About this episode

Nelly Madegwa discusses the impact of colonialism on health in Kenya, particularly regarding oil drilling and cancer rates.

Nelly Madegwa is co-author of The Intercept story supported by the Pulitzer Center, "Where There Is Salt: An American Company Drilled for Oil in Kenya — and Left Behind Soaring Cancer Rates," which she co-wrote with Georgia Gee. Nelly is an award-winning journalist from Kenya whose reporting covers climate change, sustainable development, health, and human rights across Africa. She writes frequently from a gender perspective on issues ranging from public health to sexual violence Her work has appeared in The Elephant, Minority Africa, taz, and Africa Uncensored. Her storytelling blends investigative and data-driven reporting with human-interest narratives. Nelly is a Pulitzer Center Persephone Miel Fellow. https://theintercept.com/2026/04/06/amoco-bp-oil-kargi-kenya-cancer/ She was first runner-up in the 2021 African Journalist Gender Equality Awards. She also holds a certificate in explanatory journalism from the Knight Center. We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will also be sharing your answers to this week's Question from Hell! from Patreon. Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our…

People in this episode

Guest: Nelly Madegwa

Topics covered

• colonialism
• oil
• cancer
• Kenya
• journalism
• human rights
• climate change

Keywords

• colonialism
• oil
• cancer
• Kenya
• journalism
• human rights
• climate change
• investigative reporting
• gender perspective

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Intercept, Pulitzer Center, The Elephant, Minority Africa, taz, Africa Uncensored, Knight Center

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