Radio Ifriqiya | Powered by afikra

About Radio Ifriqiya | Powered by afikra

Radio Ifriqiya is the podcast of Souffles Monde, a new platform reviving the radical spirit of Souffles/Anfas to rethink decolonization, knowledge, and culture from an African and Afro-Arab perspective. Through conversations with scholars, artists, and thinkers across the continent, this podcast series fosters South–South dialogue, translation, and intergenerational exchange. Powered by afikra.

Publisher

afikra

Category

arts · history · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Dec 2025

Latest episode

23 Apr 2026

Latest episodes

10 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   23 Apr 2026

   Death in the Mediterranean: African Migration to Europe | Ahlam Chemlali & Younous Arbaoui

   This episode explores the intersection of migration policies, colonial history, and human rights in the North African borderlands. Guests Dr. Ahlam Chemlali and Dr. Younous Arbaoui discuss how European Union (EU) externalization policies impact daily life in Tunisia and the broader Mediterranean. The conversation centers on the lived experiences of those affected, from migrants forced into dangerous routes to Tunisian fishermen confronted by death at sea. By examining the ripple effects of border intensification and persistent colonial tropes, the conversation highlights the need for state accountability and the protection of the fundamental right to life.

2. 

   9 Apr 2026

   Nostalgic Rebels: Politics, Aesthetics, and Selfhood in Postcolonial Morocco | Dr. Khalid Lyamlahy

   We delve into the complex intersection of revolt and nostalgia in postcolonial Moroccan literature with author and scholar Khaled Lyamlahy who offers specific, evidence-based insights into the diverse trajectories of three influential writers, Abdellatif Laâbi, Abdelkebir Khatibi, and Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine, and discusses how their unique experiences with activism, imprisonment, and exile shaped their work. An assistant professor at the University of Chicago, Dr. Lyamlahy helps us explore his latest book, Nostalgic Rebels, which complicates traditional narratives of Moroccan postcoloniality. He emphasizes that nostalgia is not merely a backward-looking emotion but a transformative force capable of reinventing the future. He confronts the notion that these literary movements are static, asserting that writing has a deep responsibility to provoke thought and ask difficult questions. The conversation also delves into the unique challenges of translation and the poetic power of fragments, highlighting the need for deeper literary dialogue between North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

3. 

   26 Mar 2026

   L’histoire du Kawkaw

   Kawkaw est un projet initié par Younes Baba-Ali, sur invitation du centre culturel LE 18 à Marrakech en 2016. Pensé comme une résidence ayant donné lieu à une exposition collective et à une série de rencontres, il a réuni cinq artistes du Grand Maghreb et ouvert un espace de dialogue et de recherche par la pratique artistique, dont ce podcast prolonge aujourd’hui les réflexions. Face à une scène artistique nord-africaine en pleine mutation, Kawkaw illustre la volonté de créer de nouvelles perspectives et d'explorer les opportunités et le potentiel inexploité de cette région. Kawkaw, qui signifie cacahuète en darija, est synonyme d'un aliment populaire, partagé avec plaisir, riche en saveurs et commun à tous les pays du Maghreb. Le programme incarne ce processus de décloisonnement et de partage dans le domaine artistique. Le podcast prolonge ce geste de décorticage en explorant les couches d’histoires, de langues et de circulations reliant Afrique du Nord et Afrique de l’Ouest, malgré les séparations coloniales et les héritages de l’esclavage et du racisme. Des chercheurs en musique, cinéastes, écrivains, historiens, architectes et artistes invité·es (Mohamed Arejdal, Taoufik Ben Amor, Mamadou Diouf, Ali Essafi, Hadia Gana, Carlos Perez Marin, Katy Léna Ndiaye & Oumar Sall) retracent les significations du mot “Kawkaw”, les routes caravanières, la transe et les musiques de guérison, et les trajectoires artistiques comme outils pour réinventer une géographie culturelle commune.

4. 

   12 Mar 2026

   الهوية والذاكرة من الأمازيغ إلى فلسطين | محمد أوبنعل

   يتحدث معنا الباحث الأكاديمي محمد أوبنعل عن الهوية الثقافية الغنية للشعب الأمازيغي في المغرب، وروابطه التاريخية والمعاصرة مع القضية الفلسطينية. ويناقش أيضاً تأثير الإستعمار على الهوية الأمازيغية، وأساليب التضامن مع الهوية الفلسطينية. كما تُسلط الضوء على شخصيات مؤثرة في حركات المقاومة وأهمية التعاون الثقافي والأكاديمي للأجيال القادمة، مع التركيز على الروابط العميقة بين الثقافة، التاريخ والهوية

5. 

   26 Feb 2026

   In the Footsteps of Malcolm X | Herb Boyd

   We spoke with Harlem legend and national treasure, Herb Boyd—a journalist, jazz historian, activist, and organizer who has been writing and publishing for nearly 70 years. He discusses his expansive life's work, his political evolution, and his early encounters with Malcolm X. Boyd first met Malcolm X in Detroit in 1958 and later followed him to Morocco in 1964. His life journey has followed in Malcolm X's political footsteps, spanning from Harlem to East Africa, West Africa, and the Middle East. Boyd shares that Africa marked the beginning of his journey and was critical in developing his international perspective. He delves into the research for his recent book "Malcolm X, The CIA, and Other Blacks" which considers Malcolm X's suspicions of being under surveillance by the CIA. This investigation led him to focus on a mysterious figure named Leo Miles, who pops up 10 times with Malcolm X during his travels, particularly in Cairo, Kenya, and Tanzania. Boyd discusses Leo Miles' suspicious association with the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) and why he was eventually suspected of being an agent by foreign forces, possibly the Portuguese or the CIA. The conversation broadens to encompass the surveillance of other Black activists by the CIA, including Maya Angelou, Robert Williams, the Black Panthers, and Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael). Boyd connects these movements to the struggles against American imperialism and discusses his own travels to Palestine, including trips with Stokely Carmichael to Beirut and with Reverend Al Sharpton. He also highlights his contribution to the volume "For Gaza's Children". Boyd reflects on Malcolm X's perpetual importance as an internationalist, whose ideas remain relevant to contemporary global issues like the current UN situation, Ukraine, Haiti, and Gaza. Even at the age of 87, he is finishing a biography of Max Roach, a history of Harlem titled "Epic Harlem", and a novel about the Black Studies Movement.

6. 

   26 Feb 2026

   Herb Boyd on Malcolm X's Legacy, CIA Surveillance & Solidarity with Gaza

   We spoke with Harlem legend and national treasure, Herb Boyd—a journalist, jazz historian, activist, and organizer who has been writing and publishing for nearly 70 years. He discusses his expansive life's work, his political evolution, and his early encounters with Malcolm X. Boyd first met Malcolm X in Detroit in 1958 and later followed him to Morocco in 1964. His life journey has followed in Malcolm X's political footsteps, spanning from Harlem to East Africa, West Africa, and the Middle East. Boyd shares that Africa marked the beginning of his journey and was critical in developing his international perspective. He delves into the research for his recent book "Malcolm X, The CIA, and Other Blacks" which considers Malcolm X's suspicions of being under surveillance by the CIA. This investigation led him to focus on a mysterious figure named Leo Miles, who pops up 10 times with Malcolm X during his travels, particularly in Cairo, Kenya, and Tanzania. Boyd discusses Leo Miles' suspicious association with the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) and why he was eventually suspected of being an agent by foreign forces, possibly the Portuguese or the CIA. The conversation broadens to encompass the surveillance of other Black activists by the CIA, including Maya Angelou, Robert Williams, the Black Panthers, and Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael). Boyd connects these movements to the struggles against American imperialism and discusses his own travels to Palestine, including trips with Stokely Carmichael to Beirut and with Reverend Al Sharpton. He also highlights his contribution to the volume "For Gaza's Children". Boyd reflects on Malcolm X's perpetual importance as an internationalist, whose ideas remain relevant to contemporary global issues like the current UN situation, Ukraine, Haiti, and Gaza. Even at the age of 87, he is finishing a biography of Max Roach, a history of Harlem titled "Epic Harlem", and a novel about the Black Studies Movement.

7. 

   12 Feb 2026

   AFCON 2025! The View from Brussels | Youssef Faraj

   We explore the recent African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament and its impact on the Moroccan diaspora, particularly in Brussels, which hosts one of Europe's largest Moroccan-origin communities. A youth worker, educator, and football fan, Youssef Faraj joins the discussion to dissect how the tournament was experienced, its effect on community relations, Pan-Africanism, colonial memory, and integration into Belgian society. Faraj highlights the strong feeling of being "robbed" among the Moroccan diaspora following the controversial penalty decision on Brahim Díaz, which has since led to a noticeable shift in inter-diaspora relations. We also delve into the complex history and relationship between the Moroccan and Congolese communities in Brussels. The conversation covers the distinct migration streams and urban geography of both groups in the city, touching on issues like ethnic-based districts, economic disparities in shop ownership, and the concept of a pan-African district. A central theme is the contrasting football allegiances: while Moroccans overwhelmingly root for Morocco, the rationale for Congolese supporting the Belgian national team is explored as a nuanced form of "decoloniality" and a path to empowerment through sport, given the lack of infrastructure in Congo. This leads to a discussion of why Moroccan players born in Belgium, such as Saibari, Adnan, and Talbi, often choose Morocco over Belgium, which has sparked accusations of being "traitors to the nation" in Belgium. The episode closes by examining the identity crisis Morocco faces in Africa, where it is often perceived as not African enough.

8. 

   22 Jan 2026

   Visualizing Histories Inside the Margins of Morocco & North Africa | Aomar Boum

   Professor Aomar Boum talks about his latest book, The Last Rekkas, which offers an indigenous, counter-visual approach to the work of colonial artist-ethnographers. A collaboration with his daughter, Majdouline Boum Mendoza, that combines her visual work with the life stories of his father Faraji that's thought to be Morocco’s last known rekkas, a mail courier who walked thousands of miles delivering letters under colonial rule. The Last Rekkas is a decolonial project, which began with ethnographic studies in the 1990s in a village in Southern Morocco that uses art and text to center the stories of marginalized "ordinary people". A sociocultural anthropologist who holds the Maurice Amado Endowed Chair in Sephardic Studies at the University of California, professor Boum discusses his work on religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East and North Africa. The conversation explores the book’s multimodal approach, contrasting it with Boum’s previous work "Undesirables" and reflecting on the tradition of Moroccan historian Mokhtar Soussi. We also delve into the necessity of engaging with colonial ethnography to create alternative narratives, using figures like Jean Besancenot to frame the story of his father, a mail carrier (rekkas) whose history was centralized but his voice erased. The episode concludes with a discussion of the book's audience—the coming generations of Moroccans—and how materiality and space, like cemeteries and everyday objects, can serve as archives to uncover untold histories in North Africa.

9. 

   7 Jan 2026

   L'histoire de Souffles | Jocelyne Laabi

   Dans cet épisode, nous avons l'honneur d'accueillir Jocelyne Laabi, née à Lyon en 1943 et fascinée par le Maroc depuis son enfance. Elle nous partage son parcours depuis son arrivée à Meknès à l'âge de sept ans, sa prise de conscience du racisme et du colonialisme, et son implication dans la revue 'Souffles'. Nous explorons également son appréhension de la langue arabe, la scène théâtrale universitaire, son mariage avec l'activiste et poète Abdellatif Laabi, et ses années de résilience pendant l'emprisonnement de son mari. Jocelyne Laabi dépeint son amour pour le Maroc et les combats sociaux et politiques qui ont marqué sa vie. Elle aborde également ses contributions littéraires, notamment ses contes pour enfants et sa propre autobiographie, 'La Liqueur d'Aloès'.

10. 

    4 Dec 2025

    The Rebirth of Souffles & the Power of Cultural Dialogue | Hisham Aidi & Zakia Salime

    Welcome to the very first edition of Radio Ifriqia, a new podcast powered by afikra. In the first episode, we delve into the history and relaunch of the influential Moroccan magazine, Souffles (Anfās in Arabic, meaning "breath" or "spirit"), with founding editors Hisham Aidi (Columbia) and Zakia Salime (Rutgers). Souffles was originally launched in 1966 by a group of Moroccan writers and artists who came of age writing in Paris and were steeped in Pan-Africanism, decolonial movements, and anti-liberation movements of the era. They are credited with coining the phrase "cultural decolonization", challenging the dominance of colonial paradigms in newly independent Morocco and examining what it meant to decolonize knowledge and culture. It was the first truly transatlantic, transcontinental magazine, connecting North Africa to the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. The original magazine lasted from 1966 to 1972 but the editors have resurrected it, relaunching the magazine in 2022 on the 50th anniversary of its closure as "Souffles Monde". The relaunch is driven by a commitment to bring academic research to a lay audience and reignite the tradition of decolonizing knowledge and challenging structures of power—the very spirit of Souffles. This discussion explores the magazine's initial intellectual pillars, the importance of historical reference points from the region, the continued relevance of debates on language and identity, and the new team's commitment to creating a dialogue among scholars across generations and geographic boundaries in the spirit of Pan-Maghrebism and South-South conversations.

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.