Ear to Asia

overlapping claims and ambitions fought out not just by coast guard vessels, but in newsrooms. A single encounter with China’s Coast Guard can be cast as defence of sovereign waters or as a manufactured crisis, depending on the outlet. Even naming conventions — South China Sea, West Sea, North Natuna Sea — quietly assert territorial claims. Add to this the murkier influence of actors tied to Beijing seeking to soften coverage of alleged maritime incursions, and the picture becomes even more complex. How do these maritime incidents get packaged for local audiences? How do competing narratives shape public opinion? And what can ordinary news consumers do to see more clearly? Maritime security researcher Dr Lupita Wijaya from La Trobe University and Philippines-based maritime security journalist Frances Mangosing join presenter Sami Shah in examining how media narratives shape public opinion about the disputed waters of the South China Sea. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com

The war that erupted on February 28, 2026 between the United States, Israel, and Iran has triggered one of the most significant geopolitical and economic shocks in recent history. Yet the conflict has not gone to plan for the US-Israel side, with Iran reconsolidating under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to reach a strategic stalemate. Meanwhile, the region is rapidly reconfiguring through the new Mecca Joint Defence Agreement (Makkah Alliance), a Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani bloc signaling a reduced reliance on US protection. So, how will this protracted conflict shape Iran's future? What kind of global order will emerge from this upheaval? And as persistent disruptions hit regional oil shipments, are we witnessing a lasting shift away from Western-led economic dominance? Asia development researcher Assoc Prof Nadeem Malik from Asia Institute joins presenter Sami Shah to examine how this war is reshaping West Asia — and potentially the global trading system. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com

Despite decades of democratic reforms following the fall of President Suharto, Indonesia’s political landscape remains shaped by a resilient class of oligarchs. From the national stage to newly decentralized regions, these powerful networks have adapted to dominate the very institutions meant to curb their influence. So, how do Indonesia's oligarchs operate today? Why did the post-authoritarian Reformasi movement fail to dismantle them? And with President Prabowo Subianto now at the helm, is Indonesia's oligarchic system becoming more entrenched -- or can a new generation of reformers still challenge it? Veteran Asia studies researcher Prof Vedi Hadiz of Asia Institute joins presenter Sami Shah to examine the enduring power of Indonesia's oligarchic class, and what it means for the country's economic and democratic future. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com Vedi is co-author, together with Richard Robison, of the widely cited book 2004, Reorganizing power: politics of oligarchy in an age of markets, which has been updated to an expanded 2026 edition entitled Oligarchy and the End of Reformasi: power reorganised, published by Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Oligarchy-and-the-End-of-Reformasi-in-Indonesia-Power-Reorganised/Hadiz-Robison/p/book/9781041017660

In Afghanistan today, a generation of young people is being shaped inside classrooms that feel very different from the ones their parents knew. For girls and women, state-regulated madrasas are now the only legal path to education at all. For boys in madrasas, minor infractions over clothing choices or beard length are regularly met with physical punishment. And at the university level, students describe an environment where curiosity itself is banned. Even as the nation's economy contracts and millions fall into poverty, the Taliban continue to pour state resources into what appears to be a purely ideological project. So what are the consequences of policing an entire generation of young men within their own classrooms? Can madrasa education for women be considered legitimate education at all, or is it something closer to a mechanism of social control? And with graduates reportedly outpacing what the economy can absorb, is the regime risking a flood of recruits for extremist groups like ISIS-K? Peacebuilding researcher Dr Niamatullah Ibrahimi from the University of Melbourne joins presenter Sami Shah in examining the possible consequences of the Taliban's education policies. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com.

Earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney drew international attention with a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in which he warned that middle powers face an increasingly difficult international environment as great powers become more willing to use economic pressure to pursue their strategic interests. He called for closer cooperation among countries committed to an open, rules-based order, arguing that solidarity may be middle powers' best defence against coercion from far more powerful states. His warning reflects a real dilemma: nations like Australia and South Korea have already faced trade restrictions aimed at shaping their political choices, and this as the rules underpinning global trade grow shakier. So can middle powers really band together to resist coercion, or are they better off cutting bilateral deals with the world's dominant players? And what becomes of the rules-based order if the global economy grows evermore transactional? International relations researchers Dr Alexander Hynd of Asia Institute and Max Broad of Lowy Institute join host Sami Shah in examining how middle powers respond to economic coercion in an increasingly contested world. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.comSuggested reading:Middle powers talk big – and act small by Alexander Hynd, Max Broad, Minsun Hong https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/middle-powers-talk-big-and-act-small

The history of the Pacific Ocean is often told as a story of isolated islands like French Polynesia or Hawaii, or as a mere backdrop to European discovery. But what if it's a central maritime world—a network of interconnections and struggles spanning landlocked Bolivia, Banaba island in Kiribati, and Haizhou, China? How did networks of silver, nitrates, and phosphates fuse the destinies of tiny Pacific islands with continental powers? And why did some regions escape becoming economic hinterlands while others faced total ecological devastation? Asia Historian Dr Lewis Mayo from Asia Institute joins host Sami Shah to unravel the threads of the historical tapestry of this vast region. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com.

For decades, Indonesia has defined its place in the world through "bebas dan aktif", meaning "free and active" — a foreign policy that's both independent and engaged, positioning itself as a bridge between major powers while avoiding formal alignment. But rising geopolitical tensions and intensifying competition in the Indo-Pacific are making that harder to sustain. Since taking office in October 2024, President Prabowo Subianto has brought a more personalised style to foreign policy, marked by frequent overseas visits and moves such as Indonesia's entry into BRICS. So, is Indonesia still practicing the cautious, consultative diplomacy it's long been known for, or adapting to a more contested environment? And how does it navigate relationships with China, the US, and others without compromising its commitment to non-alignment? Radityo Dharmaputra from Universitas Airlangga and Aristyo Darmawan from Universitas Indonesia, both experts in Indonesia's foreign policy, examine President Prabowo's impact on the nation's foreign policy. Hosted by Sami Shah. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com.

Climate change is increasingly more than an environmental crisis — its human dimension is fast becoming one of the defining legal and political challenges of our era. Tens of millions are already displaced by floods, droughts, and rising seas, while communities like the Torres Strait Islanders face not just the loss of land, but the severing of profound cultural and spiritual ties to place. For low-lying Pacific nations like Tuvalu, the very existence of their state may one day be reduced to legal records and collective memory. So how does international law grapple with nations that no longer have territory? And what stands between the global community's emerging recommendations to safeguard the right to nationality and the political will to implement them? Assoc Prof Radha Govil and Aashish Yadav, both statelessness researchers from the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the Melbourne Law School, join host Sami Shah in exploring how climate change is pushing people into statelessness — and what can be done about it. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com.

Across Southeast Asia, vast compounds have emerged as the nerve centers of large-scale online fraud, run by transnational crime syndicates with links to ethnic Chinese networks. Their targets are ordinary people across Asia and beyond, ensnared in scams that drain savings and devastate families. But inside the compound walls are trafficked workers — lured under false promises of legitimate employment, then held captive in conditions of digital servitude. So what is the true extent of this shadow economy? How have these scam compounds become embedded in local communities and cross-border networks? And as regional governments attempt crackdowns, what happens to the exploited workers once the compounds fall? Researchers into the intersection of organized crime and technology Dr Ivan Franceschini from Asia Institute and Ling Li from Ca' Foscari University of Venice join host Sami Shah to examine the reach and ramifications of Southeast Asia's scam compounds. An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com.A recent book on the subject by Ivan Franceschini, Ling Li and Mark Bo: Scam: Inside Southeast Asia's Cybercrime Compounds, Verso, 2025.

Rice is more than a staple in the Philippines — it’s a measure of well-being and security. But decades of government policies built around industrial-scale production have struggled to deliver self-sufficiency in a country where rice farming is overwhelmingly smallholder-based. As farmers contend with debt, land insecurity, and environmental vulnerability, are current strategies fit for purpose? Or does the future of food security lie in approaches that start with the realities of small-scale farming? Dr Eric Gutierrez and Prof Wolfram Dressler, both social geography researchers from the University Melbourne, join host Sami Shah to examine the complex realities of rice farming in the Philippines.Prof Wolfram Dressler's recent book on the topic is For the Sake of Forests and Gods: Governing Life and Livelihood in the Philippine Uplands, Cornell University Press, 2025.https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501779268/for-the-sake-of-forests-and-gods/#bookTabs=1An Asia Institute podcast. Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com.