I am so behind in posting about my listening! Not that anyone really cares, but I like to keep a record of what I’ve listened to so that I can go back and find things if I need them.
Sudan: All the news is full of Gaza and Ukraine, but I’ve been aware of Sudan bubbling away in the corner. I did listen to a few podcasts about Sudan last year, but I decided to catch up. Sudan’s Forgotten War (23 April 2024) takes up the most recent news. The long history of the Sudan conflict is that when Sudan achieved independence in 1956, the government was composed of northern and eastern elites and the military. This caused huge resentment elsewhere, and so the government turned to the Arab Janjaweed militia to suppress rebellion by amalgamating the army with Hemedti’s forces to become the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). But when Omar Al-Bashir was toppled as part of the washup from the Arab Spring, the military (SAF) would not cede power and the partnership between the armed forces and the RSF collapsed in 2023. Outside forces are involved: the RSF gets support from the United Arab Republic in troops and gold. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) gain support from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and perhaps Iran, as part of a long game. We are currently at a stalemate, with neither side able to defeat the other, and no wish for peace. There is no clear David and Goliath- instead it is a falling out between two powerful militarized bodies. There is no single front line, and neither side will allow humanitarian aid to get through.
I followed this with Nesrine Malik’s ‘All that we had is gone’: my lament for war-torn Khartoum’ which was nominated for a 2024 European Press Prize and you can read it here . It was actually from 2023, and it captures the grief that followed the conflict that came to Khartoum, which had previously been fairly immune from violence. It’s a beautiful piece of work.
The Global Story (BBC) The Most Contested Land in World? Admittedly, I did listen to this in the middle of the night, but it’s one of the best podcasts I’ve heard about ‘from the river to the sea’, and the multiple meanings that it holds for both Israelis and Palestinians. BBC Current Affairs journalist Tin Whewell talks about his journey from the River Jordan to the Meditteranean Sea- such a small piece of land and so much bloodshed. Actually, I think there’s a two-parter on BBC Assignment about the trip itself. I might listen to them as well.
Background Briefing. Notorious 8 My Friend the Cop Killer. I heard some of this while I was in the car, so I listened to the rest on podcast. It’s the background story of Nathaniel Train, one of the three Wieambilla conspiracy-theorists who killed two policemen and their neighbour. It’s presented by a journalist who was a schoolmate of Nathaniel, and it goes through the family rift between Gavin and Nathaniel and their parents, and the COVID vaccine mandate that seemed to have pushed them over the edge. But really, it’s pretty tabloid and sensationalist, and not really worth of Background Briefing.
History Hit Harris vs Trump: How We Got Here. As the name suggests, History Hit usually deals with things that have already happened, but in this case Dan Snow is inviting his guest, Ben Rhodes, (a Former Deputy National Security Advisor for Obama and host of Pod Save the World,) to take a first draft of history about the Harris vs. Trump election. Rhodes points out that the ‘strongman’ is a part of a global trend of backlash to globalization: someone who will tell you who you are and who to blame. He regrets that perhaps Barack Obama should have been a bit more of a strong-man. Presidents need to narrate what is happening, and Joe Biden didn’t do that. He suggests that the US looking for its identity, and that now the enemy is each other.
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 