June 25, 2010
Ntone Edjabe is the founder and editor of Chimurenga, a provocative South African literary magazine. Born in Cameroon, he arrived in South Africa in the early 1990s, just as apartheid was ending. He tells Kurt about Kwaito, a style of music that became popular after desegregation, and how it's starting to influence the nation's literature.
At 55, the white Jewish artist William Kentridge has a complicated relationship with apartheid. His film, "Ubu Tells the Truth," depicts atrocities committed by the South African security police in a surreal style. Kentridge aims to find "the narrow band between remembering and forgetting" that allows South Africans to deal with the past. Produced by Kara Oehler.
Few authors who write in Afrikaans are read as widely outside South Africa than Marlene Van Niekerk. Her challenging novel Agaat, about the complex and bitter relationship of a black and a white woman running a farm, has earned her the endorsement of Toni Morrison. Van Niekerk explains how moral ambiguities pervade everything about South Africa.
The author tells Kurt why South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup is a scandal.
Artist Zwelethu Mthethwa photographs destitute South Africans living and working on the outskirts of cities, yet his pictures — and life — tell a story of dignity rather than tragedy. Produced by Sarah Lilley.
Darci Kistler was only 15 years old when she started dancing at the School of American Ballet, and she was the last protégé of the legendary George Balanchine. That was almost 30 years ago, and this weekend marks Kistler's final performance with the New York City Ballet.
It's been a year since the death of the King of Pop. Singer-songwriter Judith Hill was hired to perform with Michael Jackson on his never-realized tour. She could make a career in Jackson's shadow, but she's ready to step out on her own. Produced by Lisa Katayama.
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