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Radio War Nerd #299 — The Zanzibar Revolution (Patreon)

Published:
2021-10-19 01:32:29
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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Content

Recorded: October 12, 2021

The Nobel Prize for Lit just went to a Zanzibar-born writer, Abdulrazak Gurnah. Not exactly Africa's most exciting writer, but the occasion called for an episode on the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution, which for a few months that year created a Cold War freakout in Washington and made Zanzibar the center of the world.

First: The Nerd discusses Italy's anti-vaccine passport protests...

At 18:09 - The Zanzibar Revolution...

Images:

*Zanzibar map

*"Field Marshal" John Okello

*Babu with Malcolm X, 1964

*Massacred Arabs of Zanzibar

*Last Sultan of Zanzibar (fled in 1964)

*Zanzibar slave market in 19th-century sultanate

*Political Cartoon, Chicago Sun-Times

Books & articles:

Revolution In Zanzibar: An American's Cold War Tale, by Don Petterson

(on Frank Carlucci) "Escape From America: The Strange & Scary Billionaires Behind the Libertarian Sea Castles" by Mark Ames

Total time: 1:43:15

Direct link to this episode's mp3 here 

Files

Comments

JBS

I do believe that Mr. Brecher’s point about aircraft carriers being giant targets is instructive with regard to these floating castles.

Nicknimh

this mfer said "vaygan"

xnfec

Good stuff. Interestingly, Zanzibar was briefly German. They swapped it for Heligoland (which controlled the entrance to the Kiel Canal and the weird strip that run from Namibia to the Zambezi river. Freddy Mercury was from Zanzibar. I don't know if his family fled in 1964 though.

Jacob Williams

the bit about the bows and arrows was interesting.

Olen Koira

who's the author that hates Maugham's dialogue ? Nybol?

Eben Mudede

1:00.25 is when they get to Zanzibar

Olen Koira

after reading most of Somerset Maugham's Wikipedia i figured out it's V S Naipaul

SammyG

Love you guys so much every time i get a notification that you’ve posted a new show it makes my day 👍😄

cstenzy

Wiki says his family did flee in '64, his father worked in the colonial office (and then for the sultan's govt too iirc) so I imagine they weren't feeling too safe despite being Parsi

Dave Dolle

This was great. Enlightening me about a time and place. Then, helping me understand the same actions are repeated by ruling powers now. This is why I listen to War Nerd.

Jimmy B

Can’t wait for that proposed Cyprus episode

jkjkjkj

You guys should have a guest on to discuss the situation in West Papua

Ryan Hoover

Pls list some good African novels

Mark Ames

I'd say start with "Patriots" by Sousa Jamba, unjustly difficult to find but worth it. We talked about it and a few other central Africa novels in EP 89. Lot of great Nigerian writers that we've also talked about -- Tutuola, Achebe...

radiowarnerd

Thanks! Yeah, that's what we were hoping to do with this one. Along with telling a weird, interesting story.

jkjkjkj

I would suggest Veronica Koman or Victor Mambor, both do a good job covering west Papua (tho I don’t think they do much on PNG)

Enoch

Gotta defend my boy Chekhov. No one learns anything is the whole point of The Cherry Orchard. It's all about a servile new bourgeois trying so hard to save an utterly feckless landowner class who refuse to be saved. Eventually he has no choice but to supplant them and destroy their beloved home. You know, a comedy!

Ander Pierce

Lmao as a millennial who wasn't alive when the Zanzibar revolution was happening, your reporting of American News and War Report's reporting of the revolution had me chortling

Mark Ames

Chekhov himself isn't so much the problem, as is the Chekhov of the Anglo literary beigeocracy. Chekhov's written some great stories -- Vanka Zhukov had me bawling my eyeballs out pounding my head on the desk -- but The Enemy has made Chekhov their own, and it's invariably a bad sign when you see his name dropped in Anglo world lit.

Crosley Querin

As far as the Italian riots - it's interesting that the Melbourne Australia riots last month kicked off by Anti-vax rioters attacking a union office. I think these are certainly connected.

Biwa-Boku-Boku

Love when you guys talk more about African Wars, still hoping we will get an episode on First Congo War. I was wondering if there are any good books on it, seems there is one by Gerard Prunier I think. Also is there a way to get old letters, trying to read the one Dr. Dolan wrote on Rwanda as there's been a lot of controversy these last few years with the recent book pushing the double genocide theory

online Leftist Archive Project (LARP)

Another Civil War banger!! Awesome work guys, love it, keep these coming please!! In my fantasy world I've always had Mark write a book called American Glasnost, now I know what John would write: a book on betrayal of the Union cause in these early weeks of the Civil War. Speaking of things disappearing into the void, I couldn't find Mark's piece on Pando.com about Peter Pomerantsev, since it appears that Pando is defunct. Does anyone know where I can find it?

online Leftist Archive Project (LARP)

Great piece. Incidentally I wonder if anyone's ever done a study on the deathcount under Yeltsin's economic policies. You know, since Anne Applebaum, Robert Conquest et al love being like "Stalin killed 80 trillion people so don't even think about getting Medicare for All"