Editor's note

Zimbabweans go to the polls today in one of the country’s most contested elections since its independence in 1980. Not only are the stakes incredibly high in the first poll without Robert Mugabe, but voters also have a number of choices they have to make. These include who they want as president, who they want to represent them in parliament as well as a raft of local council positions. David B. Moore makes sense of it all.

Crate diggers collect rare or forgotten vinyl records, often building huge collections that bring past stories and experiences into society’s historical memory. A recent compilation album of 1970s/80s music from the Horn of Africa, “Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes”, is a powerful example of this unseen cultural archaeology. Michael Shakib Bhatch, a digger himself, writes that the record allows us to experience the sound, consciousness and ambience of forgotten times and places.

Thabo Leshilo

Politics + Society Editor

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MDC-Alliance supporters at a campaign rally addressed by the party leader Nelson Chamisa. EPA-EFE/Aaron Ufumeli

Zimbabwe poll explained: ballot papers galore, and loads of new politicians

David B. Moore, University of Johannesburg

Zimbabweans face a complicated array of choices at the polls.

Mogadishu’s Waaberi Theatre Troupe back in the 1970s when Somalia was a cultural hub. Supplied by Ostinato Records

Somali songs reveal why musical crate digging is a form of cultural archaeology

Michael Shakib Bhatch, University of the Western Cape

A crate digger essentially builds a personal library of sonic texts that often can't be found on the internet or in official archives.

Environment + Energy

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