Banana Island Living Podcasts

With nearly 30 years as an international civil servant working with the UN, Yewande Odia has been in all the hotspots - Somalia, Haiti, Goma, Tchad and yes, even New York (the original hotspot)!  

In this episode, we discuss:

• UN or bust - how to get your foot through the door;
• Trevor Noah, Chris Rock and the attraction of the educated comic;
• Theatre arts, school band, UN? Not the most obvious of career paths;
• Dangerous situations and intense friendships - the correlation;
• Korean dramas, Old school R & B and the turgid book that doesn't bear finishing;
• The bucket list - and yes, even Yewande who has done it all and seen it all still has things to tick off.

Yewande finds a joke, a pun that needs some thinking about but that, surely, is the point. This episode will get you thinking about resilience, perseverance and the changing nature of friendships as we grow older.

As if Sarah Boulos’s backstory (past imperfect?) was not epic enough, her present continuous one merits its own Hollywood (or is it Nollywood?) biopic. Born in Burkina Faso, schooled in France and US, Lebanese father and  French mother; living in Nigeria for many decades, Sarah has truly bloomed where she was planted.

Vibrant, passionate and a muse, Sarah’s life has been one of great highs and horrible lows, heady peaks and shattering troughs, filled with sublime moments and truly ridiculous phases. And still she rises.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Being white in Africa - privilege or albatross?;
• Yes, trust fund babies also cry;
• Losing multiple family members within 24 hours;
• That epic marriage cum merger - yes, that one;
• The soul preserving discovery of faith  - for Sarah it’s all encompassing;
• SPAN (Society for the Performing Arts in Nigeria) and finding your purpose.
• The bucket list - step aside Oprah;

Between Chat GPT and Google’s Bard, Sarah tells a joke, or rather, finds a joke and tells it sweetly. This episode will give you a whole new respect for that delicate high wire oxymoronic space between supreme confidence and touching humility. Yes, the future is conditional.