In an exclusive interview, singer and activist Billy Bragg talks about making music with meaning, Marx, refusing to give in to Boris Johnson – and passion on an Italian volcano.
Charles Leonard 1 July 2022
To celebrate his beloved continent, Charles Leonard has picked 25 of his favourite African songs – stone-cold classics, fresh discoveries and hidden gems.
Charles Leonard 25 May 2022
Unemployment in South Africa is soaring and many are forced to take any job they can get. Our 100th episode focuses on casual workers, who have the most precarious jobs.
Charles Leonard 29 April 2022
The struggle continues for Cape West Coast small-scale fishers after their court victory against seismic blasting. And, why is Yemen’s bloody seven-year-long war largely forgotten?
jason 18 March 2022
We visit Gatvol, where Christmas is set to be bleak. As in many places, politicians’ promises to shack dwellers have come to nothing. Also, our best and our bloopers of 2021.
jason 17 December 2021
South Africa has much unfinished business. A security cop’s book lifts the lid on unpunished apartheid crimes and we rediscover the role Prophets of Da City played in the cultural revolution.
jason 10 December 2021
Despite the promises made in the Constitution, South Africa’s farm workers still cannot gain any ground. That is why land matters, lawyer and author Tembeka Ngcukaitobi explains.
jason 26 November 2021
Even with enough food, South Africa still has a high level of food insecurity. We talk to people who are fixing the problem. Also, historian Tom Lodge assesses the SACP’s influence.
jason 12 November 2021
Only 20% of people in South Africa are vaccinated. We visit a mine that achieved 80%. Also, Imraan Coovadia on poison as a political weapon and why the farmer protests in India still matter.
jason 15 October 2021
Visit the post for more.
jason 13 October 2021
An activist paid the ultimate price for resisting a mine digging for profit on her doorstep, but her neighbours fight on. Meanwhile, South Africa’s Left is getting the climate emergency wrong.
jason 23 September 2021
Charles Leonard made this mixtape under his lemon tree, celebrating Lee “Scratch” Perry, Charlie Watts, Mahotella Queen Nobesuthu Mbadu and several other musicians who have recently died.
Charles Leonard 15 September 2021
Can podcasts be a force for progressive change? We look at global examples and then hone in on African podcasts, plus a popular South African broadcaster who has crossed over.
jason 20 August 2021
The Marikana massacre and the Life Esidimeni scandal keep reminding us that justice is an easy word to use, but difficult to get. We talk to a few South Africans who won’t give up.
jason 13 August 2021
With this mixtape, the second of two featuring songs about walking, Charles Leonard is taking you on musical walkabouts to Memphis, Dube, the wild side and many other exotic places.
Charles Leonard 11 August 2021
As an African living in Australia but with deep roots in South Africa, writer Sisonke Msimang is an insider-outsider. She tells us how she felt from afar as South Africa was burning.
jason 6 August 2021
A feminist perspective on how South Africa got here, and a Lebanese musician with a new album that’s a wail for her country and its people.
jason 30 July 2021
Press “play” and let Charles Leonard take you on a relaxing musical walk with songs about walking, wandering, meandering, sauntering, rambling and ambling.
Charles Leonard 28 July 2021
Esteemed South African poet and novelist Mandla Langa discusses his work, what’s wrong with the ANC and what looting we should be looking at. Also, why Latin America is swinging Left.
jason 23 July 2021
What do you do when you’ve retired as a unionist and a cabinet minister? You try and save the Earth. Jay Naidoo tells us why this is his mission now. Warning: Strong language.
jason 16 July 2021
Security forces in eSwatini detained, assaulted and tortured two New Frame journalists covering the pro-democracy uprising in that country. We bring you their harrowing tale. Warning: This episode …
jason 9 July 2021
In an exclusive interview, retired Constitutional Court Judge Edwin Cameron considers how our progressive Constitution has failed many South Africans, especially those on the margins.
jason 2 July 2021
Take a sharp left. In this first of a two-part series featuring great songs about cars, Charles Leonard transports you around the world and across genres.
Charles Leonard 30 June 2021
Nearly two-thirds of South Africans between 15 and 24 are jobless: how basic income grants can save young lives. Also, a powerful documentary takes us back to the 1976 Soweto uprising.
jason 25 June 2021
Despite South Africa’s progressive Constitution guaranteeing the rights of all, no matter sexual orientation, LGBTQIA+ people still experience the horrors of homophobia and bigotry.
jason 18 June 2021
Charles Leonard is shaking it like a Polaroid picture on this mixtape, with a selection of songs about photographs, photographers and cameras.
jason 17 June 2021
Stories of subversion: Flag burning, white anti-apartheid activists, a long-haired marathon champion; and how one of Cairo’s few female hip-hop artists is sticking it to the man.
jason 11 June 2021
In this special focus on Palestine: how dock workers showed solidarity, non-violent resistance in the face of extreme Israeli violence and why Israel is an apartheid state.
jason 4 June 2021
Charles Leonard has compiled a mixtape of chicken songs to stop traffic. Listen, and it will all make sense.
jason 2 June 2021
A young Palestinian shares what South Africa has taught him about resisting Israeli occupation and we look into the medical malpractice particularly affecting impoverished Black women.
jason 28 May 2021
We start the new season with an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with foremost political thinker, prolific writer and original street fighting man Tariq Ali.
jason 21 May 2021
For this mixtape Charles Leonard has picked a bunch of fresh tunes from a rich harvest of new music that was recently released.
jason 19 May 2021
To celebrate Workers’ Day, we go back in time. In Durban in 1973, South African workers were raising their voices for better conditions and their fists against the system of apartheid.
jason 30 April 2021
Charles Leonard goes back to his roots in this tree-themed mixtape recorded under the 100-year-old lemon tree in his garden. He’s collected an orchard of related songs.
jason 28 April 2021
Everyone can be a social media influencer in a hyper-capitalist society. What comes next in advertising? Also, we look at the sinister side of the internet economy.
jason 23 April 2021
SA Rugby’s head explains the controversial way the Springboks will approach Black Lives Matter during the British & Irish Lions’ tour. Also, we explore the movement against racism in Poland’s …
jason 16 April 2021
All rise in court for part two of Charles Leonard’s selection of songs about crime, crooks, theft and pilferage.
jason 14 April 2021
South African scientists have played a crucial role in global Covid-19 research. We go behind the scenes with one of them. Also, residents of Cape Town’s historic Kalk Bay feel the creep of gentrif…
jason 9 April 2021
We visit the Cissie Gool House. Is this occupation a model for affordable housing? Why the Paris Commune matters 150 years on. And, the story of a song with its roots in the Commune.
jason 1 April 2021
Musicians across genres have always been fascinated by outlaws, criminals, crooks, justice, injustice and retribution. Charles Leonard picks the locks on his favourite tracks.
jason 31 March 2021
We tell the story of an 80-year-old Joburger who shows us how water shaped the city into what it is today. Also, who are the Africans leading the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights?
jason 19 March 2021
In his ode to radio, Charles Leonard plays songs that celebrate the DJs, the shows and the company it brought.
jason 17 March 2021
The gig economy is a striking example of how work has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. We investigate how this on-demand work has eroded workers’ rights but may lead to new types of unions.
jason 12 March 2021
In a world divided by vaccine apartheid, can the Covid-19 pandemic be beaten? From Soweto Soul to militant Afro-rock: The two 1970s albums that changed South Africa’s musical landscape.
jason 5 March 2021
As we mark one year of masking up against Covid-19, Charles Leonard brings you a mixtape brimming with songs to chase away the pandemic blues.
jason 3 March 2021
The Modi regime detains an Indian comedian for a joke he didn’t tell as it clamps down on ‘dissent’. Why people share fake news. And the story of Miriam Makeba and the 1980s hit song Just the Two o…
jason 26 February 2021
Organising workers has always been a daunting job and Covid-19 has made it even more so. What can unions do? Also, with so many deaths during the pandemic, we look at how a nation mourns.
jason 19 February 2021
In this mixtape, Charles Leonard plays songs about buildings, skyscrapers, houses, homes and the architects who design them.
jason 17 February 2021
A convicted apartheid assassin is released on parole and subsidised by the State Security Agency. A victim’s son speaks out. And, what the protests by Indian farmers mean.
jason 12 February 2021
South Africa is the most unequal country in the world economically. Here’s a way to fix that. Also, thinker Noam Chomsky tells us how to achieve peace in the Middle East.
jason 5 February 2021
On this first mixtape of 2021, Charles Leonard rekindles his love affair with the guitar by playing songs not by the usual crowd.
jason 3 February 2021
Noam Chomsky gives us an exclusive, wide-ranging interview. We pay tribute to black consciousness leader Aubrey Mokoape. And when Cape Town’s working-class carnival got canned.
jason 29 January 2021
Covid-19 hoaxes have been rife since the start of the pandemic. But where do these conspiracies originate? And why is it so easy to dupe so many?
jason 22 January 2021
This is a bumper 50-track edition of the mixtape, with half Christmassy, non-preachy songs, and the other half tunes welcoming in 2021 with cautious optimism.
jason 23 December 2020
In this final episode for the year, Radio New Frame reflects on 2020. For the first time since lockdown, the whole team, masked and at a distance, got together and picked some of our favourite inte…
jason 18 December 2020
Feminist thinker Pumla Gqola tries to make sense of 2020, a migrant truck driver takes us on the road and what the Constitutional Court ruling means for South Africa’s domestic workers.
jason 11 December 2020
This week’s mixtape features Charles Leonard’s top albums of the year. He is playing a track off each album: from number 30 all the way down to number one.
jason 9 December 2020
South Africa’s economic hub, Johannesburg, is also its most stressed city. Some Joburgers tell us why they’re so anxious. Also, South Africa’s first openly gay male footballer is kicking bigotry ou…
jason 4 December 2020
In this week’s mixtape, Charles Leonard plays songs inspired by books or poems. Some are unexpected, others predictable – a bit like your favourite books.
jason 2 December 2020
Watching Ethiopia from afar, a Johannesburg community leader speaks about his fears. Jeremy Corbyn’s “antisemitism” is nonsense, says a Jewish ally. Also, a happy ending for a South African jazz cl…
jason 27 November 2020
There are songs for every planet on this alternative playlist for an imaginary trek through the solar system.
jason 25 November 2020
South Africa’s mineral wealth has been built on the backs of Black people. Damaging mining practices still take their toll on people’s health. Also, is it now payback time to the Left for Joe…
jason 20 November 2020
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on because Charles Leonard is taking you on a musical trip into outer space.
jason 18 November 2020
In a country still dominated by the defeated Donald Trump, four progressives tell us about their America. And, how a South African became the performance analyst for Africa’s top football club.
jason 13 November 2020
Aiming to get you engrossed, mixtape host Charles Leonard is celebrating musicians who had a book in them … and actually wrote it pretty well.
jason 11 November 2020
We look at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s unfinished business. The socialists won in Bolivia, but can they keep the right wing at bay?
jason 6 November 2020
There has been a sudden deluge of new music in the world of your mixtape host, Charles Leonard. He shares the tastiest new releases.
jason 4 November 2020
We visit a municipality where corruption threatens even the basics such as drinking water. Also, how Black Lives Matter will affect African Americans’ votes in the United States elections.
jason 30 October 2020
In this week’s mixtape, Charles Leonard plays songs about Halloween, the United States elections and the biggest crook of all.
jason 28 October 2020
We discuss what brought Nigeria to this point. We also look at what the United States election will mean for “shithole” countries, and what a jewellery advert tells us about Indian politics.
jason 23 October 2020
With his Music Time Machine, Charles Leonard plugs you into the revolutionary sounds that were played 50 years ago and still have relevance today.
jason 21 October 2020
Why South Africa’s Covid-19 special grant needs to become a permanent grant. Also, United States President Donald Trump has bolstered fascists in America.
jason 16 October 2020
This is the 25th mixtape, the silver anniversary of this weekly music compilation. Charles Leonard picks and plays shiny songs for the occasion.
jason 14 October 2020
We explore why Che Guevara still matters today. Also, when journalists go rogue – a new book investigates the deepest lows of South African journalism.
jason 9 October 2020
The musical city-to-city trip continues this week with Charles Leonard playing more songs about global cities in a mixtape called “City songs – the B-sides”.
jason 7 October 2020
Since the lockdown, four Somalis have been killed in South Africa, showing how xenophobia and police brutality collide. The story of a brave football team that won the league in war-torn Cameroon.
jason 2 October 2020
With the theme, “Songs of the City”, this week’s mixtape goes on a musical trip to cities right around the globe.
jason 30 September 2020
A woman tells of her horror at being sterilised without her permission. And Beirut is burning, but the Lebanese government seems unwilling to put out the fires.
jason 25 September 2020
The theme for this week’s eclectic mixtape is “Quote, unquote”. Charles Leonard plays songs quoting other songs with surprisingly pleasant results.
jason 23 September 2020
Two of George Bizos’ colleagues pay tribute to the South African human rights lawyer. The high court has forced Cape Town to address apartheid inequality. What are the implications?
jason 18 September 2020
For this mixtape, selector Charles Leonard has picked some fine tunes about mind games as well as some songs about sport.
jason 16 September 2020
Cosatu has rediscovered its soul, but how is this likely to affect South Africa’s political landscape? And an Afrikaans dominee urges white rugby players to “take the knee” and support Black Lives …
jason 11 September 2020
In this week’s mixtape, Charles Leonard celebrates strange bedfellows in music and plays some of the best results.
jason 9 September 2020
Women’s Month is just a PR tool for politicians but activists struggle on. Will Joe Biden make the US less imperialistic? And, a coach describes watching football without a crowd.
jason 21 August 2020
In this mixtape, Charles Leonard plays songs by masked musicians plus quirky covers across genres, languages, styles and generations.
jason 18 August 2020
Gauteng is in the eye of a storm. As part of a series of intimate portraits, we capture a day in the life of an Alexandra spaza shop at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
jason 14 August 2020
To celebrate South African Women’s Day, Charles Leonard has made a celebratory mixtape of songs by female artists only.
jason 11 August 2020
In SA, how to deal with cricket’s dirty racist secret. Then, Italian lessons on life when Covid-19 subsides. And, a Zambian musician on the music that’s landed him in jail three times.
jason 7 August 2020
In this mixtape, Charles Leonard plays songs about scratching – and, like an ambitious Masterchef competitor, he does it three ways.
jason 4 August 2020
Apartheid’s terrorist album was a “wanted” list of insurgents, and it could get you killed. Also, when you cannot lip read – how deaf people cope under Covid-19.
jason 31 July 2020
How United States President Donald Trump’s vindictive administration went after a veteran Palestinian leader. Also, we pay tribute to one of Africa’s greatest intellectuals.
jason 24 July 2020
In this week’s bumper edition of the mixtape, Charles Leonard brings you a menagerie of songs about animals.
jason 21 July 2020
Only 30% of rape cases reported in South Africa are prosecuted. What can be done? Also, why Linton Kwesi Johnson is a poet for these times, and how Tanzania finished its football season in the mids…
jason 17 July 2020
This week’s mixtape from Charles Leonard, the weekly bearer of eclectic musical gifts from around the world and across genres and generations, has a cinematic bent.
jason 14 July 2020
A doctor opens up about coping with the fears of being a healthcare worker during the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, South Africa’s top judge has defiantly sided with Israel. A Jewish academic explains w…
jason 10 July 2020
All on board for this week’s mixtape with Charles Leonard. “Station to station” features great songs about trains.
jason 7 July 2020
Lockdown job losses are soaring. A union organiser tells us about their battles. Also, the Covid-19 pandemic has prompted fundamental questions, such as whether a basic income grant could work for …
jason 3 July 2020
In this week’s mixtape we go digging for our musical roots, attempting to find some sense in these uncertain times.
jason 30 June 2020
Angela Davis speaks to us about hope, racial capitalism, police violence, American imperialism, Palestine and jazz. Also, a plan for Eskom to change its coal-tainted colours to green.
jason 26 June 2020
Using the theme “Take a left”, musical tour guide Charles Leonard helps you get lost across generations and geographies.
jason 23 June 2020
In Durban, a unique programme to help destitute drug users may yield positive results beyond the government’s Covid-19 lockdown. Also, what happens when a left-wing football obsessive is deprived o…
jason 19 June 2020
This mixtape’s theme is “connections” – it’s a musical exploration of how people and songs connect, and how they then unite against racists and fascists.
jason 16 June 2020
During the Covid-19 lockdown, police officers and soldiers have been using violence against the public. Why do they believe they have free rein? Also, we celebrate Busi Mhlongo, the woman who wrest…
jason 12 June 2020
This week’s mixtape theme is “weather report” with Charles Leonard playing songs about storms that rage against racism and fascism.
jason 9 June 2020
The anger over police brutality in the United States has exposed a futureless future for Donald Trump’s country. And in South Africa, will workers have jobs to return to?
jason 5 June 2020
In many countries, working-class people and those from minorities have been violently disenfranchised. With the theme, “Whose country is it?”, Charles Leonard plays songs that reflect on belonging …
jason 2 June 2020
In his latest mixtape, Charles Leonard plays songs about space: Outer space, inner space and finding space for happy thoughts.
jason 19 May 2020
After an initial promising response to the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa now runs the risk of a hidden epidemic, warns a health expert. Also, we investigate how zero hours contracts have encroach…
jason 15 May 2020
In his antidote for the pandemic blues, Charles Leonard spins songs about philosophers and haircuts and plays tributes to fallen musicians.
jason 12 May 2020
Achille Mbembe warns that the global Covid-19 pandemic shouldn’t be used as a laboratory to experiment with ideas that will diminish our freedoms. Also, Raymond Suttner pays a moving tribute to his…
jason 8 May 2020
From the pop-up studio in his cupboard, Charles Leonard plays songs in this eclectic mixtape to reflect the changes we’ve all felt with the coming of the coronavirus.
jason 5 May 2020
There are almost a billion hungry people in the world. We look at how the Covid-19 pandemic is going to make this situation far worse. Also, Brazil is a scary case study of what happens when a pres…
jason 1 May 2020
Times of crisis such as the world is now seeing produce heroes and villains. In this week’s mixtape, Charles Leonard uses songs to praise the good guys and call out the baddies.
jason 28 April 2020
Will the government’s financial relief plan be enough for South Africa’s impoverished citizens? Also, the desperation of living in a shack settlement with Covid-19 in the air and how comedy has cha…
jason 24 April 2020
This week’s eclectic Mixtape is about staying at home, with sad songs about loneliness, drugs and alienation; and happy songs about baking powder, table tennis, potholes and flowers.
jason 21 April 2020
In responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa can draw on how it tackled HIV and Aids. Also, a Chicago musician pays tribute to the doctors and nurses of his city with a beautiful song.
jason 17 April 2020
How do you travel around the world when you are locked down? Simple – you use your mind and music. This Mixtape takes you on a global musical trip.
jason 14 April 2020
Will it be business as usual for the global economic order after the coronavirus pandemic? And, how poet and writer Mandla Langa has responded to a Covid-19 reality that’s far stranger than fiction…
jason 10 April 2020
In this week’s Mixtape: South African township funk, uplifting jazz, African guitar music, conscious soul, inspiring hip-hop, rebel reggae and a special feature on songs that tell stories.
jason 7 April 2020
Domestic workers are left exposed by Covid-19 at their workplaces – will they be covered by the law? Travelling under the threat of infection. And, we take a philosophical look at school. What it i…
jason 3 April 2020
In these trying times you can’t ask for a better antidote than music. That’s why we’re introducing the Radio New Frame Mixtape – an eclectic mix of music from around the world.
jason 31 March 2020
Former South African spy boss, Moe Shaik, has just published an amazingly frank account of his life. Also, anti-colonial thinker Frantz Fanon not only loved football, he was a fine player too.
jason 27 March 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the globe, with the number of infections and resulting deaths exploding. We speak to an Italian journalist who gives us a taste of a day in the life of a countr…
jason 23 March 2020
Women have been working underground alongside male mineworkers in South Africa’s mines since 2004. We go down a mine to find out if the repressive macho culture has changed. Also on our menu today,…
jason 20 March 2020
South African rugby is redressing its racist past with support from unexpected quarters, and we question if the uprising in Lebanon five months ago can still effect change.
jason 13 March 2020
Many see South African minibus taxi drivers as untouchable, but they are some of the most exploited workers in the country. Left-wing street theatre is huge in India – we hear how a performance on …
jason 6 March 2020
Tebadi Mmotla was born and raised in Limpopo. She is a Wits graduate and reports on a range of issues, which include higher education, mining and health.
jason 12 March 2019
Musawenkosi Cabe is from Pietermaritzburg. His areas of interest involve bottom-up social mobilization, social movements, and unions, football, social justice, spatial justice, and constitutionalis…
