The arts might seem like the least important thing on our minds during the current pandemic. Jo Kukathas joins us this week to argue against this assumption, assuring us that it is ok to feel lost, so that we can discover our collective responsibility creatively.

You can read the article that was mentioned in the podcast here.

This week, we are joined by anthropology major and gamelan ensemble director, Adam Farhan to explore what can we learn from the music of gamelan about limits and possibilities in the adaptive power of tradition.

How is the movement control order changing the ways educators teach? Joining us this week to dwell on learning under the condition of the new normal are two educators from across the private and public sectors, Prof. Ruslan Abdul Rahim and Dr. Azril K Ismail.

Image Source: writix.co.uk

Heading into week 6 of the Movement Control Order, Haniff Baharudin and Simon Soon check up on each other to ponder about how social distancing is changing the way we interact with one another.

How can a set of photographs help us to ‘restore’ the identities of other lived experiences? Hoo Fan Chon joins us via Skype to discuss the different ways for us to retrieve alternative histories via photographs.

In what ways have the coronavirus pandemic changed the ways we communicate? How have we been adapting to the current situation? Joining us this week over Skype is researcher in medical history Por Heong Hong from the Universiti Sains Malaysia.

In the age of social media celebrityhood, Korean wave, and middle-class ennui, three guys decided to create a printed quarterly journal to explore the many different literary and cultural voices in the Malay language. Hafiz Hamzah, Badrul Hisham Ismail and Nazir Harith Fadzilah join us this week to speak about why form and style matters.

Why do histories repeat themselves? For independent researcher Ong Kar Jin, repetition does not so much describe a historical process as a pattern of thinking where your average person tries to make meaning out of the past when faced with an uncertain future.

A new generation of activists/intellectuals are holding power to account. Huda Ramli, founder of Journal Sang Pemula, and Azura Nasrun, assistant manager of Rekod Media, join us this week to explore the cost of thinking.

Malaysian Chinese literature is undergoing a new renaissance. Postdoctoral fellow at the Australia National University, Show Ying Xin, joins us this week to discuss the recent global attention that Mahua literature has been receiving.

What is it about the photographic image that makes it so magical? Photo-historian Azril Ismail joins us this week to discuss the wonder that is photography.