Free Daily Podcast Summary
Talking Indonesia: Daily Summaries Delivered
by 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.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 1 weeks ago25 min
Mitha 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 options, and what will it mean for me and my family? For Indonesian women diagnosed with cervical cancer, the answers have not always been easy to come by. Until recently, no formal patient education materials were being provided at the point of diagnosis — and where good information is scarce, myths fill the gap, the biggest one being that a diagnosis is simply a death sentence. In this episode, we look at what happened when a team of Australian and Indonesian researchers set out to change that. Dr Mitha Eka and Professor Linda Rae Bennett, with colleagues at the Centre for Reproductive Health at Universitas Gadjah Mada, spent a year co-designing the first patient education materials of their kind in Indonesia. Funded by the Australia-Indonesia Institute, the project brought together survivors, clinicians, four hospitals in Yogyakarta, community organisations, and government at both provincial and national levels. With our guests, host Dr Elisabeth Kramer discusses what it takes to build something like this inside a health system where clinicians may see a hundred patients a day, why the team developed a new “collaborative equilibrium” approach rather than importing international guidelines, and how questions of culture, hierarchy and collective family decision-making shaped every stage of the work. They also share what came out of it: a diagnostic flipchart for clinicians, take-home fact sheets for patients and families, and a word bank to help clinicians explain complex medical information in everyday spoken Indonesian. About the guests Dr Mitha Eka is an educational specialist and early career researcher who works across the University of Melbourne and Federation University. She has more than a decade of experience designing, delivering and evaluating educational programs spanning global health, social innovation and plant biosecurity, in both Australia and Indonesia. Professor Linda Rae Bennett is a medical anthropologist based at the Nossal Institute for Global Health at the University of Melbourne. She has thirty years of experience in research and health capacity building in Indonesia, and for the past decade has collaborated with the Centre for Reproductive Health at Universitas Gadjah Mada on a range of projects related to HPV and cervical cancer. Find out more The project is the Australia-Indonesia Collaboration for Cervical Cancer Patient Education (AI-KPPKS / Australia Indonesia Kolaborasi untuk Pendidikan Pasien Kanker Serviks), funded by the Australia-Indonesia Institute. Full details are available on the Nossal Institute for Global Health project page: Collaborative curriculum development for cervical cancer patient education in Indonesia https://mspgh.unimelb.edu.au/research-groups/nossal-institute-for-global-health/Prevention-and-Management-of-Health-Conditions/collaborative-curriculum-development-for-cervical-cancer-patient-education-in-indonesia
- 3 weeks ago48 min
Imam 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 Indonesian wildlife conservation authority BKSDA intervened, fearing poachers might take the carcass; the villagers, in deep grief, buried the tiger anyway. It's not an isolated case: similar stand-offs have played out in southern Aceh and elsewhere, as Sumatra's forests are cut into ever-smaller patches by plantations and logging, pushing tigers and people into closer contact than ever before, and tensions grow between different ontologies and practices on how to manage the relationship. This is why, as Universitas Indonesia anthropologist Imam Ardhianto puts it, human-tiger relations are best read not as belief systems in isolation, but as sensitive registers of ongoing socio-ecological change. So what happens to a centuries-old relationship between people and tigers when plantations fragment the forest, a virus jumps species from village dogs, and social media reshapes how a new generation understands the animal at all? In this week's episode, Tito Ambyo chats with Imam Ardhianto, an anthropologist and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Universitas Indonesia. Imam's research on the cosmopolitics of human-tiger relations draws on fieldwork in Sumatra, tracing how ancestral guardian tigers, were-tigers, and “outsider” tigers are understood — and how those categories are shifting as the forest itself changes. In 2026, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Dr Clara Siagian from the University of College London, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, and Dr Tito Ambyo from RMIT
- Aug 13, 202636 min
Dania 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 recent attacks have coincided the release of the full text of Presidential Regulation No. 111 of 2025 concerning the 2025-2029 General Policy for National Defense, classifying the spread of LGBTQI+ culture as a ‘non-military’ threat to the state, placing it within the same category as terrorism, separatism and radicalism. A recent Human Rights Watch report quoted the chairperson of LGBTQI+ advocacy organisation, Arus Pelangi, Nono Sugiono, as saying, “Patterns of hate based on gender identity and sexual orientation are building year on year.” So, what forms does this ‘pattern of hatred’ take, how is the LGBTQI+ community coping and ultimately, why do morality issues have such social currency in Indonesia? In this week's episode, Jemma chats with Dania Joedo, a musician and human rights activist based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Dania works with a variety of NGOs such as Jakarta Legal Aid, Omah Munir, New Naratif, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, YAPPIKA ActionAid, and Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation. With her band, Tashoora, Dania makes music that aims to raise awareness about issues that are underrepresented today. In 2026, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, Tito Ambyo from RMIT and Dr Clara Siagian from University College, London. Image: Indonesian LGBT activists protests in Jakarta 2018/ Bayu Fuller Wikimedia CC
- Jul 31, 202637 min
Syarafina 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 into the mainstream. Yet these spaces can matter precisely because they make room for voices, ideas, and forms of cultural expression that have little place elsewhere. This matters in Indonesia today, where civic space is increasingly constrained and marginalised communities, including queer people, face growing stigma, scapegoating, and political hostility. In this context, publishing becomes not only about circulating books but a way of sustaining communities, and creating spaces where people can think, disagree, and imagine different forms of social and political relations. In this episode of Talking Indonesia, Dr Clara Siagian speaks with Syarafina, co-founder and commissioning editor of Cahyati Press, an independent publishing practice based in Bali. Cahyati publishes books, zines, and artist books by writers, poets, artists, and researchers, particularly queer, working-class, and BIPOC voices that are often overlooked by mainstream publishing. Syarafina reflects on her twelve-year journey through independent publishing and on why Cahyati Press came into being. For her, independent publishing is less about size than editorial freedom to publish work because it matters, even when it defies common literary classification or when it is not commercially viable. That freedom takes on particular significance when we talk about queer publishing. As LGBTQ+ people in Indonesia face increasing stigma and political scapegoating, Syarafina argues for the importance of documenting queer lives in all their complexity. This means communicating not only stories of violence and survival, but also stories of friendship, family, work, migration, desire, boredom and joy. Publishing, in this sense, can be a quiet form of resistance which encompasses preserving stories, creating memory, and allowing people to recognise that they are not alone. The conversation also takes us beyond Indonesia. Cahyati Press is part of a growing international network of independent publishers, artists, writers, booksellers and cultural organisers across Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe and beyond. Rather than seeing Indonesia simply as a place where international researchers and artists come to study or work, this network points to Indonesia as a place from which connections are being forged, and cultural conversations are being shaped. Finally, we discuss what independent publishing might offer academics: an opportunity to experiment with shapes, audiences and methods, and to imagine forms of knowledge production beyond the rigid conventions of academic publishing. In 2026, Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Clara Siagian from University College London, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.
- Jul 16, 202633 min
Liam 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 Asian literacy in the 1980s. Toward that end, we have seen intermittent policy interventions recognizing the strategic importance of what has come to known as Australia’s “Asian capabilities”. This includes a National Asian Language and Studies program in the 1990s, a 2012 white paper under the Gillard government and in 2015, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade unveiled the New Colombo Plan which provides grants and high prestige scholarships to Australian undergraduates studying in the region. And yet Australia’s quest for “Asian Capabilities” has been nonetheless been marked by declining numbers in Asian language learning, closures of Asian studies departments and programs at senior high school and in universities and with repeated warnings from educators, language teachers, high schools and universities about the catastrophic decline in student numbers. An important element of Australia’s relationship to Asia has been forged through study abroad programs which send hundreds of Australian students to Asia each year. The Australian Consortium for In Country Studies Indonesia Studies, known as ACICIS, is the longest running facilitator of these kinds of programs to Indonesia, having facilitated some 5000 of Australian students to Indonesian universities since it was established nearly 30 years ago. This month also marks the launch of a new book on the generational impact of these programs called Experiencing Indonesia: 30 years of ACICIS published by ANU Press and edited by Kirrilee Hughes, Kate Naidu and David Reeve. Today I’m speaking to Liam Prince, Director of the ACICIS program based at the University of Western Australia about the future of Australia’s Asia and Indonesia capabilities.
- Jul 1, 202635 min
Austin 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 line to defend it. But across the archipelago, environmental activists are increasingly finding that the sharpest threat they face isn't out in the field. It's in the courtroom. In this episode, we're looking at how the law itself is being turned against environmental defenders in Indonesia, especially through what are known as SLAPPs — strategic lawsuits against public participation. What are these suits, and what is the intention behind them? To unpack this, I'm joined by Austin Jenish. Austin recently finished his studies, and his path into these questions didn’t begin in a lecture or a research program, but with a study abroad program that took him to Indonesia. He came to the country's legal system and its environment out of genuine curiosity, and followed that interest far enough to start writing about it. So, we connected through an article Austin wrote for Earth.org on SLAPP which can be found at https://earth.org/how-malicious-lawsuits-are-silencing-climate-activists-in-indonesia/. Austin holds degrees in both law and genetics from Monash University and now works at a commercial litigation firm, but his engagement with environmental issues is a longstanding passion. He's served as a conservation status assessor with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, contributed environmental law and policy work to NGOs including the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform in Jakarta, and through Monash's law clinics helped draft a framework for environmental litigation and supported the Cook Islands in the UN's plastic pollution treaty negotiations.
- Jun 20, 202639 min
Tito 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 Jamie Edmonds sit down together not as interviewer and guest, but as co-editors who have spent months immersed in a collection of essays on ghosts and haunting in Indonesia. The result is something that is a bit different than the usual podcast interview: two scholars thinking aloud about what the ghostly has done to them. They move between the personal and the theoretical. Jamie's childhood on a road called Whispering Woods, his years navigating psychosis and hallucination, and the way ghost stories kept refusing to let him stay on the outside. And Tito's discovery, buried in a Dutch East Indies newspaper, that his grandfather hosted a radio programme about spirituality, which was a revelation that arrived mid-thesis, mid-life, with the force of a haunting. The episode also serves as a guide to the Inside Indonesia special edition on ghosts that Tito and Jamie co-edited: essays on pulung gantung in Gunung Kidul, haunted manuscripts that resist digitisation, headless soldiers whose presence keeps colonial violence from being forgotten, female dancers whose spectral power is reshaping Indonesian cinema, and journalists learning to take seriously the tree that refused to be felled. What emerges from all of it is not an argument for or against the existence of ghosts, but something more interesting: a case for sitting with what we cannot explain, and for the kind of knowing that begins with admitting we do not know. In this episode of Talking Indonesia, Tito Ambyo and Jamie Edmonds explore what ghosts teach us about Indonesia — and about ourselves. Jamie Edmonds is Director of the Critical Languages Institute, Associate Director of the Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Arizona State University. His research focuses on Islam, popular culture, and the supernatural in Indonesia. In 2026, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, Dr Tito Ambyo from RMIT, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, and Dr Clara Siagian from University College London.
- Jun 4, 202634 min
Airlangga 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 major cities for several days in mid-May 1998. There was widespread looting and arson, which resulted in the deaths of over a 1000 people and large-scale property damage and capital flight. Soon, it was also revealed that incidents of sexual assaults and rapes had occurred on a massive scale. The rioters’ targets were overwhelmingly properties and businesses owned by ethnic Chinese Indonesians. The victims of sexual violence and rapes were also, although not exclusively, Chinese, Indonesian women. In the following days, Suharto’s authority became fractured and his regime fell, ushering in the Reformasi era. Key actors involved in these events of almost three decades ago, are today at the centre of power in Indonesia. Prabowo Subianto, now President, was then Commander of Kostrad, the Army Strategic Reserve Command, and Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, now Defence Minister, was then Commander in charge of Jakarta, Pangkoops Jaya. At the time, Sjamsoeddin’s failure to protect the capital was singled out for condemnation. Around the fringes of these events was also Fadli Zon, a long-time supporter of Prabowo, who by his own account, was close to the now president as the events of May 1998 played out. When he was appointed the Minister of Culture in Prabowo’s first cabinet in 2024, Fadli Zon immediately embarked on a controversial project to rewrite Indonesia’s official history for school curricula. He had a particular interest in the way in which the history of May 1998 would be represented. This became a focus in his public statements about the project, including challenging the historical account of these events accepted by the official government-appointed task force set up after the riots, and by rigorous academic research. Then in June 2025, Zon went on the record questioning if sexual assaults and rapes had taken place. A few months later, a group of advocates, including some of those directly involved in the fact-finding investigation and who provided support to victims at the time, filed a case against the minister in the Jakarta Administrative Court. Following several months of evidence, the trial concluded in April 2026. What was the nature of their case against Minister Zon? How did the court respond? And what implications might this case have for the broader struggle for human rights protections and democracy in Indonesia right now? In this week's episode Jemma chats with Airlangga Julio, associate lawyer at AMAR Law Firm and Public Interest Law Office and a member of the Tim Advokasi Untuk Demokrasi (TAUD, Advocacy Team for Democracy). In 2026, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, Tito Ambyo from RMIT and Dr Clara Siagian from University College, London.
Get Talking Indonesia summaries in your inbox
Free AI-powered daily recaps. Key takeaways, quotes, and mentions — in a 5-minute read.
Get Free Summaries →Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.
You Might Also Like
Listeners also like.
Psychiatry & Psychotherapy Podcast
Explores psychiatry and psychotherapy through interviews with experts, trainees, and individuals sharing lived mental health experiences.
The Unplayable Podcast
Discussions on cricket in Australia and globally, covering news, analysis, and stories from the sport.
Stanford Psychology Podcast
Students interview psychologists about recent research and its real-world applications in mental health, behavior, and cognition.
All In The Mind
Explores the psychology behind human behavior, emotions, and mental health through expert interviews and personal stories.
Talking cricket
Cricketers discuss the game they love in candid conversations about cricket’s stories, strategies, and moments.
JeffMara Podcast
Discusses paranormal phenomena, conspiracy theories, and unexplained topics like UFOs, alien abductions, and near-death experiences.
Inquiring Minds
Explores the intersection of science and society through critical thinking and in-depth analysis.
The Delhi Capitals Podcast - Stories from IPL and Beyond
A behind-the-scenes look at the Delhi Capitals with player interviews, personal stories, and insights into their lives beyond the IPL.
The Intelligence from The Economist
Global news and analysis on politics, business, and culture from The Economist’s correspondents, with weekday stories and a weekend deep-dive.
Intelligence Squared
Live debates and in-depth discussions on pressing global issues featuring leading experts and thinkers.
Real Pod
A conversational podcast exploring authenticity, relationships, and self-growth through candid personal stories and vulnerable discussions.
Economist Podcasts
Daily global news analysis from correspondents on major international stories.
About 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.
Customized Recaps
AI-powered recaps with compact key takeaways, quotes, and insights.
Straight to Your Inbox
Get key takeaways from Talking Indonesia in a 5-minute read.
Save Hours Every Week
Stay current on your favorite podcasts without falling behind.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Podzilla's Talking Indonesia daily summary?
It's a free AI-powered email that summarizes new episodes of Talking Indonesia as soon as they're published. You get the key takeaways, notable quotes, and links & mentions — all in a quick read.
How does the Talking Indonesia podcast summary work?
When a new episode drops, our AI transcribes and analyzes it, then generates a personalized summary tailored to your interests and profession. It's delivered to your inbox every morning.
Is this an official Talking Indonesia product?
No. Podzilla is an independent service that summarizes publicly available podcast content. We're not affiliated with or endorsed by Talking Indonesia.
Can I get summaries of other podcasts too?
Absolutely! The free plan covers up to 3 podcasts. Upgrade to Pro for 15, or Premium for 50. Browse our full catalog at /podcasts.
What topics does Talking Indonesia cover?
Talking Indonesia covers topics including News. Our AI identifies the specific themes in each episode and highlights what matters most to you.
Start getting Talking Indonesia summaries tomorrow morning.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.