EP 170: The Stories That Moved Us: Root of Science in 2026

Stories that move people deserve a wider audience. We open 2026 by bringing the team together to look back at the moments that stayed with us, the ideas that challenged us, and how we plan to grow African science stories this year.

From neglected tropical diseases to health funding cuts, we unpack why some conversations travelled further than others: real people, real consequences, and science that connects with everyday life.

Health shaped much of the year. We balance that weight with lessons from agriculture and food security: beekeeping for stronger ecosystems, turning invasive plants into renewable energy, and moringa farmers building value chains that support families.

Education and collaboration point us forward. A STEM programme for high school girls stood out for its confidence and creativity, showing that the future of African science is already in our classrooms.

If these stories matter to you, follow the show, share this episode with someone who should hear it, and leave a review to help others find us.

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Transcript

Welcome To 2026 And The Team

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This year, we are also very intentional about our growth. Like we've been saying on this episode, we do great work, great products, but unfortunately, it's not translating in the numbers of the people who are watching this. So the plan is to really be more intentional in growing our audience base, growing our subscriber base, and uh figuring out how we can do that and being more technical because we've got and I think this was the most covered last year.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Because so many things were imagining. Yes. And uh I could remember from the first one we did was um on neglected tropical diseases. And what I remember about this podcast was Michael O'Fire, he's from Ambraf, and he said that oh, this is actually a disease that is driven by poverty, so it's the dream women instead.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

So as well, again with the high school learners. Um, I think for me it was very inspiring, you know, and I think I wish I would have had something like that in high school, but even though it wasn't available to us to see like these organizations willing to do that for high school learners, empowering girls instead.

Science Communication Highlights

SPEAKER_01 1:19

The Bridge of the Science podcast with your girl and hello everyone, welcome to the Root of the Science podcast with your girl Anne Withany. This is a very special episode, it's our first episode in 2026. Can you believe it? I am so excited, and I am here, not on my own this time. As you can see, I'm joined by my two amazing colleagues. We've got Teresa, who is our show producer, and we've got Kasuba, who is our audio visual editor. Teresa and Kasuba, welcome. Thank you, Anne. Thank you so much, Anne. And thank you. It's so awesome that people will get to see the people who help bring this vision uh forward, that it's not just me who's on screen. So welcome to the other side, guys. Get comfortable. Not very comfortable, but okay. Get very comfortable. Don't worry. You are in very, very, very good hands. So we are obviously now starting with our first episode for this year. But I think before we move forward, it's always good to take a look back. So let's just have a moment. Let's talk about some of the episodes that we did last year and touch on some of the themes that we we actually spoke about. Kasuba, you can go ahead and tell us the themes there.

Global Health Journeys And Gaps

SPEAKER_02 2:59

Okay, so under science and education, science communication and education, we had we had five African science communicators collaborate on the Africa Day episode. So it was different scientists and talking about how they are utilizing digital platforms for science communication, which was great to see, like, okay, we're not the only ones doing this, something we know, but just having those others and hearing what they do and they in different parts of Africa. So that was encouraging. We also had the platform growth story by you and yours truly. So we had that, and then you shared the vision for last year and where we've come from and where we've been. Then we also had the dream women in STEM, which was just high scholars, high school learners, you know, who are aspiring to be in science, especially engineering, you know. So we had that episode. Then we also had a collaborative episode with Mazungumzo, TCC Africa, so with Joy Owango, which was also great. Like, you know, they're basically also science communicators and looking into science research, and they're based in Kenya. So all those things were really great. I think that's it for science and education. Awesome, Teresa.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Uh so uh we had the theme of global health, and I think this was the most covered last year, yeah, because so many things were emerging. Yes, and uh I could remember from the first one we did was um on neglected tropical diseases, and what I remember about this podcast was Michael O'Fire, he's from Ambref, and he said that oh, this is actually a disease that is driven by poverty, and it is a people disease, it is for the poor, and I really felt the pinch. I was like, this is so accurate because when we hear about neglected tropical diseases, we're like, what are these? But then he said it so well, and we also had an episode with uh Carl Daniel on uh digital health, and I remember comparing uh we were talking about the ratio of one doctor to 5,000 people, which is very far, and also the amount of distance that people walk to get to hospitals, yes, and all those disparities, and how digital health can actually help do this and uh to bridge the gap. And we also had an episode on biostatistics and how it's important in health, and we had one very sad episode, another sad one, about how funding cuts are affecting um HIV and TB treatment, especially in South Africa, which has the highest burden for both diseases. And I remember Tabit Antulli saying, Oh, people with HIV say we refuse to die, and that that one was so emotional, but it also showed our strength as Africans and our resilience, and also we covered non-communicable diseases, hypertension, and this one was covered by our contributor, one of our contributors for the newsletter, and that was non tobacco, and we also had uh Ruth came in and also covered something on non-communicable diseases, so that means we were all round. We covered infectious diseases, we covered non-communicable diseases, we covered uh neglected tropical diseases, and also technology, which is digital health. So we were all around guys, and I was going to forget that we had the clinical trial for the M27 clinical trial for TB. So we actually covered research, that was Lee Feilee. So we actually covered also the research. So health was well covered, and we are looking towards more of that this year.

Agriculture, Tech And Food Security

The HIV And TB Funding Shock

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Yeah, I mean, even as you speak with some of the episodes, it really takes me back to some of those emotions that we felt. But we can we'll come back to that. So, for some of the other episodes um that we also covered last year was of course in the area of agriculture and food security. Um, this is an area which was pretty near and dear to me and personal because this is um part of the area that I'm I studied in in agriculture. We had a very interesting episode with Albert on beekeeping and like the sustainability aspect of it, and he talked us through why bees are so important in the agriculture space. But the really interesting thing with this episode was that Albert is a guy from in the tech space, so he really brought in that technology aspect in um bee farming, and we learned so much, he taught us how people can have bees even in like a city setup, but of course, there are some rules and things that need to go through. Another really interesting episode that I really enjoyed was the one with Wongi We, where we spoke about invasive plants um and turning them into renewable energy. I remember when she first told me we had a discussion um with Wonggiwe before we got onto the show, and she was telling me about her master's research. And I was like, this is so cool. And I think it just really is such an innovative way, especially as energy, such a huge demand to hear about some of these really amazing things uh of using renewable energy and what more so with invasive plants when they're such a big pest um in the agriculture and the environment space. Another special episode was also with um on moringa farming with Mabo Wang. So um this one is also quite cool because I met her through another uh workshop and she is so passionate. I've you know her infection, her rather her passion for farming and moringa farming is so infectious, and she's really doing amazing things from really just like the beginning of how you actually farm the moringa and the farm that she has, I think in the northwest and South Africa, I stand to be corrected, to the post uh harvest production. So the packaging and how she sells these products and how she's got a diversification of these moringa products. And moringa is such a super food, um, and it's so important for food security as well. Then we had another episode of hydroponics using waste um materials such as urine, for example, and in a hydroponic system. So this is a system where you're able to grow plants in a sort of a soilless medium. This was with Valentine. This was also very innovative, very exciting, and another way um to help food and agriculture and food security as well. Then we had agricultural policy. This was not this was an interesting one. It was in the very beginning of the year, where we talked more about um some of these policies that actually happened for to implement all this work done in agriculture and the food security. And even another one that also followed on was also another one called where we did strengthening food policy with prof Zama from the University of Stellenbosch and the food lab that we had. So overall, it was also, I know Triza said that um global health was, we touched a lot there, but we also touched quite a lot also in the agriculture space. So I know we already started, ladies, um, with talking about some of the episodes, and Triza actually started us off with triggering some of those emotions of some of the episodes that we did we did. So now I'm gonna ask you a very difficult question, Triza. Which one was your favorite?

SPEAKER_03 11:19

Oh my god, that's so hard because I love most of our episodes. I love the stories, but then I'll go back to the HIV one, the funding cuts for HIV and TV. It was my favorite because I felt the emotions just rise when I was listening to that, to that episode. And it's because it builds from an episode that we did in 2024, again with Tabitant Tulli on HIV. And I remember also getting very emotional because she's one person who is very passionate about what she does, and she was telling that story about they've worked so hard, it's in the 1997s, and we still do not have preventives for for HIV, and we don't we do not have a lot of uh therapies for it, and then they struggle so hard to prevent a mother-to-child transmission during birth, and then 18 years later, this child that was saved during birth from HIV, she's born uh, or he is born negative. 18 years later, because of not enough information or because of negligence or something else, this child contracts HIV. Now an adult contracts HIV. And and now for her, it's it's a very sad situation, and she uses that to explain the young black girl, the young black girl that gets HIV after she was protected from it 18 years ago, and now she gets it again, and now we have more therapies. We you can prevent it using uh prep or PEP, or now we have an inject an injection that can last you for six months and you still get it. So that was a sad one. So when we were talking about the funding cards, this is one thing that caught Africa off guard. Yeah, yeah, it did, and it affected us in the worst, worst, most painful spots because HKV has we've made a lot of strides, and then now we cannot access treatment. And I remember uh Dr. Linfo saying that I had I was taking care of people of youth, and now they're calling me, they're like, What do we do? How do we access treatment? And that was very sad, and it showed the clear picture of what was affected, the true voices of the people on the ground, and how even some people lost their jobs. But again, I like the resilience where she said, No, we are not going to die, it's happening, but we are resilient enough. So I love that episode.

Why That Story Resonated Online

SPEAKER_01 14:00

You know, like you already said, I knew you were gonna pick this one actually, because it was also one of my favorites. But I was like, it's fine, I know she might pick it. But you're absolutely right. That episode was so uh timely because we were in the thick of it when we produced this episode. There was so much uncertainty, people didn't know what was happening, and I think even within ourselves, one of one of us probably knew someone who was affected by these funding cuts. So the fact that we were able to have so many people from the doctors to the NGOs to the person who's working on the ground, I think for me it was the nurse, George, who also really touched me because he spoke on the idea that he was working in a space where there were um and his colleagues who were helping people, obviously, in the space. And when the funding cuts, he had to relocate to a whole different part of the country in order for him to, you know, still look after his family. And those it's literally giving a good sponsor right now. But like there was a part where he was saying that, you know, there were even people, his colleagues who are now jobless, they're looking for jobs, but people are not hiring because at that point no one was like certain. So as much as we spoke on the patient side, like uh Tabitha did, and that was really, really powerful. It was also really moving for me as well to hear on the healthcare worker side because there were two sides to the story, and so many people were severely affected by this. It was such a I don't know, that that time was was really, really a difficult time um for all of us to navigate. Um, yeah. So thank you for bringing up uh that episode. And also we have to note that this episode on TikTok did so well, especially the part where you know Tabitha spoke on that. I don't know, Castula, since you are a social media person, you can just touch on the TikTok performance maybe of that particular episode.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

Uh this episode did so well on TikTok, but also on our YouTube. I think that has been like one of our highest views on TikTok and YouTube as well. So I think the moment we released it, already it had like on YouTube, firstly, the full episode, already it had passed all our views combined, I think, you know, for all our episodes. So it was like very moving. And then the part where Tabitha talks about the um HIV positive people are resilient and they refuse to die and all that. Also, that was one of our highest that clip by itself. But each and every part, funding cards, everything that was touched on, it just, yeah, we had the highest numbers with that episode.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Yeah, so it really, and I think it just goes to show these are the types of stories that really move people and affect people. And maybe even as we're thinking ahead in our own planning as a team, we have to now think like that. Like, what are the current trending topics, and who can we get so we can speak on some of these very important science and health issues that are affecting people on so many faces in Africa? So, I mean, Kasuba Teresa started way high for us about her episode. What was your favorite episode?

Girls In STEM And Early Confidence

SPEAKER_02 17:37

Mine is more exciting. So it's the dream women in stay. So, as well, again with the high school learners. Um, I think for me it was very inspiring, you know, and I think I wish I would have had something like that in high school, but even though it wasn't available to us to see like these organizations willing to do that for high school learners, empowering girls in STEM in this subject and knowing what they'll do in STEM, you know, because I think for us it was just a thing of you can do medicine or you can do some science course, but you wouldn't get into the depth of it. And also because those high school learners are so innovative, I think one of them they had to create a robot, a talking robot. And they are like grade 10, 11, 12. So that was even when I was editing it, it was very touching. I'm like, oh my gosh. And they were so excited and they were so passionate, even when you would ask them, like, what do you want to do? Where do you see yourself in five years? You know, and they just had it like, okay, yeah, I want to go this direction. It was my first time being exposed to this, and I would like to explore more of this. So for me, that was very inspiring and touching, and also just exciting, you know. And most of them were really from disadvantaged backgrounds. So to say, like you have something has been provided for you, or you are inspired, you know, you can go into university knowing this is what I want to study, this is what I want to become. It doesn't stop where you are.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Like, man, okay, you've just gone and taken my other episode, but it's fine. That was also, I love that episode, and I think another thing that I loved about that was the girls' confidence. You know, I was interviewing them and I was like, oh, these girls, they're 15, okay. Well, maybe 16, 15, 16 there, yeah. And the confidence in which they spoke was just it, it gets me excited about the future. It gets me excited about these girls who are so sure of themselves. Because as Black children, as Black people, by nature, sometimes and culturally, we are very me. But to see them being so confident, being so confident in where they want to go, you know, what they want to do, and how this singular experience really is such a defining moment. And it's these little moments that like are that little seed to the next thing. So, shout out to the dream woman and STEM, uh, Tutak Takalani, uh TK, and uh uh the team there who are doing such amazing work. In fact, a little plug on that this year they they we did the episode where they were in Durban, but the same year they also went to Johannesburg. And this year they are going to another part of South Africa, Limpoko. So it's also really nice for innovations and organizations who on who are really very intentional about empowering young women and not only in one space in in South Africa, but different parts, because so many girls need this. And um I think also if you are an organization or if you know someone who's doing some amazing work like this outside of South Africa, would love to hear from you and would love to engage with them and also spotlight that because it's so so important to you know motivate the next generation. Teresa, do you want to add anything there?

SPEAKER_03 21:13

I think I I agree that it was a very interesting episode because, like Cass says, this this girls they got the chance to experience science at a very early age, something that most of us do not get. So that means that science education has really advanced, and we are going to get to a point where we are living our STEM dream in Africa and we are heading there. So it was a very interesting program. It still is, yeah.

Collaboration As A Growth Engine

Crafting Stronger Visual And Audio Stories

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Yeah, fantastic. Okay, so it's my turn to talk about my favorite episode. I will say it's like picking a favorite child. We touched on some of the two already. I think I have two, but I'll speak as I'll speak on them as one, uh, because the other one technically wasn't an episode. The first one was the one which it was all of the science communicators. We had that panel with the African science communicators. And as Cass touched on in the beginning, it was such a wonderful moment to have a platform to share with other people who are doing similar work and being exposed to this because the table is big enough for all of us. Science communication is such a huge thing that is needed, particularly in Africa. And comparing to when I started in 2020, there was very few of us in this space. So now to see that there are people coming up, especially in this podcasting space, it was wonderful. And it's really nice because these are my peers, people who I look at and who are doing such amazing things, whether they're specializing in uh immunology, like wealth or care, for example, or they're specializing in agriculture or whatever. It was really nice to sort of all come together and talk about that common mission. Another one was it wasn't an episode, but it was the Instagram live that we did as an extension of the telemedicine episode. That was also with Zakiti Nkise, who is a science and health. Well, she's a science communicator, scientist as well, science writer. So it was really nice to collaborate again with somebody else who's doing such amazing work in their field. And we had a wonderful interactive Instagram live on telemedicine and the examples using a South African example based off the Kenyan episode that we had. And it was again really nice because it was like a nice interactive session. So people got to come on Instagram live, interact with us, you know, prompt the episode as well. So it was it was really, really great to have that like live engagement with audiences. Um, so yeah, those were two of my so sort of the similar theme, just the whole aspect of collaboration. Awesome. So we've spoken about the past, we've spoken about the present, well, sort of yeah, the past in terms of uh our what we did last year and our favorite, our favorite episodes. So let's now start speaking about the future. It's 2026 in our different areas of the work that we do on this podcast. I think it'll be really cool to hear from each of you about what we can expect, the type of growth, something new, something exciting. Kasuba, would you tell us more about the work that you do on this team and what we can expect in 2026?

SPEAKER_02 24:43

So, as you already said at the beginning, visual audio editor also take care of the social media platforms every now and again and all that. So I think for me is I want to grow in storytelling with visuals and audios. Like, how can I make them more appealing? You know? Like, how do we use that? Like the stories we've shared, our favorite episodes and everything, but how do we put it out there for more to come across it and say, oh, this is interesting, you know? And the visuals also are like dynamic, they're great, you know. So it's like let's tell a story through what we're doing, through audio, through visuals, through yeah, social media, getting out there, learning more social media strategies, editing strategies, you know, positioning myself for that. I think that's where I want to grow in.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

I'm excited. I mean, last year we had some pretty cool things. There were moments where even in our group would be like, oh my gosh, this is so cool. Between the three of us, where you'd show us something and um we'll have something new. Also, in that aspect, it's it would also be remiss of us to not acknowledge Elijah, who's also been helping us with our graphics. Elijah Black, thank you so much. She's also helped us with our graphics and our social media. So we are very intentional, and we thank you as well for your input where you're like, this color is not right. And we're like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

Can you let it go with the color already? Like, oh no, this point is not right.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

Like, this point is not right. This needs to be uh sent in. So it's that attention to detail that really just makes everything cleaner, and um, I'm excited to see what you bring in, and uh yeah, man, it's I'm excited because you already showed us a little snippet of what you want to do. Yes, what I'm working on, right?

SPEAKER_02 26:46

So exciting.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Yeah, yeah, no, we trust you can do it. So you guys are really in for a treat. Uh, Teresa, on your end, what can we expect?

Editorial Focus: Africa-Led Research

SPEAKER_03 26:56

Our work is very connected, that's why we are a team. So while Cass is thinking about ways, better ways to put this out there because we do a lot of good stuff, we have agreed, but then we have to put it out there so that people get it in different, different ways and in interesting ways. Science can be boring. So I am thinking about what are the better things to discuss this year. Like we said, the HIV one was so good because it touched the heart of people, and people love their stories, and so I'm thinking that this year we are going to focus more on research done in Africa and for Africans, and that is a part that we have not intentionally looked at. And for example, I'll give I'll give an example of um developing medicines and vaccines, and most of the times you realize that we participate in tests for vaccines and medicines that are not developed in Africa, so developed out of Africa, and then we are taken through the clinical trials. And so this time, but we have a lot of them that are now coming up that are developed in Africa and are being tried in Africa, and those are very, very good wins because then that means we are moving towards uh health security, and some other things are vaccines. We are talking about oh, people are rejecting vaccines, and we do not know the African perspective of why, for example, we did reject vaccines, and it could be, and this is one of the factors, that it is because of our religions, and maybe it is because of our traditional belief systems, and we say no, it doesn't work. So, how do we amplify research that is done in Africa and for Africans and are very, very unique to us? And if someone says this is how it should be done, you're like, Yes, actually, this one happens to me. So that is what I think we should be intentional about, and many, many people's stories. So that's where we take this.

Platform Growth, Partners And Community

Gratitude And Closing

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Yeah, I love it, I'm excited. I mean, we really do say that we do we amplify African stories, so now to be more intentional about it, and again to get those stories like that are moving, that makes people like this is something I can relate to. And I already heard uh Kasuba speaking about like you know, really agreeing when you're like, yeah, could it be the religion, the cultural perspectives aspect of this? So I'm excited to see uh what we have happening. So on more of the the visions of what you can expect. So last year, also I think this is we didn't get to mention that we launched the website, our our landing page, our landing home root of science media. Uh, so it was it's that platform where everything that we do, you can find it there. And it's also a great opportunity for um people who are wanting to work with us to also see some of the work that we've done with other organizations. So this year we are also very intentional about our growth. Like we've been saying on this episode, we do great work, great products, but unfortunately, it's not translating in the numbers of the people who are watching this. So the plan is to really be more intentional in growing our audience base, growing our subscriber base, and uh figuring out how we can do that and being more technical because we've got a wonderful, wonderful treasures of knowledge and so many people who are so generous with their time to come on and share the stories and you know, the wonderful team that works really hard behind the scenes. So we really want to be more intentional, even as much as we we are growing on TikTok, which is a wonderful surprise, but it needs to translate, for example, onto YouTube. So, how do we get those merging things uh to happen? So, another thing is also to find a way to work again with some partners. We had many wonderful partners and organizations who we worked with last year, and we are so grateful for that. We look forward to sort of renewing those relationships and working with them as well, but also engaging with other people to do collaborations um as well. So, this is also an opportunity that if you are looking for us to do some collaborations, we are very much um open to that in terms of uh the vision, etc. And also, if you are a person who enjoys the work that we do at Root of the Science Media and you believe maybe there's an area that you think you can contribute to, we also are very open to that, and we are open to hearing some of that suggestion, et cetera. So, um, vision-wise, um I'm excited for what Root of the Science Media is gonna do this year. You know, we have a great team, and it's it's gonna be a big year, even bringing in some of our own personal experiences and some of the work that we do and helping that translate into our into the the cross the crossover root of the science media. This is not all our day jobs, not yet anyway, until one day. But it's wonderful that we get to sort of bring in all of that. So I'm excited, ladies. I'm so so excited for 2026. It took us a little bit of a while to get here, but we are moving. And um, yeah, and also just to take this moment to say thank you both for um your hard work, your efforts, for yeah, there's so much that happens behind the scenes that so many people do not get to see. And I'm so grateful for the both of you for even pushing me sometimes when you know it happens. So I'm really, really grateful. And even when I push you guys, you really step up and um execute outside of the ball. So I really appreciate that. Also, really appreciate to take a moment to say thank you to all of our partners who we partnered with last year, who really helped push the vision of what Root of the Science did, all of our collaborators as well, people who reached out to us and asked us to feature their organizations, etc. Thank you so much to everyone, but most importantly, to the people who listen, who come back, who share, who text us and say, Hey, we watched an episode. Thank you so much. It is such a blessing to be able to do this job. I mean, to do this work, and uh everyone who works behind the scenes to make this work. Thank you, thank you so much. So that is it for the first episode of the Root of the Science podcast. It's your girl, Doctor, and with an E. Until next time. Goodbye. Bye.