E-hailing and e-delivery platforms have expanded in the Global South by promising entrepreneurship and freedom to drivers. But over time, the companies' search for profit has forced drivers to accept harsher and harsher conditions, often leaving them worse off than when they started. 

This episode features Fikile Masikane and riffs off a study she conducted with Edward Webster on food courier riders in Africa. The show offers a bleaker picture than gig economy tech companies have sought to propose. It explains how most drivers hail from the migrant or poorest populations, and their precarious condition makes them vulnerable to platforms' demands. 

Click here to learn more about the work done at the Wits Southern Centre for Inequality Studies.

Produced by Andile Masuku and Iginio Gagliardone. Co-produced by Brendan "Spike" Ballantine. Written by Andile Masuku. Recording, editing, sound design and mixing by Brendan "Spike" Ballantine. Voice acting by Nkululeko Sibiya.

Conspiracy theories have been widely debated throughout history. But the rise of social media, the global conversation created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and enhanced technical capabilities to study them in near real-time have made them increasingly present in public debates.

This episode, featuring Samuel Olaniran and Iginio Gagliardone, offers an original take on conspiracy theories. It does not presume them to be the societal plague they are often framed as being. Without supporting or leaning into conspiratorial claims, we discuss how conspiracy theories might be a way to speak back to power and a handy means of making sense of the social world.

Click here to learn more about the work done at the Wits Department of Media Studies.

Produced by Andile Masuku and Iginio Gagliardone. Co-produced by Brendan "Spike" Ballantine. Written by Andile Masuku. Recording, editing, sound design and mixing by Brendan "Spike" Ballantine. Voice acting by Nkululeko Sibiya and Damilola Oladokun.

Is touch perceived differently across societies? How has COVID-19 changed the perception of proximity in different parts of the world?

The opening episode of the series, featuring Sahba Besharati and Victoria Williams, connects the humanities and the neurosciences to show how a greater understanding of localized experiences can strengthen, rather than challenge, universal principles. Most of the world is not 'WEIRD' (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic), but most research in fields like psychology and neuroscience is conducted in WEIRD contexts. Until recently, this research implicitly sought to apply to just everyone on the planet. This principle is increasingly being challenged. In some cases, this requires radical revisions of existing theories. Others, including some discussed in this episode, can lead to those theories being more inclusive.

Click here to learn more about the work done at the Wits Neuroscience Research Lab.

Studies referenced in this episode:

1. Kirsch, L. P., Besharati, S., Papadaki, C., Crucianelli, L., Bertagnoli, S., Ward, N., ... & Fotopoulou, A. (2020). Damage to the right insula disrupts the perception of affective touch. Elife, 9, e47895.
2. Jenkinson, P. M., Papadaki, C., Besharati, S., Moro, V., Gobbetto, V., Crucianelli, L., ... & Fotopoulou, A. (2020). Welcoming back my arm: affective touch increases body ownership following right-hemisphere stroke. Brain communications, 2(1), fcaa034.

Produced by Andile Masuku and Iginio Gagliardone. Co-produced by Brendan "Spike" Ballantine. Written by Andile Masuku. Recording, editing, sound design and mixing by Brendan "Spike" Ballantine.