Southeast Asian Studies

Southeast Asian Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Southeast Asia about their new books hosted by Michele Ford, Patrick Jory, Duncan McCargo, and Faizah Zakaria.

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Financial Access and Socio-Economic Development in Indonesia

March 19, 2024

Financial Access and Socio-Economic Development in Indonesia

Tanvir Uddin
Hosted by Natali Pearson

Globally, 1.4 billion people are considered to be “financially excluded,” meaning they cannot safely access appropriate and affordable financial servi…

Amber Worlds: The Global Amber Trade in the China-Myanmar Borderlands

March 15, 2024

Amber Worlds

Alessandro Rippa

What role do China and other Asian countries play in the global amber trade? And, what can we learn about the big challenges of our time by studying a…

Charlotte Setijadi, "Memories of Unbelonging: Ethnic Chinese Identity Politics in Post-Suharto Indonesia" (U Hawaii Press, 2023)

March 15, 2024

Memories of Unbelonging

Charlotte Setijadi
Hosted by Michele Ford

The ethnic Chinese have had a long and problematic history in Indonesia, commonly stereotyped as a market-dominant minority with dubious political loy…

David E. Gilbert, "Countering Dispossession, Reclaiming Land: A Social Movement Ethnography" (U California Press, 2024)

March 12, 2024

Countering Dispossession, Reclaiming Land

David E. Gilbert
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

Two decades ago, a group of Indonesian agricultural workers began occupying the agribusiness plantation near their homes. In the years since, members …

Diego Javier Luis, "The First Asians in the Americas: A Transpacific History" (Harvard UP, 2024)

March 5, 2024

The First Asians in the Americas

Diego Javier Luis
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Between 1565 and 1815, the so-called Manila galleons enjoyed a near-complete monopoly on transpacific trade between Spain’s Asian and American colonie…

Ryan Wolfson-Ford, "Forsaken Causes: Liberal Democracy and Anticommunism in Cold War Laos" (U Wisconsin Press, 2024)

March 1, 2024

Forsaken Causes

Ryan Wolfson-Ford
Hosted by Patrick Jory

Ryan Wolfson-Ford’s provocative new book, Forsaken Causes: Liberal Democracy and Anticommunism in Cold War Laos (U Wisconsin Press, 2024), is an intel…

Steve Ferzacca, "Sonic City: Making Rock Music and Urban Life in Singapore" (NUS Press, 2021)

February 29, 2024

Sonic City

Steve Ferzacca
Hosted by Khadeeja Amenda

The basement of a veteran shopping mall located in the central business district of Singapore affords opportunities to a group of amateur and semi-pro…

Airports, Buses, Internet Cables, and the Local and National Politics in the Philippines

February 28, 2024

Airports, Buses, Internet Cables, and the Local and National Politics in the Philippines

John Sidel
Hosted by Petra Alderman

What can airports, busses, and submarine internet cables tell us about the local and national politics in the Philippines? And how do they position th…

Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu, "Experiments in Skin: Race and Beauty in the Shadows of Vietnam" (Duke UP, 2021)

February 26, 2024

Experiments in Skin

Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu
Hosted by Yadong Li

Through a creative focus on skin, in Experiments in Skin: Race and Beauty in the Shadows of Vietnam (Duke UP, 2021), Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu examines the …

Cheow Thia Chan, "Malaysian Crossings: Place and Language in the Worlding of Modern Chinese Literature" (Columbia UP, 2022)

February 10, 2024

Malaysian Crossings

Cheow Thia Chan
Hosted by Li-Ping Chen

Malaysian Chinese (Mahua) literature is marginalized on several fronts. In the international literary space, which privileges the Wes…

Use of Bacteriophages as Natural Antimicrobials to Manage Bacterial Pathogens in Aquaculture in Vietnam and Australia

February 2, 2024

Use of Bacteriophages as Natural Antimicrobials to Manage Bacterial Pathogens in Aquaculture in Vietnam and Australia

Carola Venturini
Hosted by Natali Pearson

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing protein production industry globally, with Vietnam one of the top producers and exporters of seafood products. In V…

Petra Alderman, "Branding Authoritarian Nations: Political Legitimation and Strategic National Myths in Military-Ruled Thailand" (Routledge, 2023)

February 1, 2024

Branding Authoritarian Nations

Petra Alderman
Hosted by Duncan McCargo

What does nation-branding mean to you? For many listeners, the term probably conjures up ideas of catchy slogans and international tourism or trade pr…

Alka Vaid Menon, "Refashioning Race: How Global Cosmetic Surgery Crafts New Beauty Standards" (U California Press, 2023)

January 28, 2024

Refashioning Race

Alka Vaid Menon
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Cosmetic surgery was once associated with a one-size-fits-all approach, modifying patients to conform to a single standard of beauty. As this surgery …

Genevieve Alva Clutario, "Beauty Regimes: A History of Power and Modern Empire in the Philippines, 1898-1941" (Duke UP, 2023)

January 25, 2024

Beauty Regimes

Genevieve Alva Clutario
Hosted by Ann Choi

Beauty is often dismissed as superfluous and frivolous cultural consumption. In her book, Beauty Regimes: A History of Power and Modern Empire in the …

Hannah Gould and Gwyn McClelland, "Aromas of Asia: Exchanges, Histories, Threats" (Penn State UP, 2023)

January 24, 2024

Aromas of Asia

Hannah Gould and Gwyn McClelland

A uniquely powerful marker of ethnic, gender, and class identities, scent can also overwhelm previously constructed boundaries and transform social-se…

Bliss Cua Lim, "The Archival Afterlives of Philippine Cinema" (Duke UP, 2024)

January 24, 2024

The Archival Afterlives of Philippine Cinema

Bliss Cua Lim
Hosted by Jen Hoyer

In The Archival Afterlives of Philippine Cinema (Duke University Press, 2024), Bliss Cua Lim draws on cultural policy, queer and feminist theory, mate…

Thomas Baudinette, "Boys Love Media in Thailand: Celebrity, Fans, and Transnational Asian Queer Popular Culture" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

January 16, 2024

Boys Love Media in Thailand

Thomas Baudinette
Hosted by Michele Ford

Thomas Baudinette's Boys Love Media in Thailand: Celebrity, Fans, and Transnational Asian Queer Popular Culture (Bloomsbury, 2023) explores the contou…

Jeremy Yellen, "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: When Total Empire Met Total War" (Cornell UP, 2019)

December 26, 2023

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

Jeremy Yellen
Hosted by Nathan Hopson

Jeremy Yellen’s The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: When Total Empire Met Total War (Cornell University Press, 2019) is a challenging transnat…

Reading the Stars: When Divination Meets Politics in Thailand

December 22, 2023

Reading the Stars

Edoardo Siani
Hosted by Petra Alderman

What does astrology, palm-reading and fortune telling have to do with politics in Thailand, and how can we make sense of these divination practices an…

Vineeta Sinha. "Temple Tracks: Labour, Piety and Railway Construction in Asia" (Berghahn Books, 2023)

December 20, 2023

Temple Tracks

Vineeta Sinha
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

The notions of labour, mobility and piety have a complex and intertwined relationship. Using ethnographic methods and a historical perspective, Vineet…