Kevin and Erin talk to former US diplomat Brandon Possin on Trump's invasion of Venezuela and what to expect of the administration. Also: Stand up comic and government critic Pandji Pragiwaksono could face a blasphemy charge for his Netflix special Mens Rea after he was reported by a youth group. And Thomas Djiwandono, the President's nephew is named as a candidate for Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia, a move that shows administration's reach on monetary policy.

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Joining the pod is Isanksarsyah Bakri, senior advisor to the Aceh governor, for a discussion of the livelihoods crisis facing the province after the 23 November Senyar Cyclone devastated half of Aceh's districts. Also: Erin and Kevin look at the Information Ministry's ban of the Grok AI nudify function on Elon Musk's X; Prabowo's travel plans; and Megawati's emphatic denunciation of Trump's neo-colonial folly. And a spelling correction for last week's blurb: our interview guest was Monica Wihardja (not Suhardja).

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Burhanuddin Muhtadi of the polling firm Indikator politik, together with Monica Wihardja of ISEAS, join the pod to discuss their empirical analysis of disinformation mesaging in the 2024 Presidential contest. Spoiler: Beware of TikTok. Pak Burhan also comments on Presidential support ratings. Also; Kevin and Erin discuss disaster relief, a regional head election bill and KPK scrutiny of Ridwan Kamil.

You can read Burhanuddin and Monica's research here: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.iseas.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/TRS10_25.pdf

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