During the 1980s and 1990s, DJ Andy Kershaw travelled around Africa and the Americas searching out great music and taping it on his Walkman Pro, a new broadcast-quality cassette recorder that was bringing about a revolution in mobile recording. He also used it to capture his celebrated Kitchen Sessions, held in his small flat in Crouch End.

In this episode, Andy meets Kenyan harpist Ayub Ogada on a beach in Cornwall, the Antioch Gospel group in a car park in New Orleans, Cuarteto Iglesias on a roof top in Cuba and a young Ballake Sissoko next to the railway tracks in Bamako, Mali. On his very first day recording with his Walkman Pro, Andy visits the Edale Bluegrass Festival then travels to Leeds to record a rare performance from guitarist Mark Knopfler in a pub with his early group The Duolian String Pickers. Back in Andy’s kitchen Louisiana comes to Crouch End with sessions from blues man Lazy Lester and Cajun stars DL Menard, Eddie LeJeune and Ken Smith. Plus we pay another visit to Wilkinson's HiFi in Nelson to find out just why the compact cassette format is so enduring and well loved.

Producer: Martin Webb

The First Congress of Black Writers and Artists in Paris 1956 staged debates about colonial history which are still playing out in the protests of the Gilets Noirs. New Generation Thinker Alexandra Reza leafs through the pages of the journal Présence Africaine, and picks out a short story by Ousmane Sembène tracing the dreams of a young woman from Senegal. Her experiences are echoed in a new experimental patchwork of writing by Nathalie Quintane called Les enfants vont bien. And what links all of these examples is the idea of papers, cahiers and identity documents.

Producer: Emma Wallace

Alexandra Reza researches post-colonial literature at the University of Oxford. You can hear her in a Free Thinking discussion about Aimé Césaire https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000nmxf She also appears alongside Tariq Ali and Kehindre Andrews in a discussion Frantz Fanon's Writing https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000tdtn And in last week's Free Thinking episode looking at the fiction of Maryse Condé https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000v86y She is a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Council to select academics to turn their research into radio.

Sudan has recorded only 32,000 cases of coronavirus infections and just 2,300 Covid-19 related deaths so far. It is also rolling out vaccines. But the numbers are thought to be much higher and host Nuala McGovern hears from three women living in the capital, Khartoum, about how their experiences of family and friends dying differs greatly from the official Covid-19 figures. We also return to intensive care units in the UK, US and South Africa to hear from the specialist doctors who are responsible for patients on ventilators and pain management.

All over the world, frontline workers have paid the ultimate price during the pandemic. But in Kenya the story of one young doctor’s heroism has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. 28-year old Stephen Mogusu died from Covid 19 in December after working on an isolation ward and complaining he lacked adequate protective clothing. Despite his vital service, he hadn’t been paid for five months. Stephen’s tragedy exposes a wider malaise in Kenya’s health system: A corruption scandal involving overpriced masks, aprons and other protective clothing. Meanwhile, across the country, a series of on-off strikes have disrupted care, as doctors, nurses and clinicians made sporadic protests against mismanagement and a devolved power structure they say is dysfunctional. As Kenya continues to battle against the virus, Lucy Ash finds out what’s ailing Kenya’s healthcare system.

Produced by Michael Gallagher. Editor, Bridget Harney

Harriet Ware-Austin grew up between the UK and Ethiopia where her father worked. It was a unique and wonderful upbringing but that all changed suddenly in April 1972 when East African Airways Flight 720 departed from Addis Ababa airport en route to England. On board were Harriet’s two older sisters who were travelling back to the UK for school. Harriet and her parents waved them goodbye from a viewing platform and watched the aeroplane taxi down the runway and briefly lift off. Tragedy struck when very soon afterwards the plane crashed down resulting in the deaths of 43 people including both of Harriet’s sisters, Jane aged fourteen and Caroline who was twelve.

The family moved back to the UK and had to adapt to the silence of life without the two girls and the reluctance in society to talk openly about death and grief. The transition was a “horrible shock” and Harriet felt she had a responsibility to compensate for the loss of her siblings and to avoid making any trouble for her parents.

This event has had a profound effect on Harriet’s life and the decisions she has made since. Now a human rights consultant, Harriet has recently decided to try and track down survivors and other relatives of the crash victims to find out how the course of their lives were also changed in that moment.

Is there an extraordinary turning point in your life that you’d like to share? You can contact the programme at Lifechanging@bbc.co.uk

Despite the myths and fear which surround leprosy it can be treated and prevented with a short course of antibiotics. The disease is spread by a bacteria which is easily killed with these drugs. Although this stops the virus spreading it doesn’t help those who have been disfigured by the parasite, they are still viewed negatively even though they are no longer infectious. As Seydina Alioune Djigo reports, Senegal has embarked on a campaign to both treat Leprosy with drugs and educate more widely on the condition. They have also removed restrictions on those banished to former leper colonies. Also if you died would you donate your eyes to help some else see? Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha reports from Nigeria on an eye banking project there, which uses donated eyes to restore the sight of people affected by corneal blindness. However as with many forms of organ donation the practice is not widely accepted yet. Presented by Priscilla Ngethe.

More than a century after its brutal colonisation of Namibia, including what it now accepts was the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples, Germany is negotiating with the country’s government to heal the wounds of the past. The eventual deal may set a precedent for what other nations expect from former colonisers. But how do you make up for the destruction of entire societies? Germany has agreed to apologise - but Namibia also wants some form of material compensation. What should that be, and who should benefit? Namibians are now divided about how the talks are being conducted - and some in the country’s German-speaking minority, descendants of the original colonists, question the very idea of compensation. Tim Whewell travels to Namibia to ask how far full reconciliation - with Germany, and within the country - is possible.

Producer and presenter: Tim Whewell Editor: Bridget Harney

(Image: Laidlaw Peringanda at the Swakopmund Genocide Memorial. Credit: Tim Whewell/BBC)

More than a century after its brutal colonisation of Namibia, including what it now accepts was the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples, Germany is negotiating with the country’s government to heal the wounds of the past. The eventual deal may set a precedent for what other nations expect from former colonisers. But how do you make up for the destruction of entire societies? Germany has agreed to apologise - but Namibia also wants some form of material compensation. What should that be, and who should benefit? Namibians are now divided about how the talks are being conducted - and some in the country’s German-speaking minority, descendants of the original colonists, question the very idea of compensation. Tim Whewell travels to Namibia to ask how far full reconciliation - with Germany, and within the country - is possible.

Produced and presented by Tim Whewell Editor, Bridget Harney

The coronavirus has changed almost everyone’s lives and for some losing their jobs has led to homelessness. Edward in the United States had to sleep in the New York subway and train stations before finding help from a mission, while Walter spent five months homeless in South Africa - even for a stint, on the famous Table Mountain. Host Nuala McGovern also hears how families in Rome are approaching the renewed restrictions. Nuala also considers the future workplace and how the pandemic has been good for robots.

In Senegal there are a range of measures to help people living with disabilities enter the workforce, however overcoming attitudes is still a major issue. And we look at the impact of shoes on our physical health, it’s not just feet but bones and joints in the legs and spine that can be affected by our footwear. With Khadidiatou Cisse, Saida Swaleh and Priscilla Ngethe.

Jahawi is an underwater camera operator who is passionate about preserving the coastline of Kenya, his home country. The ocean is home to a whole host of marine wildlife, but one species here is particularly under threat: dolphins. This fun and curious mammal is facing a number of issues, as their habitat is being destroyed and the fish they eat are being depleted.

There is also significant human activity on this coastline, which is damaging the marine life. However, Lamu has stood the test of time and is a marine sanctuary for them, with a new port being built and things about to change. Working with the Kenyan Marine Mammal Network, Jahawi is hoping to get the area protected as a marine reserve before it’s too late.

It doesn’t take long for Jahawi to find the resident bottle-nosed dolphins as they enjoy swimming at the bow of the boat, and he soon gets into the water with the dolphins to get a closer look at these magnificent creatures. One species of dolphin he is hoping to find and film is the rare humpback dolphin.

At dusk on a warm evening in 2016, two men arrive, unexpectedly, at a remote South African farmhouse. The frenzy that follows will come to haunt a community, destroying families, turning neighbours into traitors, prompting street protests, threats of violence, and dividing the small farming and tourist town of Parys along racial lines. Blood Lands is a murder investigation, a political drama, a courtroom thriller, and a profound exploration of the enduring tensions threatening the “rainbow nation". Over the course of three years, correspondent Andrew Harding has followed every twist of the police’s hunt for the killers, the betrayals that opened the door to an explosive trial, and the fortunes of all those involved – from the dead men’s families to the handful of men controversially selected for prosecution.

Presenter, Andrew Harding Producer, Becky Lipscombe Editor, Bridget Harney

On the spacecraft Voyager, hurtling through deep space sits a golden record, filled with the music of planet earth.

It is a cultural gift for unknown extraterrestrial life forms. If an alien species discovers this unique double LP, they'll be greeted by the singing of the Mbuti people of the Congo recorded by the anthropologist Colin Turnbull.

Matthew Syed examines Turnbull's seemingly utopian experiences in the forest with the Mbuti and contrasts them with his utterly bleak account of the Ik people of Uganda. The Ik were, according to Turnbull, a "loveless" people devoid of culture, brutal and totally uncaring. He labelled them "the most selfish people on earth".

Turnbull argued that the Ik offered a stark warning to westerners. This allegedly nightmarish society was, according to Turnbull, the way the west was headed.

Matthew hears from Turnbull's critics who say he misunderstood the Ik and uses Turnbull's work to ask a profound question - is mankind fundamentally rotten and selfish at the core, or do kindness and compassion lie at the beating heart of human society?

Producer: Mike Martinez

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2021.

New Generation Thinker Dr Islam Issa has a strong cultural attachment to the balcony. In his native Egypt, the place where architectural historians believe the balcony was first developed, the balcony is a pivotal part of family homes, a place that blurs the line between private and public living. He recalls it being a place that linked communities and allowed an external life without the risks of life in the open streets.

When he saw Italians singing from their balconies during the early weeks of the Covid pandemic he was reminded that they have many other roles in political, cultural and literary settings. With the help of Egyptian film-maker and photographer Alia Aidel and Shakespeare scholar Reverend Paul Edmondson, Islam explores the use of balconies from Romeo and Juliet to Buckingham Palace and reflects on his own upbringing in which he learned to look up and in to the family balcony and yet as he matured, realised he thought of it principally as a place to look out and down.

Producer: Tom Alban

All over the world, frontline health workers have paid the ultimate price during the coronavirus pandemic. But in Kenya the story of one young doctor’s heroism has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Twenty eight year-old Stephen Mogusu died from Covid 19 in December 2020, after working on an isolation ward and complaining that he lacked adequate protective clothing. Despite his vital service, he hadn’t been paid a salary for five months. Stephen’s tragedy also exposes a wider malaise in Kenya’s health provision: A corruption scandal involving overpriced masks, aprons and other protective clothing. Meanwhile, across the country, a series of on-off strikes have disrupted care, as doctors, nurses and clinicians have made sporadic protests against alleged mismanagement and a devolved power structure they say is dysfunctional. For Assignment, Lucy Ash finds out what’s ailing Kenya’s healthcare system.

Producer: Michael Gallagher Editor: Bridget Harney

(Image: Healthcare workers light candles next to a photograph of Doctor Stephen Mogusu. Credit: Dennis Sigwe/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)