Nationalism is an inherently unifying and totalizing force. But what happens when other identities begin to encroach on certain visions of what it means to be Indonesian? Deconstructing Indonesia, a student-run seminar, pays special attention to Chinese Indonesians, one of the minority groups in Indonesia.

In this episode of Gatty Lecture Rewind, the host Namfon Narumol Choochan interviews Dr. Aditya Bhattacharjee, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Asian Studies at Cornell University. Together, they discuss how growing up in Bangkok led him to study the localization and globalization of Hinduism. Focusing on the transnational appearances of Ganesha in Thailand and Thai restaurants in the United States, Dr. Bhattacharjee explains how and why this deity becomes a visible conduit for understanding the globalization of religious practices and religious belonging beyond the exclusively Thai-Buddhist framework.

In this episode of the New Books in Southeast Asia Podcast, Katheryn Dyt discusses her new book, The Nature of Kingship: The Weather-World in Nineteenth-Century Vietnam (University of Hawaii Press, 2025). This text connects Vietnam’s precolonial political history with an understanding of the natural environment seen through the eyes of Vietnamese kings and royal officials.

In this episode of Talking Indonesia, Clara Siagian and Tito Ambyo speak with Dian Tri Irawaty, Program Director at the University of Melbourne’s Rujak Center for Urban Studies, about the ongoing struggle for housing rights in Jakarta’s kampung communities.

In this episode of Southeast Asia Radio, produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Gregory B. Poling and Elina Noor discuss Greg’s section of the recent CSIS compendium, “Navigating Disruption: Ally and Partner Responses to U.S. Foreign Policy.” The podcast also covers the latest from Southeast Asia, from protests to contaminated shrimp.

In an article for the New York Times, Emily Anthes interviews Joshua Plotnik, who has been studying Asian elephant cognition for 20 years. In his research at Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary Thailand, his team had created personality profiles to direct mitigation tactics toward each  particular elephant's personality.

In an article for East Asia Forum, Shiro Armstrong discusses Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and ASEAN’s response, where the latter avoided retaliation, which would worsen economic consequences, and instead communicated a coordinated, non-retaliatory response to the tariffs.

In an article for WIRED, Matt Burgess writes about the Universe Browser, which promises to be the “fastest browser” and can avoid privacy leaks. However, research shows hidden elements of this browser include features similar to malware, with links to Chinese online gambling websites and Southeast Asia’s sprawling, multibillion-dollar cybercrime ecosystem.

In an article for Mekong Independent, Gerald Flynn discusses Thailand's decision to delay the decommissioning of several coal-fired units at the 2,400-megawatt Mao Moh power plant, which has sparked health related worries amongst the community, as the plant is Thailand's largest carbon dioxide pollution project.

In an article for Lighthouse Reports, researchers investigate a vast archive of data on the deep web, from a surveillance company called First Wap. Investigation shows how phone network collections can be leveraged to allow tracking all over the world, without authorization from the targeted networks.

In a paper for SSRN (the Social Science Research Network), NYSEAN Member Haakon Huynh analyzes the political economy of AI infrastructure in Vietnam, focusing on how the Vietnamese state regulates data centers and cloud services while increasing reliance on foreign capital and expertise.

In an article for Asia Sentinel, Toh Han Shih discusses a US Department of Justice case involving an online scam allegedly operated by a Cambodian conglomerate, Prince Holding Group, and its founding chairman, Vincent Chen Zhi. The case constitutes a growing recognition of the nature of the cybercrime threat from Cambodia, which costs Americans up to $10 billion annually and produces hundreds of thousands of human trafficking victims  across the world, particularly in the US, China, and the EU.

In an article for BusinessMirror, Troi Santos highlights Noel Pangilinan, an educator, journalist, and member of the Fil-Am Press Club of New York, who recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his long service to education, journalism, and the promotion of Filipino heritage in the United States.

Haakon Huynh (Columbia University) is seeking collaborators for ongoing research on artificial intelligence (AI) governance in Southeast Asia. His recent working paper, “Digital Sovereignty or Dependency? The Political Economy of AI Infrastructure in Vietnam,” examines how Vietnam governs AI infrastructure amid growing foreign investment from firms like NVIDIA.

Haakon welcomes contact from scholars, practitioners, and students interested in AI policy, digital infrastructure, or the political economy of technology in the region.

Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Benjamin Tausig discuss how music features in their new books and how they engage with songs in their various writings. Dr. Wasserstrom discusses the Milk Tea Alliance, a coalition that brought together activists from Thailand, Myanmar, and Hong Kong. Dr. Tausig introduces his latest book, Bangkok After Dark, which places nightlife in Thailand's capital city during the Cold War into a transnational perspective via discussion of jazz pianist Maurice Rocco. Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal offers his remarks on both presentations as well as his own experiences with music and community organizing. The videos and musicians mentioned during the discussion can be found in this YouTube playlist.

In this paper published by NYSEAN Partner ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Angel Hsu and Silvia Landa discuss how the US government has withdrawn both domestically and globally from climate and clean energy engagement. This withdrawal has been marked by a dismantling of foreign development assistance, proposed rollbacks of the Inflation Reduction Act, and aggressive tariffs. They assert that these policy shifts undermine the possibility of bilateral clean energy and climate collaboration with Southeast Asian nations.

Senator Loren Legarda, a four-term senator and passionate environmentalist, has spent much of her years in the Senate authoring landmark laws for environmental protection. Speaking on how bold governance can unlock the Philippines’ vast potential for building a sustainable future, she touches on her role in enacting conservation measures in the country. She also elaborates on upcoming measures to safeguard the country’s oceans and coastal livelihoods, protect biodiversity, and facilitate compliance markets in the 20th Congress.

In this episode of Gatty Lecture Rewind, the hosts join Dr. Rachel Leow, Associate Professor of Modern East Asian History at the University of Cambridge, for a lively conversation that dives into the tangled, shimmering histories of migration, language, and ideas across Asia’s maritime world.