Afropop Worldwide Folgen

​Trinidadians call their annual Carnival festivities "the greatest show on earth" and with good reason. The Carnival season is overflowing with art and music: steelpan, calypso, soca and extravagant masquerade costumes. On this Afropop program, we take a look at how the Carnival arts are kept alive in today's Trinidad, in an untidy, evolving cultural, economic and political landscape at home and abroad. Open your ears to some life-giving music and conversations about Trinidad and its brilliant bacchanal. Produced by Sebastian Bouknight. APWW PGM #774​​

Since the launch of the second Afropop Closeup season in the summer of 2017, we’ve taken you through the stories of producers, lovers, activists, poets and musicians from Africa and the diaspora finding their respective ways in the world and connecting through music. Since this series is only available online, we are bringing you highlights of some of the most captivating stories in this season. You will hear the voices of our regular Afropop producers and some newcomers narrating these stories from around the world. Produced by Akornefa Akyea. APWW PGM #772

When this episode first aired, the recent death of Malian guitar legend Ali Farka Touré inspired a new round of speculation about the roots of the blues in Africa. Touré famously argued that the beloved American genre was "nothing but African", a bold assertion. Among scholars, Gerhard Kubik's book Africa and the Blues has gained recognition as the most serious and penetrating examination of the subject. This program in our Hip Deep series will be produced in collaboration with Kubik, allowing a rare opportunity to delve into his vast collection of recordings. We will listen to Ali Farka Touré and John Lee Hooker through Kubik's ears, and hear from many lesser known artists on both sides of the Atlantic. Even though the blues is a central component of American music, it is one of the most mysterious, and least understood aspects of our popular music culture. This program will give us new insight. Produced by Banning Eyre. (originally aired 2007)