Stuart A. Reid is an executive editor at Foreign Affairs magazine, and his book, THE LUMUMBA PLOT: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE CIA AND A COLD WAR ASSASSINATION, is published by Knopf. You might wonder why we would focus on events in The Congo back in 1960, when there is so much happening right now.

Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, writes: “This is the book we’ve needed for years: a thorough, judicious, eloquent account of one of the twentieth century’s pivotal moments. Patrice Lumumba’s murder was a tragedy not just for his young and troubled country, but also for the way it stimulated Washington’s illusion that America could rearrange the world to its liking. Stuart Reid captures this ominous turning point with the clear-eyed wisdom it deserves.”

Beyond any of these considerations, the story of Patrice Lumumba is the tragic, heroic tale of a man born into dismal, colonial circumstances, with the indomitable thirst for knowledge and the chutzpah and savvy to rise to become the first prime minister of his country, the former Belgian Congo, and who, within within mere months is assassinated under the direction of the CIA.

Our guest, Stuart Reid, spent 6 years researching and writing this very engaging narrative. In addition to my appreciation of that, I am doubly grateful to him, because after engaging in an hour long interview, which I was then horrified to discover had not been recorded for unknown reasons, he graciously agreed to do a second interview, which I offer to you now.

Articles, etc., pertinent to this interview:

Stuart A. Reid is an executive editor at Foreign Affairs magazine, and his book, THE LUMUMBA PLOT: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE CIA AND A COLD WAR ASSASSINATION, is published by Knopf. You might wonder why we would focus on events in The Congo back in 1960, when there is so much happening right now. Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, writes: “This is the book we’ve needed for years: a thorough, judicious, eloquent account of one of the twentieth century’s pivotal moments. Patrice Lumumba’s murder was a tragedy not just for his young and troubled country but also for the way it stimulated Washington’s illusion that America could rearrange the world to its liking. Stuart Reid captures this ominous turning point with the clear-eyed wisdom it deserves.” Furthermore, Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens, said this in a recent interview with Ari Melber about why it’s important to study history.

Beyond any of these considerations, the story of Patrice Lumumba is the tragic, heroic tale of a man born into dismal, colonial circumstances, with the indomitable thirst for knowledge and the chutzpah and savvy to rise to become the first prime minister of his country, the former Belgian Congo, and who, within within mere months is assassinated under the direction of the CIA. Our guest, Stuart Reid, spent 6 years researching and writing this very engaging narrative. In addition to my appreciation of that, I am doubly grateful to him, because after engaging in an hour long interview, which I was then horrified to discover had not been recorded for unknown reasons, he graciously agreed to do a second interview, which I offer to you now.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo

The Overlooked Crisis in Congo: ‘We Live in War’ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/17/world/africa/democratic-republic-of-congo-elections.html

Patrice Lumumba: the most important assassination of the 20th century https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/patrice-lumumba-50th-anniversary-assassination

Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo

7 Million People in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Are Now Displaced https://www.democracynow.org/2023/11/10/headlines/7_million_people_in_the_democratic_republic_of_the_congo_are_now_displaced

Twenty-four candidates sign up for Congolese presidential race in December https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/twenty-four-candidates-sign-up-congolese-presidential-race-december-2023-10-08/

Henri Lopes, 86, Who Straddled Literature and Politics in Africa, Dies https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/01/world/africa/henri-lopes-dead.html

What is UN Article 99 and why has Guterres called for it to be used? https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/palestine-israel/2023/12/07/what-is-un-article-99-and-why-has-guterres-called-for-it-to-be-used/

What is Article 99 of the UN Charter, invoked for the first time in decades as Israel attacks Gaza https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/everyday-explainers/article-99-un-invoke-israel-gaza-explained-9058381/

Yuval Noah Harari on conservatives losing, conspiracies, AI, religion & history Ari Melber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlni04mpDdg

LUMUMBA (2001) From the director of I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO. Made in the tradition of such true-life political thrillers as Malcolm X and JFK, Raoul Peck’s award-winning LUMUMBA is a gripping epic that dramatizes for the first time the rise and fall of legendary African leader Patrice Lumumba. When the Congo declared its independence from Belgium in 1960, Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent state. Called “the politico of the bush” by journalists of the day, he became a lightning rod of Cold War politics as his vision of a united Africa gained him powerful enemies in Belgium and the U.S. “Peck, who assayed Lumumba’s life in a 1991 documentary, now paces the doomed man’s story like the genuine thriller that it is.” – Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly Available for free on Kanopy.