Tibet Talks: Recent Episodes
International Campaign for Tibet
This month on Tibet Talks join us as we speak with John Ackerly, an eyewitness to the Oct. 1 1987 Lhasa uprising who went on to work at the International Campaign for Tibet for two decades. John will talk about how this protest helped build a movement but also brought about intense repression. Today hopeful new trends are taking shape in Tibet as a result of the resilience and solidarity of Tibetans. ICT’s Tencho Gyatso will talk with John about how these personal experiences and new trends continue to inspire John’s lifelong advocacy for Tibet.
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
This month for Tibet Talks we sat down with Jamyang Norbu, activist and author of “Echoes from Forgotten Mountains.” Join us as he discusses the people and history behind his fascinating new book.
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
The Chinese government has been displacing rural Tibetans on a large scale for more than two decades. What has been the experience of Tibetans who have been displaced under the various relocation programs? Are these relocations violating international human rights standards?
Human Rights Watch’s recent report on forced relocations in Tibet is the culmination of years of meticulous research and analysis, drawing from over 1,000 official Chinese media sources and academic studies.
In this episode of Tibet Talk, Maya Wang, Interim China Director of Human Rights Watch, sheds light on the scale of China’s relocation programs in Tibet that displaces Tibetans from their traditional lands.
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Penpa Tsering is the Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration. He is the democratically elected leader of Tibetans in exile.
In this chat with ICT, Sikyong Tsering will discuss the role of the CTA, the importance of US support for Tibet and more. Join us for this special conversation!
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Last month, Chinese police reportedly arrested over 1,000 Tibetans after mass protests broke out in eastern Tibet. The Tibetans of Derge (Chinese: Dege) county were trying to stop a hydropower dam project that would force residents of two villages to abandon their homes. The dam would also reportedly destroy six Tibetan Buddhist monasteries containing religious murals that are centuries old.
In this live Tibet Talk, ICT Research Analyst Tenzin Norgay and President Tencho Gyatso will answer your questions about the Derge dam protests. Together they’ll explain what the protests mean, how the international community has responded and where we go from here.
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
By now, you might have heard that the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act passed the US House this month. But what will this bill do to shine a light on CCP propaganda and help resolve China’s decades-long occupation of Tibet? And how can we get it passed by the Senate and signed into law?
In this Tibet Talk, your questions about the Resolve Tibet Act will be answered live by ICT President Tencho Gyatso and Director of Government Relations Franz Matzner. These ICT leaders will also discuss the upcoming Tibet Lobby Day in Washington, DC and other efforts to mark 65 years of Tibetan resilience and resistance against China’s occupation of Tibet.
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
It’s not often that China is held to account for its human rights violations. But that’s exactly what will happen this month during China’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where governments around the world will question and demand answers from Beijing about its abysmal human rights record.
ICT Germany Executive Director Kai Mueller will be there in Geneva to monitor the UPR and to help organize a side event spotlighting China’s human rights abuses against Tibetans. In this Tibet Talk, we’ll speak to Kai about the UPR, the state of human rights in Tibet and the ability of the international community to pressure China into changing its policies.
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Over 1 million Tibetan children have been separated from their families, language and culture at China’s state-run boarding schools in Tibet. These schools target the most vulnerable and impressionable minds and seek to make them loyal followers of the CCP. The goal is to sever the Tibetan way of life and cement China’s control over Tibet.
In this Tibet Talk, we’ll speak to Lhadon Tethong, director of Tibet Action Institute, an organization that has been raising awareness about the boarding schools. In conversation with ICT President Tencho Gyatso, Lhadon will discuss the impact of these schools on Tibetan families, the response from the global community and what needs to happen next.
Read Tibet Action Institute’s report on China’s boarding schools in Tibet »
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
As a result of China’s invasion and occupation of Tibet, over 100,000 Tibetans now live outside “the rooftop of the world”—their homeland of Tibet. For many people, these Tibetans are merely an abstraction; they’re either mystical monks or the faceless victims of China’s oppression. But a new book shows there is a lot more to the lives of Tibetan exiles.
In this Tibet Talk, we speak to Amy Yee, author of the new book, “Far from the Rooftop of the World: Travels among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents.” We discuss the 15-year journey—and the life-changing interaction with the Dalai Lama—that led her to write the book. We also go over the lives of the Tibetan exiles she got to know and the warmth they showed her as a Chinese American. Plus, we speak to ICT President Tencho Gyatso about the visit of the Tibetan Sikyong (President) to Washington, DC.
Purchase “Far from the Rooftop of the World” from The University of North Carolina Press at https://uncpress.org/book/9781469675510/far-from-the-rooftop-of-the-world/
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Tibet’s rivers are beautiful, but they’re also life-sustaining. And not just for people in Tibet, but for nearly 2 billion people across Asia who depend on the rivers’ flow. But China’s large-scale water diversion projects and hydropower development are having a dangerous effect on these rivers, imperiling downstream countries, furthering China’s agenda of regional control and threatening the Tibetan way of life.
Last month, ICT was proud to co-sponsor a panel on Himalayan water security convened by the US State Department in partnership with the International Water Management Institute. This month, ICT’s Government Relations Director Franz Matzner caught up with two of the panelists: Tsechu Dolma, founder of the Mountain Resiliency Project, and Lobsang Yangtso, senior researcher at the International Tibet Network. In this conversation, the two Tibetan experts in exile discuss Tibet’s rivers, water security in the region and the need for urgent international action.
Read what happened at the Himalayan water security panel: https://savetibet.org/state-department-panel-highlights-water-security-in-tibet-himalayas/
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
In our final episode on His Holiness’ Four Principal Commitments, we’ll discuss his commitment to reviving India’s civilizational heritage and its value to today with Rajiv Mehrotra, an acclaimed Indian former TV host and the secretary and trustee of the Foundation For Universal Responsibility of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, which was started with seed money from His Holiness’ Nobel Peace Prize award. Mehrotra has been a student of the Dalai Lama for over 40 years.
In our third episode on His Holiness’ Four Principal Commitments, we’ll discuss his efforts to preserve Tibetan culture and strive for Tibet’s cause with Tenzin Namgyal Tethong, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Representative to North America (1973-86), former Kalon Tripa (Minister and Chair of the Cabinet) of the Central Tibetan Administration, as well as the founding President of ICT.
In our second episode on His Holiness’ Four Principal Commitments, we’ll discuss his commitment to religious harmony with Professor Siddiq Wahid, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research.
In our first episode on His Holiness’ Four Principal Commitments, we’ll discuss his commitment to human values with Dr. Richie Davidson, a neuro-scientist known for his groundbreaking work in the study of emotion and the brain.
Join us every Thursday in August for a special series celebrating the four principal commitments of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Tibet’s premier filmmaker has died. By writing and directing movies that won acclaim across the globe, Pema Tseden put Tibetan cinema on the map.
The media have a vital role to play in telling the world Tibet’s story. But the Chinese government makes it nearly impossible for foreign journalists to enter Tibet and report on China’s human rights abuses against the Tibetan people. In fact, a Washington Post reporter said in 2016 that the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region, which spans roughly half of Tibet, is harder to visit as a journalist than even North Korea.
When Xi Jinping took over as China’s top leader in 2012, there were hopes that his reputation as a moderate and his father’s relationship with the Dalai Lama would lead to a softening of policies. Instead, Xi has proven to be a hardliner whose indefinite rule began this past month, unforeseen a decade ago.
At ICT, we just wrapped up our 2023 Tibet Lobby Day. It was a record-setting event that brought over 150 Tibetan Americans and Tibet supporters to Washington, DC to build Congressional support for the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Conflict Act.
Also known as the Resolve Tibet Act, this bill is a major goal for Tibet supporters. But what does it actually do, and how can we get it passed? To find out, we’ll discuss with Namgyal Choedup, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration to North America, and ICT’s own Franz Matzner.
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Losar Tashi Delek! That’s the greeting Tibetans will use next week when they celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year. And on this episode of Tibet Talks, you can celebrate this beautiful holiday with ICT.
Join us for an exploration of Losar’s history, traditions and significance with Professor Tenzin Dorjee of California State University, Fullerton, who was the first Tibetan American chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. We’ll also hear from ICT staff members Tencho Gyatso, Rinchen Tashi and Tenzin Norgay about what Losar means to them.
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
At the Dalai Lama’s residence in India, an unusual visitor has arrived: a troubled Giant Panda who has traveled from many miles away. Welcoming him as a friend, His Holiness invites the Panda on a walk through a cedar forest. There, in the shadow of the Himalayas, surrounded by beauty, they discuss matters great and small.
This is the warm, whimsical, wise story of a new book featuring words by the Dalai Lama and illustrations from the creator of “Mutts.” “Heart to Heart: A Conversation on Love and Hope for Our Precious Planet” calls for a compassionate revolution, elegantly and decisively conveying a message of joy, hope and change. In this Tibet Talk, we have our own heart to heart with the illustrator, Patrick McDonnell, about what inspired him to collaborate with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to create this timely gem of a book.
Get your copy of Heart to Heart!
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Tibet’s fate is one of tragedy and hope. Because of China’s illegal occupation, the people of Tibet have lost the right to determine their own destiny. But forced into exile, the Dalai Lama has become a compassionate leader for the world and a source of endless inspiration to resolve the Tibet-China conflict.
In this final Tibet Talk of 2022, we’ll speak to the authors of two new books that exemplify these two sides of the Tibetan story: Warren Smith, author of “Tibet’s Fate,” and Ginger Chih, author of “The Dalai Lama: Leader for a Compassionate Humanity.”
Pre-order “Tibet’s Fate.”
Buy “The Dalai Lama: Leader for a Compassionate Humanity.”
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
In the history of Tibetans in exile, Lodi Gyari holds a special place. As the late President and Executive Chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, Mr. Gyari helped build lasting support for Tibet from governments around the world. And as the Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he was assigned to be the lead interlocutor in the dialogue process with the Chinese leadership to find a resolution to the Tibet-China conflict through the Middle Way Approach. Accordingly, between 2002 and 2010, he led 10 rounds of talks with Chinese representatives, including presenting the Chinese side with a written memorandum outlining the issues to be addressed concerning the Tibetan people.
Although Mr. Gyari passed away in 2018, his legacy goes on, and his book, “The Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy: Memoirs of a Lifetime in Pursuit of a Reunited Tibet,” was just released by Columbia University Press. In this Tibet Talk, ICT will discuss the book with two people who knew Lodi Gyari from different perspectives: Greg Craig, the first US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, and Tenzin Tethong, the first President of ICT and a former Chairman of the Cabinet of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala.
- The book is available for purchase through all major bookstores.
Learn more about our Tibet Talks podcast at www.savetibet.org/pod.
Watch our Tibet Talks videos at www.savetibet.org/live.
And subscribe to Tibet Talks on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.
To get involved in our efforts to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet, please visit www.savetibet.org/support.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Tsering Yangzom Lama’s debut novel, “We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies,” has become an international bestseller and been longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize.
China’s government has illegally occupied Tibet for over 60 years. It has refused to negotiate with Tibetan leaders for more than a decade. But a new bill in Congress will pressure China’s officials to get back to the negotiating table.
For ages, Indians saw the Himalayas as a wall that protected them. But when China’s Communist army invaded Tibet over 70 years ago, an Indian diplomat said, “The Chinese have entered Tibet. The Himalayas no longer exist.”
“When the Iron Bird Flies: China’s Secret War in Tibet” is the second book about Tibet from independent scholar and writer Jianglin Li. In it, Jianglin takes a comprehensive look at six crucial years in modern Tibetan history (1956-62) that culminated in the Tibetan National Uprising of 1959 and the subsequent total Chinese occupation of Tibet.
On Dec. 26, the world lost Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an iconic leader of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement and a beloved friend of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Planting a seed for a more compassionate world with a sense of the oneness of humanity—this is the message of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which he shares in his first children’s book, “The Seed of Compassion: Lessons from the Life and Teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
With the Olympics about to return to China for the 2022 Winter Games—which begin Feb. 4 in Beijing—these three experts on sports and human rights join us to discuss what the Olympics mean for Tibet, and what the international community should do about it.
Rima Fujita is a fine artist and a descendant of Japan’s last samurai whose creative aesthetic was strongly influenced by both Bushido and Buddhism.
The US has a new special coordinator for Tibetan issues! On Dec. 20, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the appointment of Under Secretary Uzra Zeya to this important role.
Have you come across the terms “common prosperity,” “ecological civilization” or “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble?” Tibetans in Tibet have been bombarded with such slogans every day of their lives over more than 60 years of Beijing’s rule in Tibet.
As daunting as the climate challenge is, it’s important to know what we’re trying to conserve—and it’s vital to find the inspiration to do so. In this episode of Tibet Talks, we have the perfect guest to help with that. Michael Buckley is the editor of the new book, “This Fragile Planet,” a collection of 80 inspiring quotes about the environment from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, matched with 120 eye-catching photos and visuals from a dozen professional photographers.
In 1991, the US Congress passed the Tibetan Immigration Act of 1990, which provided 1,000 immigrant visas for natives of Tibet in India or Nepal.
Join us for this special ask-me-anything edition of Tibet Talks! Three of our leaders—Bhuchung K. Tsering, interim president of ICT, Kai Mueller, executive director of ICT Germany, and Vincent Metten, ICT’s EU policy director—kick off the show with updates from their offices.
Penpa Dorje and Jose Cabezon are the authors of Sera Monastery, a definitive history of one of Tibet's greatest monastic universities, located just north of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.
The new book “Tibet Brief 20/20” by Michael van Walt van Praag and Miek Boltjes is a call to action for governments to rethink their stance on Tibet.
Ambassador Scott DeLisi collaborated with ICT member and award-winning American artist Jane Lillian Vance to create a beautiful illustrated book called “The Ambassador’s Dog.”
Blessed by the Dalai Lama himself, Tenzin Geyche Tethong’s new biography of His Holiness features previously unpublished photos and unparalleled insights into the Dalai Lama’s leadership, compassion and gentle humor.
Tibetans in exile have a borderless democratic governance system. In over 30 countries, they go to the polls every five years to elect the sikyong, their political leader, and the 45 members of their parliament in exile.
On March 10, 1959, thousands of Tibetans took to the streets of their capital city, Lhasa. Although their uprising was eventually crushed—with the Chinese government killing thousands of Tibetans in the process—they succeeded in keeping their struggle alive, including by helping their leader, the Dalai Lama, escape to safety in neighboring India.
In the early 1990s, China’s notorious prisons in Tibet held hundreds of political prisoners. Among them was a group of 14 young nuns imprisoned in the dreaded Drapchi Prison.
Late into the night of Dec. 21, 2020, the Tibetan Policy and Support Act finally completed its journey to passing the US Congress. Early the next morning, the president and vice president of the International Campaign for Tibet reflected on what the bill means for Tibet and Tibetans, where we go from here and why ICT members are so wonderful.
In this moving episode of Tibet Talks, Geshe Thupten Jinpa, a Buddhist scholar and the primary English translator for the Dalai Lama, joins ICT to celebrate the 31st anniversary of His Holiness’ Nobel Peace Prize. The conversation also touches on the reindeer ride His Holiness took on that glorious day in Oslo, Norway in 1989.
Assistant Secretary Robert A. Destro was appointed the new special coordinator for Tibetan issues in the US State Department on Oct. 14, 2020. In this conversation, Destro joins ICT to speak directly to Tibetan American youth. Three alumni of ICT’s Tibetan Youth Leadership Program take part in the discussion, along with several other young Tibetans.
Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, the former undersecretary of state for global affairs, served as the special coordinator for Tibetan issues during the George W. Bush presidency (2001-09). She played a pivotal role in coordinating US policy on Tibet at the highest levels of government, both in the US and internationally.
Rick Hanson, PhD, is a psychologist, senior fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley and bestselling author. His books include "Resilient," "Hardwiring Happiness," "Buddha's Brain," "Just One Thing" and "Mother Nurture."
A first encounter with Buddhism as a college student in 1969 sparked an interest that took Sharon Salzberg on a journey to India for intensive study of meditation. Today, she offers a variety of teachings around the globe and is the author of 11 books, including “Lovingkindness,” a New York Times bestseller.
In 1973, Stephan Rechtschaffen was finishing medical school when he traveled to northern India and provided care to Tibetan refugees, especially many elderly monks. Today, almost 50 years later, Rechtschaffen is a dedicated practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, a nationally recognized holistic doctor and the original founder of the Omega Institute and Blue Spirit in Costa Rica. He’s also been a member of ICT for more than two decades, and he wishes people knew more about Tibet.
Just a few days ago, Adrian Zenz published a groundbreaking study revealing a mass coerced labor program that has pushed more than half a million rural Tibetans off their land in only seven months. Since then, several major newspapers have written about his findings, parliamentarians across the globe have demanded urgent action—and the Chinese government has denounced him.
Although he’s a first-term member of Congress, Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich., is a longtime friend of Tibet. From studying at the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in India, to visiting Tibet, to interviewing the Dalai Lama, Levin uses his past experience to forge a new path of support for Tibet on Capitol Hill.
During three decades in Congress, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was an outspoken supporter of Tibet and helped lead the effort to award the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. In this discussion for ICT’s Tibet 2020 campaign, Ros-Lehtinen will explain how the advocacy of ordinary Americans has helped the Tibetan people—and can do so again this election year.
In this episode, we welcome you to Tibet Talks, a new podcast from the International Campaign for Tibet. This episode touches on what many people think of when they hear the word “Tibet”—and what’s actually happening to Tibet’s people, culture and environment, and why that matters to you.