Sugar Nutmeg

*Note: At 24:00, what Sarnt meant here is a contemporary ethnic segregation amongst Southeast Asians in middle-class milieus, which happens less in the Berlin environment, in comparison to Bangkok. Historically, however, in West/East Germany there had been huge racial segregation imposed by both states, for example, between migrant "contract" workers who weren't allowed to live or interact with regular citizens through out the 1970/80s — another complex topic of another in-depth conversation...

Born in Denpasar, Cynthia Dewi Oka grew up as an ethnic minority and religious minority in Bali and Java. These experiences pushed her family to migrate to Vancouver, Canada, where Cynthia faced a whole other beast of diasporic experiences. Now a poet with three Pushcart Prize nominations, she lives in Philadelphia, where she partnered with Asian Arts Initiative to offer Sanctuary: A Migrant Poetry Workshop for Philly-based immigrant poets...

In the most dangerous part of the world for activists, Mitzi Jonelle Tan continues to mobilize and organize movements for climate justice. She chairs the Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP) and works with indigenous leaders in most affected areas...

In his first interview with a Southeast Asian podcast since the launch of his book, Vincent Bevins answers questions about the topics in "The Jakarta Method," which he wrote after extensive research and interviews with survivors throughout Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the U.S...

A travelogue exploring the dynamics of ethnic and religious tension throughout the many islands in the Indonesian archipelago, "Race, Islam and Power: Ethnic and Religious Violence in Post-Suharto Indonesia" is a book by Andreas Harsono that summarizes the reality of Indonesia. He talks to us about why this country is so complex to comprehend and so obscure to the rest of the world, despite being the 4th most populous country and one of the top economies in the world...

Most people from Nusantara know the competition between Indonesia and Malaysia, but how many know how this competition even came to be? Maryam Lee breaks it down for us in this episode! With her wisdom, she unpacks the complexities of ethnicity and religion in Malaysian national identity, how political structures today are inherited from colonial ways, and the many layers of liberalism. Plus, we talk ghost stories, folk tales, and spiritual healing...

Abdul Samad Haidari is a Hazara-Afghan journalist turned refugee poet, currently in Indonesia waiting for resettlement. Besides volunteering as a humanitarian-aid worker and teacher, Abdul is the author of the poetry collection “The Red Ribbon,” which is the 3rd best-selling book in Indonesia...

In this special bilingual episode, Ruth Ogetay gets candid about the history of West Papua, the current plight of Papuans and other ethnic minorities in Indonesia, multilateral relations with other countries, as well as how and why a series of events involving transnational corporate deals led to the current situation concerning West Papua...

Eugenio "Ego" Lemos talks to us about permaculture practices, legacies of occupation, reconciliation and resilience, the dilemma of post-conflict countries, common problems with aid and charity, Indonesian influence versus Australian presence in Timor, East Timor then versus West Papua now, ricenization as a form of cultural destruction, and how sociopolitical events at large affect personal lives on the micro scale through food during the Portuguese colonization, Indonesian occupation and...

Silong Chuun talks to us about how distance brings clarity and awareness, reclaiming narratives through his clothing brand "Red Scarf Revolution", creative ways to spark conversations and recontextualize history, parallels between the communist regime in Cambodia then and the capitalist administration in the US today, memoranda of understanding for Cambodian, Lao, and Vietnamese refugees, colonialism, imperialism, displacement, community, and how Southeast Asian immigrants struggle, hustle,...