid any hasty criticism about the work's main thesis. 

The subsequent middle chapters are empirically rich premises spanning many themes: space, law, wealth, technology, punishment. These chapters constitute the thick factual basis of the claim that apartheid has been privatised.

The book ends with an admirable set of reflections on the limitations of the work, possibilities for future research, and a more expansive,and at times literary summary of the author's feelings, to complement the introduction.

In this episode of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I engaged Sizwe in very close detail about this work. Where we agree (often deeply), I honoured and underscored what, in my view, is wonderfully provocative and cogent about the arguments. And, at other times, I went after some of the weaknesses, in my view, of aspects of the middle chapters in particular. I hope listeners of the podcast enjoy this dialogue between us, and rush out to buy a copy of this excellent second book by one of our most thoughtful early career scholars and commentators to have emerged in recent years. 

Is the cabinet reshuffle announced by president Cyril Ramaphosa really going to strengthen government? What motivated the choices? How should we interpret what was just announced?

What about the collapse of the intelligence ministry? Was that a sensible decision or a mistake?

As for now former minister Zweli Mkhize- is his resignation from the health portfolio today admirable (if late) or was it a gimmick that shouldn't earn him any political points?

Have a listen to my political analysis on these nexus questions.

In the first of a 3-part series on the work and thinking of Professor Lewis Gordon , specifically on aspects of anti-black racism, we tackle a few crucial responses from some people on aspects of 'the race debate':

1. "Race is biologically meaningless...so stop talking about it! It is not real!"

2. "I don't see race!" / "I don't see colour!"

In a careful analysis of these tropes, this brilliant, leading global scholar on Black existentialism and anti-Blackness, gives us a preview of arguments and analysis from his forthcoming book, Fear of Black Consciousness. 

He rebuts, with patient explanation and argument, colour blindness and race eliminativist thinking, without denying the biological point. He shows, however, the bad faith with which many respond to conversation about race and racism.

There is much more that emerges in the course of tackling these issues. Lewis is also a compelling speaker and storyteller, so you dig in.

Brilliant South African Jay Naidoo joined me to pivot from diagnosing South Africa's problems to search for solutions. In this wonderfully energetic and energising conversation, we tackled a range of issues from how to build cross-class solidarity, how to bypass political weaknesses that won't disappear soon, and much more. The emphasis was on being future-oriented and avoiding fatalism and chronic despair. 

Join the search for pathways to a more just South Africa by listening to how the conversation with Jay played out!

In this episode of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I answer a cluster of questions that an Australian journalist had put to me today: can president Cyril Ramaphosa help the African National Congress to recover from the mess it has occasioned? Does Mr Ramaphosa, more specifically, have the leadership ability to lead South Africa out of the current crises?

After puzzling through these very interesting questions, I sadly arrived an answer in the negative. Listen to the podcast to understand why I hold this sceptical view, why I think that the Ramaphosa from the CODESA years - when we negotiated a democratic settlement - isn't the right kind of leader for South Africa's peculiar problems in the year 2021(even if he is privately familiar with the historical roots of today's structural injustices).

Many who love Mr Ramaphosa will disagree. Let's have an honest debate. The first step is to understand how I arrived at my viewpoint, and thereafter you can critique it as you see fit.

In this edition of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I offer trenchant analysis of what is going on in South Africa right now. It is, I argue in this podcast, a mistake to interpret the looting as mere criminality and sheer opportunism. There is a complex number of both more immediate and longer-term drivers behind these events and anyone interested in a serious understanding of this crisis must avoid the danger of a single narrative. Instead, as you will hear in this podcast episode, I see these events of the last few days as having deep roots in the steady decline of the South African state. We are facing a legitimacy crisis sponsored in part by the decline of the African National Congress.

I was joined by Adriaan Shipalana (CEO, Harambe Technologies) for a silence-breaking conversation about mental health. Adriaan, who cuts an intimidating figure as a life-long fitness enthusiast with a bodybuilding physique, is precisely the kind of person many would stereotype as self-assured, resilient and comfortable with his place in the world. But he has experienced mental health challenges which he opens up about in this podcast episode. 

I, too, share stories of my own battle with panic attacks. 

The idea for this podcast is simple: let's break the silence, and share our stories.

This is Part 1 of a 2-part series focusing on mental health. The next episode will focus on ways of living with mental health- technologies to help you thrive. But first we need to give ourselves permission to exhale, to speak to our experiences.

Now that former president Jacob Zuma has been taken into custody to start his 15 month jail sentence for contempt of court, we should learn lessons from the legal and political events in relation to this case. In this episode of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I put on my hat as a political analyst and work through five lessons and reflections that I regard as crucial for us to internalise as a society, and which we can export to the international community, including the global North. Societies, just like individuals, will and do face adversity from time to time. The trick is to not waste a crisis but to learn lessons from each one. Enjoy the five lessons I frame for discussion in this special edition of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser