About this episode

This episode explores Marlow's journey to the Congo and the ideological implications of Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'.

As Marlow prepares for his journey to the Congo, he visits a psychiatrist who gives him his first glimpse at what he is getting himself into. His introduction into the pseudoscience of phrenology is an ideological starting point for his journey to Africa. Reader and character alike are hit with a wave of disorienting feelings as Marlow has his first interactions with the people of Congo, seeing how they are dehumanized. In the modern day, controversy rages around whether this depiction of Africans represents author Joseph Conrad's view, a larger western view that has been enshrined in the study of history, or just the viewpoint of a character in a book. This is the second episode in a series on Heart of Darkness . It covers most of Chapter 1 of the book, Marlow's journey to Africa, and his first interactions with the people of the Congo. We also discuss Chinua Achebe's famous critique of the book. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1899) is both a scathing critique of European imperialism and a reminder that all humans have the capacity to succumb to the heart of darkness. It also is not without controversy, as people have been debating it's meaning and essence for over a century…

More episodes of Reflecting History

• Episode 177: Heart of Darkness Part I - The Paradox of History · June 23, 2026 · 30 min
• Episode 176: The Young Will Remember with Eve J. Chung · June 2, 2026 · 52 min
• Episode 175: Congo's Nightmare Part VII - The Great Forgetting · May 12, 2026 · 25 min

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