Honestly, there is a podcast for everyone! And for the book lovers who also love to talk about literature, today we introduce you to 100 on Books.
The podcast was started by Nyambura ‘Mike’ Mutanyi who loved (and still does) talking about literature in all its glory. Initially, Nyambura had the desire to find discussions on African books in existing podcasts that focused on literature. But the (book) podcast landscape at the time was focused on western literature, especially books authored by Americans. Nyambura shares, “I love documentation and archival practices and I’m always looking to incorporate writing from Africa and its diasporas into digital conversations.”
100 on Books follows in the footsteps of 2 Girls & A Pod (2015-2019), a podcast Nyambura cohosted which focused on African stories.
Using resources available, Nyambura recorded the first episodes of 100 on Books under a duvet – a technique known by radio journalists reporting from the field. The first episode came out in 2020, before Nyambura took an extended break.
In 2021, the podcast was relaunched as part of the Dada Podcast Incubator, the world’s first podcast incubator focused on women and non-binary folk. “The incubator marks the second season, and there are six episodes so far. The goal is to release a new episode every second Wednesday.” This relaunch made Nyambura switch from producing the podcast in a hobbyist style to a more professional format.
One episode that has been well received by the podcast listeners is the first episode of Season 2, featuring book lover and community builder, Wendy Njoroge. On this episode, Wendy shares her work curating literary events, what makes a literary event great, and accessing African literature.
And more episodes are in the works. “I am looking forward to having more conversations about the African literary landscape, including conversations on language, prizes, short stories, and cross-continental literary production, to name a few.”
Nyambura is a Nairobi-based multidisciplinary artist, citizen archivist and communications maven. Nyambura’s work includes Radio Kikuyu, the podcasts: 2 Girls & A Pod and Corpus, 100 on Books, and writing on art, culture & social issues in various outlets.
Now, we’ve probably given you the 80 on this podcast, but you can get to know the 100 on books here.