Saigoneer Podcast: Recent Episodes
Mike Tatarski
Welcome to the Saigoneer Podcast! Debuting in January, this weekly podcast will allow listeners to take our reporting, insight and banter anywhere. This preview episode will give you an idea of what to expect - give it a listen, and we look forward to seeing you again in January!
On this week's show, in honor of Pride Month, we begin (1:20) with a discussion on queer representation in Vietnamese pop culture. Vietnam's literature has a long history of queer characters, while modern portrayals can be problematic at times. What does this say about the country's perception of its queer community?
Then (14:41), we dig into our latest round of street food recommendations, including a light soup from Phu Yen Province and a collection of ice cream spots.
Our interview segment (23:37) features Sam Maruta, a co-founder of Marou Chocolate. We talked about the company's spontaneous beginning, as well as their efforts to become an environmentally sustainable producer.
As always, we end with Banh Mi Banter (39:49).
On episode 17 of the Saigoneer Podcast we begin (1:28) with a discussion of some of the challenges involved in writing in Vietnam, both overall and when writing in a second language such as English.
Then (15:09), we wander into Saigon's unofficial Japan Town, at the start of District 1's Le Thanh Ton Street. We talk about the area's unique history, and share some recommendations of our favorite restaurants in the area.
Our interview segment (23:09) features French-Canadian artist Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen. She shares her story, as well as her process when it comes to creating her multi-faceted work.
As always, we end with Banh Mi Banter (37:04).
This week's show features a super-sized segment on Vietnamese folk tales (1:09), in which we share some of our favorite legends and stories.
Our interview segment (22:24) features Quynh Lam, the contemporary artist known for her works which highlight the issue of being a woman in Vietnam. Find examples of her work here: www.quynhsequoia.com/.
As always, we close with Banh Mi Banter (33:17). Once you've finished, watch this puzzling video which we discuss during the segment: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnYuAt9_tsI&t=5s.
This week we begin (1:22) with a look at the prevalence of fake goods and businesses in Vietnam, and whether or not they're a bad thing. This follows allegations that Mumuso and Minigood are actually Chinese companies, despite their Korean branding.
Then (11:36) we chat about some uber-successful Vietnamese millenials who are beating the stereotype that young people are lazy and lack business drive.
Our interview discussion (19:51) features Erik Harms, an associate professor of anthropology and Southeast Asia studies at Yale. He wrote the 2016 book 'Luxury and Rubble: Civility and Dispossession in the New Saigon,' which looks at two of the city's biggest planned developments. We had an in-depth discussion about Thu Thiem and the recent controversy swirling around the project.
As always, we close with Banh Mi Banter (51:53).
This week we begin (1:23) with a look at the strides Vietnamese cinema has taken in recent years, both in terms of production quality and screenwriting. We also discuss why you should see local movies over foreign imports.
Then (13:02), we dive into some of the digital sub-cultures that have spawned in Vietnam thanks to the ubiquity of social media, including country-specific memes and confession pages.
Our interview segment (23:28) features Benjamin Bathke, a German journalist who recently spent three months in Vietnam interviewing business owners, entrepreneurs, academics and more. He shares a few stories from the road.
As always, we end with Banh Mi Banter (43:42).
We begin (1:37) with a roundup of some of our favorite recent Saigon street food escapades, as listeners have asked for more food coverage. How does banh mi dim sum or a seafood feast sound to you?
Then (10:20) we examine Vietnam's potential #MeToo moment, which began with a sexual assault allegation at Tuoi Tre, one of the country's largest newspapers.
Our interview segment (21:33) is with Dr. Phuong Mai Nguyen, a Hanoi native who is now a university professor in Amsterdam, as well as a popular author and researcher.
As always, we end with Banh Mi Banter (34:14).
Our first segment (1:28) evolved from a recent office conversation about which fruit deserves to be the national fruit of Vietnam. That debate revealed some rather controversial fruit-based opinions among our staff, so we've taken the argument to the airwaves to debate our favorites, from bottom to top tier.
Then (12:55), we call up our editor in Hanoi to discuss last week's launch of Urbanist Hanoi. What does our sister site hope to achieve, and what can we look forward to reading from the capital?
This week's interview segment (22:10) features Saigon Duo, who we mentioned in our conversation about contemporary Vietnamese literature from our fifth episode. The New York City-based pair of Duy Vo and Thao Bui are Saigon natives, and they discuss their writing and photography work, in addition to providing frank insight on their feelings of not belonging in either Vietnam, their homeland, or the United States, their adopted home.
Finally, we close with Banh Mi Banter (44:40).
In honor of Friday the 13th, we begin (1:36) with a chat about our favorite local urban legends and ghost stories, including a Shakespearean tale of separated lovers in Da Lat and the mysteries surrounding Saigon's Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School.
Then (11:03), we dig into a series of recent articles claiming that an 'anti-rich' sentiment is holding Vietnam's most successful businesspeople back. The country is home to some of the world's fastest wealth growth rates, in addition to four Forbes-listed billionaires. How has Vietnam traditionally viewed the rich, and is there anything to this theory?
Our extended interview segment (21:32) features a wide-ranging discussion on Cambodian rock & roll with LinDa Saphan, a Khmer researcher based in New York and associate producer of the 2015 documentary 'Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll.'
We've put together a Spotify playlist including many of the musicians mentioned during the conversation for your listening pleasure; just make sure you wait until you've finished this episode!
open.spotify.com/user/xkain8den80…ogRJmGfxeum5yU-w
As always, we end with Banh Mi Banter (51:32).
We start with a conversation about local fire safety in the wake of last week's deadly apartment building fire in District 8, as well as a string of smaller blazes in recent days.
Then, we discuss Grab's acquisition of Uber's Southeast Asian operations. How might this impact everyday users?
Our interview segment features Melissa Merryweather, the director of Green Consult-Asia and chair of the Vietnam Green Building Council. She shares insight on what it takes to build 'green' in Vietnam, as well as some of the problems she has with Saigon's new high-rise residential projects.
As always, we end with Banh Mi Banter. Corgi butts are mentioned, so tune in for that.
Our first segment covers several great youth-led projects that have highlighted traditional forms of Vietnamese art that would otherwise be largely forgotten. Examples include Ve Ve Hat Boi, a collective working to preserve the Vietnamese theater opera of hát bội; as well as an effort to digitalize the disappearing art of Hanoi's classic Hang Trong paintings (links below).
Then, we dig into foreign interpretations of Vietnamese food and whether they represent creativity or cultural appropriation.
Our interview segment features culinary expert and food writer Andrea Nguyen, who helped bring Vietnamese cuisine into the American mainstream through her best-selling cookbooks. We chat about her background, the significance of her childhood cuisine becoming a global phenomenon, 'The Pho Cookbook' and whether the term "authentic" has a place in food writing.
As always, we close with Banh Mi Banter.
https://saigoneer.com/saigon-arts-culture/arts-culture-categories/12555-ve-ve-hat-boi-saving-vietnam%E2%80%99s-age-old-art-with-youthful-passion
https://saigoneer.com/saigon-arts-culture/arts-culture-categories/12378-preserving-hanoi-s-hang-trong-paintings-through-digitization
This week we covered Spotify's long-awaited launch in Vietnam and how this will change local listening habits, as well as the impact it could have on the Vietnamese music industry.
Then we dive into Vietnam's close cultural and economic ties with Japan. From Doraemon to manga and Saigon's first metro line, Japan's presence is impossible to miss here. But there are flaws in this relationship, as evidenced by recent news regarding Vietnamese workers in the Northeast Asian nation.
Our interview is with Long Nguyen, an International Relations student at Tokyo International University and co-host of the Bento Bureau Podcast, which covers Japanese culture, history, and current events. We chatted over Skype about what draws so many Vietnamese students to Japan, as well as his experience living there. Find Long's show at bentobureau.com.
Finally, we end with Banh Mi Banter.
We’re back! This week we made up for lost time over our month-long break with an episode featuring two longer, in-depth conversations. Unlike in previous shows, this episode features just one staff discussion: a deep dive into contemporary Vietnamese literature, including poetry, fiction and graphic non-fiction, by both native and overseas writers.
Our extended interview segment features a fun, wide-ranging talk on LGBTQ issues in Vietnam with Anh-Thu Nguyen, a lead organizer for Les Come Out, Saigon’s first queer women and trans-inclusive party series; as well as Ricardo Glencasa, Trinh Bang Ky Nu and Eddie Culbeaux from Full Disclosure, a group which hosts some of the largest LGBTQ-friendly events and parties in town.
Our final segment, Banh Mi Banter, closes out the show as always.
We're one month old! On this episode, our last before the Tet holiday, we discuss the staggering national outpouring of support during the U-23 football team's run to the final of the recent AFC championship. Then, we look at Saigon's ongoing bubble tea craze and play a few rounds of 'Bubble tea shop, or porn company?'
Our interview segment features a conversation with Harry Hodge, who has covered sports in Saigon for years. We sat down to talk about the Saigon Heat basketball team and the city's expensive bid to host the 2021 Southeast Asia Games.
As always, we close with Banh Mi Banter (hint: we all had thoughts on VietJet's recent behavior.) We will return in early March - chủc mừng năm mởi, everybody!
This week we discuss how Grab and Uber have revolutionized the way Saigoneers get around, in addition to the regulatory challenges these disruptive companies pose. Then, we fawn over Vietnam's up-and-coming indie bands, including Cả Hồi Hoang, Ngọt, Những Đứa Trẻ and Gảc Mải. (Soundcloud links listed below.)
Mel Schenck, a co-founder of the excellent Vietnamese Modernist Architecture Facebook group and architect with years of experience in Vietnam, joins us to talk about why this style became so ingrained in southern Vietnam during the 20th century.
He also discusses a few of his favorite modernist buildings around Saigon so that listeners can check them out, including 12 Vo Van Kiet, 9 Nguyen Cong Tru and 89 Ly Tu Trong in District 1; Thong Nhat Hospital in Tan Binh District; 31 Ngo Thoi Nghiem in District 3; and 140 Nguyen Van Troi in Phu Nhuan District.
Then, we close with Banh Mi Banter.
https://soundcloud.com/cahoihoang https://soundcloud.com/ngot https://soundcloud.com/nhungduatre https://soundcloud.com/gacmaiel!
This week we discuss the biggest changes and stories in Saigon from 2017, as well as last year's record-breaking international tourism figures and the impact this industry is having on Vietnam's environment.
Our interview segment features a conversation with Dao Duy Bang Thanh, a co-founder of Vietnam Coffee Republic. We discussed their brand, Saigon's growing cafe market and the impact climate change is having on coffee production in the country.
Finally, we close with Banh Mi Banter.
In our debut episode we discuss street food vendors in Southeast Asia receiving international awards, as well as Vietnamese representation on the big screen in recent movies such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Downsizing.
Our interview segment features a conversation on Saigon's sidewalk-clearing campaign with Annette Kim, an associate professor of public policy and director of the Spatial Analysis Lab at the University of Southern California. Kim wrote the 2015 book Sidewalk City: Remapping Public Space in Ho Chi Minh City.
Welcome to the Saigoneer Podcast! Debuting in January, this weekly podcast will allow listeners to take our reporting, insight and banter anywhere. This preview episode will give you an idea of what to expect - give it a listen, and we look forward to seeing you again in January!