The Vietnam Weekly Podcast

Today’s guest is Brian Eyler, Southeast Asia Program Director at the Washington D.C.-Based Stimson Center, project lead of the Mekong Dam Monitor, and author of the 2019 book Last Days of the Mighty Mekong . This wide-ranging conversation covers the proposed Funan Techo Canal in Cambodia (2:45) , how the Mekong Dam Monitor is doing a job regional governments should be doing (20:40) , a new dam tha...

Today’s guests are Truong Thuy Ngan, Communications Lead at Saigon Children’s Charity; and Damien Roberts, the organization’s Executive Director. We discussed how the longstanding charity - now in its 32nd year - has evolved over time, including: * Campaigns to inspire future generations of female leaders in Vietnam * Efforts to raise awareness of mental health while supporting families with neuro...

Today’s guest is Tu Phuong Nguyen , a lecturer of Asian Studies at the University of Melbourne. Tu’s research focuses on labor in Vietnam, particularly the country’s social insurance system. We discussed the precarious nature of factory work, even in the vaunted tech manufacturing sector, the challenges facing social insurance after 2023’s mass layoffs in the garment and footwear industries, and t...

Today’s guest is Michael Brosowski, Founder & Strategic Director of the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. Blue Dragon works to rescue Vietnamese people from slavery, homelessness, and extreme poverty and then works with them in the long term so they can heal from trauma, injustice, and disadvantage. We discussed how the organization’s work has evolved over the last two years, the rise of scam com...

I’m thrilled to announce the relaunch of The Vietnam Weekly Podcast, which ran for seven episodes way back in 2021. The first new episode will be released next Monday, February 19. Every two weeks, I’ll talk to people doing fascinating work in - or about - Vietnam. Initial topics include the anti-corruption campaign, scam compounds across Southeast Asia, the quest to write a comprehensive Vietname...

My guest on the latest Vietnam Weekly Podcast episode is Thao Lam, Executive Director of the LIN Center for Community Development. Thao has deep experience with NGOs and grassroots organizations, and we talked about how this sector has responded to the end of lockdown in southern Vietnam, as well as the challenges it still faces. For example, it is easy to raise funding and get community involveme...

The Vietnam Weekly Podcast is back after some delay with guest Dr. Leigh Jones, Head of Training at the Oxford Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in Ho Chi Minh City. Leigh has a PhD in Immunology and is one of my go-to sources for information related to COVID-19 vaccines and other scientific issues related to the pandemic. We discussed the different types of Covid vaccines and how they work; the sign...

If you’re anything like me, you are really missing Vietnamese food during lockdown. I’m a decent home cook, but with all street food shut down, I have been craving my favorites, particularly cơm tấm and bún thịt nướng . With no end in sight to social distancing regulations, I talked to cookbook author Andrea Nguyen of Viet World Kitchen to get some pointers on making Vietnamese food at home. We co...

I’m pleased to present the fourth Vietnam Weekly Podcast episode, which is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever podcasts are found. My guest is Neagha Leonard, project director of the Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project . He has lived on Cat Ba since 2014 and is a leading expert on the island, its biodiversity, and the numerous issues facing both human residents and flora and faun...

As discussed in the Vietnam Weekly on Monday , Ho Chi Minh City’s hard lockdown is creating economic pain for many, particularly those on the margins of society who rely on daily income to survive - whether from selling lottery tickets, running a food cart outside a factory, working as a non-contract day laborer, or something similar. With this work now impossible as the city fights a huge COVID-1...

On the second episode of the Vietnam Weekly podcast, I spoke with Beth Lopez, the co-founder and CEO of Docosan . This website/app connects prospective patients with hundreds of doctors in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang, and allows people to book appointments without going through the process of dealing with a hospital or clinic admin team. I’ve used Docosan several times and it is hugely hel...

Good morning, and welcome to the first episode of the Vietnam Weekly Podcast, a new addition to this project. Twice a month, I will interview people from a broad spectrum of industry and society, either working in Vietnam, or with a focus on the country from overseas. If you are already a newsletter subscriber, you’ll receive new episodes in your inbox just like the weekly updates, and this will a...