In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser

Episode 27 - HOW SHOULD I READ A BOOK?

One of the listeners of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser enjoyed the episode in which I engaged Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh on his book The New Apartheid and left the following generous comment on my Instagram account, "Your analysis of Sizwe's book was amazing. Perhaps it would be great for you to give us tips on how you read and subsequently analyse and or synthesise a book's key arguments...in a future instalment of your podcast." My producer and I listen to your engagement and feedback continuously....

Episode 26 - THE NEW APARTHEID

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh argues in his latest book that apartheid did not die in 1994 but had, instead, been privatised. In a substantive, theoretically rich, introduction chapter, he puzzles through conceptual analysis to justify his resuscitation of the dreaded apartheid-framework. Mindful of the fact that life before 1994 was, in obvious respects, uniquely evil under apartheid, the philosphical work in the introduction is important to avoid any hasty criticism about the work's main thesis. The subse...

Episode 25 - DECONSTRUCTING RAMAPHOSA'S RESHUFFLE

Is the cabinet reshuffle announced by president Cyril Ramaphosa really going to strengthen government? What motivated the choices? How should we interpret what was just announced? What about the collapse of the intelligence ministry? Was that a sensible decision or a mistake? As for now former minister Zweli Mkhize- is his resignation from the health portfolio today admirable (if late) or was it a gimmick that shouldn't earn him any political points? Have a listen to my political analysis on the...

Episode 24 - I ALMOST DIED OF COVID-19

I was hospitalised with a very serious covid-19 infection. I could have died. I literally got hospitalised just in time. A brilliant pulmonologist Dr Frans Skosana saved my life. Arguably, I should never have ended up that close to death's door. In this episode, I tell the story of what happened, why it should not have happened and what 7 lessons I have learned.

Episode 23 - RACE AND RACISM (PART 1 OF 3): IF RACE IS BIOLOGICAL NONSENSE, SHOULD WE ABANDON THE LANGUAGE OF RACE?

In the first of a 3-part series on the work and thinking of Professor Lewis Gordon , specifically on aspects of anti-black racism, we tackle a few crucial responses from some people on aspects of 'the race debate': 1. "Race is biologically meaningless...so stop talking about it! It is not real!" 2. "I don't see race!" / "I don't see colour!" In a careful analysis of these tropes, this brilliant, leading global scholar on Black existentialism and anti-Blackness, gives us a preview of arguments an...

Episode 22 - Democracy Disrupted: What happens next?

Brilliant South African Jay Naidoo joined me to pivot from diagnosing South Africa's problems to search for solutions. In this wonderfully energetic and energising conversation, we tackled a range of issues from how to build cross-class solidarity, how to bypass political weaknesses that won't disappear soon, and much more. The emphasis was on being future-oriented and avoiding fatalism and chronic despair. Join the search for pathways to a more just South Africa by listening to how the conversa...

Episode 21 - IS PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA THE LEADER WE NEED RIGHT NOW?

In this episode of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I answer a cluster of questions that an Australian journalist had put to me today: can president Cyril Ramaphosa help the African National Congress to recover from the mess it has occasioned? Does Mr Ramaphosa, more specifically, have the leadership ability to lead South Africa out of the current crises? After puzzling through these very interesting questions, I sadly arrived an answer in the negative. Listen to the podcast to understand why...

Episode 20 - LOOTING, CRIMINALITY, PROTESTS: HOW SHOULD WE INTERPRET EVENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA RIGHT NOW?

In this edition of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I offer trenchant analysis of what is going on in South Africa right now. It is, I argue in this podcast, a mistake to interpret the looting as mere criminality and sheer opportunism. There is a complex number of both more immediate and longer-term drivers behind these events and anyone interested in a serious understanding of this crisis must avoid the danger of a single narrative. Instead, as you will hear in this podcast episode, I see th...

Episode 19 - PANIC ATTACKS, ANXIETY, AND OTHER MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES: SHARING OUR STORIES (Part 1 of 2)

I was joined by Adriaan Shipalana (CEO, Harambe Technologies) for a silence-breaking conversation about mental health. Adriaan, who cuts an intimidating figure as a life-long fitness enthusiast with a bodybuilding physique, is precisely the kind of person many would stereotype as self-assured, resilient and comfortable with his place in the world. But he has experienced mental health challenges which he opens up about in this podcast episode. I, too, share stories of my own battle with panic att...

Episode 18 - THE MORNING AFTER ZUMA'S IMPRISONMENT: 5 LESSONS AND REFLECTIONS

Now that former president Jacob Zuma has been taken into custody to start his 15 month jail sentence for contempt of court, we should learn lessons from the legal and political events in relation to this case. In this episode of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I put on my hat as a political analyst and work through five lessons and reflections that I regard as crucial for us to internalise as a society, and which we can export to the international community, including the global North. Socie...

Episode 17 - ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT COVID-19 VACCINES

Professor Francois Venter (Wits University) joined us to answer a range of questions including, among others, the following: how do vaccines work in the body? How long does it take before I have protection against covid-19 after being vaccinated? What is the extent of the protection I have (besides the duration of it)? How should I think about the side-effects? What are the odds of blood clots forming and how do I weigh that in my decision on whether or not to get vaccinated? Does ivermectin wor...

Episode 16 - WHY ZUMA'S LEGAL TRICKS TO STAY OUT OF JAIL WILL FAIL

Former president Jacob Zuma has been sent to an unsuspended 15 months in jail for contempt of court by the constitutional court. He has now initiated two sets of legal proceedings in the hope of NOT going to jail. He wants the order to be stayed - in other words he wants the high court to help him not YET go to jail - while he tries his luck at the constitutional court, convincing it that it made an error in sending him to jail for contempt. In this special edition of In The Ring With Eusebius M...

Episode 15 - UNDERSTANDING WHY JACOB ZUMA IS SENT TO JAIL

In this special episode of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I explain and analyse why former president Jacob Zuma was sent to direct imprisonment for 15 months by the constitutional court today. What was the legal basis of the judgment? Was it sound? How did the court reason about the punishment aspect? And what was the basis of dissent by two of the court's justices? What, finally, is the political significance of this case and the likely political consequences?

Episode 14 - I WAS WRONG - or - I CHANGED MY MIND

Many of us become attached to our core beliefs, including social and political convictions. It becomes easy to dig in our heels, and to not be open to re-examining a cherised conviction you have held for many years. But this is not an intellectually admirable quality. We should be open to persuasion if we encounter good reason or reasons to abandon that which we have always regarded as correct (until now). The quality of our public debate depends in part on our collective willingness to be less ...

Episode 13 - IS SCHOOL GOOD FOR US? OR SHOULD WE IMAGINE AND PLAN FOR LIFE WITHOUT SCHOOLS?

Historian Vashna Jaganarth and filmmaker Michael Klein (who made the well-received short film THE ENDLESS CHAIN about Wynberg Boys' High School) joined me in this podcast episod for a radical rethink of schooling. We are so used to accepting that schools must exist in society that it might be weird to even ask whether or not schools should and could be dismantled. In this podcast, however, we tackle the issue along two lines: first, we put the history of schools on trial and, second, we tried to...

Episode 12 - ANDILE GAELESIWE'S TOUGHEST ASSIGNMENT: REMEMBERING HER OWN TRAUMAS, AND JOYS

She is more than just one of South Africa's best broadcasters, her name neing synonymous, in particular, with Khumbul'ekhaya and Uthando Noxolo. She is a healer who has used her profound gifts to help many families deal with and repair broken social relationships and historic trauma. She is a national treasure. But who is Andile Gaelesiwe? What about her own trauma, past, family, joy, and various trials and tribulations? I spoke to her about her book, Remebering, which documents the answers to t...

Episode 11 - A LOVE LETTER TO BLACK BOYS

Concrete Rose, by Angie Thomas? is a story about Maverick Carter, a 17-year-old black boy, who sells drugs, has a dad in jail, and who learns his girlfriend is pregnant. But the treatment of the issues and quality of writing is what makes this book absolutely stunning. Angie writes in the voice of the teenager, with authenticity. More than that, she helps us to get inside his head and his heart, challenging us to experience the full humanity of a black boy in a world in which black teenagers are...

Episode 10 - THEMBA MASEKO: WITNESS TO STATE CAPTURE

I did an in-depth interview with Themba Maseko, author of For My Country: Why I Blew The Whistle On Zuma And The Guptas, about his direct experiences as a top civil servant who was pressured (without success) by the Gupta family to help them steal from the state. The phenomenon of 'state capture' has become part of the South African lexicon, and represents not just grand theft of public monies but also, therefore, a direct and serious assault on the very foundations of South Africa's constitutio...

Episode 9 - DECOLONISING ELITE SCHOOLS

Despite almost thirty years of racial desegregation of our schools, many former Model C-schools and private schools are still institutionally racist or exclusionary in other ways. In this edition of In The Ring With Eusebius Mckaiser, we talk frankly about what is going on in our schools, and what needs to be done to decolonialise our schools so that they are more just and inclusive spaces for all the stakeholders. Author Sue Nyathi and deputy head of St John's College, Houghton (Johannesburg) A...

Episode 8 - IS SEXUAL RACISM BULLSHIT OR REAL?

Is it morally wrong to have racially exclusionary romantic and sexual preferences? Can one draw a meaningful distinction between desire as such and the expression of that desire such that race-specific sexual desire is ethically permitted but not the explicit, public expression of these desires? Is it madness for dating apps to stop users from expressing racial preferences in their desired partner? More generally, should 'matters of taste' ever be subject to moral evaluation? Or, should we not s...

Episode 7 - THE ZUMA CORRUPTION TRIAL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU THINK

In this special edition of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I analyse the Jacob Zuma corruption trial that ALMOST got underway today. The use of lawfare to fight internal party political battles is as South African as braai ("barbecue"). But the intersection of law and politics can be rather confusing. But don't fear- I've got you covered! I explain the essence of what happened today and offer a critical interpretation, as a political analyst, of the MEANING of the legal and political drama t...

Episode 6 - UBER CHRONICLES

Uber drivers literally have a front row seat watching the lives of a diverse group of riders who use the Uber technology daily to get from one part of the city to another. I decided to record some of the Uber chronicles of drivers in Johannesburg. I requested trips and struck up conversations with these drivers, who agreed to share with me some of the most fascinating stories of what they have seen and experienced, from random acts of kindness to acts of violence and criminality. Drivers, it str...

Episode 5 - EISH! ACE MAGASHULE IS SUSPENDED BUT ... WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!

In this podcast, I analyse the late night shenanigans or the African National Congress. The secretary-general of the ANC Ace (Eish?) Magashul has been suspended. It doesn't seem like he accepts the suspension. What the hell is going on? And what does it MEAN? I give my perspective, my interpretation of the madness.

Episode 4 - CAN LIBERALISM BE RESCUED ?

Academic, author and analyst Dr Richard Pithouse joined me in this episode of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser to put liberalism on trial. I am a liberal. Sometimes, in the South African context, it seems like 'liberal' is expected to be an embarrassing tag to be labeled with, let alone one to choose for oneself. Dr Pithouse has written many essays over the years, critiquing liberalism globally. I wanted to understand his beef with liberalism, but I also wanted to make the case for why I find ...

Episode 3 - BURNT ALIVE: THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF QAPHELA GOBODO

In this episode of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, 20-year-old rugby fanatic Qaphela Gobodo tells the remarkable story of what happened when jealous peers at school poured paraffin on him, and set him alight. He was nearly burnt to death and ended up in hospital for many months and countless operations to repair a body that had come within seconds of death. Yet, despite the deep physical and emotional scars, the flame of hope inside this inspirational young man, kept burning, and kept him on...

Episode 2 IS PUBLIC MEMORY OF THE HOLOCAUST PRIVILEGED OVER HISTORIES OF COLONIAL VIOLENCE AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE?

Professor Steven Robins (sociology and social anthropology, Stellenbosch University) and Dr Lwazi Lushaba (poltical studies, University of Cape Town) debated whether or not comparisons between the experiences of Jewish people and Black people are of any moral or intellectual use. Various themes emerged including a debate about whether or not Dr Lushaba is essentialising whiteness in his insistence that the Holocaust is to be understood as "white people killing other white people". Professor Robi...

Episode 2 - DON'T FALSELY SHOUT "HE HAILED HITLER!" IN A NEWSROOM. Part 1

In the first of a two-part series, we focus on a debate sparked by a lecture by UCT academic Dr Lwazi Lushaba on the history of the study of politics. The online lectuee has now been widely reported on. The Sunday Times reported him as stating that Hitler "committed no crime" based on, by their own admission, 12 seconds taken from a 54 minute video. They declared him "Mampara of the week", 'mampara' being local slang for 'loser'. We explore here, in Part One, how truth, evidence and context are ...

Episode 1 "Mind your language: should you ever vocalise offensive words?"

In this edition of In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser, I ask whether Professor Adam Habib, director at SOAS, is a racist who should be fired for vocalising the N-word in a webinar with students. There are many complexities that these bald questions raise, and with the help of some excellent guests (Lovelyn Nwadeyi, a social justice strategist; Rob Berkely, who works on anti-racism in the UK; and Kopano Ratele, an academic psychologist and author), we work slowly and systematically through all of...

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