Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is facing an unprecedented popular uprising against his decades-long rule. The country’s academics are involved in protests that have brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets, though their role isn’t as big as it has been historically. Willow Berridge describes the instrumental role that they played in bringing down previous Sudanese regimes and negotiating the transitions that followed.

Meanwhile, Sudan’s neighbour Libya has problems of its own. It’s seen an escalation of conflict in recent weeks and the fighting is nearing the capital, Tripoli. Jacob Mundy explains that what happens next all depends on Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army now controls large swathes of territory.

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent years about the idea of “fake news” and why it should more accurately be called misinformation, disinformation or propaganda. What’s often ignored, though, is how this phenomenon plays out in academic circles. In today’s episode of Pasha, several academics discuss the issue.

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