Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre are the founders of Afropop Worldwide, a Peabody Award winning radio show about African music. This year, they’re celebrating 30 years of sharing some of the best African and African-inspired music in the world. The beauty of their show is not only in enticing their audiences with fresh, joyful music, but also in providing a rich cultural, historical, and political context and education. The show creates a potent atmosphere filled with magic and joy that is likely to open the heart of the listener.
In this episode you’ll hear Sean and Banning talk about how they set out on a life-long adventure of tracking down epic African music, then exuberantly sharing it with the world through their show. You’ll also hear them reminisce about some of their favorite African artists, including several they developed close relationships with over decades, like Thomas Mapfumo and Johnny Clegg. You’ll hear never before released tracks from Mapfumo and Clegg, as well as Ali Farka Touré and others. These recordings, going back as far as 1987, were pulled just for this show from the massive Afropop archive.
Immerse yourself in the sounds and stories that caused Sean and Banning to build a lively, kaleidoscopic community and platform that many people hold very dear to their hearts.
To learn more, visit afropop.org and listen to the Afropop Worldwide podcast here
Banning’s book, Lion Songs: Thomas Mapfumo and the Music That Made Zimbabwe
To watch the YouTube video of Johnny Clegg dancing, click here

Transcript
Rosemary Pritzker:        You’re listening to A Show of Hearts, the podcast about finding the courage to live a deep and magical life. I’m your host, Life Coach, Rosemary Pritzker.
Rosemary Pritzker:        (singing)
Rosemary Pritzker:        Hi everyone. Welcome. Today I have two super awesome guests who I can’t wait to share with you. Shawn Barlow and Banning Eyre are the founders of Afropop Worldwide, a Peabody Award winning radio show about African music. This year, they’re celebrating 30 years of sharing some of the best African and African inspired music in the world. The beauty of their show is not only in enticing their audiences with fresh, joyful music, but also in providing a rich cultural, historical and political context and education. Sean and Banning met at Wesleyan where they both discovered their fervent passion for World Music.
Rosemary Pritzker:        In this episode, you’ll hear about how that led to immersing themselves in the cultures of countless African countries, falling in love with each distinct style of music, then exuberantly sharing it with the world through their show. I was introduced to their work in 2005 when I attended the Afropop Awards Gala. I was blown away by the vibrant community they created around African music, and honored to be in the same room with such musical legends as Youssou N’Dour and Angélique Kidjo. The potent atmosphere was filled with magic and joy, and it opened my heart. Shawn, Banning and Afropop have since become an important part of my life that stoked my enthusiasm for African music while we cultivated our friendship based on shared passion. We’ve spent a great deal of time together at shows all over New York City in Brooklyn, and at one point I even joined the board of Afropop.
Rosemary Pritzker:        When I was interviewing them, Sean joked that I’m probably their most enthusiastic supporter.