The Somalia Affair | 16

In July 1991 President George HW Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to the US Supreme Court. Initial reaction to the nomination suggested there would be a contentious Senate confirmation battle that would probe Thomas’s conservative views on issues such as abortion and affirmative ac ...  Show more

Snowboarding exploded in popularity during the 1990s, but its road to legitimacy was anything but smooth. On this episode of History of the 90s, Kathy Kenzora traces the rebellious roots of snowboarding, from outlaw status at ski hills to its mainstream breakthrough and eventual ...  Show more

The sailors held captive for years, and the man who managed to free them.Somali pirates made millions of dollars hijacking ships and holding their crews hostage, if no ransom was paid though, sailors could spend years languishing in captivity.When retired British Army Colonel Joh ...  Show more

In August, the U.S. Africa Command, aka AFRICOM, reported that it had killed 13 al-Shabaab fighters in southern Somalia. Though the U.S. government said that it did not kill any civilians this time around, several past airstrikes have claimed innocent lives. In one notable exa ...

Gunmen from the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab attacked a shopping centre in Nairobi taking hundreds hostage. The group claimed it was in retaliation for Kenyan military action against them in southern Somalia. The siege lasted four days in September 2013 and more than 60 people ...  Show more

Somalia is in a state of drought following four failed rainy seasons, and a fifth predicted, with aid agencies declaring the country is in a state of famine. Despite this, the government has yet to declare a famine, insisting that certain thresholds have yet to be met. Instead, S ...  Show more