On this episode of Culture & Flavor, Zella talks with Dr. David Katerere, Research Platform Chair of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Advancement in Africa (PBA2) at Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa. He is the Co-Director of the recently established CSIR / TUT Cannabis and Hemp Research Centre. In this capacity, they provide contract extraction and formulation services for farmers and entrepreneurs in South Africa and the SADC region. He is the co-inventor of the nutraceuticals Niselo and Synmba, which promote wholesome, evidence-based nutrition and are commercialized for the market in Botswana and South Africa.

More recently these products have been licensed to BiaGo in Scotland for entry into the UK and Kenyan markets. David is also the Co-Editor of several books including the African Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AfHP), Ethnoveterinary Botanical Medicines (T&F) (2010), Systems Analysis Approach for Complex Global Challenges (Springer) (2018), and Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge for the Modern Era (T&F) (2019). Dr. Katerere teaches and researches across the pharmaceutical and biotech value chain, including product development from medicinal plants (for food, nutraceuticals and medicines) and clinical testing of botanicals, cannabis, medicine, and pharmaceuticals.

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On this episode of Culture & Flavor, Zella talks with Tunde Wey, a Nigerian social practice artist using food, finance and investment capital to address economic disparities across geographies and demographics. His work engages systems that create material disparity, focusing particularly on how economics and finance impact working class Black people globally. Wey uses performance and installation, film, food, writing, and finance to confront disparities in material conditions and attempt interventions to address these socially constructed inequalities.

Wey’s work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, GQ, The Washington Post, VOGUE, Black Enterprise, Food and Wine, as well as Oxford American, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Roads & Kingdom, and a couple cookbooks/anthologies. His docuseries is a 2024 CANNESERIES Official Selection. He is a recipient of the Monroe Fellowship from Tulane University (2023) and the Ford Foundation Just Films Grant (2022).

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On this episode, Zella talks to her favorite high school teacher, former Dance Director of the Lincoln Park High School Concert Dancers in Chicago, Illinois Efé McWorter. Efé, pronounced E-Fay, hails from the concert dance world of Chicago. Affectionately known as Mama E, she has brought a 40-year Chicago foundation of professional concert modern dance to LA where an actor flowed forth, winning the DC Black Film Festival 2019 Best Actress Award for her role in Tony Scott’s “TOGETHER.” She has joyously extended her love of performance to the world of entertainment through television, film, print, and theater. Efé is grateful for opportunities extended to continue her deep commitment to a life of enlightenment, illumination and the beauty that lies in telling stories through all media outlets. Grandmother to an actor and musician, she thanks her beautiful and talented daughter Mei-Ling for opening this fascinating world to her.

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