Hello Fellow Travellers! This is for the listeners who are interested in origin stories. When I was still toying with the idea of starting a podcast, I decided to first do some test recordings before committing to producing one. This post is one of the first recordings I created. The first, ever, tested topic was actually the Lydenburg Heads. However, I struggled to produce a complete pseudo-episode on that topic. So, this is officially the first; complete with an intro, body and conclusion.

It’s amateurish and raw. As you will hear, at the time of recording it, I hadn’t yet figured out the complete title of the podcast. I also used my cellphone mic to record it. Despite all of that, I believe this recording is where the essence of the podcast was established, and where the skeleton of the final Iziko Slave Lodge episode was conceived.

Tell me, can you hear any progress between this original test recording and latest podcast episodes?

Disclaimer: Slavery in South Africa did not strictly in occur in the Cape. As the voortrekkers trekked into the interior of the country, they continued the practice of slavery. Between 1834 and the 1850s, they kidnapped African children to perform “cheap, captive labour” (Reader’s Digest, 1992:146) for them. Those enslaved children were referred to as “Inboekselings” (“captured African juveniles”). However, they didn’t consider it as slavery because “to them, a slave was someone who was sold into permanent bondage at a public auction for cash”. “Inboekselings were welcomed additions to the Boer household, performing a variety of activities. Some were used as herdsmen … and the builders of Boer houses”

Enjoy!