We're Brothers is a real-life conversation between brothers, David in Cape Town and Sean in New York, exploring politics, culture, sports, and transatlantic connections. We try to post once a week.
E.16: An American Rugby Scholar explains the Beauty of South African Rugby
Anthropologist Joshua Rubin discusses the political and historical influences that shape South African rugby, sharing insights from years of research and conversations in an interview.
16 Aug 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 15: Hendrik Snyders, Sports Historian
Sports historian Hendrik Snyders discusses rugby history, politics, Rassie Erasmus, and favorite Springbok players with hosts David and Sean in this interview.
4 Aug 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 14 with Dylan Valley
Dylan Valley joins brothers Sean Jacobs and David Jacobs to discuss white South African refugees, hip hop influencers, and Jean Grae's memoir in this interview.
9 Jun 2025
13: A Giant Ponzi Scheme
The hosts discuss the arrival of South African refugees in the U.S. and question the fairness of the refugee program, while also examining the challenges of international visitors entering the U.S. for the 2026 World Cup.
30 May 2025
Episode 12, Car Guards from Brakpan
The hosts discuss the film "When I Say Africa," biographies of South African refugees, Vinicius' documentary, and the aesthetic politics of YouTube journalism, including creators like Dan Mace.
24 May 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 11: White Houses
The hosts analyze South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit to Washington, D.C., exploring efforts to counter misinformation regarding the targeting of white farmers and reset relations with the United States.
19 May 2025
We re Brothers Episode 10: What comes after fake news
We’re back after a short break—David was working long hours on a film set, so there wasn’t much time to record. We start by catching up, then dive into the hot topic on both sides of the Atlantic: the fake news surrounding white “Afrikaner” “refugees.” That conversation branches out in many directions. Whites, including Afrikaners, make up about 7% of South Africa’s population but own 73% of private land and dominate wealth, media, and leadership. They hold 62% of top leadership positions, and five of the country’s ten wealthiest individuals are Afrikaners—including the richest, Johann Rupert. Meanwhile, crime continues to disproportionately affect Black South Africans due to entrenched poverty and historical inequality. Despite no land expropriation, groups like AfriForum push false persecution narratives that resonate in U.S. conservative politics. Even in sports like rugby and cricket, Afrikaners remain dominant, despite the ongoing transformation efforts. These stories aren’t about South Africa but U.S. culture wars. Afrikaners are not victims of genocide; they remain among the most powerful and privileged in the country. We wrap up with a review of Kün by Agüero, the new documentary sold as a story about his life with cardiac arrhythmia and friendship with Messi. But beneath the surface, it’s about involving your family in your business.
18 Apr 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 9: No DNA
In Episode 9, we explore the topic of DNA testing. Growing up, we never knew our paternal grandfather—our father doesn’t even know who his father was. What we do know is that our paternal grandmother was descended from enslaved people brought from Mozambique at the end of the seventeenth century. But our grandfather’s identity remains a mystery—or perhaps closer to being revealed than we once thought.
Following the initial West African shipments in 1658, the Dutch increasingly turned to Mozambique and the broader East African coast for enslaved labor. These individuals came to be known, colloquially, as “Mozbiekers.”
After government and church records led nowhere, Sean turned to DNA testing—specifically through 23andMe, which has since filed for bankruptcy. What he uncovered revealed long-buried histories of race and class that had been hiding in plain sight. However, it also enables us to discuss the politics and economics of DNA testing.
9 Apr 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 8: Graduation Day
In this catch-up episode, Sean and David begin by congratulating their nephew, Caleb, and niece, Lauryn, on graduating from university and another nephew on completing a marathon. David then shares the details of a bizarre Uber ride, discusses the issue of gun violence in Cape Town (David's friend, Clayton, who lives in Ocean View in Cape Town's southern peninsula, was shot and is paralysed as a result), reflects on the chaos in the United States (it has little to do with white South Africans), and explains why it's a huge blow that South Africa may never host the Rugby World Cup again. And no, unlike what Trump's refugees may claim, the decision by World Rugby has nothing to do with any action or inaction by the ANC.
28 Mar 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 7: The Real Housewives of Brazilian Footballers
In this episode, Brazilian novelist and journalist Marilene Felinto joins us from São Paulo to discuss racism in South America. I’m not sure who told David to wear an Argentina national team shirt, but right off the bat, Marilene declares Argentina, followed by Chile, as South America’s most racist countries. She also has strong words regarding the tendency of black Brazilian footballers to “whiten up” — mainly once they make money, to marry a white partner. Finally, David gives a shout-out to his friend Charlton, another actor who was shot and is now paralyzed. Charlton lives in Cape Town, South Africa's most violent city.
18 Mar 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 6: Every Native is a Tourist
A white rugby coach once suggested that Cheslin Kolbe should switch from outside back to scrumhalf because he was too small. In 2025, Kolbe is named South African Rugby Player of the Year. Sean and David note how a sport once associated with muscular whiteness is now dominated by black South African players.
Louis Saha is seven times as wealthy as his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.
Why do racists always say their best friends share the same ethnicity as their victims?
David asks Sean whether black Americans would be better off moving to Africa—prompting Sean, as usual, to draw on history.
A conversation about must-visit spots in New York City and Cape Town leads to David confessing that he once stole Sean’s copy of Jamaica Kincaid’s “A Small Place.”
10 Mar 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 5: You Mustn't Push
In a football-heavy episode, Sean and David praise Benni McCarthy’s appointment as Kenya’s new head coach but call out unflattering images in some media coverage. They agree Afcon is a major tournament and discuss the chaos of football ownership in South Africa. The conversation shifts to crime in South Africa, emphasizing the real victims aren’t Trump’s refugees. It’s personal: recently, their first cousin once removed was shot and killed on the Cape Flats, followed by the shooting of a former student of their older sister. Follow them on IG: @seanhjacobs and @davyjay.
3 Mar 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 4: You never walk alone
Sean and David Jacobs invite Sean's 15-year-old son, Leo, to share his recollections of a recent visit to Anfield to watch Liverpool play. David talks about attending a reunion in Cape Town with relatives from their family line (their father's side) descended from enslaved Mozambicans. This leads to a broader discussion of their father's biography (they briefly introduced their mother's biography in episode 2), relatedly on coloured identity (Tyla's latest explanation), and the influence of loud right-wing politicians, including Donald Trump, Afriforum, and Gayton McKenzie.
12 Feb 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 3: President Kolisi
In Episode 3 of "We're Brothers," David and Sean Jacobs discuss whether David romanticizes his childhood; fascist teachers and corporal punishment in South African schools; whether sports figures, like popular South African rugby player Siya Kolisi, could succeed in politics (the cue is the long tradition of sports personalities in the US running for political office) and the disruptive politics of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Includes brief Afrikaans phrases.
You can also watch the recording on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyOixOOGNqU&feature=youtu.be).
5 Feb 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 2: Certain classes of people
In Episode 2, Sean and David – brothers in real life – discuss listener reactions to the first episode of WE'RE BROTHERS. Some people seem to think Sean is a hater of Cape Town, while others are curious if there are any famous figures from Goodwood aside from Eben Etzebeth (who, by the way, is actually from Parow). Sean brings up a few Communists who lived there.The conversation then shifts to more personal topics as we provide background about our family; in this episode, we delve into our mother’s side of the family. Sean shares his thoughts on living with Donald Trump as President, while David reflects on the impact of Trump’s policies in South Africa and why Trump has such an appeal among some South Africans. (The episode was recorded just before Trump made his infamous comments, without citing evidence, that "South Africa is confiscating land," that "certain classes of people" were being treated "very badly," and that the US would cut off aid to South Africa.)Lastly, we dive into a curious question: Why do so many South Africans love English football?WE’RE BROTHERS features two siblings living on opposite sides of the world: David in Cape Town, South Africa, and Sean in New York City, US. There’s a 10-year age gap between them; they haven’t lived in the same city for over 20 years. The show comes out every other week.Follow us on social media, comment, like, and subscribe.https://www.instagram.com/seanhjacobs/https://www.instagram.com/davyjay69/
25 Jan 2025
We're Brothers, Episode 1: In the Beginning
In Episode 1, Sean and David - brothers IRL- introduce themselves and the idea behind "We're Brothers."
They then discuss Cape Town being voted the best city in the world (16:10), explore the potential costs for sports people to align themselves with political parties or movements, especially in more conservative sports like rugby (28:03), and examine people picking up American accents on the way to the airport (49:19).
Sean used his advantage as the older sibling to dominate proceedings, but we suspect David won’t let him get away with it next time.
Social Media:
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Who has been a guest on We're Brothers
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Joshua Rubin
Hendrik Snyders
Dylan Valley
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 13 / 100
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Quality
25
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
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