Audio
In Gaza, Every Pregnancy is Complicated
Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting & PRX (2024)
REPORTER & PRODUCER
Nearly 200 women are giving birth in Gaza every day. We follow one mother over the final months of her pregnancy as she searches for a safe place to deliver in the middle of a war.
Cashing in on Troubled Teens
Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting & PRX (2023)
PRODUCER
How foster kids became a cash cow for Universal Health Services, the country’s largest psychiatric hospital chain.
Ear Hustle Extra: Pride Month Special
Ear Hustle (2023)
LEAD PRODUCER
In honor of Pride month, we’re serving up some of our best stories about the LGBTQ community inside prison, including: a love story set out on the yard at San Quentin State Prison; two trans women on their journey from a men’s prison to a women’s prison, thanks to a new California law; and the first-ever Pride parade held inside a Norwegian prison.
Episode 92: Articles of Hustle
Ear Hustle (2023)
PRODUCER & RESEARCHER
Is there such a thing as a prison uniform? Turns out, it takes two podcasts to answer that question. Nigel and Earlonne team up with Avery Trufelman from the Radiotopia pod Articles of Interest to find out why incarcerated people wear what they do, and how they make it their own.
Episode 88: Do You Know Who I Am?
Ear Hustle (2023)
LEAD PRODUCER
For years, we’ve asked incarcerated people to speculate on the difference between life inside a men’s prison and inside a women’s. Now we’re finally getting answers, thanks to a 2021 law allowing transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people to transfer to prisons that match their gender identity. For some, the law has been life-changing; for others … not so much.
Ear Hustle Extra: Sam Quentin
Ear Hustle (2023)
LEAD PRODUCER
Lieutenant Sam Robinson has been with Ear Hustle since day one. As he retires from his post as Public Information Officer at San Quentin, we pay tribute to the man behind the mic.
Episode 83: What's Dangerous About Trees
Ear Hustle (2022)
LEAD PRODUCER
If you have to serve prison time, Norway is the place to do it … at least that’s what we’d heard. Incarcerated people in Norway wear their own clothes, cook delicious meals from scratch, and even take short leaves to re-acclimate to society. Are Norway’s prisons all they’re cracked up to be? Ear Hustle takes you inside to find out.
Episode 81: Fences
Ear Hustle (2022)
LEAD PRODUCER
From 180s and 270s to “just one long-ass hallway,” different kinds of prison architecture leave different marks on the people who live there. In this episode, like the last one, we explore how architecture shapes the experience of incarceration, and how people push back to reclaim space for themselves.
My Neighbor, The Suspected War Criminal
Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting & PRX (2022)
CO-PRODUCER
The federal government has 1,700 leads on suspected human rights violators and war criminals living in the United States. What is being done to hold them accountable?
2021 HearSay & Third Coast Audio Prize Finalist!
Into the COVID ICU
Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting & PRX (2021)
LEAD PRODUCER
An audio documentary that follows Dr. Paloma Marin-Nevarez, one of more than 30,000 new doctors who started residencies on the frontlines of COVID in 2020.
Revolutionary Greetings
BBC Radio 4: Short Cuts (2020)
REPORTER & PRODUCER
A story about anti-apartheid political prisoners in Cape Town, South Africa who smuggled letters to each other in 1989. Thirty years later in 2019, the letters connect them once more - this time via the internet.
Toad chorus, Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Field Recordings (2021)
SOUND RECORDIST
After an almighty summer thunderstorm in the desert, the toads emerged from their burrows to sing in the mud.
Policing Pregnancy
Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting & PRX (2020)
REPORTER & PRODUCER
A segment looking at how the anti-abortion movement is co-opting the language of racial justice to mainstream restricting access to abortion in the US.
United, We’re Not
Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting & PRX (2020)
PRODUCER
A profile of two Georgia voters who hold very different views about abortion. And a look at the formation of those views and how they factor into their vote in the run up to the 2020 US Presidential Race.
Hogsback, Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, last summer
Field Recordings (2020)
SOUND RECORDIST
Sound of a thunderstorm rolling over the Amathole mountains in Hogsback, Eastern Cape. Recorded 2019, published 2020.
Third Coast Pocket Conference
Third Coast International Audio Festival (2019)
PRODUCER
I co-produced the latest season of the Pocket Conference based on the Third Coast International Audio festival which took place in Chicago in 2019. I helped to edit and shape the conference sessions into podcast episodes.
For this transplant, protesting in Seattle taught her something about home
KNKX: Sound Effect (2019)
WRITER & PRODUCER
This personal audio essay is about how moving halfway around the world allowed Neroli to see home in a new way.
Alice Phoebe Lou on How Busking & Feminism Influenced Her LP Paper Castles
KEXP: Sound & Vision (2019)
REPORTER & PRODUCER
Cape Town-born/Berlin-based artist Alice Phoebe Lou talks about how busking and feminism influenced the new album, Paper Castles.
Freedom for Sale
Sound Africa & Open Secrets ZA (2018)
REPORTER & PRODUCER
When apartheid ended, the big companies that helped the regime buy weapons illegally continued to do business with the new South African government.
The Heart Problem
Sound Africa (2017)
REPORTER & PRODUCER
The first ever heart transplant in the world was performed in South Africa in 1967. It was an international triumph, and the surgeon in charge, Dr. Christiaan Barnard became an over night celebrity. But did he deserve all the credit?
Nuclear SA: Countdown
Sound Africa (2017)
REPORTER & PRODUCER
An audio documentary that imagines what the future of South Africa’s energy sector could look like.
Writing
Mother Jones
Research on WWII’s Dutch “Hunger Winter” has terrifying implications for the region’s children—and for their children.
The Routledge Companion to Radio and Podcast Studies
This comprehensive companion is a seminal reference source for the expanding field of radio, audio, and podcast study, taking readers through a diverse range of essays examining the core questions and key debates surrounding radio practices, technologies, industries, policies, resources, histories, and relationships with audiences.
CAN TRUE CRIME PODCASTS MAKE STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AUDIBLE? | June 2022
“Canada’s Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo and South Africa’s They Killed Dulcie and are both true crime podcasts that use this wildly popular genre to interrogate structural violence. They do this by replacing the central question ‘who did it?’ with ‘why did this happen?’ While still driving the story forward, this framing device shifts the focus from individuals to broader systems of violence.”
FIND MORE INFO ABOUT THE COLLECTION HERE.
Bello Collective: 100 Outstanding Podcasts From 2021
In 2021, I was asked to contribute once again to the Bello Collective’s esteemed ‘best of’ podcast list. My picks for the list are listed opposite.
WHISTLE THROGH THE SHAMROCKS, "EPISODE 3"
“Written by actress Nicola Coughlan, of Derry Girls and Bridgerton fame, and playwright Camilla Whitehill, Whistle Through The Shamrocks may just be the closest podcasting has gotten to the slapstick absurdity of British comedy legends, Monty Python.”
“Weaving together extensive interviews and archival tape, False Idol examines how the brutal legacy of apartheid lives on in the country’s high rates of gender-based violence and persistent racist narratives about crime.”
THE MESSENGER, "BLACK PRESIDENT"
“The Messenger sets Wine’s high stakes political quest within the context of Uganda’s brutal colonial history, Museveni’s post-independence grip on power, and the use of music as activism throughout the African continent.”
RUMBLE STRIP, "FINN AND THE BELL"
““Finn and the Bell” is one of those episodes that you cannot listen to without being utterly convinced of the magic of audio storytelling.”
GUARDIANS OF THE RIVER, "A THOUSAND VOICES OF TEMPUÉ"
“This series is overflowing with rich sonic textures, from the powerful animal orchestra of the delta, to the multiple languages of the people who live there, all scored with original music from the legendary Angolan composer Victor Gama.”
BROWSE THE REST OF THE LIST HERE.
Radio Journal
My co-author, Dr. Laura Garbes, and I wrote a peer-reviewed academic paper about the use of radio drama as a tool for political education and organizing in South Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns.
RADIO DRAMA AS A TOOL FOR ACTIVISM IN SOUTH AFRICA: THE CASE OF PLAGUE IN THE TIME OF KING KAPITAL AND QUEEN CORONA | 01 April 2021
“Through a close listening of a South African radio drama, Plague in the Time of King Kapital and Queen Corona (KKQC), we find that the use of sound enables a worldmaking that is both attuned to structural inequities and imagines a utopian, solidaristic working-class community. KKQC offers a case of worldbuilding and political conscientization through radio drama that is relevant to understanding the possibilities of the genre in the contemporary South African context.”
ACCESS THE FULL RESEARCH ARTICLE HERE.
RadioDoc Review
I wrote a longform review of the podcast series and 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist, Somebody for the RadioDoc Review - a digital journal where audio documentaries are critiqued by scholars & practitioners.
NARRATIVE JUSTICE: SOMEBODY DELIVERS THE ANSWERS THAT POLICE WILL NOT | 31 December 2020
“By investigating Courtney Copeland’s 2016 murder, the podcast series Somebody (2020) does the work that should be done by police. Narrated by Courtney’s mom, Shapearl Wells, the series not only decentres the official police narrative, but also opens up alternative paths towards seeking justice.”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.
The Daily Maverick Podcast Review
I am the founder & author of South Africa’s first weekly podcast review column. These are a few of my favourite articles.
‘GOODBYE TO ALL THIS’ MAKES SPACE FOR GRIEVING |11 DECEMBER 2020
A JOURNEY AROUND THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING PODCASTS | 4 SEPTEMBER 2020
RACISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER COLLIDE IN ‘FLOODLINES' | 30 AUGUST 2020
SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER: DULCIE SEPTEMBER AND DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA | 12 JUNE 2020
UNPACKING WHITENESS: STRUCTURAL RACISM EXPLAINED | 19 JUNE 2020
READ MORE OF MY PODCAST REVIEWS HERE.
Bello Collective: 100 Outstanding Podcasts From 2020
In 2020, I was approached to contribute to one of the premiere best of the year podcast lists in the US curated by the Bello Collective. My three picks for the list are listed opposite.
THE SLOW NEWSCAST FROM TORTOISE MEDIA, “MY MOTHER'S MURDER — EPISOD E 1”
“Interweaving the personal and the structural, Paul’s story is a deeply moving tribute to Daphne and her work.”
SOUND AFRICA, “ONE NIGHT IN SNAKE PARK — EPISODE 1”
“This is a gritty, complex crime narrative featuring voices never heard on radio — the Somali shopkeeper scraping by, the drug addict collecting trash to fuel his habit, and the young Soweto cyclist dreaming of the Tour de France.”
GOODBYE TO ALL THIS, “1. A SHADOW”
“The magic of this memoir series is in producer and host Sophie Townsend’s writing; the details — like the sweet, rich smell of jasmine — make the experience of loss so visceral.”
BROWSE THE REST OF THE LIST HERE.
Declassified: Apartheid Profits
Together with my colleagues at Open Secrets, I co-authored a series of articles based on the research contained in Hennie van Vuuren’s 2017 book, Apartheid, Gun and Money: A Tale of Profit. The series was published by Open Secrets in collaboration with The Daily Maverick and News24.
WHO FUNDED THE NATIONAL PARTY | 1 August 2017
THE TAP ROOT OF THE NATIONAL PARTY | 10 August 2017
THE SANCTION BUSTERS’ TOOLKIT | 17 August 2017
NUCLEAR BUNKERS AND SWISS BANKERS | 22 AUGUST 2017
ANDRÉ VLERICK, BANKER AND BIGOT | 28 AUGUST 2017
READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLES IN THE DECLASSIFIED: APARTHEID PROFITS SERIES HERE.
The Equaliser Magazine
I edited a special edition of the Equaliser Magazine for the non-profit, Equal Education. The magazine was produced as part of the organisation’s National Summit on Education in South Africa to mark 40 years since the Soweto Uprising of 1976.
40 YEARS SINCE ‘76: THE STRUGGLE FOR QUALITY EDUCATION CONTINUES|16 June 2016
“Access to quality education continues to be a root cause of immense inequality that still plagues South African society. However, the civil society organizing and brave fight for educational cements the lasting trajectory of youth activism in South Africa. Equal Education is a stitch in the fabric of this struggle.”
READ THE ENTIRE MAGAZINE ONLINE HERE.
The Daily Vox
I wrote an article about my experience of the #FeesMustFall protests that shook South Africa in 2015.
HOW FAMINE AND STARVATION COULD AFFECT GAZANS FOR GENERATIONS TO COME | April 2024
“Famine is already happening in parts of Gaza, a top US humanitarian official publicly acknowledged this week for the first time. After six months of Israeli war and blockades, an estimated 2.2 million people are facing acute or catastrophic food shortages. One in three children in northern Gaza are malnourished, and deaths due to hunger are expected to accelerate quickly, US officials have warned.
According to the groundbreaking work of Dutch researcher Dr. Tessa Roseboom, the impacts of near starvation are also likely being experienced by generations not yet born. Roseboom, a biologist and professor of early development and health at the Amsterdam UMC/University of Amsterdam, has been studying the long-term consequences of prenatal malnutrition for almost 30 years.”
READ THE FULL Q&A WITH DR ROSEBOOM HERE.
THE CHAOS OF HISTORY: FORM AND #FEESMUSTFALL | 13 November 2015
“My eyes have been glued to my phone screen these past few weeks, breathing in any news relating to #FeesMustFall, refreshing, refreshing, and refreshing my Twitter newsfeed. Maybe I will be able to find something new if I just keep trying, but what am I looking for?”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.