Shows / Talking Indonesia
Talking Indonesia
In the Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Jemma Purdey, Dr Jacqui Baker, Tito Ambyo and Dr Elisabeth Kramer present an extended interview each fortnight with experts on Indonesian politics, foreign policy, culture, language and more. Find all the Talking Indonesia podcasts and more at the Indonesia at Melbourne blog.
Episodes
Talking IndonesiaVerena Meyer - Theologies of Remembering: Modernity, Ambiguity and Transcendence
In a Yogyakarta neighbourhood of narrow alleyways beside the Kraton, closed to motorbikes, two boys were born within two years of each other. One would found…
Talking IndonesiaElna Tulus - Instant Noodles, Ultra-Processed Food, and Gastro-Capitalism
How did Indonesia, a place where wheat, the main ingredient of instant noodles, does not grow, become the second-largest consumer in the world and one of the…
Talking IndonesiaAbdil Mughis Mudhoffir - Disorder and the Preman State
Abdil Mughis Mudhoffir - disorder and the preman state Indonesian modern history is littered with stories of shadowy figures, underworld groups, militia, and…
Talking IndonesiaNatalie Sambhi-Militarising Indonesia
Under the Prabowo Subianto government, the Indonesian military’s (Tentara Nasional Indonesia, TNI) long-cherished role in national economic development and…
Talking IndonesiaMitha Eka & Linda Bennett - Patient Education for Cancer
Any cancer diagnosis will leave the patient with lots of questions. What is this disease, and why has it happened to me? What are my chances, what are my…
Talking IndonesiaImam Ardhianto - Changing Human-Tiger Relations in Sumatra
Six years ago, in a village in West Sumatra, a tiger died and its human relatives moved to bury it — because the tiger is understood as their own family. The…
Talking IndonesiaDania Joedo - LGBTQI+ Community under Attack
Last month a series of attacks on transgender women in Bogor, sent a chill through a community for whom this kind of violence is increasingly normal. The…
Talking IndonesiaSyarafina Vidyadhana - Indonesia's Independent Publishing
Independent publishing might seem like a small element of Indonesia’s cultural landscape: limited print runs, niche books, and audiences that rarely extend…
Talking IndonesiaLiam Prince - Experiencing Indonesia
The problem of Australian knowing and engaging Indonesia, as our closest neighbour, has vexed successive Australia governments ever since Keating called for…
Talking IndonesiaAustin Jenish - Environmental activism, the law and SLAPP
Indonesia is home to some of the largest stretches of tropical rainforest left on Earth — and to a growing community of people willing to put themselves on the…
Talking IndonesiaTito Ambyo and Jamie Edmonds - Indonesian Ghosts and Ghost Stories
What does it mean to believe in ghosts? It turns out that's exactly the wrong question. In this special episode of Talking Indonesia, co-hosts Tito Ambyo and…
Talking IndonesiaAirlangga Julio - The People versus Fadli Zon
Airlangga Julio - The People versus Fadli Zon Last month marked the 28th anniversary of the mass rioting, that shook Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, and other…
Talking IndonesiaWengki Ariando: Sea Nomads and the Future of Our Ocean
Every year on the 8th of June, World Ocean Day calls us to reflect on the vital role our seas and waterways play in sustaining life on Earth. Yet for most of…
Talking IndonesiaMurni Sianturi - Education in Papua
When we talk about improving education in remote or indigenous communities, we usually start with the wrong questions. We ask: what's missing? What needs to be…
Talking IndonesiaPanggah Ardiyansyah: 'Kramat' and the Politics of Indonesian History
If you studied Indonesian history in school in the 1990s, you learned to divide the archipelago's past into neat chapters: Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, then…
Talking IndonesiaRassela Malinda - Papua, Development and Politics From Below
Rassela Malinda – Papua, development and politics from below In his inauguration speech in October 2024 President Prabowo Subianto reiterated his campaign…
Talking IndonesiaLinda Susilowati: Gender Transformation in Rural Java
Rural Java has changed enormously over the past half-century. Girls now finish school, women hold community leadership positions, and dual incomes have become…
Talking IndonesiaMelissa Johnston: Resilient Patriarchies
Timor Leste became independent from Indonesia in 2002, after 24 painful years of Indonesian occupation built on centuries of Portuguese colonisation. Both…
Talking IndonesiaMaidina Rahmawati - The New Criminal Code
On January 2nd, 2026, Indonesia entered what officials are calling a "new era" of criminal justice. The country implemented a completely new Criminal code –…
Talking IndonesiaFarabi Fakih and Fathun Karib: Indonesian Ecological Thinking
As Indonesia grapples with increasingly frequent climate disasters—from the devastating floods in Sumatra and Aceh to prolonged droughts affecting food…
Talking IndonesiaAlfira O'Sullivan and Murtala - After the Flood
After the floods – Alfira O’Sullivan and Murtala In late November last year, heavy rainfall brought by Cyclone Senyar saw massive floods and landslides hit…
Talking IndonesiaWahyu Astuti - Jakarta Water Crisis
Jakarta is said to be in a water crisis. This is a familiar claim that has been repeated for years as parts of the city sink, groundwater is over-extracted…
Talking IndonesiaKen Setiawan and Lailly Prihatiningtyas - Soeharto as National Hero
On 10 November 2025, Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto made a controversial decision that reignited divisions in Indonesian society: he posthumously…
Talking IndonesiaZainal Arifin Mochtar: Dirty Vote II o3
Cast your minds back to February 2024, in the campaign lull before Indonesians hit the ballot box, a documentary unceremoniously dropped on youtube. Now…
Talking IndonesiaIrma Hidayana - Free Nutritious Meals Program
Irma Hidayana - Free Nutritious Meals Program by Talking Indonesia
Talking IndonesiaEgi Primayogha - Corruption in Prabowo-Gibran's First Year
Corruption is always a hot topic in Indonesia, but where does the situation stand right now? In this episode, we talk to Egi Primayogha who is the advocacy…
Talking IndonesiaDian Tri Irawaty - Kampung and Urban Advocacy
Dian Tri Irawaty - Kampung and Urban Advocacy by Talking Indonesia
Talking IndonesiaGrace Leksana - A Re/writing History Project
A ‘re’-writing history project - Grace Leksana Shortly after taking up his position as the Minister for Culture and Education in the Prabowo government, Fadli…
Talking IndonesiaAliansi Gusar - Overseas Responses to Indonesia's Protests
On August 25 2025, protestors took to the streets in Jakarta outside the parliament to vocalise their loss of confidence in the current parliament. While the…
Talking IndonesiaRebecca Meckelburg: Indonesia's New Protest Movements
In late August, demonstrations against housing allowances for national parliamentarians escalated dramatically when a motorcycle delivery driver, Affan…
Talking IndonesiaClara Siagian - Rusunawa and the State
While Jakarta's eviction politics have often dominated headlines and grassroots campaigns, the experiences of those who have been relocated to rusunawa (social…
Talking IndonesiaDiah Angendari - AI Policy in Indonesia
From the algorithms that curate your social media feed to the recommendation systems that influence what you buy, artificial intelligence is quietly reshaping…
Talking IndonesiaAra Simanjuntak : Betting the Farm
Palm oil contributes to up 4.5% to Indonesia’s GDP and unlike other commodities, the Indonesian government promotes palm oil as motor of rural development…
Talking IndonesiaNurwanto - School Violence and Bullying
Nurwanto Nurwanto - School Violence and Bullying In recent months Indonesians have grown increasingly concerned and indeed outraged following several reports…
Talking IndonesiaJustinus Lhaksana - Indonesian Football and the Road to the 2026 World Cup
Justinus Lhaksana - Indonesian Football and the Road to the 2026 World Cup In October 2022, the image of Indonesian football filling news bulletins around the…
Talking IndonesiaNadia Egalita - Ethnography of Online Food Delivery
When you order food through Gojek or Grab in Indonesia, you're not just getting dinner delivered, but you're also participating in what has become a…
Talking IndonesiaSarah Shair-Rosenfield - Women and Healthcare
Despite significant strides in recent decades, Indonesia continues to face one of Southeast Asia's higher maternal mortality rates. A recent study published by…
Talking IndonesiaEvi Mariani - Media Freedom
Evi Mariani - Media Freedom In March this year parcels containing a pig’s head and the carcasses of dead rats were sent to the offices of Tempo magazine in…
Talking IndonesiaHaryo Pambuko Jiwandono - Indonesian Games and Esports
In recent years, Indonesia has experienced a remarkable transformation in its gaming landscape, with mobile esports emerging as a powerful cultural and…
Talking IndonesiaOlin Monteiro - A Growing Protest Movement
A growing protest movement On 28 March, in downtime Jakarta across from the Sarinah department store, an unlikely group of protesters gathered holding signs…
Talking IndonesiaMelandri Vlok - Archaeology and Reading Bones
Bones can tell us so much about the past, not just about the ancestry of modern humans (or homo sapiens) but also about the people and cultures of times long…
Talking IndonesiaCitra Lestari - Engaging Marginalised Groups in Risk Communication
In Indonesia, a country prone to disasters and emergencies, effective risk communication can mean the difference between safety and vulnerability for millions…
Talking IndonesiaDiego Garcia Rodriguez - Queer Muslims and Their Allies
Queer Muslims and Their Allies Amid Indonesia’s conservative turn, the moral panics of the 2010s and the introduction of the draconian Criminal Code in 2022…
Talking IndonesiaRiandy Laksono - Prabonomics
This past week has seen what some have argued are the first big mobilisations of the new Prabowo government, with coordinated student protests across 12 cities…
Talking IndonesiaJane Ahlstrand - The Climate Crisis and Gender Nexus
Climate Change is well-recognised as a massive challenge facing society today. It is clear that the political, economic and social consequences of climate…
Talking IndonesiaMoira Tirtha - Nongkrong Festival and the Indonesian Diaspora
In Melbourne and across Australia, Indonesian diaspora communities are reimagining what it means to celebrate their cultural identity through art, food, and…
Talking IndonesiaWulan Dirgantoro - Art, Activism and a Cancelled Show
Art, activism and a cancelled show - Wulan Dirgantoro Late last year news media splashed the image of an elderly artist standing before a locked door at the…
Talking IndonesiaIan Wilson - Regional Elections
Late last month, for the first time its history, Indonesia held simultaneous regional elections across 545 provinces, regencies and municipalities across the…
Talking IndonesiaVannessa Hearman - East Timor's Great Famine, 1977-1979
Vannessa Hearman - East Timor’s Great Famine, 1977-1979 Following Indonesia’s annexation of East Timor in December 1975, the forced displacement and mass…
Talking IndonesiaAristyo Darmawan - Prabowo, China and the South China Sea
About 1000km north of Jakarta is a little pocket of paradise, a sprinkle of islands called the Natuna Islands, home to less than 100,000 people. These sparsely…
Talking IndonesiaWayne Palmer - Foreign Workers
We often talk hear about the lives and living conditions of Indonesian migrant workers, many of them going to countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong…
Talking IndonesiaBagus Laksono - The Papal Visit
The Papal Visit In early September, Pope Francis visited Indonesia as part of a tour of the region. It was the third papal visit to the country after tours by…
Talking IndonesiaUji Nugroho Winardi - The History of Corruption in Indonesia
Corruption in Indonesia is widely acknowledged as a complex issue, with some even suggesting it as something that is deeply entrenched in Indonesian culture…
Talking IndonesiaRemco Vermeulen - Revitalisation of Dutch Colonial Urban Spaces
Some of the most challenging issues post-colonial societies face involve managing the physical remnants of their colonial histories. In Indonesia, centuries of…
Talking IndonesiaSujeet Ramgir - Starting A Start Up
Starting a Start Up Starting a small business is a challenge in any context, but what about if you're a foreigner looking to establish a restaurant in…
Talking IndonesiaAry Hermawan - Digital Populism
Digital Populism Just as we were recording this podcast, the hashtag #daruratdemokrasi (democratic emergency) went viral across Indonesian social media. The…
Talking IndonesiaRebecca Meckelburg - Farming Indonesia
One of the signature campaign promises of the Prabowo Subianto presidency is free lunches and milk for Indonesian school kids. This plan is linked to a much…
Talking IndonesiaTaufiq Rahman - Vinyl Revival In Indonesia
The Indonesian music scene is currently experiencing a vibrant period of experimentation, where musicians are blending vernacular Indonesian music traditions…
Talking IndonesiaAntje Missbach - Refugees Growing Up in Limbo
Antje Missbach - Refugees growing up in limbo Indonesia is currently home to over 13,000 refugees and asylum seekers, a majority of them young people who are…
Talking IndonesiaHowie Manns and Jessica Kruk - Indonesian language instruction
Teaching Indonesian as a second language comes with challenges. In Australia, there is a wide gulf between the government's rhetoric about the importance of…