BBC 4 selected Brazzaville Charms for its travel programme Excess Baggage. John McCarthy interviewed Cassie Knight about living in the Republic of Congo. Knight describes how Brazzaville charmed her with its attractive avenues, with street hawkers selling pain au chocolats from baskets on their heads. She speaks of the inspirational people she met, who survived the civil war by fleeing into the forest and living amongst the trees, evading the terrifying militia and surviving to tell the tale. She describes the militia men, many of whom had started to fight as teenagers, who had been recruited by the charismatic preacher Ntoumi who claimed he was the son of god, gave them magic charms to protect themselves and sent them into battle. She describes her love of a country which has beautiful tropical forest, generous and warm hearted people, and a government which has done nothing to help its people but which has squandered the oil wealth to line their own pockets.

Knight has written articles about Congo for various sources including the BBC website. She reported on sleeping sickness and how it can make people go mad when the parasite enters the brain. A miracle drug can reverse the effects and restore people to health. But the madness is often understood to be possession by the devil and sorcery is seen as the solution, to try to rid them of their curse.