Xin chào and hello! Welcome to Season 3 of Thip Khao Talk Podcast. Legacies of War Advocacy Ambassador, Jenny Nguyen, sits down with author Patricia "Kit" D. Norland!

The Saigon Sisters offers the narratives of a group of privileged women who were immersed in a French lycée and later rebelled and fought for independence, starting with France's occupation of Vietnam and continuing through US involvement and life after war ends in 1975.

Tracing the lives of nine women, The Saigon Sisters reveals these women's stories as they forsook safety and comfort to struggle for independence, and describes how they adapted to life in the jungle, whether facing bombing raids, malaria, deadly snakes, or other trials. How did they juggle double lives working for the resistance in Saigon? How could they endure having to rely on family members to raise their own children? Why, after being sent to study abroad by anxious parents, did several women choose to return to serve their country? How could they bear open-ended separation from their husbands? How did they cope with sending their children to villages to escape the bombings of Hanoi? In spite of the maelstrom of war, how did they forge careers? And how, in spite of dislocation and distrust following the end of the war in 1975, did these women find each other and rekindle their friendships? Patricia D. Norland answers these questions and more in this powerful and personal approach to history.

Purchase the book: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501749735/the-saigon-sisters/

Learn more about Legacies of War: www.legaciesofwar.orgTheme song by Lao Jazzanova Band

Thank you to our sponsors Akin Gump and ARTICLE22 and Legacies of War's Lam Vong Circle Members for investing in the preservation of this history.

Xin chào and hello! Welcome to Season 3 of Thip Khao Talk Podcast. Legacies of War Lam Vong Circle member and Mine Action Fellow, Anna Phommachanthone, sits down with author, (and former roommate!) Trinity Nguyen.

Trinity Nguyen is a Vietnamese American author and graduate of Franklin & Marshall College. She was born in Viet Nam and raised in Little Saigon, California, and learned English by reading too many young adult novels and never turning off closed captioning. Her debut novel, A BANH MI FOR TWO, is a national independent bookstore bestseller, a 2024 Freeman Book Awards honoree, and a 2024 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee. Trinity currently lives in Los Angeles with her cats and the succulents from her mom’s garden.
You can find Trinity on social media as @thetrinitytran on Instagram and Twitter, except for TikTok @eggtarts (because she refuses to retire the username), and otherwise trinity-nguyen.com. Theme song by Lao Jazzanova Band

Learn more about Legacies of War: www.legaciesofwar.org

Tune in to our Thip Khao Talk to hear 7 INCREDIBLE stories of hope, recorded live in D.C. These stories will inspire you to draw on the strength and wisdom of your ancestors, remember the importance of your perseverance, and fill your heart with the energy to remain in the fight for peace. Listen wherever you find your podcasts to THIP KHAO TALK! 

Legacies of War needs your help. We need to reach our goal of $25K by August first to keep our doors open through the end of the year. Would you support our critical programming by donating $5 today? Visit LEGACIESOFWAR.ORG to donate.

Thank you to our storytellers for your courage, your work, and your support:

-Jessica Pearce Rotondi, Author, Chair of Legacies Library

-Aleena Inthaly, Lao Food Movement

-Chantal Coudoux, Associate Director, Success Stories Program

-Dat Duthinh, Peace activist, FCNL

-Brittney Sooksengdao, Architectural designer

-Susan Hammond, Founder and ED, War Legacies Project, Co-Chair, War Legacies Working Group

-Balasubramaniam Murali, Legacies of War Board Member, Senior Advisor, UN

-The wonderful team at FCNL for hosting this event: Stephen Donahoe, Ursala Knudsen-Latta, Sarah Johnson, and Jackson Malkus

-Little Hat Coffee for catering delicious drinks and pastries

See you for the next Evening of Hope?

Welcome to Thip Khao Talk's Secret Series: Survivors of The American Wars in Southeast Asia, made possible with funding from The Henry Luce Foundation.

From the desk of Khamsone Sirimanivong, Legacies of War Board of Directors Vice Chair

Read the story here

Xin chào and hello! Welcome to Season 3 of Thip Khao Talk Podcast. Sophia Tran-Vu, Legacies of War Board Member, sits down with Former Ambassador Ted Osius!

Former Ambassador Ted Osius is  President & CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council. A diplomat for thirty years, Ambassador Osius served from 2014 to 2017 as U.S. ambassador to Vietnam.

Leading a team of 900, Ambassador Osius devised and implemented strategies to deepen economic, security and cultural ties between the two countries.  In October 2021, Osius published his most recent book, Nothing Is Impossible: America’s Reconciliation with Vietnam, with a Foreword by former Secretary of State John Kerry, covering the two countries’ 25-year journey from adversaries to friends and partners. 

After his departure from government, Osius joined Google Asia-Pacific as Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy, covering 19 Asian nations from Google’s Singapore headquarters.  Earlier, he was a senior advisor at the Albright-Stonebridge Group and the first Vice President of Fulbright University Vietnam.  Osius was associate professor at the National War College and Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

As a diplomat, Osius served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Political Minister-Counselor in New Delhi, India.  Osius also served as deputy director of the Office of Korean Affairs at the State Department, regional environment officer for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and senior advisor on Asia and trade to Vice President Al Gore.  He also served in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, and at the United Nations. 

Ambassador Osius earned a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and an Honorary Doctorate from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education.  He was the first U.S. ambassador to receive the Order of Friendship from the President of Vietnam.  He serves on the Asia Foundation’s Board of Trustees and is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy. 

Ambassador Osius speaks Vietnamese, French and Italian, and a bit of Japanese, Indonesian, Hindi, Thai, Tagalog and Greek.  He and his husband, Clayton Bond, have a son and a daughter.Theme song by ⁠Lao Jazzanova⁠

Order Nothing Is Impossible

Learn more about Legacies of War

Sabaidee and hello! Welcome to Season 3 of Thip Khao Talk Podcast. Sophia Tran-Vu, Legacies of War Board Member, sits down with Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai!

Born and raised in Việt Nam, Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an award-winning writer in Vietnamese and English, author of twelve books of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Her poetry in Vietnamese have been written into popular songs and has received Poetry of the Year 2010 Award from the Hanoi Writers Association, the Capital Award for Arts and Literature, as well as First Prize, the Poetry Competition about 1,000 Years of Hanoi. Her two novels in English, The Mountains Sing and Dust Child, are both international bestsellers and have been honored with Runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, the International Book Awards, the BookBrowse Best Debut Award, and the Lannan Literary Fellowship in Fiction. Her writing has been translated into twenty-seven languages and has appeared in major publications including The New York Times. Quế Mai is the Peace Ambassador for PeaceTree Vietnam, an organization that works to remove unexploded bombs in Việt Nam, as well as an Ambassador for Room to Read, an organisation that aims to erase global illiteracy and promotes girls’ education, She was named by Forbes Vietnam as one of 20 inspiring women of 2021. She has a Ph.D in Creative Writing with the U.K.’s Lancaster University.Theme song by ⁠Lao Jazzanova⁠

Learn more about Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Learn more about Legacies of War

Welcome to Thip Khao Talk's Secret Series: Survivors of The American Wars in Southeast Asia, made possible with funding from The Henry Luce Foundation.

Journal entry:

From the desk of Soudary Kittivong-Greenbaum

Transcript: https://www.legaciesofwar.org/post/best-you-eat-quickly-else-the-war-will-arrive

Visit our website: https://www.legaciesofwar.org/

Welcome to Thip Khao Talk's Secret Series: Survivors of The American Wars in Southeast Asia, made possible with funding from The Henry Luce Foundation.

From the desk of Legacies of War Board Member, Anna Douangphachanh

Transcript: https://www.legaciesofwar.org/post/healing-a-journey-to-laos-and-self-acceptance

Visit our website: https://www.legaciesofwar.org/

Welcome to Thip Khao Talk's Secret Series: Survivors of The American Wars in Southeast Asia, made possible with funding from The Henry Luce Foundation.

Transcript: https://www.legaciesofwar.org/post/bridgingtwoworlds-connectingdotsfromremnantsofwarandtrauma

Visit our website: https://www.legaciesofwar.org/

Welcome to Thip Khao Talk's Secret Series: Survivors of The American Wars in Southeast Asia, made possible with funding from The Henry Luce Foundation.

From the desk of Legacies of War Board Member, Sophia Tran-Vu

Transcript: https://www.legaciesofwar.org/post/the-unexpected-legacy-of-war-coming-full-circle

Visit our website: https://www.legaciesofwar.org/