Prof. Devika Shankar (The University of Hong Kong) joins Philip Gooding to discuss her new book, An encroaching sea : nature, sovereignty and development at the edge of British India 1860-1950(Cambridge University Press, 2025).

Scholar profile: https://history.hku.hk/staff-d-shankar/

Book: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/an-encroaching-sea/F95A7CEFEDC145611A2E27DC2751A5D7

The Indian Ocean World podcast is hosted by Dr. Philip Gooding, produced and edited by Sofia O’Reilly, and published under the SSHRC-funded Partnership, “Appraising Risk, Past and Present.”

Music: “Nam Nhi-tu” by M. Nguyen Van Minh-Con.

Prof. Fiona Williamson (Singapore Management University) joins Dr. Philip Gooding to discuss her recently published monograph: Imperial Weather Meteorology, Science, and the Environment in Colonial Malaya (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2025). Their discussion covers the development of meteorological science under British rule in colonial Singapore and Malaya, with real implications for how the impacts of global warming are understood in the present.

A specialist in the environmental history of southeast Asia and the wider Indian Ocean World, Prof. Williamson has particular interest in the history of the climate, meteorology and extreme weather in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Scholar profile: https://faculty.smu.edu.sg/profile/fiona-clare-williamson-1066

Book: https://faculty.smu.edu.sg/profile/fiona-clare-williamson-1066

The Indian Ocean World podcast is hosted by D. Philip Gooding, produced and edited by Sam Gleave Riemann and Sofia O’Reilly, and published under the SSHRC-funded Partnership, “Appraising Risk, Past and Present.”

Music: “Nam Nhi-tu” by M. Nguyen Van Minh-Con

Prof. Alastair McClure (Hong Kong) joins Dr. Philip Gooding (IOWC, McGill) to discuss his first monograph, Trials of Sovereignty: Mercy, Terror and the Making of Criminal Law in British India, 1857-1922 (Cambridge UP, 2024). Their conversation covers state violence, coercive mercy, and Indian national politics under the British Raj.

A specialist in South Asian legal history, Prof. McClure is Assistant Professor in the Department of History, University of Hong Kong.

Links:

University Profile: https://history.hku.hk/staff-a-mcclure/

Book: https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/history/south-asian-history/trials-sovereignty-mercy-violence-and-making-criminal-law-british-india-18571922?site_view=desktop

The Indian Ocean World Podcast is hosted by Dr. Philip Gooding, produced and edited by Sam Gleave Riemann, and published under the SSHRC-funded Partnership "Appraising Risk, Past and Present."

Music: "Nam Nhi-tu" by M. Nguyen Van Minh-Con

Dr. Philip Gooding (IOWC, McGill) is joined by Adam Bobbette (Glasgow) to discuss his 2023 book, The Pulse of the Earth: Political Geology in Java, published by Duke University Press. Their conversation covers the history of plate tectonic theory, human-earth systems relationships, and how to live and do research in the Anthropocene.

Dr. Adam Bobbette is Lecturer in Political Geology in the School of Geographical & Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow. The Pulse of the Earth is his first monograph and is currently being translated into Indonesian. In addition, he has co-edited four books on the academic press; contributed to The London Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, Cabinet, N+1, and e-flux; and collaborated creatively with filmmakers, architects, and visual artists.

Links:

University Profile: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/ges/staff/adambobbette/#biography,publications,audio

The Pulse of the Earth: https://dukeupress.edu/the-pulse-of-the-earth

The Indian Ocean World Podcast is hosted by Dr. Philip Gooding, produced by Sam Gleave Riemann, and published under the SSHRC-funded Partnership "Appraising Risk, Past and Present."

Music: "Nam Nhi-tu" by M. Nguyen Van Minh-Con

Dr. Philip Gooding (IOWC, McGill) is joined by Dr. Lukas Ley and Tarini Monga (both Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology) to discuss the research group, "S.AND - The Future of Coastal Cities in the Indian Ocean." Their conversation covers the shifting roles of sand in human environments, with particular attention to their current fieldwork in the port of Marseille and peri-urban Goa, respectively.

Lukas Ley is Research Head of the S.AND research group. He holds PhD in Anthropology from the University of Toronto and his first monograph, Building on Borrowed Time: Raising Seas and Failing Infrastructure, was published in 2021.

Tarini Monga is a PhD candidate in the S.AND research group at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.

Links:

S.AND project website: https://www.s-and.org/

Dr. Ley's profile: https://www.eth.mpg.de/ley

Ms. Monga's profile: https://www.eth.mpg.de/monga

The Indian Ocean World Podcast is hosted by Dr. Philip Gooding, produced and edited by Sam Gleave Riemann, and published under the SSHRC-funded Partnership "Appraising Risk, Past and Present."

Music:

"Nam Nhi-tu" by M. Nguyen Van Minh-Con

This week, Dr. Philip Gooding (IOWC) is joined by Prof. James Warren (Murdoch) to discuss his monumental new book, Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines. Their conversation covers Prof. Warren's decades-long research project that led to this book, the impact of extreme storms on South East (and especially Philippine) history, and the shifting social dynamics that impact vulnerability to such events.

Prof. James Warren is Emeritus Professor of History at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. Over his long and celebrated career, he has published 9 books and over 140 shorter pieces, held posts at universities on three continents, and made major contributions to research in South East Asian history, particularly environmental history.

Links:

University profile: https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/profile/james_warren/overview

Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines: https://unipress.ateneo.edu/product/typhoons-climate-society-and-history-philippines

The Indian Ocean World Podcast is hosted by Dr. Philip Gooding, produced and edited by Sam Gleave Riemann, and published under the SSHRC-funded Partnership "Appraising Risk, Past and Present."

Music:

"Nam Nhi-tu" by M. Nguyen Van Minh-Con

For the first episode of this season, we are trying something new. Instead of an interview, this week we turn the feed over to another, Marit Kleinert, who takes us to Zanzibar in the first episode of her new show, Beyond Theory. It is a fantastic piece of audio documentary, merging music, field recording, interview, and (yes) a little bit of social science theory to explore the dynamic women's cooperative economic sector in the Zanzibar archipelago.

Marit Kleinert is a Masters candidate in the program "Human Geography: Globalisation, Media and Culture" at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. This podcast was produced for a seminar in that program. Marit has a background in musicology and sound studies, as well as Southeast Asian studies, on which she draws in her podcast.

Links:

Beyond Theory & bibliography: https://beyondtheorypodcast.wordpress.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marit-kleinert

The Indian Ocean World Podcast is hosted by Dr. Philip Gooding, produced and edited by Sam Gleave Riemann, and published under the SSHRC-funded Partnership "Appraising Risk, Past and Present."

Music:

"Nam Nhi-tu" by M. Nguyen Van Minh-Con

"Construisons (Let’s build)" by Destinolas Bwenge

"Do it for me" by Jerybrown

For the second annual Summer Research Roundup, Dr. Philip Gooding sits down with five research assistants employed here at the Indian Ocean World Centre, McGill University to explore and recognize the hard work they've put into their research over the last year.

Nadia Fekih is entering her final year in Environmental Studies at McGill. She has been with the IOWC for nearly two years, with a paper (co-authored with Dr. Gooding) forthcoming in the Journal of Southern African Studies.

Lilia Scudamore has just finished her BA and will begin an MA in History at McGill in the fall. She has two years of experience here at the IOWC and a particular interest in the history of infectious disease, the topic of her proposed MA project.

Sienna Hsu is a Computer Science student here at McGill. Her technical expertise has made her an invaluable member of our team, and she has contributed to all aspects of data collection, analysis, and visualization on a number of projects.

Sam Gleave Riemann joined the IOWC upon the completion of his MA in Classical Studies at McGill two years ago. He produces this podcast, helps organize events, contributes to research, and has recently stepped into a Project Manager role alongside Dr. Gooding.

Hannah Sparwasser Soroka is a PhD candidate in History at McGill, entering her fourth year and specializing in Early Modern European intellectual history.

The Indian Ocean World Podcast is hosted by Dr. Philip Gooding, produced by Sam Gleave Riemann, and published under the SSHRC-funded Partnership “Appraising Risk, Past and Present.”

Music: "Nam Nhi-tu" by M. Nguyen Van Minh-Con