Reformasi Dispatch

In the wake of Megawati Sukarnoputri’s decision to back Ganjar Pranowo for president we thought we would replay our June 2021 interview with the Central Java governor. Kevin and Jeff talked with the …

Ganjar Gets Go-Ahead (with Erry Hardjapamekas): The long waiting game with Megawati has ended as the PDI-P chair moved on 21 April 2023 to announce her intention to endorse the governor for president…

10 months to the day before next year's momentous election, Indonesia's electoral process is plodding through a veritable gauntlet of meddling.  This includes spurious procedural disputes, unscrupulo…

International scrutiny of the processes that produce batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) is inevitable -- and already beginning.  The author of a recent Wired article on the topic joins the pod.  A…

Steven and Jeff speak with Awan Puryadi, one of the lawyers in involved in a class action suit on behalf of 25 families of victims who had drank cough syrup laced with industrial grade solvents that …

Disgraced former police general Ferdy Sambo was found guilty and sentenced to death for ordering the death of his subordinate, Yosua Hutabarat. Four more defendants including his wife were also found…

Tito Ambyo, who is wrapping up a PhD on Indonesian horror, a lecturer on journalism at Melbourne's RMIT and co-host of the podcast Talking Indonesia joins Jeff and Kevin to discuss whether Jokowi is …

Erin Cook, author of substack Dari Mulut ke Mulut, joins Jeff and Kevin to discuss the presidential horse race. With almost exactly a year to go to elections, the stage is set for the big coalitions …

Ruby Kholifa of the Muslim Action Network (Aman) joins the pod to discuss campaigns against female genitalia mutilation (FGM) and other aspects of a recent landmark conference that she helped lead. 

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A landmark 2-hour address by the PDI‑Perjuangan chair -- to a red-clad audience of 3,000, including the president and half the cabinet -- made no mention whatsoever of Ganjar Pranowo, the PDI-P Centr…

New poll data provides depicts the state of the presidential race and a World Bank report assesses economic reform.  Jeff and Kevin discuss listener questions about a recent controversy surrounding f…

After 60 years of trying, Indonesia finally has a new criminal code that standardizes sentencing, boosts legal certainty and updates penalties that were more in line with the Indonesia of the Dutch c…

Gerindra Chair Prabowo Subianto is showing ‘buyer’s remorse’.  By all accounts the three time presidential hopeful is casting about for a running mate who can add vigor to his so far lackluster campa…

When it comes to transitioning to renewables and electrifying transport, Arsjad Rasjid, KADIN’s chairman, says the time of “talk, talk, talk” is over. Government and business need to work together to…

Indonesia has pulled off a well-run G20 summit with no boycotts during a -- to put it mildly -- difficult year. Peter Mumford of the Eurasia Group joins Kevin and Jeff to discuss all the summitry and…

A moment of jocular rapport between the president and Prabowo Subianto sent pundits spinning this week.  It appeared, when quoted in print, to constitute an endorsement of the Gerindra chair -- but n…

The Holy Grail of electric-vehicle production is a nickel battery derived from a genuinely green process, from mining through hydrometallurgy to handling residual tailings.  Indonesia holds the bulk …

The state of the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK), trends in the police and the atmosphere for discourse are factors affecting Indonesia's outlook for legal-system predictability and the rule of law …

A scheme to nominate President Joko Widodo for vice president, which is suddenly occupying headlines, would face multiple hurdles – legal, ethical, political and electoral.  The idea may have arisen …

 Kevin and Jeff talk about President Joko Widodo’s decision to raise fuel prices and claw back some of the nearly 700 trillion rupiah in subsidies expected this year and how more price hikes may be i…