Lateral Humanities Podcast

What if African mythology was a sophisticated system for preserving law, philosophy, science, governance, and historical memory?
In this episode of The Lateral Humanities Podcast, I sexplore with Chinenye Egbuna Ikwuemesi, Nigerian-British author, researcher, and founder of the Afrodeities Institute, how African civilizations developed and transmitted knowledge across generations, and why these traditions continue to be misunderstood today. Drawing on her research into African mythology, writing systems, and civilizational memory, Chinenye challenges the widespread assumption that Africa possessed only oral traditions. Together, we discuss African scripts such as Nsibidi, Ge'ez, Vai, Meroitic, Tifinagh, and Ajami, the relationship between orality and writing, and how colonial narratives shaped contemporary understandings of African intellectual history.
The conversation also turns toward the future. As artificial intelligence increasingly mediates how knowledge is produced and accessed, what happens when AI inherits incomplete or biased histories? How can African knowledge systems become part of the datasets that shape tomorrow's technologies?
This episode invites listeners to rethink what counts as knowledge, how civilizations preserve memory, and why recovering African intellectual traditions matters not only for history, but also for the future of the humanities and AI.
About the Guest
Chinenye Egbuna Ikwuemesi is a Nigerian-British author, independent researcher, and public speaker whose work explores African mythology, civilizational knowledge systems, intellectual history, and the politics of knowledge production. She is the Founder and Director of the Afrodeities Institute, an organization dedicated to researching, teaching, and promoting African intellectual and mythological traditions. Her work argues that mythology functions not merely as folklore, but as a sophisticated operating system through which African societies transmitted governance, philosophy, law, medicine, ecological knowledge, and historical memory across generations. She is also the creator of The Bridgeworks, a civilizational framework that maps the infrastructures through which African knowledge has been preserved and transmitted, connecting mythology, oral traditions, writing systems, music, ritual, and historical archives.
Her research has been deposited on the Open Science Framework (OSF/SocArXiv) under ORCID: 0009-0000-8538-8347, and she has presented her work internationally, including at NFEAP (Oslo), NATE (Manchester), and upcoming conferences hosted by ASALH and ASAUK.
Selected Publications
Nigerian Mythology: The Shadow Sky
Meet the Orisas
The Girl Who Climbed the Tree
Coming Soon
Cross the Afromantasy Bridge
Learn More
Websitehttps://chinenye.co.uk
African Mythologyhttps://africanmythology.com
Nigerian Mythologyhttps://nigerianmythology.com
Afrodeities Institutehttps://afrodeities.org
https://afrodeitiesinstitute.org
OSF Research Hubhttps://osf.io/hej6n
LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/chinenye-ikwuemesi/
Music: 
KAROL BEFFA: Blow-up, pour quatuor de vents et piano (2008).
Jaamu Africa by Ismael LO
Vintage Intro by Dilukshan Mahendra
Production
Recorded and produced by Malick LO
Podcast Logo Design: Lulu Heffernan
Connect with The Lateral Humanities Podcast
Linktreehttps://linktr.ee/lateralhumanitiespodcast
Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/lateralhumanitiespodcast

In this inaugural episode of the Lateral Humanities Podcast at the University of Colorado Boulder, Malick LO interviews Professor Emerita Mildred Mortimer about her decades-long engagement with Francophone literatures. The episode traces Mortimer’s intellectual journey, her work on women’s writing and the Algerian War, the role of literature as counter‑archive, encounters with memory and trauma, translation challenges, and the importance of teaching and mentorship. Particular attention is given to her book, Women Fight, Women Write: Texts on the Algerian War (University of Virginia Press, 2018) which offers a critical re-evaluation of women’s roles in the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962).
Selected Readings
Mortimer, Mildred P. Journeys Through the French African Novel. Heinemann; J. Currey, 1990.
Mortimer, Mildred P. Maghrebian Mosaic: A Literature in Transition. L. Rienner, 2001.
Mortimer, Mildred P. Women Fight, Women Write: Texts on the Algerian War. University of Virginia Press, 2018.
Mortimer, Mildred P. Writing from the Hearth: Public, Domestic, and Imaginative Space in Francophone Women's Fiction of Africa and the Caribbean. Lexington Books, 2007.
Bâ, Mariama. Une Si Longue Lettre. Nouvelles éditions africaines, 1980.
Cassin, Barbara, et al. Dictionary of Untranslatables: A Philosophical Lexicon. Princeton University Press, 2014.
Visual and Documentary References
Assia Djebar, La Nouba des femmes du Mont Chenoua
Fatima Sissani, documentary works on memory and women’s narratives
Nassima Guessoum, documentary works on Algerian women’s testimonies
Audio Credits
Blow Up by  Karol Beffa
Source: KAROL BEFFA: Blow-up, pour quatuor de vents et piano (2008).
Les mots du récit by Felwine Sarr
Source: Les mots du récit
Jaamu Africa by Ismael LO
Source: Jaamu Africa
Production
Recorded and produced by Malick LO
Podcast Logo Design: Lulu Heffernan