Insight Myanmar

Episode #178: Step into the hidden world of Burmese small arms, where intrigue, danger, and geopolitical secrets intertwine. Miles Vining, a former US Marine and member of the Free Burma Rangers, recounts how his obsession with digital weapons in video games led him to start documenting real-life firearms in Myanmar. Miles discovered a vast array of small arms sourced from unlikely corners of the...

Episode #177: In the captivating story of Sunda Khin, we delve into a world filled with remarkable individuals who left an indelible mark on Burma's history. Sunda Khin's father, U Chan Htoon, the esteemed first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Burma, played a pivotal role in shaping the nation's destiny. Growing up as part of an elite family, Sunda Khin encountered influential figures such a...

Episode #176: Jonathan Crowley's journey into meditation at Dhamma Dhara was both fascinating and fulfilling. As he immersed himself in vipassana meditation in the tradition of S.N. Goenka, he discovered a deeper understanding of the practice, and himself, along with the joy of serving as a volunteer. However, learning how to integrate his newfound wisdom into everyday life posed challenges, compo...

Episode #175: Long before it was commonplace in America, Jonathan Crowley’s parents were keen on exploring Eastern philosophy. As for Jonathan, his first exposure to meditation began with a four-day silent retreat led by Larry Rosenberg at IMS. Seeking a deeper experience, he attended a ten-day course at a vipassana meditation center in the S.N. Goenka tradition. The course proved to be incredibly...

Episode #174: Jack Myint’s story begins with his attempts to learn English, which was no easy feat coming from a lower middle-class background, and in a country that had intentionally restricted English language instruction. Early on, he relied on the phrases his father taught him during taxi rides and recited them phonetically to foreign tourists at Shwedagon Pagoda, even though he didn't fully u...

Episode #173: Historian Robert Lyman takes listeners on a captivating journey through the little-known Burma Front of World War II. Lyman's 35 years of research and his fascination with the ethnic hill tribes, particularly the Naga, come together in his book, Among The Headhunters , which serves as the focal point of this conversation. Lyman unveils the intricate details surrounding a remarkable s...

Episode #172: In 2021, Jake Snyder embarked on a journey from Kansas to Missouri, unknowingly setting the stage for a life-altering encounter. As he tuned into an episode of the Insight Myanmar Podcast during his drive, the guest’s voice captivated him. Her name was Thiri, and her vulnerability and vivid portrayal of the challenges she faced drew Jake into her world. Inspired by her openness, he f...

Episode #171: Tempel Smith, a meditation teacher who is also an active, committed social activist, is used to finding a balance among differing perspectives, points of view and ideologies. This can be traced back to his childhood, with two very different parents with two very different world outlooks. Tempel went to Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where he began volunteering to support environme...

Episode #170: May Wynn Maung is a well-known Burmese actress that now lives in the United States. Her father was a long-time Army officer who also worked in the government. His maxim was the importance of doing one’s duty, to do as one was told without question regardless of how one felt personally about it. This outlook bound the way she lived in Myanmar, through protests and during her...

Episode #169: Today’s discussion looks at the Burmese military’s on-going, devastating airstrikes from a slightly different angle: What helps the jets get in the sir? Amnesty International’s Montse Ferrer joins us to explain the process of how jet fuel gets into the country. Myanmar does not have the technology to refine crude oil into international grade aviation fuel, so the military needs to im...

Episode #168: Shade’s story is a kind of microcosm of how thousands of Burmese and foreign allies have involved themselves in ways they could scarcely have imagined before 2021, while also shining a light on the many members of the Burmese diaspora who have been using their freedom and safety to do whatever they can for those struggling back in Myanmar. “We have to play our parts and do whatever w...

Episode #167: Steve Smith’s first meditation teacher was Mahasi Sayadaw. He visited the Sayadaw’s rural Seikkhun monastery back in 1977. Steve was moved by how the great teacher embodied centuries of monastic wisdom and discipline, while at the same time making great strides to spread the teachings beyond the monastic order—an unprecedented act at that time. “The feeling around him was vastne...

Episode #166: Han Gyi, a coordinator at the Network for Human Rights Documentation, also known as ND-Burma, joins us today to talk about the organization’s work, which focuses on human rights documentation; accountability and the utilization of data to seek justice, truth, and reparations. ND-Burma’s work emphasizes what is called “transitional justice,” which Han Gyi c defines as the “myriad of w...

Episode #165: Toe Zaw Latt, a journalist currently with Mizzima talks with us about access to communications in Myanmar. Before the arrival of mobile phones and internet in the country, one of the few options for communication was the telephone, when whole apartment complexes or entire villages might have to make do with only one or two. A private phone line was usually possible just for senior mi...

Episode #164: Yunanda Wilson has warm memories not only of the scrumptious fish noodle dish—known as mohinga—that her grandmother was famous for, but also its place in her family history. Her grandmother was an amazing cook and ran a market stall in Yangon that sold a variety of snacks, and the whole family would go each morning to help her run it. Yunanda is following in her grandmother’s footste...

Episode #163: Jack Jenkins Hill, a PhD student at the University College London, joins the show to discuss the state of capitalism and the deteriorating environment in Myanmar. Hill has spent the last decade studying such issues as deforestation, mining, and natural resource governance, as well as how indigenous communities have been impacted in Myanmar. Since the colonial era, Burma has had...

Episode #162: Pardis Mahdavi, Provost and Executive Vice-President as well as professor of anthropology at the University of Montana, joins the conversation to talk about the growing discontent and protests in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which shares several similarities with the situation in Myanmar.   Professor Mahdavi describes an interesting dynamic that arose in the mid-20th century: t...

Episode #161: Dan Sullivan, the Director of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East at Refugees International, joins this episode to discuss the challenges facing the Rohingya community. Most of the world began to pay attention to the Rohingya crisis in 2017, when over 700,000 people fled a genocidal campaign against them, creating the largest refugee settlement in the world in Bangladesh. Sullivan...

Episode #160: U Gambira was a 29-year old monk in 2007 when he helped foment the initial protests that grew into what came to be known as the Saffron Revolution.   After running away from home because of an abusive father, he first ended up as a young soldier. But he grew dissatisfied with army life and ran away yet again, this time to become a novice monk. In 2005, he was asked by his older...

Episode #159: “As soon as the coup started, the first thing in my mind was how we, the people of Myanmar, had lost our future, and are going back to old times, which weren't good.” This was David Lai’s initial feeling in February, 2021. While the sudden military takeover impacted all fifty-five million people living in the country, David’s situation was more complex than most—he is a public figure...

Episode #158: Following a family tragedy when she was just a teenager, Ayya Yeshe set off on a spiritual journey, becoming a nun in a Tibetan lineage at just 23. However, she soon learned that female renunciates weren’t treated with the same respect as males, and left to train under Bhante Sujato in the Ajahn Chah tradition, before taking Bhikkhuni ordination in 2006 at Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Vill...

Episode #157: In 1995, Burmese assaults into Karen territory created thousands of refugees who fled to Thai refugee camps, including Eh Nay Thaw’s family. He spent the next ten years in a refugee camp before being resettled in the United States. Eh Nay Taw’s years in the camps were quite painful, but he realizes the necessity of coming to grips with that experience. He says, “Part of my goal...

Episode #156: Even two years after the coup, the Tatmadaw continues its campaign of terror, disrupting communities, causing a massive refugee problem and destroying the country’s infrastructure. And because the military looks for loyalty rather than competence in choosing personnel, it has led to incompetent economic managers heading the country’s banks. Not surprisingly, the result is the effecti...

Episode #155: What is a “home?” It is more than just the physical structure we live in; “home” has overlapping dimensions. We say that the town or city we live in is our home, as is our country, and the entire planet… even the solar system and galaxy where we are but a speck. “Home” conveys a sense of belonging. It evokes feelings of comfort, safety, and familiarity. If we are forced to leave...

Episode #154: When Kory Goldberg was just nineteen, he spent a year studying in India. After the program ended, he traveled around and kept “seeking out whatever I was seeking out,” he recalls. He attended daily lectures given by the Dalai Lama, and later visited a socially engaged meditation center in the tradition of Lama Zopa. Then after some other explorations, he sat a vipassana course in the...