Insight Myanmar

Episode #185: Alan Clements returns to the podcast, this time to talk about his recent book, Burma’s Voices of Freedom in Conversation with Alan Clements: An Ongoing Struggle for Democracy, a four-volume opus consisting of his interviews with “dozens of the country’s most respected and well-known politicians, pro-democracy activists, artists and religious leaders from Burma’s democracy movements”...

Episode #184: One of six siblings, Tu Lor Eh Paw grew up in a bamboo hut in a tiny village in Karen state.  Her mother was a local Karen Christian missionary, and Tu Lor grew up celebrating Christian holidays and basing her ethics and values on Christian teachings. When Tu Lor was just a child, her mother unfortunately passed away, and her father made the difficult decision to move most of th...

Episode #183: Sebastian Copija began his journey amid the mesmerizing mountains and bountiful nature of his southern Poland home. Through the years, he developed a strong interest in American and British music, especially heavy metal, yet there was also always the deep yearning for living a life of simplicity. Fueled by an insatiable thirst for understanding consciousness, Sebastian delved into an...

Episode #182: “If you're a millionaire, or a billionaire, you want the best,” says Timo Schober, a German-based journalist who works at Papertrail Media, “and the best is natural grown teak [from Myanmar]...And that's what is driving the demand.” Schober joins the conversation along with Shirsho Dasgupta, an investigative reporter for the Miami Herald. They talk about the decimation of Burma’s onc...

Episode #181: “I was walking into a country that was in the middle of significant change,” states Scot Marciel, the US Ambassador to Myanmar from 2016 to 2020. One of the first challenges Marciel faced was the role of sanctions. While initially imposed to pressure the regime, he found they had limited effectiveness, and argues that the policy, long driven by a justifiable anger towards the junta’s...

The host and founder of Insight Myanmar was interviewed by the podcast, "Uncensored: Women of the World."

Episode #180: Immediately following the military coup, Trish, participated in the nonviolent demonstrations by cooking and serving food to protesters. Soon, however, she became a target of the military, so she relocated to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she continues to cook and raise awareness about the situation in Myanmar. Not satisfied limiting her cooking to Bamar dishes, Trish delved into resea...

Episode #179: Deputy Chief Inspector Lu Fei, the Chinese protagonist of author Brian Klingborg's thriller series, represents an archetype often seen in fictional detectives—an honest officer seeking justice in an unjust society. The series, set in the Chinese city of Harbin, near the Russian border, aims to entertain readers while also shedding light on various aspects of modern Chinese society. K...

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...