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About Natali Pearson

Dr Natali Pearson is Curriculum Coordinator at the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, a university-wide multidisciplinary center at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her research focuses on the protection, management and interpretation of underwater cultural heritage in Southeast Asia.
Natali's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Natali:

SSEAC Stories May 13, 2023

Locating Human Dignity in Cambodia

Prospects for Human Rights Education

Rachel Killean

Hosted by Natali Pearson
The concept of human dignity is a foundational one within human rights discourses, and is commonly used in the context of human rights and sustainable development policies and programs. But …
SSEAC Stories April 13, 2023

The Politics of Ethnicity in the Malay World

A Discussion with Tom Pepinsky

Tom Pepinsky

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Malaysia is a classic example of a plural society, with a diverse population consisting of the indigenous peoples, collectively called bumiputera, and the descendants of immigrant populations from southern China …
SSEAC Stories March 9, 2023

Social Media Influencers and Digital Media Regulation in Vietnam

A Discussion with Jonathon Hutchinson

Jonathon Hutchinson

Hosted by Natali Pearson
In 2021, a famous Vietnamese businesswoman hosted a three-hour long Facebook livestream, in which she named and shamed celebrities for their controversial public behaviours. This formed part of a regular …
SSEAC Stories February 9, 2023

A New Hope?

Japanese Retirement Migration to Malaysia

Shiori Shakuto

Hosted by Natali Pearson
In post-growth Japan, some people are looking to Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, as a source of new hope. A notable change in the recent pattern of global migration is the …
SSEAC Stories January 26, 2023

Shaping Civilisations

The Sea in Asian History

Eric Tagliocozzo

Hosted by Natali Pearson
The ocean is more connective device than barrier, bringing together diverse topics, time-periods and geographies. It has linked and connected the various littorals of Asia into a segmented, yet at …
SSEAC Stories December 23, 2022

Making Sense of the 2022 General Elections in Malaysia

A Discussion with Azmil Tayeb

Azmil Tayeb

Hosted by Natali Pearson
On 9 November 2022, Malaysia held its 15th General Elections. These elections took place within an unprecedentedly open and fragmented political landscape. Instead of the usual two main coalitions contending …
SSEAC Stories December 22, 2022

The ‘Domino Effect’

Global and Regional Climate Change Impacts on Food Supply Chains

Arunima Malik

Hosted by Natali Pearson
There is a complex relationship between climate change and food systems. Food supply chains – in particular food transportation – result in global greenhouse gas emissions, and these emissions are …
SSEAC Stories December 8, 2022

Safe and Sound?

On the Intersection of Child Protection and Child and Youth Residential Care in the Philippines

Steven Roche

Hosted by Natali Pearson
In the Philippines, unknown numbers of children are in institutional care. Commonly known as residential care or orphanages, these institutions have been established to fill a social welfare gap, and …
SSEAC Stories November 24, 2022

Public Participation and Contested Hydropower Development in the Mekong River Basin

Ming Li Yong

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Regional demand for renewable hydropower from the Mekong River and its tributaries in Laos is on the rise. In June 2022, Laos exported one hundred megawatts of hydropower to Singapore …
SSEAC Stories November 10, 2022

Sustainable Peatland Management and Transboundary Haze in Southeast Asia

A Conversation with Rini Astuti

Rini Astuti

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Indonesian citizens, and those of neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, have long suffered recurring haze pollution caused by peatland fires in Indonesia. To avoid these forest fires, and reduce the environmental …
SSEAC Stories October 27, 2022

Civil Society, Capitalism, and Political Regimes in Southeast Asia

A Discussion with Garry Rodan

Garry Rodan

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Working on Southeast Asia, one thing we tend to hear a lot of is the notion that civil society is shrinking, and that authoritarianism is on the rise. In fact …
SSEAC Stories October 13, 2022

Ethics, Utopia and Materiality

Glimpses of Everyday Creativity and Hope in Indonesian Papua

Roberto Costa

Hosted by Natali Pearson
The Asmat are an indigenous people of Indonesian Papua and are renowned for their artistic carving flair and complex life-cycle rituals. They also have big ambitions that reach as far …
SSEAC Stories September 29, 2022

Social Media and Political Participation in the Philippines

A Discussion with Maria Elize Mendoza

Maria Elize Mendoza

Hosted by Natali Pearson
We are all familiar with the spread of disinformation on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. But just when we thought we’d seen the worst of it …
SSEAC Stories September 15, 2022

Material Matters

Reflections on the History of Settlement Development Across Mainland Southeast Asia

Ben Dharmendra

Hosted by Natali Pearson
Despite decades of research into the historic settlements of Mainland Southeast Asia, our understanding of the region’s long-term settlement history remains incomplete. We know, for example, that mainland Southeast Asia …
SSEAC Stories September 1, 2022

Vietnam and China

Strange Bedfellows in the Era of Strategic Competition

Nguyen Khac Giang

Hosted by Natali Pearson
As the Asia-Pacific becomes the central stage of the US-China rivalry, Vietnam has emerged as one of the key countries to watch. While Vietnam has positioned itself as a critical …
SSEAC Stories August 18, 2022

Edging Towards New Politics?

Reflections on Malaysia’s Democracy after GE14

Meredith Weiss

Hosted by Natali Pearson
After decades of authoritarian rule by the Barisan Nasional coalition, a new alliance, Pakatan Harapan, was voted in in 2018, marking Malaysia’s first-ever transfer of federal power through elections in …
SSEAC Stories August 5, 2022

East Timorese Politics

A New Dawn or Return to Business as Usual?

Michael Leach

Hosted by Natali Pearson
As the newest nation in Southeast Asia, Timor-Leste has been independent for just over 20 years. Timor-Leste is regularly ranked the most democratic nation in the region, and since reclaiming …
SSEAC Stories July 21, 2022

Opposing Power

Building Opposition Alliances in Electoral Autocracies

Elvin Ong

Hosted by Natali Pearson
On 9 May 2018, an ideologically diverse opposition alliance called Pakatan Harapan (PH) defeated the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition which had dominated politics in Malaysia since the 1980s. This …
SSEAC Stories July 8, 2022

Reshaping the Politics of Science

Bioscience Governance in Indonesia

Sonja van Wichelen

Hosted by Natali Pearson
The last few years have brought to the fore the brilliant work of scientists as they worked to find a vaccine for Covid-19. But have you ever stopped to think …
SSEAC Stories June 23, 2022

HouseMate

Lessons from Singapore on How to Provide Universal Cheap Homeownership

Cameron Murray

Hosted by Natali Pearson
While Australia prides itself on being an egalitarian society, and owning a detached house on fenced block of land plays a much-revered role in the Great Australian Dream, in practice …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …