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What makes a person cool? Global study has some answers

What makes a person cool? Global study has some answers

FROM Lagos to Cape Town, Santiago to Seoul, people want to be cool. “Cool” is a word we hear everywhere – in music, in fashion, on social media. We use it to describe certain types of people. But what exactly makes someone cool? Is it just about being popular or trendy? Or is there something deeper going on? In a recent study I conducted with other marketing professors, we set out to answer a simple but surprisingly unexplored question. What are the personality traits and values that make someone seem cool – and do they differ across cultures? We asked…
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Sea shells inspire creative enterprise on Kenya’s coast

Sea shells inspire creative enterprise on Kenya’s coast

IN a modest studio in Bofa, Kenya’s Kilifi County, workers clean and sort sea shells. Unfinished mirror frames sat on one table, while strands of shell earrings adorned another. There was no expensive machinery—only glue guns, sketchy sketches, and time. Pieces came together gradually, sometimes over the course of a few days. The work was systematic and labour-intensive. It may not have looked like much, but it has created jobs in unexpected ways. Kenya's coastline spans along the Indian Ocean, connecting historic settlements: Lamu, Mombasa, and Kilifi. For centuries, the region was part of the Indian Ocean trade routes that…
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Johannesburg’s creative hubs are booming: how artists are rejuvenating a failing inner city

Johannesburg’s creative hubs are booming: how artists are rejuvenating a failing inner city

JOHANNESBURG is weathering a storm of crises. Nowhere is its complex tangle of challenges more visible than in the inner city, where crime, overcrowding, and infrastructure collapse – such as roads literally exploding – paint a grim picture. Cultural institutions haven’t been spared either, with long-standing landmarks like the Johannesburg Art Gallery caught in cycles of neglect and crisis. Yet, while many avoid the inner city or speak only of its decline, the creative and cultural practitioners of Johannesburg never left. In fact, artists, architects, fashion designers, animators, musicians and the like have been hard at work. They’re building, dreaming…
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Chimamanda’s Lagos homecoming wasn’t just a book launch, it was a cultural moment

Chimamanda’s Lagos homecoming wasn’t just a book launch, it was a cultural moment

WHEN the announcement of Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi’s latest novel, Dream Count, was made, it was regarded as a major event in African literature. The internationally celebrated Nigerian writer had not published a novel in the past 12 years, and her long-awaited return stirred both anticipation and speculation. In the post-COVID context in which the book comes, so much has changed in the world. The first leg of her three-city homecoming book tour coincided with my stay in Lagos as a curatorial fellow at Guest Artist Space Foundation, dedicated to facilitating cultural exchange and supporting creative practices. After Lagos, Chimamanda took…
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bird Interview: In Conversation with Nigerian documentary filmmaker Joel Kachi on winning an Emmy, potential of virtual reality in storytelling, and more

bird Interview: In Conversation with Nigerian documentary filmmaker Joel Kachi on winning an Emmy, potential of virtual reality in storytelling, and more

NIGERIAN filmmaker Joel Kachi Benson won an Emmy Award last month in the documentary film category for "Madu," a coming-of-age story set in Nigeria. Benson is only the second African to win in his category after Trevor Noah’s 2014 win. Just weeks after Benson took home the Emmy, he won Best African Feature at the 2025 Encounters International Documentary Festival in South Africa for "Mothers of Chibok," a documentary film that returns to the Chibok community with a deeper lens, not just on grief, but on resilience, memory, and the long arc of healing. It is a follow-up to "Daughters…
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TikTok users in Ghana and Zimbabwe enjoy making fun of government – why it can have a downside

TikTok users in Ghana and Zimbabwe enjoy making fun of government – why it can have a downside

BROWSE the internet or turn on the global news, and chances are the coverage of Africa you find is about war, coups, displaced populations and disease. Generally, the West and its media are blamed for this negative, Afropessimistic portrayal of the continent. Africans have taken strategic steps to repair this negative narrative. An example is the Africa Rising campaign. It was launched in 2000 by a coalition of African activists and organisations. Its objective was to highlight the role of Africa in global development and encourage Africans at home and the diaspora to contribute positively. Social media platforms played a…
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bird Interview: In conversation with Sudanese filmmaker Yasir Faiz on storytelling, survival, and rebuilding from exile

bird Interview: In conversation with Sudanese filmmaker Yasir Faiz on storytelling, survival, and rebuilding from exile

WHEN the war in Sudan broke out in 2023, Yasir Faiz had already spent over a decade nurturing stories through the lens of journalism, film, and cultural activism. But as bullets tore through his Khartoum neighbourhood, he and his family were forced to flee, eventually making their way to Kenya. Now based in Nairobi, Faiz is rebuilding, personally and professionally. He is working on a new film, co-producing with Kenyan creatives, and imagining how displaced Sudanese artists can help shape a broader cultural ecosystem across Africa. For Faiz, filmmaking is not just an art form; it’s a tool for survival,…
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Detty December started as a Nigerian cultural moment. Now it’s spreading across the continent – and minting money

Detty December started as a Nigerian cultural moment. Now it’s spreading across the continent – and minting money

EVERY December in Nigeria and Ghana, a giant party takes place, unfolding in a whirlwind of concerts, festivals, weddings, art shows, dress-ups, meet-ups and travel. Locals and diaspora West Africans returning from overseas come together to create Detty December, a festive event stretching from mid-December to the new year. Detty is a playful term for “dirty” in the regional Pidgin language, and “Detty December” is a term commonly believed to have been coined by Afropop star Mr Eazi in 2016. It means letting loose and indulging in some fun and revelry. Major events headlined by local and international music stars…
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Feya Faku as I knew him – a tribute to the great South African jazz trumpeter

Feya Faku as I knew him – a tribute to the great South African jazz trumpeter

LEX Futshane, the South African bass player in the 1992 student band NU Jazz Connection, was the first to tell me that the great South African jazz trumpeter Feya Faku had died while touring Switzerland on 23 June. He was born on 6 June 1962 and was just 63 years old. Within a day of Feya’s passing, my wife Catherine Brubeck and I had heard from every member of the student band that I’d helped form, except the late Lulu Gontsana, of course. They expressed great sadness and praised not just his playing but also the man himself. https://www.youtube.com/embed/fhthU1zLz6U The…
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Netflix gives African film a platform – but the cultural price is high

Netflix gives African film a platform – but the cultural price is high

NETFLIX began its African operations in South Africa in 2016. When the US streaming giant announced it was setting up shop in Nigeria in 2020, many West African filmmakers, writers, artists and media audiences were jubilant. Finally, West Africa’s creativity and brilliance would be formally recognised on the world stage. Netflix Naija’s purpose was to produce local content for Netflix, just like Netflix South Africa and later Netflix Kenya. Some filmmakers have been wary of US cultural imperialism happening through the market dominance of Netflix and other US streamers. Others have rushed to the streamer to sign deals that will…
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