
Talking Indonesia: revitalising Dutch colonial spaces
History, Interview, Society, Talking IndonesiaIn this episode, Tito Ambyo speaks with Remco Vermeulen, a PhD candidate at Erasmus University Rotterdam and coordinator of international cooperation in collection management at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.

Indonesia’s vinyl frontier
Arts, History, MediaVinyl records have never been the primary format by which Indonesian consumers get enjoyment from musical recordings. Even when wax was the format of choice in the global music industry, vinyl records in Indonesia were, at best, a curiosity item among Indonesia’s affluent class.

Majapahit: the most powerful empire in Asia that most people have never heard of
History, SocietyThere are signs that modern Indonesian is replicating some of the triumphs of the past. After a blood-soaked first encounter, the Majapahit empire found a way to come to an accommodation with the mighty emperors who ruled China.

Is Mohammad Hatta’s cooperative economic vision still relevant today?
Economy, Environment, HistoryMuhammad Hatta was a forward-thinking intellectual whose ideas regarding collaborative economics prefigured today's degrowth movement. His economic ideas present a viable and fair alternative to the capitalist paradigms driving social inequality and environmental degradation.

Talking Indonesia: women writers in the colonial era
Gender, HistorySoenting Melajoe was the first newspaper for women published in West Sumatra during the colonial era in the Dutch East Indies. Bronwyn Beech Jones's PhD looks at how women and girls from Sumatra articulated their experiences and conceived of themselves, their communities and aspirations in Malay language periodicals published between 1912 and 1929.

Talking Indonesia: Indonesian student armies
History, SocietyIn this episode of Talking Indonesia, Tito Ambyo chats with Jonathan Tehusijarana about the history of Tentara Pelajar – student militia units – that were active during the Indonesian War of Independence and how this history still colours the Indonesian understanding of the term pemuda, meaning youth.
Talking Indonesia: activism, memory and sexual violence
History, Society, Talking IndonesiaIn her new book 'Systemic Silencing: Activism, Memory and Sexual Violence in Indonesia', Kate McGregor takes a close look at the treatment of women in Indonesia and seeks to understand it in the context of Indonesia’s own colonial and post-colonial history. What were the social contexts in Indonesia prior to and following the Japanese Occupation in relation to women, sexual exploitation and prostitution? What did it take for the voices of these survivors to be heard? How is this period in Indonesia’s history remembered today? And what are its legacies for activism on sexual violence?
Wrecked? Belitung, Indonesia and the politics of maritime heritage
History, Natural Resources, Policy in FocusIn mid-1998, as President Suharto’s regime crumbled, local fishers discovered a 9th century shipwreck in waters near Belitung Island. The Belitung shipwreck was one of the most significant – and controversial – maritime discoveries of recent times.
Talking Indonesia: decoloniality and independence
History, Society, Talking IndonesiaWe see that 78 years after Soekarno proclaimed independence in 1945 – Indonesians are still asking the question “sudahkah kita merdeka?” – are we truly independent yet. In this week’s episode of Talking Indonesia, Tito Ambyo chats with Tamara Soukotta about her research into conflicts in Ambon how to celebrate Independence Day critically and decolonially.