PAGECAST

Selokela Molamodi is in conversation with Dr Mzamo Masito about his book, This Country Hates Our Boys, a searing exploration of the complex relationship South African society holds with its Black and Coloured men and boys.

More about the book:

The widely accepted phrase ‘amadoda zizinja’ – men are dogs – is more than a colloquialism; it’s a symptom of a society where positive masculine role models are scarce. This linguistic shortcut flattens the nuanced reality of masculinity into a single, simplistic concept of patriarchy, obscuring the complex, chaotic social issues at play.

Through the vital work of African Men Care, a non-profit organisation, Dr Masito unpacks the interlocking crises facing Black boys and men: educational disparities, mental health struggles, pervasive violence, and fractured relationships. More crucially, the book illuminates a clear path forward.

‘Every man is every boy’ is not merely an observation but a powerful call to action. The struggles of adult men today are often rooted in the unaddressed needs and unrealised potential of the boys they once were. The lament ‘awekho amadoda’ (there are no men) serves as a stark warning: without decisive intervention, we risk losing entire generations. This book reveals how individual trauma metastasises into a collective crisis. When boys lack robust interior lives and positive identity models, the repercussions echo through families, schools, and communities. Hurt boys mature into hurting men, perpetuating cycles that impact everyone, including the girls and women in their lives.

#Pagecast #ThisCountryHatesOurBoys #SouthAfricanLiterature #DrMzamoMasito

This week on Pagecast, Shaun de Waal sits down with acclaimed author Michiel Heyns to discuss his new novel, The Wildest Beauty.

Danny Marais is the twin brother of the beautiful, talented Charlie.

The Wildest Beauty is a remarkable novel, an account of their early childhood to their eventual enlistment in the First World War. From their placidly peaceful Stellenbosch schooldays to, ultimately, the battle of Delville Wood, Danny keeps a loving but half-resentful eye on his brother.

Though set largely in wartime, this novel is an intimate account of a small group of friends and family, inter alia the loving parents left behind in Stellenbosch. And then there is Danny’s life-changing encounter, in the darkened streets of wartime London, with a wryly cynical, battle-scarred officer.

In the midst of the greatest conflict in history, facing the wild beauty of ‘the abyss of unmeaning,’ Danny discovers the power of love, between friends, family – and even foes.

#Pagecast #MichielHeyns #TheWildestBeauty #SouthAfricanLiterature #WWIFiction #HistoricalFiction #bookpodcast

In this Pagecast episode, Craig Foster sits down with father and son duo Charles and Matthew Griffiths to chat about their book, Explore the Shore, a guide to discovering the creatures and features shaping the South African shoreline.

More about the book:

Did you know that limpets grow their own seaweed gardens? Or that sea anemones fight one another to defend territories? What’s up with whelks surfing the waves in search of food? How does a starfish move? Does the paper nautilus really have a shell?

All this – and much more – about South African marine life is explained in Explore the shore. Written in an engaging and conversational style, the book encourages curious but novice naturalists of all ages to head to the shore to explore for themselves.

Readers will learn not only about general life on the shore but also about some weird and interesting aspects of creatures’ behaviour. Armed with the information in this book, a beach walk can be more exciting than any safari!

Pop-up features like personal anecdotes from the authors, interesting fact boxes and tongue-in-cheek comments from their adorable labradoodle Ben, who accompanies them on their beach visits, will make for personal, inviting content that readers will love.

📚 Get your copy of Explore the Shore at leading South African bookstores and online

#ExploretheShore #SouthAfricanMarineLife #CoastalExploration #OceanConservation #CraigFoster

This week on Pagecast, host Arini Vlotman sits down with acclaimed local author Nivashni Nair Sukdhev to discuss her new novel, It's Complicated. They talk about second chances, hidden secrets, and the healing power of true love.

More about the book:

Love. Secrets. Second chances.

Nivashni Nair Sukdhev is back with another enchanting story set in the little town of Rally in KwaZulu-Natal.

After walking away from the big city and an international modelling career, Kaavi Archary is beginning to find an inner peace. She is making friends, volunteering in a programme for troubled teenage girls and relishing a fresh start in life. But she has a secret: her estranged husband, Neel.

So when Neel shows up in Rally with divorce papers, Kaavi’s life is thrown into chaos. He says he’s here to end things — but what he really wants is to win her back. Beneath the heartbreak lies a chemistry that neither of them can resist.

As Kaavi faces the truth about her past and her family, she and Neel must decide if they can trust each other again.

It’s Complicated is a heartwarming tale about finding your way home — and discovering the quiet miracle of true love. This is the second book in the Rally romance series and can be read as a stand-alone story.

GET THE BOOK: Grab your copy of It's Complicated by Nivashni Nair Sukdhev — available now at all major bookstores and online. Perfect for fans of heartfelt romance and second-chance love stories!

#SouthAfricanRomance #Pagecast #RomanceBooks #NivashniNairSukdhev #LocalAuthors

Discover the untold stories of South African women who changed history. In this episode of Pagecast, Nancy Richards sits down with Professor Lizette Rabe to talk about her book, 101 Remarkable South African Women.

From ancient trailblazers like the "Eve of the West Coast" to modern icons including Thuli Madonsela, Caster Semenya, and Tyla, this essential book restores women to the centre of South Africa's story. Journey through profiles of celebrated figures like Miriam Makeba, Olive Schreiner, and Ruth First, alongside overlooked heroines such as Zwarte Maria, Mantatisi, Nongqawuse, and Gladys Mgudlandlu.

Spanning politics, literature, sport, activism, and art, these powerful narratives celebrate women's courage, intellect, creativity, and leadership that have shaped our nation and continue to drive the struggle for gender equality.

Malibongwe Makosikazi – let the women be praised!

About the Author:

Lizette Rabe is an emeritus professor of journalism at Stellenbosch University, with over 20 years of field experience before leading SU's journalism department. An acclaimed author and editor of key works on South African media, she has received major teaching and research awards, including the Chancellor's Award and the prestigious Stals Prize for Communication and Journalism.

About the Host:

Nancy Richards is an independent print and radio journalist, podcast host, and media trainer. She is the founder of Woman Zone, an NPO, and The Women's Library at Artscape. Her memoir, The Skipper's Daughter, was published in 2021.

🎧 Subscribe to Pagecast for more conversations celebrating South African literature and storytelling

📲 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear these remarkable stories

📖 Buy the book 101 Remarkable South African Women and own a piece of herstory

#SouthAfricanWomen #Herstory #SouthAfricanLiterature #WomensHistory #Pagecast

This episode of Pagecast is brought to you in collaboration with the ARTdacity podcast, ahead of the Investec Art Fair. This week, Jo-Ann Strauss interviews Chris Soal about his book, To Sharpen our Senses and Soften our Touch.

Through his use of discarded and mundane ephemera, such as toothpicks and bottle caps, along with concrete, rebar, electric fencing cable, sandpaper, and other industrial materials, the artist intuitively develops the familiar to the point of the uncanny. Soal’s works can be considered social abstractions influenced by a reinterpreted Arte Povera that is deeply rooted in and reflective of his upbringing in Johannesburg, South Africa. Working symbiotically with his materials, Soal utilises the inherent physical characteristics of the objects to transform them through processes of aggregation, combination, and erosion.

You can find ARTdacity here:

https://www.artdacity.co.za/

#Pagecast #capetownartist #artbookrecommendations

This episode of Pagecast is brought to you in collaboration with the ARTdacity podcast, just in time for the Investec Art Fair later this month. This week, Jo-Ann Strauss interviews Nicola Brandt about her book, The Distance Within, which features photographs and video stills made over more than a decade.

The Distance Within reflects on Nicola Brandt’s German and Namibian inheritance and deconstructs certain established ways of seeing Namibia. Brandt traveled the country extensively, documenting landscapes and people, structures and encounters, to reveal ensnared histories of German colonialism, National Socialism and apartheid. Markers of these histories range from the ephemeral and private, such as a dilapidated mound of stones as a roadside memorial, to official sites of remembrance and resistance, particularly for colonial atrocities. Alongside her images, Brandt assembles texts by thought leaders in photography, postcolonial cultures, memory and genocide studies, as well as material from private and public archives, to understand enduring blind spots. The result is an intersectional argument in favor of reclaiming suppressed indigenous stories and identities, undoing romantic notions of whiteness, and, ultimately, illuminating what has not been visible.

You can find ARTdacity here: https://www.artdacity.co.za/

#Pagecast #capetownartist #artbookrecommendations

We have a bonus episode of Pagecast for you today featuring Claire Dinhut (Condiment Claire) and Karen Dudley. This is the perfect conversation ahead of the festive season as the two chat all about condiments, bold new flavours and secrets about how to elevate any dish.

More about The Condiment Book by Claire Dinhut:

The definitive condiment compendium by expert and TikTok sensation Claire Dinhut aka Condiment Claire

Are you Team Ketchup or Team Mustard? What are your Top 3 condiments? And is butter really a condiment? Let Claire guide you through the condiment world of flavour starting with the Classics that we all know and love – Ketchup, Mayonnaise, Mustard and Butter – right through to Hot Sauces, Ferments and Pickles (think Miso and Kimchi), Dressings & Oils, Fruit in Jars and Dips.

With illustrations and charts throughout, The Condiment Book covers everything from failsafe recipes for much-loved condiments, hundreds of variations and flavour pairings, condiments from across the globe, fascinating historical facts (did you know that Aztecs used chillis as a weapon?) – it is the definitive guide to this class of food that isn't strictly necessary yet to most of us is indispensable.

More about Upwards by Karen Dudley:

In Upwards, Karen Dudley invites us on a culinary journey that transcends the ordinary, encouraging us to look up to what is true and essential – living simply and well.

In this follow-up to Onwards, Karen, with her signature warmth and insight, shares how the act of cooking can – and should be – a letting go of life’s daily preoccupations, a way to connect with ourselves and others, by paying attention to the pleasure and enjoyment of cooking something beautiful, delicious and even surprising.

Sharing recipes from a vibrant palette of flavours, Upwards lifts Karen’s loyal community towards the next level – to learn new skills, to look up to quality over quantity and to pay attention to the splendour that can come from the meditative act of cooking. Upwards is thus a call to be inspired, to create and to connect, all the time looking up, up, up, as we invite into our kitchens new dishes, new flavours and new possibilities.

#PagecastPodcast #CondimentClaire #KarenDudley #TheCondimentBook

#FestiveFlavours #FoodieConversation #CookingInspiration #ElevateYourDish

Ons eindig ’n jaar van fassinerende boekpraatjies op Pagecast met ’n opwindende gesprek tussen Deon Meyer en Beer Adriaanse oor die topverkoper Skorpio.

Bennie Griessel en Vaughn Cupido ontvang die blye tyding dat hulle uiteindelik weer bevorder is tot die rang van kaptein. Maar hul vreugde is van korte duur. Die vergruisde liggaam van een van Cupido se beste vriende is gevind onder die motor waaraan hy in sy motorhuis gewerk het... was dit 'n ongeluk, of koelbloedige moord? En op ’n imposante plaas buite Stellenbosch ontplof ’n woonwa. Onverklaarbaar. Nadat die vuur geblus is, word ’n liggaam in die wrak gevind...

#DeonMeyer #BennieGriessel

In this episode of Pagecast, Bongani Bingwa interviews Pieter du Toit about his latest book, The Dark Prince, an unflinching portrait of Paul Mashatile’s controversial rise through the ANC ranks to the doorstep of the presidency.

About the book:

Having survived scandal, controversy and the Zuma years, Paul Mashatile has risen through the ranks to the doorstep of the presidency.

Over a political career spanning 30 years, he has successfully navigated the corruption and factionalism that the ANC has become known for.

Now he wants to take charge of the party – and the Union Buildings. The question is: Should he? Is Paul Mashatile suitable for the highest office?

• He has been associated with the ‘Alex Mafia’ for more than 30 years. What influence do they have over Mashatile?

• He leads a lavish lifestyle, living in luxury homes in Johannesburg and Cape Town. How were they acquired?

• He has been outspoken about the economy, black economic empowerment, and South Africa’s foreign relations. But does he have firm principles?

• And how has his string of lovers affected his professional life?

This meticulously researched account by bestselling author Pieter du Toit answers these vital questions and reveals the dark truth about the ANC’s crown prince.

#SouthAfricanBooks #PagecastPodcast #TheDarkPrince #PieterduToit #PaulMashatile #SouthAfricanPolitics #ANC #BookPodcast #Political