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
October 22, 2025 • 34 mins
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 coordinator for the NGO Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) about their assessment of the current government and their recent report entitled Catatan Kritis (or critical notes) on the first year of the Prabawo-Gibran government.
ICW was formed in 1998 and, unfortunately, their ro...
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October 12, 2025 • 45 mins
Dian Tri Irawaty - Kampung and Urban Advocacy by Talking Indonesia
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September 24, 2025 • 32 mins
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 Zon announced he was commissioning a reworking of the official Indonesian history textbook.
In early 2025, outlines of the project’s terms of reference started to trickle out, and historians, activists and survivors’ groups grew increasingly concerned. The new version, ass...
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September 11, 2025 • 37 mins
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 protests were triggered by a newly announced increase in parliamentarian housing allowances, the protests were about so much more. Underpinning it all was a general lack of confidence that Indonesian politicians care about, or were effectively responding to, the very real stru...
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September 7, 2025 • 46 mins
In late August, demonstrations against housing allowances for national parliamentarians escalated dramatically when a motorcycle delivery driver, Affan Kurniawan, caught up in the protests, was run over by a police tactical vehicle. His death, live-streamed, saw waves of protests in at least 47 Indonesian cities in a convulsion of genuine national rage and frustration.
Parliaments were set on fire in at least 4 cities, police sta...
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August 31, 2025 • 45 mins
While Jakarta's eviction politics have often dominated headlines and grassroots campaigns, the experiences of those who have been relocated to rusunawa (social housing) complexes have remained largely invisible. Yet these families reveal how Indonesia's vision of urban modernity is being literally built into the architecture of everyday life, changing the ways people connect with each other and build their lives.
In this episode o...
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August 13, 2025 • 29 mins
From the algorithms that curate your social media feed to the recommendation systems that influence what you buy, artificial intelligence is quietly reshaping every aspect of our daily lives. Yet most of us remain in the dark about how these powerful technologies are governed—and that's a problem we can't afford to ignore.
Artificial Intelligence (or AI) policy isn't just about tech regulation; it's about who gets to shape the fut...
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July 31, 2025 • 36 mins
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. This is because up to half of Indonesia’s palm oil production is generated by smallholders, farmers with 2-3 hectares of land, cultivating oil palm crops and selling the product for reliable market prices to corporate and state refineries.
But this model of national developmen...
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July 20, 2025 • 31 mins
Nurwanto Nurwanto - School Violence and Bullying
In recent months Indonesians have grown increasingly concerned and indeed outraged following several reports of deadly violence involving children as young as elementary school age. In a case in Riau in May an eight-year-old boy died after complications due to a ruptured appendix, which his parents believe was the result of beatings he suffered at the hands of fellow students aged...
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July 2, 2025 • 32 mins
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 world was one of tragedy and horror at the huge loss of life sparked by clashes between fans and security agents at a football match in Kanjuruhan, East Java. Less than three years later, this image is being replaced some by something quite different. In June this year, Indo...
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June 18, 2025 • 37 mins
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 sophisticated digital platform economy. These food apps have fundamentally transformed how millions of Indonesians eat, shop, and navigate daily life, while generating billions in revenue for tech unicorns that now rival traditional media conglomerates in their cultural influence.
But...
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June 4, 2025 • 35 mins
Despite significant strides in recent decades, Indonesia continues to face one of Southeast Asia's higher maternal mortality rates. A recent study published by Syaraji and colleagues (2024) found that for every 100,000 live births, approximately 249 women die from pregnancy-related causes.
In Jakarta and other major cities, expectant mothers often access modern facilities staffed by trained professionals. But travel just hours out...
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May 21, 2025 • 36 mins
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 Jakarta. The story made international headlines and led to an outpouring of support and condemnation from across Indonesia’s mediascape and public more broadly. Known for its deep investigative reporting the magazine’s chief editor described the brazen threat on its journalists...
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May 8, 2025 • 42 mins
In recent years, Indonesia has experienced a remarkable transformation in its gaming landscape, with mobile esports emerging as a powerful cultural and economic force. What was once considered a fringe activity now enjoys mainstream legitimacy, supported by both grassroots communities and government institutions.
In this episode, Tito Ambyo speaks with Haryo Pambuko Jiwandono, a PhD candidate at RMIT University researching mobile ...
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April 23, 2025 • 33 mins
A growing protest movement
On 28 March, in downtime Jakarta across from the Sarinah department store, an unlikely group of protesters gathered holding signs and making speeches. The crowd largely consisted of middleclass women of various ages, gathered under the name ‘Suara Ibu Indonesia’ (Voices of Indonesian Mothers). For the organisers, the choice of name and location for their protest was deliberately designed to evoke a momen...
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April 9, 2025 • 38 mins
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 forgotten.
When we think about Indonesia’s place in history, we’re often inclined to think about the histories that shape the socio-cultural and political dynamics we see today. But Indonesia’s global historical significance goes way beyond this when we start considering how...
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March 27, 2025 • 28 mins
In Indonesia, a country prone to disasters and emergencies, effective risk communication can mean the difference between safety and vulnerability for millions. But what happens when risk communication fails to reach those most marginalised? How do social determinants of health impact how urban poor women navigate crises like the COVID-19 pandemic?
In this week's episode, Tito Ambyo chats with Citra Lestari, a PhD candidate at the ...
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March 10, 2025 • 37 mins
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, LGBTQI+ people are as vulnerable as at any time in the country’s modern history. In a nation with the world’s largest Muslim population and where religion plays a central role in defining belonging and nationalism, the identities of queer Indonesian Muslims provide valuable i...
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February 27, 2025 • 48 mins
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 under the banner of Indonesia Gelap, or “Dark Indonesia”.
The students list a number of demands, from human rights to environmental issues, but the trigger for these protests lie in deep budgetary cuts initiated across the public service, to the tune of US$44 billion. The ...
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February 9, 2025 • 33 mins
Climate Change is well-recognised as a massive challenge facing society today. It is clear that the political, economic and social consequences of climate change will not be felt equally, not only globally but also across Indonesia. Geography, class and—indeed--gender dynamics will influence how individuals Indonesians experience and respond to climate change.
But it’s not just the environmental impacts that require navigation. A...
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