Night School

Architect Nabil Ahmad joins us this week to share his thoughts on the state of architecture in Malaysia and how it relates to broader developments overseas. He comments on the power of developers and the intersections between capital, public space and politics.

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How do we engage with complex questions about privilege and power across cultural contexts? When does privilege become abusive? When can it be shared productively? This week we are joined by Justin Galle, Alizeh Ahmed and Sara Townsend, all Fulbright English teachers in Malaysia, to reflect on those questions and their implications.

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What's the relevance of socialism for the 21st century? What are the main issues confronting the ideology? How can we balance a local view with an international one? Parti Sosialis Malaysia is organising a conference on the weekend of 21st November to discuss these questions. Sivarajan Arumugam and Choo Chon Kai joins the show to offer a preview of what to expect.

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What is the state of art criticism today? How can it respond to questions of state and corporate power? Who ought art critics speak to to begin with? In this episode we get a primer from art critic Lee Weng Choy on the state of contemporary art criticism.

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How are health and politics embedded into one another? How did they form an intrinsically contentious relationship throughout our history? In this episode, we unpack these questions and more as we are joined by Por Heong Hong to explore the deep and disturbing ramifications of our aspirations for good health.

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Friedrich Nietzsche, after Marx, is the most talked about thinker of this show. What gives? Fuad and Sharaad share their admiration of this intriguing existentialist in this tribute show that also goes over some of the key themes of his philosophy.

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This week we unpack the myth of overseas education. Why are Malaysians so obsessed with it? How did it gain its dangerously erroneous value? How can we rethink education differently given the realities Malaysian youths face. We're joined this week by Maryam Lee, Imran Rasid and Yana Rizal to help us explore the questions together.

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For centuries, philosophers have debated the necessity of religion for an ethical life. There's no consensus as of yet, and it seems that the discourse will only continue for generations to come. In this episode we offer a very local take on the issue, featuring our regular guest Syed Muhiyuddin.

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Malay studies is more complex than it sounds. Among the themes it explores is the different ways "Malay-ness" transcends the rigid cultural and political confines surrounding it. Teo Lee Ken of the National University of Singapore offers an overview of the discipline's challenges and potential.

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As the world sees a rise in leftist politics, we take a look at the most venerable leftist of all, Karl Marx. But we will ground his ideas on a specifically Malaysian context: is he relevant for us? How should we come to terms with his call for a scientific socialism? What considerations and challenges should we keep in mind as we engage his work. Yin Shao Loong (Institut Rakyat) Sivarajan Arumugan (Parti Sosialis Malaysia) and Yuva Balan (Committee for a Workers' International) are the panelists. To the left, to the left?

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