In 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American to publish a collection of poems. Jade Cuttle looks at the way her poems were described and asks what do we categorise as nature writing? Her essay considers the idea of "coining" and the work of a new generation of poet ...Show more
Workplace performance
What connects actors with baristas? In 1983, the American sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild published a book called The Managed Heart which studied the working world of airline stewards. Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal’s essay considers what it means when a waiter smiles as they serve ...Show more
How is a new cuisine created? Ruth Alexander explores two unique cuisines in South Africa and the USA: ‘Cape-Malay’- a 300-year old tradition born out of colonialism and slavery that unites Indonesian and Dutch tastes; and ‘Viet-Cajun’ - a more recent phenomenon that has seen the ...Show more
Anthony Bourdain visits the Johannesburg suburb of Hillbrow and spends a day in the life of a taxi driver, discovering the culture and, of course food, that makes up modern day Johannesburg. Original airdate: 2013, Season 2 To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, v ...Show more
Cooking a meal is often compared to creating a work of art. From the recipes that inspire you, to your palette of spices, to the smells and tastes that stir up emotions, all of it comes together on an edible canvas as an expression of the inner self. It’s no wonder so many cultur ...Show more
‘I am African first’: Exploring race and identity for South Africans of Indian descent. Karnie Sharp has spent years discussing the complex crisis of identity that many feel in modern South Africa. In the wake of rising tensions between communities, and vitriolic statements from ...Show more