About this episode
The episode explores the cultural and spiritual heritage of the Kongo empire through interviews and music.
To make this unprecedented program, producer Ned Sublette traveled to Mbanza-Kongo, the ancient seat of the Kongo empire located in present-day northern Angola, where he spoke to Dr. Bárbaro Martínez Ruiz, professor of art and art history at Stanford. We’ll learn about the simbi, the spirits that Martínez Ruiz describes as “the multiple power of god”; hear Antonio Madiata play the lungoyi-ngoyi, the two-stringed viola of the Kongo court; attend a session of the lumbu, the traditional tribunal of elders; and talk to Pedro Lopes, a nganga mawuko (traditional healer). With C. Daniel Dawson and Angolan composer and musicologist Victor Gama, we’ll explore Kongo-Ngola culture in the diaspora – in Brasil, Haiti, Cuba, and more. A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY TO MBANZA-KONGO is supported by a 2012 Knight Luce Fellowship for Reporting on Global Religion. The fellowship is a program of the University of Southern California's Knight Chair in Media and Religion. Originally produced by Ned Sublette in 2012 APWW #651
People in this episode
Host: Ned Sublette
Guest: Dr. Bárbaro Martínez Ruiz
Topics covered
- Kongo empire
- traditional healing
- music
- cultural diaspora
- spirituality
- art history
Keywords
- Mbanza-Kongo
- Kongo empire
- traditional tribunal
- nganga mawuko
- lungoyi-ngoyi
- cultural diaspora
- spirituality
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Southern California
Places: Mbanza-Kongo, Angola, Brasil, Haiti, Cuba
More episodes of Afropop Worldwide
- Samba, Forro, Candomble, Tropicalia: The Sounds of Brazilian Artists in the US · June 11, 2026 · 59 min
- Music and the Story of Haiti: From Vodou to Compas to Racine to Rara and Beyond · May 30, 2026 · 59 min
- Hip Deep Angola Part 1: Music and Nation in Luanda · May 21, 2026 · 59 min
- A Tale of Two Rebellions - Zanj, Fatamid · May 13, 2026 · 59 min
- Africans in the Persian Gulf · May 8, 2026 · 59 min
- Celebrating Toumani Diabaté · April 30, 2026 · 59 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Afropop Worldwide podcast page.