Second Wave

What would it take to pack up your life and move to a new country? It’s a question Thanh Tan’s parents didn’t have the luxury of asking when they fled...

What would it take to pack up your life and move to a new country? It’s a question Thanh’s parents didn’t have the luxury of asking when they fled Vietnam to America 40 years ago. But Thanh has always wondered what life would have been like for her if her parents never left. So recently she decided to visit Vietnam to better understand her parent’s homeland and consider a move back.

I was 6 or 7 years old. And I didn’t want to go to swimming lessons at the YMCA. Like, I really didn’t want to go.

When Thanh’s godsister Kristie invites her to revisit their families’ escape from Vietnam, Thanh is not sure what to expect. Thanh agrees to go with Kristie and they visit the small fishing village where her family’s journey to America began. They encounter surprise and heartbreak along the way.

I grew up in the United States. Like any all-American kid, I said the Pledge of Allegiance, celebrated the Fourth of July and saluted the American flag....

Growing up, Thanh had an affinity for two flags: The American flag and the Vietnamese flag. The problem is, the flag she grew up believing was the Vietnamese flag is not the same as the official flag of Vietnam. The official flag of Vietnam is still a visceral symbol for many in the Vietnamese-American community. Will these symbols continue to divide Vietnamese communities in Vietnam and in the United States?

When Thanh Tan was growing up, pho wasn’t cool. Now, it’s an “it” dish and taking on a life of its own as more Americans eat and serve it.

When Thanh Tan was growing up, pho wasn’t cool. Now, it’s an “it” dish and taking on a life of its own as more Americans eat and serve it.

When Thanh is invited to judge a local beauty pageant, she confronts a difficult question: What makes an “ideal” Vietnamese-American woman? This episode explores how old Vietnamese traditions are kept alive through the ritual of a modern day beauty pageant.

What makes the “ideal” Vietnamese-American woman? In the latest episode of our new podcast Second Wave, Thanh Tan finds herself confronting that question after she is invited to judge a local Vietnamese beauty pageant.