Chris Hulshof sits down with Dr Eric Jones to discuss British methods of propaganda and psychological warfare in 1960s Indonesia. With a rising communist popularity in tandem with a growing anti-American sentiment within the country, the American and British governments saw an opportunity for propaganda within the already unstable climate. The majority of historical perspectives view this time entirely through the lens of Western powers, but Hulshof expands understanding by breaking down the different actors within Indonesia and dispelling the narrative that Western powers could exert such influence without insider aid.

On the Western side, Hulshof compares the difference between British and American methods for these campaigns, noting the British’s tact and preparation when compared to the blunt force style of the CIA. The method of this operation was primarily the news, using the hole created by the government’s hostility towards journalism, propagandists were able to isolate and drip-feed stories and shape the narrative, up to the September 30th coup.

Chris Hulshof is a historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, specializing in the study of post-World Word 2 globalist landscapes, specifically Southeast Asia.

Dr Wan Juliana Emeih Binti Wahed sits down with Dr Rebecca Houze to discuss her research on Pua Kumbu textiles of the Iban people of Indonesia. She emphasizes how much these textiles can show about the culture's beliefs and perceptions. Each textile is handwoven and holds a story in its creation. Each pattern and symbol holds a cultural origin. The journey of an Iban weaver is a ritualist in nature and one that lasts a lifetime. Beliefs in these rituals vary from weaver to weaver; some believe that the rituals of the weavers reveal patters through dreams to use motives within their craft. Within the ranks of the weavers lies rules about what motives and patterns are allowed when creating tapestry. Higher ranking weavers are able to use more patterns. While apprenticeship exists within the hierarchy, the ranking is very informal. While cultural preservation of the Pua Kumbu is not widely recognized, efforts still exist both locally and within organizations.

Dr Wan Juliana Emeih Binti Wahed is a Senior Lecturer at the MARA University of Technology in Malaysia. She specializes in both Industrial Design and Art history.

Help sustain the podcast by becoming a subscriber. For $7 per month or $1.75 per episode, you can help make future episodes possible. Visit foundation.myniu.com/give.php and choose your donation amount. Search for 'Center for Southeast Asian Studies' as the recipient, then put 'podcast' as your donation's special instruction. Your donation goes towards paying our student workers and maintaining the podcast studio and equipment.

This is Part 2 of a two-part episode on Buddhism in Thailand.

In part two of this episode, our guest continues to elaborate on the role that monks play within the tumultuous landscape of Thai politics and how this demonstrates a larger worldwide tension between religion and government. The monostatic order has always been a vehicle for stability with the country, and its own hierarchy and scandals inevitably shape the same culture that casts ballots. Contemporary Buddhism moves in a peculiar direction, with TikTok and a new generation of young monks spelling a shift in the transmission of the religion. This movement occurs within the ongoing cultural war of whose job it is to protect Buddhism and what that entails. All of this creates an environment for a changing religious landscape.

Prakirati Satasut is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Thammasat University. He specializes in Buddhist protectionism in Thailand.

Help sustain the podcast by becoming a subscriber. For $7 per month or $1.75 per episode, you can help make future episodes possible. Visit foundation.myniu.com/give.php and choose your donation amount. Search for 'Center for Southeast Asian Studies' as the recipient, then put 'podcast' as your donation's special instruction. Your donation goes towards paying our student workers and maintaining the podcast studio and equipment.

This is Part 1 of a two-part episode on Buddhism in Thailand.

In Part 1, Dr. Prakirati Satasut is joined by Phanuphat Chattragul to discuss the politics of Buddhism in the context of a post-Coup Thailand. Here, they discuss the primary sects of Thai Buddhism and their role in Thai society, politics, and the everyday lives of ordinary Thais. They also discuss political roles that Thai Buddhist monks have had in Thai political history.

Dr. Prakirati Satasut is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Thammasat University. He specializes in Buddhist protectionism in Thailand. Phanuphat Chattrakul is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at Northern Illinois University.

Love our podcast? Help sustain the podcast by becoming a subscriber.

For only $7 per month or $1.75 per episode, you can help make future episodes possible. Visit foundation.myniu.com/give.php and choose your donation amount. Search for 'Center for Southeast Asian Studies' as the recipient, then put 'podcast' as your donation's special instruction. Your donation goes towards paying our student workers and maintaining the podcast studio and equipment.

This episode was made possible by the generous donation of Chester Lenczewski III.

Matthew Anderson virtually joins Dr. Melissa Lenczewski to discuss the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta. Starting from the period of the Angkor empire, the Mekong River has served as an important source of agriculture for the region, that eventually evolved to become a centerpiece of culture. The discussion spans to modern day, looking at the role cyclical rainy seasons as well as the geopolitics have in natural resource management.

Matthew Anderson serves as a senior biologist for the United States Geological Survey. His work specializes in leading development projects around the world.

Dr. Melissa Lenzcewski is Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth, Atmostphere, and Environment at Northern Illinois University and is the Acting Director for the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

Love our podcast? Help sustain the podcast by becoming a subscriber.

For only $7 per month or $1.75 per episode, you can help make future episodes possible. Visit foundation.myniu.com/give.php and choose your donation amount. Search for 'Center for Southeast Asian Studies' as the recipient, then put 'podcast' as your donation's special instruction. Your donation goes towards paying our student workers and maintaining the podcast studio and equipment.

Dr. Ben Tausig joins Dr. Stanley Arnold and Dr. Taylor Atkins to discuss his new book “Bangkok After Dark.” They discuss the emerging culture of nightlife in the city of Bangkok during the Vietnam War. The discussion examines cultural contact between Thais and the US Military through through the life of Maurice Rocco, a gay African American Pianist, who left behind fame in America for a second act in Thailand, eventually with a residency in the pretigious Bamboo Bar in Bangkok.

Dr. Ben Tausig is an Associate Professor at Stony Brooke University. He studies music and anthropology in Southeast Asia.

To purchase his book: https://www.dukeupress.edu/bangkok-after-dark

Dr. Stanley Arnold is Associate Professor of History at Northern Illinois University. His research examines the civil rights movement in the United States from 1920 to 1970 (exclusive of the South) and the intersection of race and sports in the United States.

Dr. E. Taylor Atkins is Associate Professor of History at Northern Illinois University. His current project examines th historiography of the use of "fascism" to describe Japan’s 1930s-40s state and religious cosmopolitanism in Northeast Asia.

Love our podcast? Help sustain the podcast by becoming a subscriber.

For only $7 per month or $1.75 per episode, you can help make future episodes possible. Visit foundation.myniu.com/give.php and choose your donation amount. Search for 'Center for Southeast Asian Studies' as the recipient, then put 'podcast' as your donation's special instruction. Your donation goes towards paying our student workers and maintaining the podcast studio and equipment.

Dr Eddy Chong comes to the studio to discuss emerging musical transculturalism in Singapore. Beginning with the country’s independence, diversity in Singapore has grown rapidly and created a shift in the city's cultural upbringing. Culture through the lens of the government was originally a Chinese, Malay, Indian, or Other classification, but more and more, due to Globalization and Immigration, race and culture have become much less binary. Chong ties this thread to the country's music education, noting its expanding diversity and emphasis on world music theory.

Dr Eddy Chong is a Music Theorist and Multicultural expert. The Head of the Visual & Performing Arts at Nanyang Technological University. His research emphasizes pedagogy and world music.

Help sustain the podcast by becoming a subscriber. For $7 per month or $1.75 per episode, you can help make future episodes possible. Visit https://foundation.myniu.com/give.php and choose your donation amount. Search for 'Center for Southeast Asian Studies' as the recipient, then put 'podcast' as your donation's special instruction. Your donation goes towards paying our student workers and maintaining the podcast studio and equipment.

Dr. Micah Morton sits down to discuss his new book, “Enchanted Modernities: Ancestral Vitalizations in the Upper Mekong.” He is joined by Miqsawr Pyawqganr (aka Haiying Li). They discuss the Indigenous Akha people, examining their positions throughout different parts of Southeast Asia and China while highlighting their efforts to build connections across borders and sustain their Indigenous culture.

Dr. Micah Morton is a cultural anthropologist at NIU. His work focuses on borders, state-minority relations, religion, and the global Indigenous movement. Miqsawr Pyawqganr is an NIU alumna and Akha community member and advocate. She previously worked with the Mekong Akha Network for Peace and Sustainability (MAPS) in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

To purchase his book: https://uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/E/Enchanted-Modernities

Donate here: https://foundation.myniu.com/give.php

Dr. Miles Kenney-Lazar visits our studio to discuss his new book Socializing Land: Plantations, Dispossession, and Resistance in Laos (UH Press, 2025). He discusses the evolving ways that land ownership is understood in Laos, the Lao government's land development program through foreign investment, and what it means for land to be “socialized” within the government, both land distribution to the community and allocation for foreign investment.

The discussion wraps up by highlighting how the Lao government understands and claims to interact with ethnicity in a self-proclaimed multi-ethnic nation.

Dr. Miles Kenney-Lazar is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on plantation and agrarian governance in Southeast Asia.

To buy the book: https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/socializing-land-plantations-dispossession-and-resistance-in-laos/

To support the podcast:

1. Visit https://foundation.myniu.com/give.php

2. Choose your donation amount (we suggest $7/month)

3. Type "Southeast" in the search box and choose Center for Southeast Asian Studies Excellence Fund as the recipient

4. Add Special Instruction for your gift, type "For Podcast"

5. Enter your information