Your podcast discovery platform
Curious minds select the most fascinating podcasts from around the world. Discover hand-piqd audio recommendations on your favorite topics.
piqer for: Global finds
Ciku Kimeria is a Kenyan author "Of goats and poisoned oranges" - (https://www.amazon.com/goats-poisoned-oranges-Ciku-Kimeria-ebook/dp/B00HBBWPI6), development consultant, adventurer and travel blogger (www.thekenyanexplorer.com). She writes both fiction and non-fiction focusing on African stories that need telling. She has worked on diverse pieces for various international and local publications including Quartz, Ozy, The East African etc. She has travelled to 45 countries – 16 of them in Africa. 153 countries to go and 63 territories!
"Of goats and poisoned oranges" has been extremely well received in Kenya and beyond. It tells the story of a Kenyan middle aged power couple and their complicated marriage. The novel explores issues of greed, revenge, betrayal and murder. It runs from the 1960s to 2013. It has been described as “Wicked, funny, poignant, wacky, human, a big ball of fun and danger”, “A unique and captivating book”, “Fun and intriguing”, “Impossible to put down once you start reading.”
She recently moved to Dakar, Senegal from Kenya to work on her second novel. She also works at as the Africa Communication Manager at a leading global strategy consulting firm.
She holds a B.S. in Management Science from MIT with minors in Urban Planning and International development studies.
Country Music And Africa — Its Roots, Growth And Influence
Country music to me means Christmas, family, one-man guitar sessions in goat-eating joints in and outside of Nairobi. So many songs by Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Charlie Pride, Jim Reeves and Skeeter Davis leave me in nostalgia. I nursed my first major heartbreak by listening to Dolly Patton's Jolene on repeat. Not my proudest moment, but Dolly spoke to me in a way no one else could at that time. I always enjoy the strong feminist undertones of Dolly Patton's Harper Valley's P.TA. Kenny Roger's The Gambler always filled me with a deep desire to get to this mythical place where everyone drank whiskey straight, wore cowboy hats, boots with spurs. This place where life was lived hard and fast. No need to say that the first time I got to Texas, I was deeply disappointed to learn that these songs from the 1950s to 1970s were not representative of the way people were living in Texas of the 21st century.
When NPR’s Gwen Thompkins visited Kenya, she was blown away by country & western’s popularity. Thompkins explains that “the allure of country music in Africa is its iconic characters — the gamblers and the highway men, the handwringing mothers and the cock-sure sons, the Rubys, the Lucilles, the Jolenes, the grievous angels and the folks who just ain’t no good”.
What attracted the first group of African country fans to it were the themes that resonated with their lives.
Most of the country music we play talks about country life, talks about the farm life and so on. That kind of environment was abundantly available where I was born.
For the second wave of country fans — the children and grandchildren of the first fans — the love is likely fueled by nostalgia. The wonderful memories of our parents passionately singing country lyrics as the records played on the LPs at home, the men in cowboy hats and the laughter as they recalled youthful memories brought on by the music.
Stay up to date – with a newsletter from your channel on Global finds.