The island country of Sri Lanka in South Asia has been in the midst of an ongoing economic and political crisis since 2019. Last month, thousands of people rushed the presidential palace in Colombo and chased out former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, forcing him to flee to Singapore.

For today’s show, host Esty Dinur put these events in historical and cultural context with anthropologist Sharika Thiranagama.

Sharika Thiranagama is associate professor of anthropology at Stanford University and president of the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies. She has published extensively on Sri Lanka, including the book In My Mother’s House: Civil War in Sri Lanka (Penn Press, 2011).

Cover image of Sri Lanka flag by Kaufdex from Pixabay

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