Gatty Rewind Podcast

In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan interviews Dr. Aditya Bhattacharjee, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Asian Studies at Cornell University. Together, they discuss how growing up in Bangkok led him to study the localization and globalization of Hinduism. Focusing on the transnational appearances of Ganesha in Thailand and Thai restaurants in the United States, Dr. Bhattacharjee explains how and why this deity becomes a visible conduit for understanding the globalization of religious practices and religious belonging beyond the exclusively Thai-Buddhist framework. He shares his insights from fieldwork in Bangkok and New York, showing how cosmopolitanism enables such religious phenomena.

Lightning round: 3:00

Research and Lecture Summary: 18:48

Advice for researchers and recommendations: 1:01:54

Dr. Bhattacharjee 's top recommendations:

• Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation by Thongchai Winichakul
• Justin McDaniel' s books

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino style Rondalla group established in Cornell University. Check them out here.

Produced by Neen Yada Tangcharoenmonkong, Adam Farihin, and Cecilia Liu

In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan interviews Ian Baird, Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Together, they discuss how his travels across southern Laos, northeastern Thailand, and northern Cambodia inspired his study of the House of Champassak. This interview uncovers how and why the Champassak royalty maintained its influence even after the dissolution of Champassak as an independent polity in 1778. Baird's lecture, named after his book, Champassak Royalty and Sovereignty: Within and Between Nation States in Mainland Southeast Asia, challenges the conventional concept of sovereignty tied to territory. Through the example of the House of Champassak, he argues that sovereignty is contingent and constantly in flux. He examines how the royal family endeavors to exert its form of sovereignty through symbols, rituals, and other practices over a span of three hundred years. He also underscores the importance of oral histories in recovering marginalized voices, especially those who live in the borderlands between nation-states.

Lightning round: 3:11

Research and Lecture Summary: 7:20

Advice for researchers and recommendations: 57:045

Ian Baird 's top recommendations:

• Forsaken Causes: Liberal Democracy and Anticommunism in Cold War Laos (2024) by Ryan Wolfson-Ford

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino style Rondalla group established in Cornell University. Check them out here.

Produced by Neen Yada Tangcharoenmonkong, Adam Farihin, and Cecilia Liu

In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan interviews Prof. Bradley Simpson, Professor of History at the University of Connecticut. Prof. Simpson reflects on his path from human rights activism to academia. This conversation examines Indonesia's "moderate middle" engagement with the New International Economic Order (NIEO) under the Suharto regime, exploring how and why its moderate stance in NIEO became significant for the Suharto regime, particularly in its foreign policy. Prof. Simpson introduces his forthcoming book, The First Right: Self-Determination and the Transformation of International Order, 1941–2000, where he redefines the concept of self-determination to acknowledge and encompass global struggles for sovereignty and social justice.

Lightning round: (n/a)

Background: 3:47

Research and Lecture Summary: 18:30

Advice for Researchers and Recommendations: 55:20 Professor Simpson's Top Recommendations:

• Decolonisation and the Pacific: Indigenous Globalisation and the Ends of Empire (2016) By Tracey Banivanua Mar

• Stranger in the Shogun's City (2020) by Amy Stanley

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino style Rondalla group established in Cornell University. Check them out here. Produced by Adam Farihin, Neen Yada Tangcharoenmonkong, and Cecilia Liu

In this episode of Gatty Rewind, host Francine Barchett and guest co-host Evelyn Fettes (Cornell PhD candidate in Linguistics) join Dr. Rachel Leow, Associate Professor of Modern East Asian History at the University of Cambridge, for a journey through the Southern Seas. Dr. Leow challenges landlocked, nation-bound histories of Southeast Asia by exploring oceanic imaginaries—from Chinese creole dreams to Malay revolutionary visions. What happens when we rethink diaspora, race, and empire not through borders, but through water? Tune in for a lively conversation that dives into the tangled, shimmering histories of migration, language, and ideas across Asia's maritime world.

Lightning round: 3:48

Research and Lecture Summary: 14:30 Advice for researchers and recommendations: 41:06 Dr. Leow's recommendations:

• KHÔNG SAO CẢ by 7dnight

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino-style Rondalla group established at Cornell University. Check them out here.

Produced by Adam Farihin and Cecilia Liu

In this episode, Francine Barchett interviews Heidi Kühn, founder of Roots of Peace and 2023 World Food Prize laureate. Kühn shares how a background in journalism and a life-changing cancer diagnosis led her to launch a global mission: turning "mines to vines." She recounts how her organization cleared landmines in places like Vietnam and Afghanistan. Along the way, she offers moving stories about working with farmers in Quang Tri Province and her vision for creating a global "army of peacekeepers" through sustainable agriculture. The episode closes with advice for young changemakers and a reminder that even the smallest seed of hope can grow into global impact.

Lightning round: 3:20

Roots of Peace Summary: 8:32

Advice for researchers and recommendations: 37:14

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino-style Rondalla group established at Cornell University. Check them out here.

Produced by Adam Farihin and Cecilia Liu

In this special celebratory episode, host Francine Barchett reunites with Michael Kirkpatrick Miller, a PhD candidate in Cornell's Department of History, who happens to be the original creator of the Gatty Rewind podcast! Michael shares fresh insights from his dissertation on Dutch colonialism in Indonesia, focusing on how the colonial state constructed Ambonese men as a "martial race" through the unlikely lens of football. From masculinity and loyalty to colonial control, Michael unpacks how sports became a tool of empire—and how Ambonese soldiers and athletes pushed back against these narratives. The conversation then turns personal as Michael reflects on his wide-ranging academic journey at the Cornell Southeast Asia Program, where he's explored everything from horses to food to gender.

Lightning round: 3:42

Research and Lecture Summary: 14:43

Advice for researchers and recommendations: 52:13

Michael's Top Recommendations:

• Rasa Tanah Air: Awal Perkembangan Kuliner Indonesia di Mancanegara pada Akhir Abad ke-19 hingga 1940-an - Fadly Rahman

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino-style Rondalla group established at Cornell University. Check them out here.

Produced by Adam Farihin and Cecilia Liu

In this episode, host Francine Barchett teams up with co-host Lijun Zhang, a Cornell PhD student in history, for a riveting conversation with Dr. Martina Nguyen, Associate Professor of History at Baruch College, City University of New York. Dr. Nguyen shares the story of a provocative newspaper column penned by prominent Vietnamese intellectual Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh, under a female pseudonym! She explores how the column stirred debates around masculinity, femininity, and national identity in early modern Vietnam. Plus, listeners get a sneak peek at an upcoming museum exhibition she's co-curating on the iconic ao dài (Vietnamese national garment) during the Vietnam War, which will open at the Cantor Art Gallery in Worcester in fall 2025.

Lightning round: 4:10

Research and Lecture Summary: 13:14

Advice for researchers and recommendations: 55:23

Dr. Nguyen's top recommendations:

• Songs by Trịnh Công Sơn and Quang Lê

• Đất Khổ (Land of Sorrows) by Hà Thúc Cần

• White Lotus by Mike White

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino-style Rondalla group established at Cornell University. Check them out here.

Produced by Adam Farihin and Cecilia Liu

In this episode, guest co-host Iris Luo (Cornell PhD candidate in Human-Centered Design) joins host Francine Barchett to interview Elissa "E" Domingo Badique, a Cornell PhD candidate in Performance and Media Arts. E describes their winding journey—from serving as a community advisor at Harvard to working as a makeup artist in Japan. But it was a fandom studies class that sparked their research into K-pop dance covers! E traces these performances back to Filipino variety shows, where choreography became a tool for myth-making and expressing diasporic Filipino identity, particularly through the lens of Asian male figures like K-pop idols. Their advice to listeners: be open-minded! For Southeast Asian studies to grow and evolve, they remind us, it should remain expansive and inclusive.

Lightning round: 3:41

Research and Lecture Summary: 14:12

Advice for researchers and recommendations: 39:40

E's Top Recommendation:

• Like I do, J Tajor

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino-style Rondalla group established at Cornell University. Check them out here.

Produced by Adam Farihin and Cecilia Liu

In this episode, guest co-host Anke Wang, a Cornell PhD candidate in History, joins host Francine Barchett for a tag-team interview with Dr. Hieu Phung, Assistant Professor of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian History at Rutgers University. Dr. Phung discusses her research on how pre-modern environmental factors shaped political and administrative systems in Vietnam, with a focus on state-building in the Red River Delta. She unpacks how perceptions of sea-dykes evolved over time—beyond their physical function, they became central to how people understood nature, risk, and governance. The episode wraps up with Dr. Phung's candid advice for students still not sure what they want to study (spoiler: it's okay not to have it all figured out!).

Lightning round: 3:41

Research and Lecture Summary: 14:12 Advice for researchers and recommendations: 39:40

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino style Rondalla group established in Cornell University. Check them out here.

Produced by Adam Farihin and Cecilia Liu

In this episode, host Francine Barchett interviews Dr. Kristian Karlo Saguin, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Dr. Saguin unpacks his recent Gatty Lecture, based on his award-winning book Urban Ecologies on the Edge: Making Manila's Resource Frontier (winner of the Benda Prize). Their conversation explores the complex socio-environmental dynamics of Laguna Lake—from its role in shaping consumer preferences for fish to its impact on flooding in Metro Manila and beyond. We're also pretty sure Dr. Saguin is the most enthusiastic geographer we've ever had on the show!

Lightning round: 2:57

Research and Lecture Summary: 10:32 Advice for researchers and recommendations: 43:45

Dr. Saguin's top recommendations:

• The Camphor Tree and the Elephant Book by Faizah Zakaria

• The Pulse of the Earth: Political Geology in Java

The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino style Rondalla group established in Cornell University. Check them out here.