Talking Indonesia Podcast: “Dirty Vote II o3”

In the ten months since the Free Nutritious Meals (Makan Bergizi Gratis, MBG) program was launched, more than 11,000 students and school staff have suffered food poisoning, including many severe cases. In this episode of Talking Indonesia, the host speaks with Dr. Irma Hidayana, a public health consultant and co-initiator of MBG Watch, an advocacy network promoting accountability in the Free Nutritious Meals program.

Read More

Gatty Lecture Rewind: Anocha Suwichakornpong, Associate Professor of Film, Columbia University

In this episode of Gatty Lecture Rewind, the host Namfon Narumol Choochan interviews “Mai” Anocha Suwichakornpong, independent filmmaker, producer, founder of Electric Eel Film, and Associate Professor of Film at Columbia University. They discuss how her previous and upcoming features have engaged with the politics of remembering and forgetting of state violence in Thai history.

Read More

Talking Indonesia Podcast: Free Nutritious Meals Program

In the ten months since the Free Nutritious Meals (Makan Bergizi Gratis, MBG) program was launched, more than 11,000 students and school staff have suffered food poisoning, including many severe cases. In this episode of Talking Indonesia, the host speaks with Dr. Irma Hidayana, a public health consultant and co-initiator of MBG Watch, an advocacy network promoting accountability in the Free Nutritious Meals program.

Read More

New Books Network: Calibrated Engagement

In this episode of the New Books in Southeast Asia Podcast, Stéphan Huard discusses Calibrated Engagement: Chronicles of Local Politics in the Heartland of Myanmar (‎Berghahn Books, 2024), in which he takes a deep dive into the history and anthropology of village leadership in Myanmar’s central dry zone, or anya. Though the book was researched prior to the military coup of 2021, it offers material with which to make sense of both why and how people in the dry zone formed new armed groups along what Stéphen calls an internal frontier.

The book is available for download free of charge via the publisher’s website. This episode was produced by NYSEAN Partner, the New Books Network.

Read More

CSIS Podcast: Unpacking the CSIS Global Alignment Index with Susannah Patton

In this episode of Southeast Asia Radio, produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Gregory B. Poling and Andreyka Natalegawa are joined by Susannah Patton to discuss the Southeast Asia Program’s upcoming Global Alignment Index report. The podcast also covers the latest from Southeast Asia, from updates on U.S.-Cambodia ties to the Philippines assuming the ASEAN chairmanship.

Read More

[Recording] Domestic Nationalism: Muslim Women, Health and Modernity in Indonesia

Chiara Formichi discusses her new book, Domestic Nationalism (Stanford University Press, 2025), asserting that Muslim women in Java and Sumatra in the early to mid-20th century were central to Indonesia’s progress as guardians and promoters of health and piety through gendered activities of care work. While sidelined in the Dutch colonial project of hygienic modernity, women’s labor of social reproduction became increasingly visible during the Japanese Occupation and early years of independence. Women from all walks of life were called upon to fulfill domestic and motherly roles for the production and socialization of laborers, soldiers, and citizens.

This discussion was moderated by Sidney Jones and was hosted by NYSEAN.

Read More

Talking Indonesia Podcast: Corruption in Prabowo-Gibran’s First Year

In this episode of Talking Indonesia, the hosts speak with Egi Primayogha, the advocacy coordinator for the NGO Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), about their assessment of the current government and their recent report titled Catatan Kritis (critical notes) on the first year of the Prabawo-Gibran government.

Read More

Dialogues at Fulcrum – ‘Gangster’ Politics? Examining Protest, Power, and Poverty in Indonesia

Julia Lau, Fulcrum editor and Coordinator of Indonesia Studies Program at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, speaks to Dr. Ian Wilson about power, politics, and popular culture, including the phenomenon of 'preman' in today's Indonesia. Ian Wilson is a Senior Lecturer of Politics and International Studies and Principal Fellow at the Indo-Pacific Research Centre. Associate Dean Research, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, at Murdoch University.

Read More

CSIS Podcast: Trump at ASEAN with Brian Eyler and Prashanth Parameswaran

In this episode of Southeast Asia Radio, produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Gregory B. Poling and Elina Noor are joined by Brian Eyler and Prashanth Parameswaran to discuss President Trump’s visit to Malaysia during the ASEAN Summit. The podcast also covers the latest from Southeast Asia, including mass scam operations in Cambodia and Myanmar’s upcoming general elections.

Read More

Showmanship or Statecraft: Trump Returns to ASEAN

In a brief by the Asia Society Policy Institute, Bryanna Entwistle and Shay Wester cover President Trump’s first stop on his Asia tour: the ASEAN Leaders' Summit in Kuala Lumpur. On the sidelines, he presided over the signing of a number of deals, including a ceasefire deal between Thailand and Cambodia, and “reciprocal trade” deals with Malaysia and Cambodia, respectively.

Read More

[Recording] States Against Nations: Meritocracy, Patronage, and the Challenges of Bureaucratic Selection

Nicholas Kuipers discusses his new book, States Against Nations (Cambridge University Press, 2025), specifically how Indonesia's civil service examination is a method of bureaucratic selection. Despite its meritocratic measures, Kuipers asserts that these exams can reinforce existing inequalities within society. Drawing on large-scale surveys, experiments, and archival documents, States Against Nations provides a thought-provoking perspective on the challenges of bureaucratic recruitment and unearths the tension between state- and nation-building goals.

Read More