Ear to Asia

Special guest former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd joins host Ali Moore to discuss a post COVID-19 world marked by an increasingly assertive China and anaemic US leadership. Will growing Sino-American tensions result in a new cold war? And what’s the future for the global institutions responsible for maintaining world order? Kevin Rudd is President of the Asia Society Policy Institute and a...

As the Indonesian government’s coronavirus response has shifted from deep denial to broad action, some of its key directives are meeting with public resistance. So what is the pandemic telling us about political leadership, and about existing fault lines in Indonesian society? Long time Indonesia watchers Prof Tim Lindsey and Dr Ian Wilson join host Ali Moore to examine the impact of covid-19 on t...

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is forging ahead with his grand plans to replace Jakarta with a new capital on the island of Borneo, but beyond the upbeat political rhetoric, many questions remain. How open and transparent has the design process been? Have the needs of the local people been considered? Who will be the real winners in this immensely costly project? Dr Amanda Achmadi and Dr Wawan M...

India has been making the headlines with the world’s biggest nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Epidemiology aside, what is the pandemic revealing about the social, political and economic fault lines already existing in India? Health policy specialist Dr Azad Bali and political scientist Dr Pradeep Taneja join host Ali Moore to examine the impact of the coronavirus cri...

Although the Kurds form a very sizable minority in Turkey, there is little tolerance for those who stray from the dominant Turkish nationalist narrative. So how have the Kurdish people navigated Turkey’s political environment in the hopes of achieving their aspirations? Kurdish affairs researcher Dr William Gourlay from Monash University and Asia Institute’s Turkish politics researcher Dr Tezcan G...

Ambitious construction programs for infrastructure and housing in Asia and elsewhere are leading to skyrocketing use of concrete, of which sand is a key ingredient. Mining of sand, a surprisingly high-stakes enterprise, comes with considerable human and environmental costs. Development researchers Associate Professor Melissa Marschke and Dr Vanessa Lamb join host Peter Clarke to pick the winners a...

Is the playing field truly level in Singapore, which touts itself as the ultimate meritocracy? Or are the ethnic Chinese making up the majority privileged over the other sizeable ethnic groups? Seasoned Asia watchers Assoc Prof Michael Barr and Dr Lewis Mayo join host Ali Moore to examine the politics of race in Singapore. An Asia Institute podcast . Produced and edited by Profactual - the Podcast...

Violence against women is at epidemic proportions in the Asia Pacific. The region’s governments, if they are to find ways of preventing domestic violence and support its victims, need reliable data, but getting the numbers is a difficult undertaking. Public health researchers Dr Henriette Jansen and Dr Kristin Diemer join host Ali Moore to discuss the quest to understand the dimensions of violence...

As several leading universities scrub freedom of thought from their charters and formalise allegiance to Chinese Communist Party doctrine, we ask just how far academia in China will bend to politics in the era of Xi Jinping? Seasoned China watchers Dr Delia Lin and Dr Sow Keat Tok join host Ali Moore to examine the new authoritarian tilt on China’s campuses. An Asia Institute podcast . Produced by...

Australia’s relationship with Indonesia is complex, often fluid but sometimes fraught. How do these two nations regard each other, and how can Australia strengthen its ties with its populous neighbour? Veteran Indonesia watcher Prof Richard Robison takes us into the web of contemporary Australia-Indonesia relations. Presented by Ali Moore. An Asia Institute podcast . Produced by Profactual - the P...

Although Japan doesn't prohibit same-sex relations, its laws do little to protect the rights of the LGBT community. With Tokyo maniacally preparing to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, how is Japan set to meets its obligations to the International Olympic Committee to ensure a Games free of discrimination against LGBT athletes and event visitors? Japan queer studies experts Prof Akiko...

Improving the lot of Indonesia's rural women is no easy task. Yet the recently passed Village Law provides a unique opportunity for civil society organizations, government and village leadership to give women a stronger voice in decision making. Indonesia researchers Dr Rachael Diprose and Dr Amalinda Savirani examine the challenges faced by rural women and the programs being developed to help ove...

While China's trade war with the US and its treatment of domestic discontents make the news headlines, its economic and military resurgence has truly spooked the West. But do China's ambitions to regain its pre-19th century glory constitute a threat? What’s driving that fear in the US and Australia? Seasoned China watchers Dr Sow Keat Tok and Dr Pradeep Taneja (Twitter: @PradeepKTaneja ) examine t...

Followers of the Gülen movement, some 10 million strong and active in 160 countries, remain to this day the target of relentless persecution by the Turkish government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was once founder Fethullah Gulen’s political and ideological partner. Turkish affairs watchers Dr David Tittensor and Dr Tezcan Gümüş unpick a complex rise-and-fall story with both deep religiou...

China has been cracking down hard on Uyghur and other Muslim groups in its far northwestern region of Xinjiang. But what’s the real history of the Uyghur people? How do they view themselves culturally and politically alongside the dominant Han Chinese nation? China watchers Dr David Brophy and Dr Lewis Mayo join host Ali Moore to discuss the long and evolving relations between the Uyghurs and Chin...

How do international aid agencies operate on the ground in Myanmar, with its its complex, unstable and sometimes hostile political and social environment? Anthropologist Dr Anne Décobert and civil society expert Dr Tamas Wells join host Ali Moore to examine the aims and realities of foreign humanitarian efforts in a poor but resource-rich country beset by ethnic conflict. An Asia Institute podcast...

Thae Yong-ho, North Korea’s highest ranking defector, joins us in the studio to share his unique insights into North Korean society and how it’s been shaped by the Kim family. He also sheds light on North Korea’s nuclear program, Pyongyang’s relations with the US and China, and what a more “positive” future for the Korean peninsula might look like. Presented by Peter Clarke. An Asia Institute podc...

In Indonesia, as in many other developing economies, the resources sector makes millionaires or billionaires of the few, and often leaves the many to eke out a subsistence. In a country highly dependent on exports of petroleum, palm oil, timber and tin, what are the local dynamics at play in the global game of resource extraction? Political economist Dr Rachael Diprose, and transnational governanc...

In the Asia-Pacific region, it’s estimated that one in every six people is living with a debilitating physical or cognitive impairment, and that figure is set to grow. So what is the lived experience of people with disabilities and the people who support them in these challenging environments? Population health researchers Dr. Cathy Vaughn and Alex Devine, and social entrepreneur and polio survivo...

In Indonesia, what’s the relationship between growing dominance of social media, greater commitment to neoliberal economic policies, and increasing religious conservatism? Indonesia media analyst Dr. Inaya Rakhmani discusses how Facebook and other social media are being harnessed for political gain in a system awash with fake news. Presented by Ali Moore. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and ed...

Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, may bring to mind the poetry of Rumi or Turkey’s whirling dervishes, but what are its practices and beliefs? Who are its detractors in the greater Muslim world, and why do some in the West see it as a panacea for political Islam? Dr Muhammad Kamal and Dr Shirin Yasar examine the origins of and contemporary attitudes to Sufism. Presented by Ali Moore. An Asi...

To many observers, Xi Jinping’s leadership appears to be a throwback to the Mao Zedong era. But is it fair to compare Xi’s methods with Mao’s? Or is Xi’s iron-fisted rule just what China needs? China researchers Prof Tim Cheek and Dr Delia Lin examine Xi Jin Ping’s method and motives. Presented by Ali Moore. An Asia Institute podcast Produced and edited by Profactual - the Podcasting Specialists M...

The complexity and hybrid nature of language in Indonesia means the Indonesian language still vies with other tongues—and even with itself—in the choices people make about how they express themselves. Sociolinguists Assoc. Prof. Novi Djenar and Dr. Michael Ewing examine how the national language is faring in the hyper-polyglot archipelago. Presented by Peter Clarke. An Asia Institute Podcast . Pro...

Ethnic Koreans have made up a substantial part of Japan’s urban populations for generations. And while many get on with their lives among the Japanese, their unique status continues to present challenges to how they fit in and how they see themselves. Sociologist Assoc. Prof. Nana Oishi and historian Dr. Jonathan Glade examine the fates and fortunes of Zainichi Koreans. Presented by Peter Clarke....

China's household registration—or hukou—system identifies citizens by their urban or rural origins and follows them wherever they may live or work, determining their lifelong access to healthcare, education and other services. Yet in an economically transformed China, hukou is increasingly seen as reinforcing inequality, unfairly cleaving society in two. So what is China doing about it? China soci...