Southeast Asian Studies

Southeast Asian Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Southeast Asia about their new books hosted by Nick Cheesman, Michele Ford, Patrick Jory, Duncan McCargo and Natali Pearson.

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Tim Connor et al., "Global Business and Local Struggle: Reimagining Non-Judicial Remedy for Human Rights" (Cambridge UP, 2025)

April 10, 2026

Global Business and Local Struggle

Tim Connor, Annie Delaney, Fiona Haines, Kate Macdonald, and Shelley Marshall
Hosted by Caitlin Murphy

In the quest for human rights justice for communities and workers whose rights are breached by transnational businesses, non-judicial mechanisms (NJMs…

Nurhaizatul Jamil, "Faithful Transformations: Islamic Self-Help in Contemporary Singapore" (U Illinois Press, 2025)

April 10, 2026

Faithful Transformations

Nurhaizatul Jamil
Hosted by Jaclyn Michael

Nurhaizatul Jamil’s Faithful Transformations: Islamic Self-Help in Contemporary Singapore (U Illinois Press, 2025) is a complex and meticulous ethnogr…

Leslie Barnes, "Sex Work in Southeast Asia: Scenes of Ambivalence in Literature and Film" (Edinburgh UP, 2025)

April 7, 2026

Sex Work in Southeast Asia

Leslie Barnes
Hosted by Michael Vann

In Sex Work in Southeast Asia: Scenes of Ambivalence in Literature and Film (Edinburgh UP, 2025), Leslie Barnes examines the ambivalences that mark So…

Episode 52: Chiang Mai 2015

April 3, 2026

52 Chiang Mai 2015

Camille Bégin
Hosted by Gastronomica

The Gastronomica podcast returns to the air, bringing listeners new interviews with authors from the latest issues of Gastronomica: The Journal for Fo…

Robert Cribb and Sandra Wilson, "Twelve Japanese War Criminals and One Who Got Away" (U Hawaiʻi Press, 2026)

April 1, 2026

Twelve Japanese War Criminals and One Who Got Away

Robert Cribb and Sandra Wilson
Hosted by Patrick Jory

“Japanese war crimes are notorious. During the Second World War, as Japanese forces overran Southeast Asia and the Pacific, they massacred, murdered, …

Christina Schwenkel, "Sonic Socialism: Crisis and Care in Pandemic Hanoi" (U California Press, 2025)

March 31, 2026

Sonic Socialism

Christina Schwenkel
Hosted by Camellia Pham

In an era dominated by visual information, what can the sounds of a pandemic reveal about crisis and care? How might attuning to sonic atmospheres unc…

Hans A. Harmakaputra, "Christian-Muslim Relations in Post-Reformation Indonesia: Resistance, Identity and Belonging" (Edinburgh UP, 2026)

March 31, 2026

Christian-Muslim Relations in Post-Reformation Indonesia

Hans A. Harmakaputra
Hosted by Byung Ho Choi

The post-Reformation era has witnessed a vastly changing landscape in Indonesian Islam, particularly with the emergence of conservative Muslim voices.…

James McDougall, "Worlds of Islam: A Global History" (Basic Books, 2026)

March 27, 2026

Worlds of Islam

James McDougall
Hosted by Tugrul Mende

From its birth in seventh-century Arabia, Islam has been a faith on the move. In Worlds of Islam: A Global History (Basic Books, 2026), James McDougal…

Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, "The Battle of Manila: Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War" (Oxford UP, 2025)

March 26, 2026

The Battle of Manila

Nicholas Evan Sarantakes
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

On Feb. 6, 1945, just three days after the U.S. army started to fight the Japanese in the city of Manila, General Douglas MacArthur declared that “Man…

A Year of Autocratization: Steep Declines in Democracy Registered in 2025 V-Dem Report

March 22, 2026

A Year of Autocratization

with Kenneth Roberts, Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government, Cornell University Paul Friesen, Research Associate, Brooks Center on Global Democracy, Cornell University

This week on Democracy Dialogues, host Rachel Beatty Riedl speaks with Kenneth Roberts and Paul Friesen, democracy experts at Cornell University, to u…

Olivier Hein, "Borneo: The History of an Enigma" (Hurst, 2026)

March 12, 2026

Borneo

Olivier Hein
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Borneo—split between two countries, home to some of the world’s oldest rainforests and a vast array of animal and plant life—is back in the news. The …

Miles Kenney-Lazar, "Socializing Land: Plantations, Dispossession, and Resistance in Laos" (U Hawai’i Press, 2025)

March 4, 2026

Socializing Land

Miles Kenney-Lazar
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Since 2008, there has been tremendous public interest in the social and ecological ramifications of the global land rush, a rapid increase of capital …

Sally Frances Low, "Colonial Law Making: Cambodia Under the French" (NUS Press, 2023)

February 22, 2026

Colonial Law Making

Sally Frances Low
Hosted by Patrick Jory

In 1863 the French established a protectorate over the kingdom of Cambodia. The protectorate, along with Vietnam and Laos, later became part of the co…

Good and Bad Palm Oil: Food Security, Paradigm Shift and Stakeholder Negotiations in Indonesia and the EU

February 20, 2026

Good and Bad Palm Oil

Ayu Pratiwi

Entangled in a nexus of commerce, industry, food security, and environmental concerns, palm oil has become a prominent topic of controversy and debate…

Thailand’s February 2026 Snap Election: A Conversation with Prof Duncan McCargo

February 20, 2026

Thailand’s February 2026 Snap Election

This episode unpacks the 8 February 2026 snap election and constitutional referendum in Thailand. The results paint a mixed picture: a decisive win fo…

Himanshu Prabha Ray ed., "Recentering Southeast Asia: Politics, Religion and Maritime Connections" (Routledge, 2026)

February 15, 2026

Recentering Southeast Asia

Himanshu Prabha Ray ed.
Hosted by Natali Pearson

Recentering Southeast Asia: Politics, Religion and Maritime Connections (Routledge, 2026) assesses the impact of European colonization in the late 19t…

Sugata Bose, "Asia after Europe: Imagining a Continent in the Long Twentieth Century" (Harvard UP, 2024)

February 15, 2026

Asia after Europe

Sugata Bose
Hosted by Lucas Tse

The balance of global power changed profoundly over the course of the twentieth century, above all with the economic and political rise of Asia. Asia …

Cindy Anh Nguyen, "Bibliotactics: Libraries and the Colonial Public in Vietnam" (U California Press, 2026)

February 6, 2026

Bibliotactics

Cindy Anh Nguyen
Hosted by Jen Hoyer

Libraries in French colonial Vietnam functioned as symbols of Western modernity and infrastructures of colonial knowledge. Yet Vietnamese readers purs…

Wisdom of the Goddess: The Divine Feminine in South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan Art

February 5, 2026

Wisdom of the Goddess

Hillary Langberg
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Hillary Langberg discusses Wisdom of the Goddess, an online exhibition she curated for the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art featuring nine g…

Michael Hurley, "Waterways of Bangkok: Memory, Landscape and Twilight" (NUS Press, 2025)

February 1, 2026

Waterways of Bangkok

Michael Hurley
Hosted by Patrick Jory

Bangkok is one of the world’s great cities, and the central artery of that city is the Chaophraya River. Michael Hurley’s book, Waterways of Bangkok: …