Higher Ground's Fela Kuti: Fear No Man Releases Series Finale

Praise For Fela Kuti: Fear No Man

"Deeply reported and sonically glorious…a stunning eight-hour immersion into Fela's life and music-and into volatile post-colonial Nigeria, in which we glimpse flashes of our own precarious time"

- The New Yorker

"Jad Abumrad's return to podcasting finds him in characteristically compelling form. The Radiolab creator reprises the approach he honed in Dolly Parton's America, melding his distinct flavor of expansive sound design with a deep historical and musicological curiosity"

- Vulture, 10 Narrative Podcasts We Loved This Year

"The bio-pod from Radiolab creator Jad Abumrad asks big questions about a larger-than-life character and delivers on an equal scale...emotional insights and astounding anecdotes to fill out the life of a superstar who invented his own genre and used it to stand up to an oppressive government. The reporting is first-rate, and the music is undeniably funky"

- Washington Post

"It ' s hard not to be wowed by the cast list of people paying homage to one of the greatest African musicians ever in this series about his impact…Until you ' re wrongfooted by a gripping narrative about his rhythm pianist's father being murdered for his beliefs - and how Kuti bravely championed his family. It ' s a fascinating, passionate biography"

- The Guardian

" It feels fitting that this series about a musical pioneer should come with such immersive and imaginative sound design. It ' s a measure of the rich storytelling, the wonderful music and the wild anecdotes that run through Fear No Man that, even after 12 episodes, I didn't want it to end "

- Financial Times

"A 12-episode series about Fela Kuti, an innovative Nigerian musician. In the 1970s he fused a traditional west African sound with the funk, jazz and soul music of black America. In doing so he pioneered a new genre: Afrobeat"

- The Economist, Best Podcasts of 2025

" Thoroughly researched, an expansive effort that walks through the nuances that made Kuti who he became, the encounter that radicalized him, his passion for afrocentric intellect, his complex relationship with women, and as a father "

- OkayAfrica

" One can glean a little bit of Fela Kuti ' s life from numbers: 27 wives, all of whom he married during the same ceremony, at the same time; 100 arrests; 46 studio albums…This podcast retraces the life, music, and rebellion of one of Africa ' s most important artists "

- Air Mail

"The podcast has all the high quality production value and on-location original audio that listeners would expect from a veteran like Abrumrad, but there is also a great deal of nuance...It has something in common with Kuti's music: there is a strong sense of discovery"

- Podcast Review, 10 Best Podcasts of 2025