Today’s guest is Kyle Freeman, a Partner at Dezan Shira & Associates who leads the International Business Advisory team and the firm's North American client services desk in Asia.

We discussed the latest tariff threats coming from President-Elect Donald Trump, how Vietnam benefited from U.S. trade policy during his first administration, Vietnam’s exposure to potential trade remedies given its huge surplus and growing Chinese manufacturing investment, how export-focused companies are preparing for another Trump presidency, and more.

Related Links:

US trade deficit with Vietnam soars beyond $110 billion, as weak dong boosts exports (Reuters)

The Fiction of Western Unity on China De-Risking (Foreign Policy)

Trump’s Tariffs Helped Northern Vietnam Boom Like Never Before. What Now? (The New York Times)

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Today’s guest is Nguyên Lê, an entertainment writer, copy editor, translator, and occasional screenwriter. He’s written for publications including /Film, The Houston Chronicle, Film Threat, and Paste Magazine. He’s also a member of both the Houston Film Critics Society and the Hollywood Critics Association - one of the few Asian members in their ranks.

We discussed how Nguyên got into movies, the evolution of Vietnamese cinema over time, censorship, steps the industry could take to improve its standing both here and internationally, and his current screenplay work.

Nguyên’s recommendations for essential contemporary Vietnamese movies:

* The Rebel (Dòng máu anh hùng - 2007)

* Song Lang (2018)

* The Moon at the Bottom of the Well (Trang noi day gieng - 2008)

* Three Seasons (Ba mùa - 1999)

Related Links:

Vietnam’s box office sets new record at $184mn (Tuoi Tre News)

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Today’s guest is Huê-Tâm Jamme, an assistant professor at Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.

Huê-Tâm explores the effects of new technologies on space and society, especially on how people move, work, shop, and socialize in cities - and she has extensive research experience in Vietnam.

We discussed her theory of ‘productive frictions’ in urban areas; the impact of mass transit on daily life; misguided discussions of motorbike bans in urban centers; and how Ho Chi Minh City should harness its unique nature to present itself as a new model for urban development, rather than pursuing the same strategies used by other cities.

Related Links:

Productive Frictions: A Theory of Mobility and Street Commerce Grounded in Vietnam's Motorbike-Centric Urbanism (PDF)

‘Historic achievement’: Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City’s first metro line opens

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Today’s returning guest is Nguyen Khac Giang, a Visiting Fellow at the Vietnam Studies Programme under the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. He was on the show in March for a conversation about the anti-corruption campaign, and he’s one of my go-to voices for insight into Vietnamese politics.

We discussed the legacy of arguably the most consequential political year in modern Vietnamese history, Tô Lâm ’s strong performance as General Secretary so far, the dramatic streamlining of both government and Party being planned for 2025, what this could mean for the National Congress in early 2026, and what to look out for in the coming months.

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Today’s guest is Daniel Nguyen, the founder of Sông Cái Distillery.

We discussed his background in community development in the United States and rural Vietnam; Sông Cái’s mission as a case study for adding value to agriculture unique to Vietnam; the relationship between ethnobotany, land value, and forest preservation; creating value for smallholder farmers through grains and botanicals not previously desired on the market; Sông Cái’s focus on averting land degradation and biodiversity loss; building relationships with ethnic minority communities, and more.

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Today’s guest is Katie Nelson, a climate change researcher at the International Rice Research Institute - or IRRI - in Hanoi.

We discussed the role of agriculture - and particularly rice farming - in Vietnam’s greenhouse gas emissions, the importance of reducing methane emissions to reach international climate change goals, efforts to mitigate methane production in the country’s rice sector, the alternate wetting and drying farming method, and more.

Related Links:

In Vietnam, farmers reduce methane emissions by changing how they grow rice

How to stop rice fields producing so much methane

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Today’s guest is Wessie Ling, a Professor of Transcultural Arts and Design at London Metropolitan University and Director of The Centre for Creative Arts, Cultures and Engagement, or CREATURE.

We discussed China’s influence on fashion-making in Southeast Asia, from the fabric supply chain through design and sales; how fashion designers in the region feel about this influence and how these sentiments vary by country; steps Vietnamese designers are taking to highlight Vietnamese characteristics in fashion; and much more.

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Today’s guest is Jason Lusk, Managing Partner at Clickable Impact and co-author of the recently released Vietnam Climate Tech Funding Ecosystem Report 2024.

We discussed why Clickable Impact and New Energy Nexus created this first-of-its-kind report, what ‘climate tech’ means in the Vietnam context and why funding for it has lagged behind the country’s other tech sectors, areas of climate tech poised for expansion, and what stakeholders in this space can do to ensure further growth.

Download the Vietnam Climate Tech Funding Ecosystem Report 2024 here.

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Get in touch with comments, feedback, or guest ideas: [email protected].

Today’s guest is Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program and the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. 

He’s also the author of the 2022 book ‘On Dangerous Ground: America's Century in the South China Sea.’

We discussed the current situation in the East Sea, which tensions between China and the Philippines have dominated; Vietnam’s ongoing effort to significantly expand the islands it controls and China’s silence on the issue; the current U.S. position in the vital waterway; and the state of relations between smaller claimants overshadowed by the sheer size of China.   

Related Links:

Hanoi in High Gear: Vietnam’s Spratly Expansion Accelerates (Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative)

The South China Sea Dog That Hasn’t Barked…Yet (War on the Rocks)

South China Sea: why Beijing takes a low-key approach to Vietnam but not the Philippines (South China Morning Post)

Why is Vietnam rapidly building on South China Sea reefs? (Chatham House)

Vietnam accelerates island building to challenge China’s maritime claims (The Washington Post)

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Today’s guests are Yen Vu, Assistant Professor and Major Coordinator in Literature at Fulbright University Vietnam, and Kevin Pham, Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of Amsterdam.

Yen and Kevin also host the excellent Nam Phong Dialogues, “a podcast with the purpose of making history (especially about Vietnam) accessible.”

We discussed the creation of Nam Phong Dialogues and why they chose to pursue a podcast, the inspiration behind the name, the importance of making Vietnamese history accessible, how they choose topics to discuss, current focal points within global Vietnamese studies, their thoughts on the TV adaptation of The Sympathizer and its broader significance in centering the Vietnamese experience of the war, navigating sensitive subject matter, and more.      

Check out Kevin’s new book, The Architects of Dignity: Vietnamese Visions of Decolonization, available from major booksellers starting tomorrow, September 24.

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