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Southeast Asian Studies
South Asian Studies June 21, 2022

The 24th Mile

An Indian Doctor's Heroism in War-torn Burma

Tehmton S. Mistry

Hosted by Shatrunjay Mall
The story of India and Indians in World War II has been overshadowed by other historical events of the 1940s, a busy decade that included such historical watersheds as Indian …

Southeast Asian Studies

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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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Nordic Asia Podcast June 20, 2022

Spirit Possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia

Worlds Ever More Enchanted

Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière and Peter A Jackson

Hosted by Terese Gagnon
What is the relationship between Spirit Possession Rituals and Buddhism in mainland Southeast Asia? How has modernity transformed Spirit Possession cults in the 21st century and what has led to …
Biography June 20, 2022

Life Under the Palms

The Sublime World of the Anti-Colonialist Jacob Haafner

Paul Van Der Velde

Hosted by Cresa Pugh
Jacob Gotfried Haafner (1754–1809) was one of the most popular European travel writers of the early nineteenth century, writing in the Romantic mode. A Dutch citizen, Haafner spent more than …
Southeast Asian Studies June 15, 2022

Strategies of Authoritarian Survival and Dissensus in Southeast Asia

Weak Men Versus Strongmen

Sokphea Young

Hosted by Nicole Curato
The durability of strongmen leaders in Southeast Asia has puzzled many scholars and observers of the region. In the book Strategies of Authoritarian Survival and Dissensus in Southeast Asia: Weak …
SSEAC Stories June 9, 2022

All Industry is Creative Industry

New Creativity and Innovation Practices in Vietnam

Jane Gavan

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Recent economic development in Vietnam has seen a proliferation of manufacturing. At the same time, Vietnam has embraced creative innovation as part of its move towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution …
Music June 8, 2022

Jazz in Socialist Hà Nội

Improvisations Between Worlds

Stan BH Tan-Tangbau, Lưu Quang Minh, and Quyền Thiện Đắc

Hosted by Adam Bobeck
Jazz in Socialist Hà Nội: Improvisations between Worlds (Routledge, 2022) examines the germination and growth of jazz under communist rule—perceived as the "music of the enemy" and "ideologically decadent"—in the Vietnamese capital …
Nordic Asia Podcast June 6, 2022

Popular Demand for Strongman Rule?

Reflections on the 2022 Philippine Election

Duncan McCargo

Hosted by Nordic Asia Podcast
What enabled the 2022 electoral victory of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of a dictator that the historic People Power Revolution ousted 36 years ago? To what extent did the …
Southeast Asian Studies June 1, 2022

Colonizing Animals

Interspecies Empire in Myanmar

Jonathan Saha

Hosted by Patrick Jory
Colonial Myanmar was teeming with animals, both wild and domesticated. Yet few histories have devoted close attention to the importance of animals to British colonial rule in Myanmar. Jonathan Saha’s …
Nordic Asia Podcast May 30, 2022

The Race for the Governor

Talking Bangkok Elections with Saksith Saiyasombut

Saksith Saiyasombut

Hosted by Petra Alderman
Why did Chadchart Sittipunt win the Bangkok governor race? What does his win tell us about broader political trends in Thailand? And how did it feel covering the Bangkok election …
SSEAC Stories May 26, 2022

Boys Love and Japanese Queer Popular Culture across Southeast Asia

A Conversation with Tom Baudinette

Tom Baudinette

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers across East and Southeast Asia have found themselves turning to Thai soap operas known as “Boys Love series” as a source of …
Asian American Studies May 23, 2022

Archipelago of Resettlement

Vietnamese Refugee Settlers and Decolonization Across Guam and Israel-Palestine

Evyn Lê Espiritu Gandhi

Hosted by Ann Choi
“Nước Việt Nam: a home, a cradle, a point of departure” (Gandhi, 1). The Vietnamese word nước embraces the duality of land and water with an idea of “home.” Through …
Southeast Asian Studies May 16, 2022

Projectland

Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village

Holly High

Hosted by Michele Ford
In Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village (U Hawaii Press, 2021), anthropologist Holly High combines an engaging first-person narrative of her fieldwork with a political ethnography of Laos …
Asian Review of Books May 12, 2022

Troubling the Water

A Dying Lake and a Vanishing World in Cambodia

Abby Seiff

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
Tonlé Sap is one of Southeast Asia’s, if not one of the world’s, natural wonders. Between the dry and wet seasons, the lake expands almost six times in size to …
SSEAC Stories May 12, 2022

Geopolitics in the Mekong Region

The Role of Chinese Energy Politics in Laos and Cambodia

Andrea Haefner

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Energy, and who controls it, has emerged as a major issue in Southeast Asia in recent years. Nowhere is this issue more evident than in the Mekong region, where China’s …
Nordic Asia Podcast May 6, 2022

Deities and Divas

Queer Ritual Specialists in Myanmar, Thailand and Beyond

Peter A. Jackson and Benjamin Baumann

Hosted by Nordic Asia Podcast
How does queer life fit into Buddhism and ritual? What role do gay men and trans women play in the practice of spirit mediumship and how do queer spirit mediums …
Performing Arts May 6, 2022

Choreographing in Color

Filipinos, Hip-Hop, and the Cultural Politics of Euphemism

J. Lorenzo Perillo

Hosted by Isabel Machado
Investigating the development of Filipino popular dance and performance since the late 20th century, Choreographing in Color: Filipinos, Hip-Hop, and the Cultural Politics of Euphemism (Oxford UP, 2020) reveals how …
Southeast Asian Studies May 2, 2022

Infiltrating Society

The Thai Military’s Internal Security Affairs

Puangthong Pawakapan

Hosted by Duncan McCargo
Why is the Thai military so deeply embedded in socio-economic development projects, longer after the end of the Cold War? How come serving generals continue to exercise considerable authority over a …
Anthropology April 29, 2022

Building on Borrowed Time

Rising Seas and Failing Infrastructure in Semarang

Lukas Ley

Hosted by Alize Arıcan
Ice caps are melting, seas are rising, and densely populated cities worldwide are threatened by floodwaters, especially in Southeast Asia. Building on Borrowed Time is a relevant and powerful ethnography …
SSEAC Stories April 28, 2022

The Politics of Ethnic Integration in Thailand

Jacob Ricks

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Following the 2014 coup in Thailand, in which the Thai military overthrew the caretaker government after 6 months of political crisis, major media outlets suggested that the coup could lead …
Anthropology April 25, 2022

The Spirit Ambulance

Choreographing the End of Life in Thailand

Scott Stonington

Hosted by Armanc Yildiz
The Spirit Ambulance: Choreographing the End of Life in Thailand (University of California Press, 2020) is a journey into decision-making at the end of life in Thailand, where families attempt to …