Unscrambled

Beyond Afrobeats: Breaking Africa Out of its Sonic Ghetto By Idoko Salihu

African music is not a genre. It’s a vast, diverse, constantly evolving set of traditions, innovations, and artistic visions created by artists across 54 countries with different languages, histories, and aesthetic values. It is too good to keep locked in a box.

open.substack.com/pub/africaun...

Africa Unscrambled | Phillip van Niekerk | Substack Cutting through the noise to explain what's actually changing in Africa and why it matters. Click to read Africa Unscrambled, a Substack publication. Launched 3 months ago.

Nigeria's Schindler - the Muslim cleric who saved the lives of 282 Christians from sectarian violence - passed away last month at the age of 92.

africaunscrambled.substack.com?utm_source=n...

Tundu Lissu, Tanzania’s charismatic opposition leader, is back in court on Monday. He has spent 10 months in prison, charged with treason for calling for electoral reform. In last October’s elections, thousands of citizens were mowed down in a brutal crackdown by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

LETTER FROM LILONGWE: The Man Who Said Goodbye to the Presidency but Kept the Dogs By Komani Mtimbula Zondola

All the President’s Dogs: The African nation of Malawi has been transfixed by a dispute between the president and his predecessor over custody of four presidential guard dogs, a scandal that has been dubbed Dog-gate.

open.substack.com/pub/africaun...

LETTER FROM OUAGADOUGOU: After the coup, the city lives between fear and laughter By Aristide Zidouemba

africaunscrambled.substack.com/p/letter-fro...

Revealed: Jacob Zuma’s intimate dinner with Jeffrey Epstein Hidden among the latest disclosures from the US Justice Department are emails relating to an intimate dinner organised by the late sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein for Jacob Zuma in London in 2010.…

Jacob Zuma's intimate dinner with Jeffrey Epstein and a Russian model

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026...

From Minnesota to the Red Sea: How Somalis became the front line of global politics, By Phillip van Niekerk The Somalis of Minnesota are not the freeloaders of Trump’s imagination, but a community of immigrants struggling to get by.

From Minnesota to the Red Sea: how Somalis became the frtontline of global politics.

www.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/8523...

LETTER FROM JOS: Armed raiders spoiled our Christmas—and now we can never go back By Salihu Idoko

What the American missiles in Nigeria missed. The danger of distant rhetoric is that it can turn Nigerian suffering into a slogan, a weapon, or a bargaining chip—while the people living inside the violence remain unprotected.

open.substack.com/pub/africaun...

From Minnesota to the Red Sea — how Somalis became the front line of global politics Donald Trump really doesn’t like Somalis. He has repeatedly called them “garbage” and says their country stinks. “We don’t want ’em in our country,” he told a cabinet meeting. They should “go back to

Donald Trump hates Somalis, believing they are worthless people. But they are on the frontline of global politics in Minnesota and the Middle East.

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026...

The Empire state of mind — Africa has seen this movie before | Daily Maverick We are again living through a credibility test of the international system — and once again, a great power has elevated an ideology around its racial identity, and black people are being made to feel ...

Trump wants a concert of authoritarian powers. So what happens to the weaker nations?

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

Who Is the Rogue State Now? For months, the Trump administration—and some of its more excitable allies in Washington think tanks and Congress—have worked hard to brand South Africa a “rogue state”: a nation supposedly aligned wi...

As South Africa hosts the G20 this weekend, we ask the question: "Who is the rogue state now?"

open.substack.com/pub/africaun...

Trump’s outburst about a ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria is as dangerous as it is absurd A combination of ignorance and emotional manipulation resurfaced this weekend when US President Donald Trump erupted on social media, threatening a ‘fast, vicious and sweet’ military invasion of Niger...

open.substack.com/pub/africaun...

If thousands of Tanzanians Are Dead, Silence Is Not an Option Counting the bodies in the aftermath of Tanzania’s bloodiest election is no easy task.

open.substack.com/pub/africaun...

Not capable of reading the room.

The Pentagon is reportedly looking for a new Secretary of Defence. How's about this guy?

He was compassionate and humble. He cared deeply about immigrants, families suffering in war zones, the poor, those of other faiths and the LGBTQ+ community. He did not condemn or judge but urged us to love and care for each other.
He was the best Pope of my life time.
Thank you Pope Francis .

And Pennsylvania was on the wrong side there too.

Oh hellooo

Congrats to Big Balls, Skeeter and the rest of the Musk Minions for making this happen.

Yes, the captain intentionally piloted the ship into a huge iceberg, cracking the vessel like an egg.

But the officers insist we'll all greatly benefit from an invigorating midnight swim through Arctic waters.

We're Living Brave New World, Not 1984 Orwell feared those who would ban books. Huxley feared that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Huxley's prophecy is closer to modern dystopia.

"Orwell feared those who would ban books. Huxley feared that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one...he feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism." - Neil Postman.

www.forkingpaths.co/p/were-livin...

When Sun kisses 😘. What's your favourite owl?

©️ by sriram.udhayab
#Nature #Owl #Birds

This image shows a stunning small bird with iridescent emerald green feathers covering its body and a brilliant blue crown on its head. It has a straight white beak, dark wings, and a tiny white patch near its chest. The bird is perched on a slender twig and photographed in perfect detail against a soft green background, highlighting its jewel-like plumage and delicate features. The feathers have a scale-like appearance that captures light beautifully, giving the bird a gemstone-like quality.

Indigo-capped Hummingbird at RN El Retorno de los Colibríes #Colombia

#birds #hummingbirds 🌿

Its not just EVs and AI. Now China is ahead of us in trolling.

Economist Cited on Tariff Math Says Trump ‘Got It All Wrong’ Brent Neiman says that Trump’s tariff calculations are completely off. He should know.

www.thedailybeast.com/economist-tr...

No words.

This is the true scandal.

The fragile egos of white supremacy. All this messing with the truth so that white kids won't grow up ashamed of what their fathers and grandfathers did.

US rallies on NZ TV

Great to see the US rallies get coverage on NZ television.

It’s unfair to ask for more, but I wish rather than the focus or framing be the tariffs, the presenter might have read a sample of the long list of activities that are disconcerting.

- axing USAID; huge impact

1/3

Just gonna leave this here…