Category: Christine Mungai

As we close out 2024, we asked our team to look back on the year and share what they'd tell their January selves. This year, we’ve brought on new hires, expanded our physical spaces, and began new and ambitious projects.

This week, the Baraza Media Lab hosted a PodConnect event titled Podcasting Trends 2024, featuring Doris Onyango, Production Manager at SemaBox, and Kiplagat J. Kiprop, Product Manager at SemaBox, moderated by Gathoni Ngumba, Community Manager at Afripods. The session brought to light exciting new trends and strategies shaping the future of podcasting in Africa and beyond. Here's a roundup of a few of the key takeaways shared by the stellar panel:

This week’s newsletter is continuing the tradition of inviting members of our community to write From The Curator’s Desk, and for this edition, I’m happy to hand it over to writer Ngito Makena, whose piece below is part of a project telling the stories of Nairobi titled ‘Humans of Nairobi/ Story za Nai’, published by Baraza Media Lab.

I tend to read (or to be more accurate, peruse through) a lot of scientific papers, partly because of my work as a journalist and partly out of my own interest - you know how the recommendations of our algorithmic overlords go. But I wasn’t prepared for how floored I’d be reading this paper in the journal Nature, benignly titled, “Unequal exchange of labour in the global economy”.

It has and continues to be physically, mentally and spiritually draining to demand for better governance and accountability. We must remember our bodies are fragile and need care, and that none of us can do this alone.I’d love to share some ways of ensuring this moment doesn't break us beyond repair. I had these graphics commissioned as a way to capture what it takes to live - and not just fight - in a time of revolution.

It’s been an incredible week in Kenya, and I am happy to continue the tradition of passing the mic to members of our community to guest curate this newsletter. This time we’re doing it a little differently, with three voices sharing their reflections on From The Curator’s Desk: Benter Dongo, HR Lead at Baraza Media Lab, Cynthia Adongo, Comms Asssociate at Baraza Media Lab, and Kevin Mwachiro, journalist, podcaster and activist.

Have you read the National Hair Cuts Bill? Me neither. That is because it doesn’t exist yet. But I am proposing one. Chapter 21, I’ll call it. In the bill I’ll propose a basic national haircut, by age sets, for all genders. Tier One, for newborns up to PP2. Tier Two, From Grade 1 to Form 4.

Have you read the National Hair Cuts Bill? Me neither. That is because it doesn’t exist yet. But I am proposing one. Chapter 21, I’ll call it. In the bill I’ll propose a basic national haircut, by age sets, for all genders. Tier One, for newborns up to PP2. Tier Two, From Grade 1 to Form 4.

I’ve lost count of the number of headlines asking Kenyans to “brace” themselves for this or the other – higher taxes, more flooding, a higher cost of living. This week, it's yet another Finance Bill, this one even more punitive and absurd than the last one; with higher taxes on bread...

Why do animals keep evolving into crabs? This is a real thing - crab-like forms are so evolutionarily favourable that they've evolved independently at least five times in nature, among animals that are technically not crabs.

Last week, we were back for the Baraza Media Lab’s second Africa Media Festival, which was held in the open front yard of the National Museum and tents in its gardens.