In this episode, we turn our gaze to one of Africa’s most powerful literary voices, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and her book Dream Count.
This moving work follows four African women — Chia, Omelogor, Zikora, and Kadiatou — each navigating love, ambition, migration, and the harsh weight of injustice. Their stories intertwine into a tapestry of sisterhood, solidarity, and survival.
Adichie herself has said: “Women are socialized with the aim of rivaling and hating one another. That is why, when their relationships are sincere and deep, they resemble acts of courage, of resistance. Revolutionary acts.”
Join us as we explore these revolutionary acts of friendship, and the dreams that sustain — and sometimes betray — the women who carry them.
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[Spoiler Alert: This content contains major plot details from the book]
00:00 Intro
01:26 Book Intro and synopsis
08:30 The Author
11:55 Background & motivation for writing the book
18:16 The main themes
20:58 The “African woman’s voice”
22:05 Sisterhood
23:46 Love and partnership
26:30 Motherhood
37:11 Physical pain that women endure and that is ‘taken for granted’
42:45 Sexual violence and justice for women
48:39 To be an African
51:51 Musings around the question of slavery
56:40 Outro
