A South African woman, Racquel "Kelly" Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn have been given life sentences after being convicted of trafficking her missing 6-year-old daughter, Joshlin Smith. The case has captivated and horrified audiences around the world. It has also highlighted the wider issue of human trafficking in South Africa. An anti-trafficking campaigner responds to the rulling and explains the extent of problem in the country.
Also, Kenya and Mayotte sign a trade deal to boost economic ties. What will be traded?
And a tribute to and an exploration of, Kenya's literary giant Ngugi wa Thiong’o, who has died at the age of 87.
Presenter: Richard Kagoe
Technical Producer: Jonathan Greer
Producers: Nyasha Michelle, Tom Kavanagh and Amie Liebowitz in London. Charles Gitonga in Nairobi
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard
Roman Storm's legal battle against the DOJ continues as the Tornado Cash developer prepares for his trial in July. Renato Mariotti, partner at Paul Hastings LLP, explains why the defense is at disadvantage.
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Episode overview:
In this conversation, South African strategist Wabo Majavu, executive strategy and business operations leader at Africa Data Centres, unpacks how technical expertise at organisations like MTN and Intelsat laid the foundation for her distinctive approach to strategic leadership and digital activism.
From building radar applications at the CSIR to optimising cellular networks through late-night, township-sourced sheep's head dinners with seasoned veteran technicians, Majavu's journey illustrates how hands-on technical experience and savvy adaptation becomes the bedrock of strategic thinking. She discusses navigating workplace discrimination, helping transform organisational culture at state-owned Sentech, and her prescient work in AI before it became a global phenomenon.
Andile Masuku explores with Majavu how strategists shape a company's future direction, the delicate balance between commercial viability and digital inclusion, and her current mission to democratise coding through native African languages.
Key topics:
- From radar systems at CSIR to RF optimisation at MTN: building the technical foundation for strategic leadership
- How experiences at Intelsat shaped her understanding of managed services and market transformation
- The Sentech years: leading digital transformation while learning that culture can eat even the best strategy for breakfast
- Studying AI and signal processing before the global AI boom, and formative educational experiences in Malaysia that shaped future vision
- Strategic stakeholder management: converting union leaders into product managers and building collaborative ecosystems
- Balancing commercial imperatives with digital inclusion through long-term strategic thinking
- Where to start learning AI: practical advice for breaking into the field
Notable points:
1. Majavu's radar applications work at CSIR and cellular network optimisation at MTN provided the technical depth that informs her strategic decision-making today
2. At MTN, she overcame racial barriers by building relationships with Network Operations Centre (NOC) technicians through after-hours learning sessions, bringing sheep's head delicacies from Mamelodi township to earn their trust and knowledge
3. At Sentech, she learned firsthand that "culture can eat strategy for breakfast," successfully converting a well-respected, highly influential union leader into a turnkey product manager spearheading the roll-out of new digital services
4. Majavu studied signal processing and then AI before it became mainstream, building web crawlers and predictive systems
5. Her approach to change management involves understanding each stakeholder's agenda and finding areas of alignment, demonstrated through her successful transformation of adversaries into collaborators
Listen for Majavu's insights on how strategists inform a company's trajectory, why patient capital and technical depth are essential for Africa's digital transformation, and how past experiences become the lens through which strategic leaders view future possibilities.
Image credit: Konecta
President Donald Trump’s proposed spending plan, dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill,” would cut about $300 billion from the program that provides food to low-income residents. If it survives Congress intact, thousands of Native people will lose eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Tribes and conservation groups worry the Trump administration’s push for expanded logging of federal land poses a threat to Indigenous foods, like salmon.
Nicole Livingston is one of a handful of students who graduated this semester from the only tribal college culinary arts program at Navajo Technical University. She’s off to an internship at the country’s most renown Indigenous restaurant: Owamni by the Sioux Chef.
We’ll talk about these topics on The Menu, our regular feature on Indigenous food sovereignty hosted by Andi Murphy.
Wednesday began with President Trump's sweeping April 2nd tariffs on track. Later that day, those import taxes were ruled illegal. Here on this Friday, that ruling is on hold, with tariffs still in place. Also on the show: Why more parents are struggling financially than just a few years ago, and how consumer spending is shaping this year's summer travel.
Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are the icons better known for Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Now they’re focusing their notoriety on ending qualified immunity. Ben, Jerry, and Cato’s Jay Schweikert comment on the campaign to end the powerful, court-invented doctrine that shields public officials from accountability.
The White House plows ahead in the tariff standoff. It's Elon Musk's last day at DOGE. And a new spelling bee champ is crowned. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has those stories and more on the World News Roundup podcast.
he first major wave of Koreans to the United States was in 1903. Later, thousands of Koreans fled the country to escape famine and political turmoil. This is just the beginning of over 100 years of migration of the Korean diaspora to places like the U.S., China, South America and more. Reset gets a brief history on Korean migration, activism and organizing in the Chicago area and beyond with the executive director of the HANA Center Danae Kovak, executive director of the Asian American Advancing Justice Chicago Grace Pai, and associate professor of Asian American History at Northwestern Ji-Yion Yuh, author of the book “Beyond the Shadow of Camptown: Korean Military Brides in America.”
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
From the BBC World Service: China has agreed to start lifting its ban on Japanese fish, almost two years after it blocked imports over the release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant. Russia made more than $25 billion last year exporting fossil fuels to the European Union; that's $4.5 billion more than the E.U. gave Kyiv in aid. The Super Bowl halftime show is iconic, but in soccer, it’s a different picture. European leagues and FIFA are spending big on pre-match entertainment, with halftime shows planned for the next World Cup. But do fans even want it?
