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PODCAST

Beyond the Ballot Box

As they say, democracy doesn"t begin and end at the ballot box. On Beyond the Ballot Box, we have in-depth conversations about political economy and human rights in Malaysia, Southeast Asia, and around the globe through a class prism.

news politics

All Episodes

48:58

Reform or Regression? AG-PP Split, MACC Controversy...

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/03/05

Malaysia today finds itself at an important juncture. For starters, the MADANI government is currently led by a reformist coalition and a Prime Minister who has championed good governance and institutional reform for decades.The past few weeks have been especially pivotal, though. On the one hand, you’ve got a recent Bloomberg investigation into alleged “corporate mafia” behaviour within the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), including controversy surrounding Chief Commissioner Azam Baki

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42:08

Iran, US, Israel: Can Regime Change Be Defended in...

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/03/03

Two days ago, the U.S. and Israel launched massive joint air operations against Iran, saying they were targeting military infrastructure and seeking regime change. Hundreds of civilians have been killed, including more than a hundred young Iranian girls, whose school was bombed. Several senior Iranian military figures and politicians have also been killed, including the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Iran has since launched retaliatory attacks on U.S. bases across the Gulf. The

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43:12

How Transparent and Accountable Are Major Political...

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/02/26

For the longest time, particularly since the late 90s, then-opposition parties from PKR to DAP to PAS campaigned on a platform of anti-corruption and anti-cronyism, against the Barisan Nasional. This only intensified during former, disgraced Prime Minister Najib Razak’s time in power and the 1MDB scandal. This ultimately led to the downfall of the Barisan Nasional government in 2018.The question is, how much do these parties actually practice the transparency and accountability they once demanded of

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47:34

Understanding The Politics of Eviction in Malaysia

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/02/24

We often hear about neighbourhoods being evicted, houses being torn down, and communities organising against the state or private developers, demanding fair compensation, proper consultation, and the right to remain on their land.Development, Displacement and Democracy: The Place of Eviction Protests in Malaysia is a paper that examines how these eviction protests function as an important but often overlooked form of democratic participation in Malaysia’s development process. The paper argues that

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36:12

How Films Can Help Us Make Sense of the World

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/02/19

Take One Action is an initiative based in Scotland that uses film as a tool to help people make sense of the world. The organisation curates documentaries and features that explore themes like inequality, climate justice, human rights, and collective action, often pairing them with discussions, workshops, and conversations with activists, academics, and filmmakers.In this episode, we speak to Daisy Crooke, Events and Communities Coordinator, Take One Action, about the power of film in helping us

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33:02

China Rising Part 2: Taiwan, Xinjiang, Sovereignty...

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/02/12

For many of us born in the 90s, we’ve only known one world: A world where the US has been the singular hegemon, leading what we call a unipolar world. This has been the case since the tail end of the Cold War and especially so after the fall of the Berlin Wall.But things are changing. There’s plenty of talk about a shift towards a multipolar world. This isn’t just what’s been said by leftists or anti-colonialists from the global south. It was also highlighted by the Canadian Prime Minister and

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40:26

China Rising Part 1: How the Unipolar World Is Ending

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/02/10

For many of us born in the 90s, we’ve only known one world: A world where the US has been the singular hegemon, leading what we call a unipolar world. This has been the case since the tail end of the Cold War and especially so after the fall of the Berlin Wall.But things are changing. There’s plenty of talk about a shift towards a multipolar world. This isn’t just what’s been said by leftists or anti-colonialists from the global south. It was also highlighted by the Canadian Prime Minister and

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47:13

What Do the Epstein Files Teach Us About Power?

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/02/05

Jeffrey Epstein was a financier and convicted sex offender whose network spanned the worlds of finance, politics, academia, and celebrity.Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice released what is now known as the Epstein Files. There are over 3 million pages, 2,000+ videos, and 180,000+ images, so far, including flight logs, emails, court filings, and internal notes detailing his activities and connections.Two rounds of document releases have so far painted an incredibly repulsive picture of sexual

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40:02

Do Business Schools Play a Role in Normalising Labour...

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/02/03

We often discuss the exploitation of labour, especially at the very bottom of the chain, namely the migrant workers who are frequently trapped in conditions that resemble modern-day slavery.But one thing we haven’t really interrogated is the role of business schools: what they teach, what they leave out, and whether the lessons and curriculum deal primarily with managing a boardroom and ensuring profitability, or if they reflect realities on the ground, where wealth and corporate success are often

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48:04

How Cartels Shape the Migrant Labour System in Malaysia

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/01/29

Recently, Bloomberg published an in-depth investigation into the recruitment of Bangladeshi migrant workers into Malaysia, exposing how inflated fees, cartel-like recruitment structures and political protection have trapped thousands of workers in debt, exploitation and, in some cases, human trafficking. The article explicitly names individuals linked to these cartels.We speak to Charles Santiago, co-chair of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), who was quoted in the article.Image Credit:

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45:52

What You Need to Know About a Highly Underappreciated...

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/01/27

Most of us know that elections are important. After all, they shape who governs us and how decisions get made. But we rarely stop to think about what actually happens behind the scenes: the hundreds, sometimes thousands of workers and volunteers who make sure polling day runs smoothly, especially polling staff on the ground.In this episode, we speak to Danesh Prakash Chacko, Chairperson of Persatuan Bertindak Pilihan Raya Bebas Dan Saksama (Tindak), about exactly that. Tindak is currently running a

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47:48

How to Navigate a Polarised Malaysia

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/01/22

Malaysia is incredibly polarised right now, especially across racial and religious lines. Perhaps that has always been the case to some degree, given the ethnocentric political parties and culture that have dominated a bulk of our history since independence and especially so post 1969. Things seem to be getting worse. You often get the sense that every community feels that they’re marginalised or that they don’t have a place in this country, or maybe that’s just the social media comment section.Of

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46:31

How to Make KL and the Klang Valley More Liveable

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/01/20

Three things we often hear about Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley at large is that it’s incredibly congested, not walkable and that it is becoming increasingly unaffordable. But why do these problems persist? We speak to Aziff Azuddin, associate researcher at IMAN Research, about the greater Klang Valley’s urban design philosophy and key principles on building an equitable and inclusive city.Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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45:18

Vijay Prashad on Venezuela, Iran and American...

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/01/15

It’s been a turbulent start to 2026. To kick off the year, the United States kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Just days later, some of the biggest protests in Iran in decades erupted and continue to unfold. Some leaders, particularly in the West, have framed the unrest from the perspective of human rights and are calling for intervention, while others advise caution and warn against meddling in the business of sovereign nations. All of this is unfolding on top of the

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40:16

Teach For All’s Founder on Closing the Education...

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/01/13

You are probably already familiar with Teach For Malaysia, the education nonprofit that does incredible work by placing committed young leaders in under-resourced schools and developing them into long-term advocates for educational equity. It is one of, if not the most important, education nonprofits in the country. What many may not realise is that Teach For Malaysia is part of a global network called Teach For All, which traces its roots back to the late 80s. In 1989, Wendy Kopp founded Teach For

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48:01

DAP Must Embrace Its Social Democratic Roots

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/01/08

Lim Yi Wei is the ADUN for Kampung Tunku and DAP Wanita national assistant publicity secretary. Yi Wei, whose parents were both teachers in public schools, is a social democrat at heart and believes in building a fairer and more equitable Malaysia for all.Recently, she penned an article titled "What Next for DAP," where she argued that the party’s social democratic roots have increasingly been overtaken by neoliberal thinking, and called for a clearer, values-driven return to politics centered on

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46:00

How to Build a Better Malaysia For Everyone

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2026/01/06

We are all part of a system – a global capitalist neoliberal economy – that is geared towards profit maximisation over creating a fair and dignified world for everybody. Even the environment is seen as a commodity to be extracted and destroyed for profit. Technology is so advanced and we have created tremendous amounts of wealth, yet most people across the world do not earn enough to afford basic necessities. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and our nature is depleted

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48:41

What Does the Future Look Like For Europe?

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2025/12/18

Where is Europe heading? This is one of the big questions as we shift towards a more fractured and multipolar world order. Europe is in a moment of deep political and ideological reckoning. After all, we’re seeing the rise of right-wing movements, anti-immigration sentiments, a yearning by some quarters to “go back” to a less multicultural imagined past. In this episode, we have a conversation with Nikita Dhawan, who holds the chair in Political Theory and History of Ideas at the Technical

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44:04

Here’s Why Feminism is Relevant Today -- For Men Too!

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2025/12/16

From memes to heated exchanges in the comment section, feminism is often distorted through the lens of viral and even ragebait content on social media and reduced to caricatures and stereotypes. Today, feminism has even become a sort of ‘foul word’ in some quarters, with some women trying to distance themselves from the label, as well. But beyond the noise, lies a global grassroots movement against the patriarchy, shaped by history, economics, and everyday realities on the ground. Maria Castro

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35:43

The Truth About Interethnic Inequality in Malaysia Today

Beyond the Ballot Box ·

2025/12/11

Ethnic affirmative action has shaped Malaysian policymaking and political discourse for more than five decades. The transformational New Economic Policy (NEP) and subsequent similar frameworks have anchored national debates on inequality, opportunity, and the country’s broader social contract.Yet despite how central these policies are to our politics, our understanding of where interethnic inequality actually stands today is surprisingly patchy: we know the broad narrative, but not the details. We

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394 results

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