If you’ve ever desired to know more about South Africa’s most well-known revolutionary turned President, look no further than Radio Diaries’ “Becoming Nelson Mandela.” Radio Diaries offers stunning insights into history, told firsthand by those who lived through them, and this podcast is no exception in this regard. It’s a nuanced podcast that is sure to enrich the listener’s understanding of Nelson Mandela’s life, beliefs, and legacy.
The podcast uses audio clips of Mandela talking about his life, interviews from his friends, those who knew him well, and news clips, combining them together in a way that provides multiple viewpoints of Mandela’s life. This style gives you a three dimensional perspective of who the man truly was, avoiding bias and exaggeration and instead focusing on factual events. Since it uses real audio clips ranging from a few years old to decades, some of the clips do not have perfect audio quality. Everything is understandable, though if you’re looking for a podcast to listen to while doing other activities, this may not be the podcast for you.
The podcast runs just shy of 13 minutes, which is the perfect time to get a feel for who Mandela truly was. While it may not be as in depth as other works on the man's life, it is sure to give you a better understanding of what it meant to be Nelson Mandela.