VODCAST 📣 Moonlight musings on markets and nationhood

In deference to the blood moon, Mark Barnes and Tim Cohen discuss some left-field topics this week. What does the

Tim Cohen Sep 11, 2025 1 min read

I.am.not.making.this.up💥Reset, not romance: Inside the GNU’s awkward peace

During a press presentation on Friday, MTN CEO Ralph Mupita made a brief comment, almost in passing, about the various

Tim Cohen Sep 6, 2025 6 min read

VODCAST 📣 Listen Up! Whistleblowers popping out like rivets

There is a new phase of truth-telling going on in South Africa, and in this podcast Mark Barnes and Tim

Tim Cohen Sep 3, 2025 1 min read

I.am.not.making.this.up💥 From pints to populism: how immigration has rewired Europe

There is an old saying that we travel to learn how ignorant we are. We move through life at home

Tim Cohen Aug 29, 2025 9 min read

From reluctance to embrace: Rethinking Starlink in SA

There has been an ongoing debate about whether South Africa should bend its BEE rules to allow Elon Musk-controlled Starlink

Tim Cohen Aug 26, 2025 4 min read

VODCAST 📣 Delivering your bribe in a bling bag … and other national travails

It’s never great to be in a position where you feel you have to refuse a bribe, but should

Tim Cohen Aug 16, 2025 1 min read

Where did the ‘WakaWaka’ millions go?

Members of the South African band Freshlyground are campaigning to find out what is happening to the millions of rands

Tim Cohen Aug 13, 2025 5 min read

Currency 🤑 Boxed in: Lessons for Pretoria and Africa from Trump’s tariff uppercut

When I was at school, I was involved in exactly one fight. As often happens at schools, there was a

Tim Cohen Aug 1, 2025 7 min read

I.am.not.making.this.up 💥Smoke and Mirrors: The glamour, the grift, and the smoky lies we tell ourselves

When I smoked, I was always somehow convinced that the act of smoking made me seem more attractive. When people

Tim Cohen Jul 27, 2025 8 min read

PODCAST 📣 Listen Up! Is South Africa disintegrating, and would a kiss cam help?

The news of the past week has been worrying, from the crisis in the police, to more news about the

Tim Cohen Jul 22, 2025 1 min read

I.am.not.making.this.up💥 To boldly distort what no one has distorted before

One of the great things about science fiction is that it has a kind of built-in philosophical sandbox. You can

Tim Cohen Jul 19, 2025 7 min read

Listen Up! 📣 Mchunu’s unusual leave of absence, and SA’s politics as usual

How does the suspension of SA’s Police Minister Senzo Mchunu change South Africa’s political dynamic? Would you believe

Tim Cohen Jul 16, 2025