In this episode we speak to Dr. Michael Dunford, recent graduate of the Australian National University, about his unique anthropology PhD thesis on the Ta'ang people and the tea they live with. Mike did his fieldwork in Northern Shan State and Northern Thailand, and is primed to launch off to a new job in Singapore. I'm sure you've heard of tea—but…

Rackets Podcast #31 India's second wealthiest person, Gautam Adani, is facing legal pressure from the U.S. government. This episode shows the legal, but unethical, means that wealthy donors can get U.S. congressmen to help clean up their image. It's a perfect example of the systemic corruption in D.C. and how money shapes our politics. Show notes a…

Rackets Podcast #30 Toby Muse is a foreign correspondent who has spent several years in Colombia. He discussed many observations from his book, "Kilo: Inside the Deadliest Cartels—From the Jungles to the Streets." He offers unique insight into the war on drugs.

Rackets Podcast #29 This episode explores multiple notorious crime figures in South East Asia who have connections to the Chinese government. Some of them are members of China's United Front organizations, which are NGOs closely aligned with the CCP. There is an apparent mutually beneficial relationship in which these criminals are given freedom in…

Some of the most high-profile criminals in South East Asia are tied to human trafficking and appear to have links to Chinese intelligence. These gangsters can operate with impunity as long as they publicly support the CCP's agenda. Show notes at: https://www.briansaady.com/

Rackets Podcast 27 This is an add-on episode from the last one that profiled how Myanmar has become the global epicenter of illegal drug production. Horrific crimes have increased since the 2021 coup. The junta profits from one of the most perverse forms of human trafficking. India and China have advanced their geopolitical agenda by exploiting the…

Rackets Podcast #26 This episode explores the geopolitics of why Myanmar is now the top producer of opium. Myanmar's military junta launched a coup in 2021 and it profits from this black market, along with other organized crime rackets. A massive humanitarian crisis has ensued from a regime that is guilty of numerous war crimes. Several of the rebe…

Rackets Podcast 25 ***Breaking News*** Court documents show that the man who is accused of financing the assassination of Haiti's President, Walter Veintemilla, received the legal authorization for that operation from a confidential informant of a US Intelligence agency. How much information did the US government have about this assassination befor…

In this episode we speak to Clare Hammond, author of the new book published by Allen Lane: On the Shadow Tracks: A Journey Through Occupied Myanmar. Clare travelled by train around most of Myanmar before the 2021 military coup, from the southern coast to the northern mountains, and tells stories of colonial legacies, forced labour, villages torn ap…

Peasant insurgencies are not only moments of conflict and crisis, but also of politics and performance: they are sites of social reproduction, where identities are made and remade. Dr. Jonathan Saha, Professor of South Asian History at the Durham University, discusses two events of the "Hsaya San Rebellion" in relation to racial capitalism and comm…

What's the difference between a right and an opportunity in Burma, and how do people resist or refuse the blunt biopolitics employed by its military rulers? In this episode, Elliott Prasse-Freeman, Assistant Professer of Sociology and Anthropology at the National University of Singapore, discusses his new book Rights Refused: Grassroots Activism an…

Christianity is a hugely important minority religion in Myanmar and many Christians there follow the Baptist denomination. In a new book, Dr. Alex Kaloyanides, Associate Professor in Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, looks at the Baptist mission to Burma through a number of holy objects, from 1813 until 2013. In th…

Myanmar rulers and foreign experts often describe the country's economic reforms in the period following 2010 in glowing terms. In the book, Along the Integral Margin: Uneven Development in a Myanmar Squatter Settlement, author Stephen Campbell, Assistant Professor in the School of Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, tak…

What is the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and how does it sustain itself, after more than two years of existence as a revolutionary strategy? What are the expectations and challenges felt by CDM participants, who refuse to work for military-ruled institutions in Myanmar? Samuel Hmung, PhD Student at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs…

Dr. Jared Bissinger, an independent development economist, talks off the back of his participation at the 2023 ANU Myanmar Update about the state of the Myanmar economy in 2023. Although some economic indicators have settled somewhat from the post-coup chaos, nearly all sectors appear to be in economic decline, and the ruling State Administration C…

Gabrielle Palluch, author of The Opium Queen: The Untold Story of the Rebel Who Ruled the Golden Triangle, published by Rowman & Littlefield, joins the show to discuss the remarkable life of Olive Yang. Born in the Kokang region in the 1920s, Uncle Olive was an enigmatic and influential figure in the history of her ancestral region: brother and sis…

In this episode we speak with Hunter Marston, PhD Candidate at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University and Adjunct Research Fellow at La Trobe Asia, about Myanmar's foreign policy and international relations in the context of the the overblown 'New Cold War' superpower environment, the Southeast Asia regi…

Why has the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar been so resilient, even in the face of a hostile regime? In this episode, Mai Van Tran, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies and Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, discusses her research on urban Myanmar's protest movements and contentious politics. Sh…

What is the past and future of "ceasefire capitalism" for Myanmar's many vulnerable communities? Dr Kevin Woods, Fellow at the East-West Centre and Adjunct Assoiate Professor at the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, discusses the connections between conflict, statebuilding, resource exploitation and more…

What is the best way to teach the histories of Burma? How can students learn in an open and accepting environment and how can teachers work to promote reconciliation in the classroom? In this episode, teacher and anthropologist of education Dr. Rosalie Metro discusses her textbook on Burmese history, co-authored with Aung Khine, pedagogy and politi…

Cold War conflict had many permutations, by proxy or otherwise, in Southeast Asia. In one little-known 1960-61 incident, the armies of the Union of Burma and the People's Republic of China cooperated to dispel Kuomintang (KMT) troops that had settled in Shan State following the conclusion of the Chinese civil war. Dr Ngeow Chow-Bing of the Universi…

Jessica Mudditt, an Australian author and journalist, discusses her recent book Our Home in Myanmar: Four Years in Yangon, in which she recounts working at a range of journalism outfits in the country, including the infamous military-owned and influenced Global New Light of Myanmar.By Myanmar Musings

Danny Fenster and Ben Dunant, two foreign journalists with Frontier Myanmar, reflect on leaving the country following the 2021 coup. Danny was arrested and spent 176 days in prison on bogus charges when he tried to fly out of Myanmar last year.By Myanmar Musings

What is the state of the media in Myanmar after the failure of "transition" and the realities of military subjugation? Are the roles of "local", "exile" and "international" media outlets changing? What about citizen journalists and visions for a federal democratic future? In this episode media veteran Lisa Brooten, Associate Professor in the Colleg…

This syndicated episode from Asia Research News is a dive into how decentralisation could lead the way to democracy and peace in Myanmar. The podcast is a result of the Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) Initiative, jointly supported by Global Affairs Canada and the International Development Research Centre, the IDRC.…

Myanmar Research Centre member Mike Dunford announces that on December 9 and 10, the MRC at the Australian National University will be holding an online workshop for early career researchers from Myanmar and for those whose research focuses on Myanmar. To apply, send a current CV and a 300 word (maximum) summary of your current research project(s) …

In this syndicated episode from the Asia Research News podcast, we hear experts put forth their views on the connections between gender equality, democracy activism and anti-coup resistance in Myanmar today. This podcast is thanks to the Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) initiative, jointly supported by Global Affairs Canada and the Internatio…

What is the state of the education system in Myanmar and how has it been reformed in the last decade? What does the 1 February military coup mean for education reform going forward? Marie Lall, Professor of Education and South Asian Studies at the UCL Institute of Education, and author of the recent UCL Press book: Myanmar’s Education Reforms: A Pa…

The ah nah: Conversations with Myanmar podcast was launched in July this year, featuring long-form interview discussions with people inside and outside Myanmar who oppose the 1 February military coup. In this episode, ah nah hosts Suzanne and Ruth discuss their new show, their favourite episodes, and explain how the coup turned them from foreign te…

What is the connection between White & Burman/Bama privilege, industrial development, conflict and capitalism? How can different class and ethnic groups build solidarity in the current crisis? Is class politics ultimately behind ethnic politics in Myanmar – or can it solve it? Dr. Stephen Campbell and Dr. Elliott Prasse-Freeman discuss their recent…

The coup has complicated the analysis of Myanmar's 2020 general elections, but Constant Courtin, of the University of British Columbia, is digging deep into the role and performance of the USDP during its time in opposition. How do we make sense of the NLD/USDP victories and defeats in the 2020 election results? This seminar was recorded as part of…

Dr Tomas Martin discusses prisons in Myanmar in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the military coup and argues for conceptualising crisis as their enduring, perpetual context. This seminar was recorded as part of the Myanmar Update 2021 conference last month.

Three economists from the Overseas Development Institute delve into assessing the sustainability of the Myanmar economy's current development model in light of COVID-19's effects, both domestically and in other nations, and in the current political context. This is a recorded seminar from the Myanmar Update 2021 conference held in July 2021.…

Dr Andrea Passeri of the University of Malaya and Hunter Marston, PhD Candidate at the Australian National University, go over the foreign policy of the Myanmar state from 2010-2020 and what characterises the country's approach to non-alignment, in particular. This seminar was recorded at the Myanmar Update 2021 conference.…

The garment manufacturing sector in Myanmar has strengthened with the political reforms of the last decade, offering jobs to millions of Myanmar workers. However, it has suffered huge contractions in the wake of the 1 February military coup, with associated indiscriminate murder of protesting workers and factory arson. In this talk given to the Mya…

What is the microfinance ecosystem in Myanmar, what has it been achieving and how has it endured the COVID-19 crisis and the devastating military coup of 1 February? In this seminar at the Myanmar Update 2021 conference, Dr Russell Toth from the University of Sydney gives a detailed overview of all this and more. If you're microfinance minded, don'…

In this recording of a seminar from the ANU Myanmar Update 2021 conference last month, Dr Sophie Gaudet, an independent expert, discusses a recent survey undertaken on child and maternal nutrition in Yangon, Myanmar, including important findings for future public healthcare in Myanmar.

In this presentation, Afke Jager, Myanmar Country Director for Innovations for Poverty-Action-Myanmar, talks about recent survey data on how people in Myanmar are strategising under the complex political and healthcare crises ongoing in the country. This is a recording of a talk given to the Myanmar Update 2021 conference at the Australian National…

Dr Gerard McCarthy of the National University of Singapore discusses a mixed-methods research project conducted by himself and three colleagues on how state aid assistance meant to ameliorate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was perceived by people before the 1 February coup. He also answers questions on the coup and ethnic politics.…

In this recorded seminar from the Myanmar Update 2021 conference, Dr Mie Mie Kyaw, an independent expert on water and fishery resources in Myanmar, talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic and infection control responses have affected people's livelihoods on the Ayeyarwady River.

What can other nations and multilateral institutions realistically expect to achieve with their responses to the 2021 military coup and the ongoing crimes of the Tatmadaw in Myanmar? Nicholas Coppel, adjunct associate professor at Monash University and former Australian ambassador to Myanmar, delivers straight talk on the limitations of most actors…

What is the difference between "functional state failure" and "state collapse", and what is the likelihood of a reduction in conflict in Myanmar's near future? Nicola Williams, PhD Candidate at the Australian National University, talks through how she sees the current contested state of the "State" in Myanmar, primarily stressing the importance of …

Salai Samuel Hmung, Masters graduate of the Australian National University, shares his thoughts on the formation of People's Defence Forces and the varied politics of ethnic armed organisations in the wake of the 1 February military coup. This talk was recorded at the Myanmar Update 2021 conference held at the ANU earlier in July, 2021.…

How do we make sense of all the boomeranging signs and memes associated with the anti-coup movement in Myanmar? Dr Elliott Prasse-Freeman of the National University of Singapore takes us on a semiotic tour of engaged digital ethnography in this recording of a July 15 seminar held at the Myanmar Update 2021 conference.…

In this recording from a panel at the Myanmar Update 2021 conference, Michael Dunford, PhD Candidate at ANU, quickly breaks down the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in relation to what he sees as the ongoing military occupation of Myanmar and colonial political domination of the Tatmadaw. He argues the heterogeneity of the CDM is its key strength…

This episode is a recording of the Economic Update delivered at the Myanmar Update 2021 conference on July 17. Edgard Rodriguez of the International Development Resource Centre convenes talks by Vicky Bowman, of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business and Dr Htwe Htwe Thein, Associate Professor in International Business at Curtin University. Th…

In this recorded seminar from the Myanmar Update conference on July 16, 2021, Salai Lian Hmung Sakhon, Minister of Federal Union Affairs in the National Unity Government, talks to Dr Jane Ferguson of the Australian National University about federalism, youth, human rights and the future of Myanmar. He outlines why the Tatmadaw must step away from p…

In this recorded seminar, Dr Morten Pedersen, Senior Lecturer in International and Political Studies at the University of New South Wales, Canberra (ADFA), delivers this year's Political Update to the Myanmar Update 2021 conference held at the Australian National University from July 15-17. Morten touches on the reasons behind the 1 February milita…

In this recording of a live event from July 15, 2021, Khin Zaw Win, ex-political prisoner, writer, analyst and director of the Tampadipa Institute, sits in conversation with Professor Nicholas Farrelly, Head of Social Sciences at the University of Tasmania, to cap off the first day of the Myanmar Update 2021 conference. The pair discuss the state o…

This episode is a recording of Yanghee Lee's July 15 keynote address to the Myanmar Update 2021 conference held at the Australian National University. Professor Yanghee Lee is former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar as well as a developmental psychologist and professor in the faculty of Child Psychology and Educatio…