The Vietnam Weekly Podcast

<p>Today’s guest is Nguyen Khac Giang, a Visiting Fellow at the Vietnam Studies Programme of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. He’s a repeat guest as well and joined me for a similar year-end conversation in 2024.</p><p>We covered the administrative restructuring and its broad impacts, increasing private sector involvement in the economy and infrastructure, General Secretary Tô Lâm’s <a target="_blank" href="https://fulcrum.sg/the-domestic-calculations-of-to-lams-foreign-policy/">foreign policy</a> and the move away from ‘bamboo diplomacy,’ the rise of the military and police in business, and the upcoming National Party Congress.</p><p>Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p>Support the podcast by<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://buymeacoffee.com/vietnamweekly"><strong>Buying Me a Coffee</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at <a href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe</a>

<p>Today’s guest is Chris Tran, a content creator, a Vietnamese language educator, and more. We discussed the storm relief fundraising campaign he is a part of, how such campaigns are perceived, the resilience of people here, his work with The Ba Lô Project supporting Vietnamese <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aol.com/news/vietnam-support-deportations-us-tariff-033703000.html?guccounter=1">deported</a> by the Trump administration, the importance of preserving the Vietnamese language, and more. </p><p>Donate to typhoon relief efforts <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-matmo-typhoon-victims?attribution_id=sl:79edb7d8-ea78-4e4f-98bc-2f7bf5939eb2&#38;utm_campaign=natman_sharesheet_dash&#38;utm_medium=customer&#38;utm_source=copy_link"><strong>here</strong></a>. </p><p>Learn more about The Ba Lô Project <a target="_blank" href="https://www.baloproject.org/"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p><p>Follow <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/chris.tran.travels?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&#38;igsh=MTQ1bjNkYXBvM3JnZg=="><strong>Chris on Instagram</strong></a> to see more about his community work.</p><p>Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p>Support the podcast by<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://buymeacoffee.com/vietnamweekly"><strong>Buying Me a Coffee</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at <a href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe</a>

<p>Today’s guest is Anaïs Ca Dao van Manen, author of ‘<a target="_blank" href="https://www.phaidon.com/products/vietnam-the-cookbook?srsltid=AfmBOooKS7uUsJQroPpGTwTtgaKZgsEIVihTveLLARz8d7LjPcUpl9JG">Vietnam: The Cookbook</a>,’ which features 445 recipes from across Vietnam, including dishes from ethnic minority groups. Phaidon is releasing the book this Wednesday, October 22. She’s also the founder of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/yeshivietnam/?hl=en">Yeshi</a>, the casual Taiwanese restaurant with two locations in HCMC that some listeners are likely familiar with.</p><p>We talked about Anaïs’s culinary background, how she came to work on the cookbook, learning over 400 recipes while traveling across Vietnam to access the country’s incredibly diverse cuisine, splitting time between working on the book and running a restaurant, and more.</p><p>Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p>Support the podcast by<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://buymeacoffee.com/vietnamweekly"><strong>Buying Me a Coffee</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at <a href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe</a>

<p>Today’s guest is Elizabeth Ai, writer and director of the documentary <a target="_blank" href="https://newwavedocumentary.com/"><em>New Wave</em></a>. We discussed the deeply personal nature of the project; how New Wave music provided a safe space for young people who didn’t consider themselves fully Vietnamese, but also weren’t fully accepted by America; the rewarding challenges of producing the movie through the pandemic and having her first child; and more.</p><p>Follow New Wave on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/newwavedocumentary/?hl=en">Instagram</a> for updates on screenings and streaming availability.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://saigoneer.com/saigon-music-art/19467-the-curious-subculture-of-vietnamese-new-wave">The Curious Subculture of Vietnamese New Wave</a> (<em>Saigoneer</em>)</p><p>Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p>Support the podcast by<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://buymeacoffee.com/vietnamweekly"><strong>Buying Me a Coffee</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at <a href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe</a>

<p>Today’s guest is Vân Vương, Saigon Children’s Head of Fundraising & Communication and a key organizer of the upcoming <a target="_blank" href="https://challenge.saigonchildren.com/ugofar-2025/">U-GO Far: Vietnam - Cambodia Cycle 2025</a>. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.canva.com/design/DAGbZBTR2iY/yfLbnMsrmWs1ayCccnwKhw/view?utm_content=DAGbZBTR2iY&#38;utm_campaign=designshare&#38;utm_medium=link2&#38;utm_source=uniquelinks&#38;utlId=h2a1e078aee#1">first edition</a> of the ride, held last December in partnership with <a target="_blank" href="https://ugouniversity.org/countries/vietnam">U-GO</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://isfcambodia.org/">ISF Cambodia</a>, raised over US$50,000 for female students in Cambodia in Vietnam.</p><p>We discussed the U-Go program and Saigon Children’s involvement, the first U Go Far charity ride last year and Van’s experience as both an organizer and participant, meeting scholarship recipients along the way, ensuring transparency during a fundraising campaign, goals for the second ride in November, and more.</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/p/the-evolution-of-charity-work-in">The Evolution of Charity Work in Vietnam</a> (Vietnam Weekly Podcast)</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/58j7AtLkiI789bpTYoZ4Gv?si=o91Ppkj7QvegmPAQIx_Kvw">Helping the Disadvantaged During Lockdown</a> (Vietnam Weekly Podcast)</p><p>Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p>Support the podcast by<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://buymeacoffee.com/vietnamweekly"><strong>Buying Me a Coffee</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at <a href="https://thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe</a>