History of Southeast Asia

Greetings, dear listeners! Better late than never, as the saying goes. Three months after I gave you the previous episode of the podcast, a new episode is now available! And before you ask, I am still having a challenging year. Besides real world concerns like the ones I told you about last time, this time I had a difficult subject to research. Today we are visiting three groups of Indonesian islands that most people have never even heard of. Where I live, this time of year is a vacation time. If you are ready to really get away from it all...

At last, I am back with another episode for the podcast! So far this has been a difficult year for me. Not only has the weather been bad enough for my state to be declared a disaster area, but I lost my wife in January. For this episode, we finish our multi-episode look at the island of Timor, by covering its history in the late twentieth century. Now what place will we visit next?

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Merry Christmas, if you're inclined to observe that holiday! For this episode of the podcast, we go back to Timor, at the eastern fringe of Southeast Asia, and look at its history during World War II.

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And here is the Podc...

At last, Episode 135 of the podcast is ready for your listening pleasure. This episode is longer than most, and here we continue our coverage of the island of Timor, looking at its history in the first forty years of the twentieth century.

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I wanted to produce a podcast episode in May, and here it is, on the last day of the month! Today we continue our extended look at the island of Timor, by covering its history in the nineteenth century.

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And her...

I'm back, and sorry for keeping you waiting so long! Today we continue our look at Timor, one of the larger islands on the eastern edge of Southeast Asia. This episode will cover the island's history from 1661 to about 1800. As always, listen and enjoy!

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Happy Valentine's Day, if you observe that holiday, and here is a new episode for the podcast! This episode is the first part of an historical narrative about the island of Timor, covering events up until the mid-seventeenth century. How many more episodes will the history of Timor take? Stick with me to find out!

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Here is the first episode of the podcast for 2024. This is the first of a two-part series on one of Southeast Asia's easternmost islands, Timor. In fact, it is so far east that it looks more like a place in the South Pacific, than part of Southeast Asia. The island is also poltically divided; the west half of the island belongs to Indonesia, while the east half is the independent nation of East Timor, or Timor Leste. In this episode you will learn what it is like to visit Timor, and the next episode will cover the island's complicated hist...

This episode is a Halloween special, a short sequel to one I recorded four years ago. Meet five more of the monsters that Southeast Asians believe in!

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And here is the Podcast Hall of Fame page, to honor those who have...

Today, instead of announcing a podcast episode, I am announcing the 2023 Intelligent Speech Conference. This year I will be one of the speakers giving a presentation. Listen here for the details.

And click on the link below to join me at the conference.

https://intelligentspeechonline.com

I started working on Episode #129 of the podcast in the middle of August, but was interrupted in early September by illness. Now I have recovered enough to finish the episode, so here it is. This time we visit Sumba, an island in eastern Indonesia that you probably haven't heard of, because it is really remote and not visited much, compared with the other islands. Listen and enjoy!

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Please accept my apology (again) for taking so long to finish the latest episode! I honestly tried to get it done in less than two months, but again real world concerns got in the way.

But I am not here to tell you of my troubles. I am here to announce that Episode 128 is now available! To partially compensate for your long wait, this episode is longer than normal, a full hour. Here we visit the eastern Indonesian islands of Komodo and Flores. These islands are home to the world's largest lizard, and that's not t...

I had a challenging time creating the podcast episode that I am releasing today. I was ill for much of April, and I had to take time out to work on my taxes, as most Americans have to do. Then my computer erased the script for this show, forcing me to take some more days off to re-write it. Finally, it looked like I was done with recording the episode on May 11, but when I listened to the finished work, it didn't sound right. Among other things, I mispronounced the name of the island we are visiting here, so I en...

Hello! As you have been expecting, here is the next episode in the podcast mini-series on eastern Indonesia. Today we visit Lombok, a little-known island just east of Bali. Lombok is home to a volcano that erupted in 1257, possibly changing the course of world history. Unfortunately I have had a bad cold this week, so hopefully I don't sound too congested in this recording.

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This is a special mini-episode. It has nothing to do with Southeast Asian history. In a recent conversation I had, the subject of ancient aliens came up. For the record, here are my opinions on that subject. Listen and enjoy, while I work on the next regular podcast episode!

And here is a photo of the statue of Hemiunu, the real builder of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. I talked about the statue in the middle of this episode.

http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/africa/images/hemiunu.jpg

Happy Groundhog Day, if you are in the United States! But seriously, after nearly three months of researching, recording, editing, and fighting off the challenges that kept me from working on the podcast, Episode 125 is now available! Today we take a close look at Sulawesi, the largest Indonesian island between Borneo and New Guinea. To compensate for the long time you waited, this is the longest episode I have made so far, at one hour and 23 minutes. So grab some refreshment (food or a drink), get comfortable, listen and enjoy!

Do you think you woul...

One of my listeners requested I give equal time to eastern Indonesia, because in the past when I talked about this vast island nation, I concentrated on the big western islands: Java, Sumatra and Borneo. Well, it turns out I'm going to need more than one episode to fulfill that request, so here's the first part in a mini-series on eastern Indonesia. Today we will look at the "Island of the Gods," Bali.

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Thank you for your patience! This shows that despite all the little things life has thrown at me since the last episode, I was able to get another one done. Today's episode covers another topic that a listener requested, an in-depth look at ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Again, listen and enjoy!

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This is the first episode I promised on special topics that were overlooked when we were going through the historical narrative, in previous episodes. Today we have an in-depth look at the Boat People, the refugees who fled Vietnam in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Listen and enjoy!

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As promised, here is the newest episode! Today I answer the eleven questions I didn't have time for in the previous episode.

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And here is the Podcast Hall of Fame page, to honor those who have donated already!

Okay, I am back at last! The previous episode of the podcast completed our historical narrative of Southeast Asia. Now for today's episode, I will start answering the questions you have sent me over the past two months. In fact, you sent me so many questions that I will answer some of them in the next episode as well. But I don't mind; thank you for your enthusiastic response!

Oh, and one other thing. I got an email from one listener who said the volume on the podcast was too loud. I thought the sound...

To all the listeners of this podcast, I want to thank you for your patience.  I actually started to record this in the third week of January (there is a reference to January early in the episode), but the work was interrupted more than once, for more than a day each time.  Now at last, it is finished and good to go.  This time we finish the series of episodes on recent Southeast Asian history, by looking at events in Thailand, from 2001 to the present.  At the end I tell you about a new icon to give special recognition to t...

If you listen to the podcast, here is a Christmas present from me! This episode covers the turbulent recent years of Myanmar's history, from 2008 to 2121. The next episode will come out in 2022, so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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And here...

At last, after promising it for a long time, here is the episode on East Timor! Meet Southeast Asia's newest country.

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And here is the Podcast Hall of Fame page, to honor those who have donated already!

Sorry again for making you wait five weeks. As compensation, this episode is the longest I have recorded in the past year. Today we finish up the narrative on the Philippines, covering the recent history of those islands from 1992 to the present. Overall it has been an up-and-down experience for Filipinos; from my point of view, life is getting better for them, but they still have a long way to go, before they can claim to be as successful as some of their neighbors.

Do you think you would like to become a podcaster on...

This episode of the podcast is the last one planned for Indonesia. Here we look at events in the world's largest archipelago, from 1998 to the present. Listen and you will understand what is going on in a large nation that often does not get much attention in the outside world.

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This episode of the podcast covers Cambodia, from 1989 to the present. As you can guess from the title, it's mainly a story of how Cambodia has recovered from all the awful things that happened to it in the twentieth century.

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Today we finish up the podcast's narrative about Vietnam. This time it won't be war stories, but the story of how Vietnam recovered from the wars it suffered in the twentieth century, and how it has become the exciting, growing country that visitors see today.

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And here i...

All right, Episode 112 of the podcast is now available! Today we pay another visit to Burma, to look at what happened from late 1988 to 2011. To start with, from this time onward, the country will usually be called Myanmar. During this period, the military is still in charge, and while the generals aren't as eccentric as Ne Win, the general who ran the show in Episode 101, they pull one crazy stunt: a new capital city is built from scratch, and the government is suddenly ordered to move to it, without previous warning. Also, we see Aung San Suu Kyi become...

Today's episode is the first that is just about Brunei, a country that the podcast has mentioned many times in the past. It is also the last, because this episode covers Brunei up to the present. Although Brunei is one of the smallest countries in Southeast Asia (only Singapore has less land), and it is home to only a few hundred thousand people, its recent history is amazing, thanks to its oil wealth. Thirty years ago, the current sultan was the richest man in the world. Listen to hear what he (and his youngest brother) have done with that money!<...

It has been five weeks since I gave you an episode, so thank you for your patience! This time we look at the Philippines from 1981 to 1992, the end of the Marcos presidency, and the presidency of Corazon Aquino. And since I told you previously that my wife is from the Philippines, this episode finishes with the story of how we met. Listen and enjoy!

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Today's episode covers Thailand, from 1976 to 2000. In the middle of the nineteenth century, modernization became the top priority of the Thai kingdom. While the Thais found it fairly easy to adopt new technology, they found it harder to switch from absolute monarchy to a more modern government, and they have been trying to do that since 1932. Listen in to find out if Thailand can get it right this time.

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Here's a phrase I want you to remember: sabai di, pronounced "sa-bye dee." In the Thai and Lao languages it means "feel good." Just as Swahili speakers may say "hakuna matata" (no worries) when they are in a good mood, so the phrase sabai di summarizes the general mood in Laos. In fact, an old article from Time Magazine used the phrase to call Laos "The Land of Feeling Good." Now listen to the latest episode of the History of Southeast Asia Podcast as we finish up the historical narrative on Laos, looking at events in that country from 1975 to...

Spring is on the way! While you are waiting for the season to change, here is the next episode of the podcast. This episode looks at Vietnam from 1975 to 1986, and Cambodia from 1979 to 1989. During this time there were conflicts between Vietnam and the Khmer Rouge, and between Vietnam and China. Together we call these clashes the Third Indochina War, and because they were waged on a small scale, without big battles like those of the previous wars, they are almost forgotten today.

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Here is the next episode at last! I couldn't go anywhere yesterday, because the area where I live is covered with ice and snow, so I finally had time to finish Episode 106. At the beginning of the episode, I will explain what kept me from finishing it at the beginning of February, as I had originally planned to do. Today the topic is Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, the grim period known as "the Pol Pot Terror" or "the Killing Fields." And because I was a teenager when these events were happening, I will tell you how they have affected me even...

This episode completes the historical narrative for another Southeast Asian nation. Here we see Malaysia from 1970 to 2021. In fact, one of the events covered, the 1MDB scandal, blew up after I started recording this podcast. Although Malaysia is not as rich as Singapore or Brunei, it comes in a respectable third place, and here you will learn how they did it.

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Although it has been said in many times and many ways, Happy New Year! To start the new year right, listen to the latest episode of the podcast, which covers the history of Singapore from 1965 to the present.



Singapore's government treats its subjects the way your parents treated you. You have been warned.

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Episode 103 of the podcast is now available, just in time for Beethoven's 250th birthday! Today we look at Indonesia during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. This was the time of Indonesia's long-lasting second president, Suharto.

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This episode goes all the way to the eastern extremity of Southeast Asia -- western New Guinea. Geographically speaking, it's really part of the South Pacific region of the world, but it has been considered part of Indonesia since the Dutch claimed it, nearly two hundred years ago. Now we will look at what has happened there since the Dutch handed over western New Guinea to Indonesia, in 1962. Can we call this the last Southeast Asian colony?



This is the Morning Star flag, the emblem of the OPM, or Free Papua Movement.


<...

With this episode, the second hundred episodes of the podcast will begin! Today we look at Burma from the 1950s to 1988, going up to the point just before the country was renamed Myanmar. During this period, the country had only two leaders, U Nu and Ne Win. U Nu tried unsuccessfully to turn Burma into a socialist state, while Ne Win was a dictator who did some wild things because he was also superstitious.

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