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H&M, Inditex, Adidas, Gap... Some of the world's most famous apparel brands source from Cambodia, where 1 million people are employed by the garment, footwear and travel goods industry. Low-paid work, work in the informal economy, even work without pay is sadly widespread. By some estimates, half of all fashion workers are indebted to micro-finance because they need to take out loans to make ends meet. And, warns Clean Clothes Campaign, while Cambodian law theoretically protects the right of workers to form unions and bargain collectively, many independent labour organisations face severe legal and practical restrictions.What can, and should, multinational brands be doing about this? Why don't they step up and pay more than survival wages? How does politics come into play here? Plus the curious case of the instant noodle unions - can we really expect trade unions run by management to put workers first?In the latest from our series on workers rights, Clare meets Tola Mouen, executive director of the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights, Cambodia.Find links and further reading at thewardrobecrisis.comSupport the show on Substack - wardrobecrisis.substack.comTell us what you think. Find Clare on Instagram @mrspress Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Founder, Samantha Ong founded Joeydolls because she could not find dolls that reflected her daughter's culture. With attention to detail to skin tones, authentic culturally represented clothing, and names, dolls have skyrocketed in popularity. Signature dolls showcase Korean, Chinese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese culture. Dr. Stephanie J. Wong talks with Samantha about starting a toy company with no experience and how this mission-driven company has brought joy to her family and many others. The dolls will soon have books that accompany them!
Last time we spoke about the beginning of the Pacific War. In late 1941, the Second Battle of Changsha ended with Chinese forces claiming victory despite suffering nearly 100,000 casualties against roughly 1,670 Japanese losses. Chiang Kai-shek's government launched an aggressive propaganda campaign, flooding international press with fabricated triumph narratives to sustain national morale. Behind closed doors, Chiang was furious at his generals' tactical failures, executing commanders and dismantling units. Meanwhile, geopolitical forces threatened China's survival. Japan's 1939 defeat at Nomonhan crushed hopes for a Soviet alliance against Tokyo. Germany's pact with the Soviet Union left China isolated, while Western powers remained reluctant to commit meaningful support. Britain offered little; the US provided only modest loans. By 1941, facing potential collapse, Chiang desperately searched for allies while Wang Jingwei's Japanese-backed rival government beckoned as an alternative. China's exhausted people endured horror—including a 1941 bombing massacre in Chongqing that killed over 400 trapped civilians. Then Japan unleashed a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. #215 An Implosion in the East Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. In the early morning of December 7, 1941, the US Pacific Fleet was anchored at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Two waves of Japanese bomber aircraft, launched from six aircraft carriers, attacked the vessels and their sleeping crews, destroying the battleship Arizona outright and damaging seventeen others, as well as most of the military aircraft parked nearby. Some 2,400 Americans died, and another 1,100 were wounded. Within a day Japanese invasion forces had attacked Siam, Malaya, and the Philippines. Chiang Kai-shek heard the news at one o'clock in the morning and immediately dictated a letter of support to President Roosevelt, pledging commitment to a new "common battle." The news reached Zhou Fohai in Shanghai as well. On December 8 across the international date line from Hawaii he had heard the sounds of firing as the Japanese took over the rest of the city, and then received reports that Japan had declared war on the Western powers. "I heard they'd bombed Honolulu, Manila, Singapore, and Hong Kong. From now on, the Pacific becomes a killing ground." When Japanese carrier planes descended on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, they were executing far more than a tactical strike. They were unleashing the culmination of a strategic vision that had shaped Japanese military planning since the 1920s: the Nanshin-ron, or "Southern Advance" doctrine. The Nanshin-ron represented a critical strategic choice that emerged from internal Japanese debates during the 1920s and 1930s. Japan faced an inescapable vulnerability: it was an island nation with virtually no natural resources of its own. The nation's population had doubled since the Meiji Restoration, growing to over 70 million by 1941. An industrial economy of tremendous sophistication, capable of producing world-class warships, aircraft, and military equipment, depended entirely on imported raw materials. Oil, rubber, tin, iron ore, bauxite, copper, and manganese all had to be acquired through foreign trade or conquest. This resource dependency was not a luxury problem; it was an existential one. A nation that could not feed itself or fuel its economy was a nation vulnerable to strangulation by enemies who controlled the resources it needed. Japanese strategic thinkers divided into two camps on how to resolve this vulnerability. The Hokushin-ron advocates, primarily within the Army, pushed for expansion northward into Siberia and Mongolia, seeking to conquer Soviet territory and resources. The Soviet Union possessed vast tracts of land, mineral wealth, timber, and agricultural output. From a purely materialist perspective, the Northern Advance made geographic sense—it was contiguous with Manchuria, which Japan had already secured in 1931. Yet by the late 1930s, the Hokushin-ron strategy had suffered a catastrophic blow. In 1938 and 1939, Japanese and Soviet forces clashed at Khalkhin Gol in Mongolia in what the Japanese called the Nomonhan Incident. The battles revealed a terrifying truth: the Soviet Red Army, under General Georgy Zhukov, was far more formidable than Japanese military planners had anticipated. Soviet armor, air power, and coordinated tactics annihilated Japanese forces. Japan suffered over 60,000 casualties while inflicting perhaps 10,000 on the Soviets. The defeat was concealed from the Japanese public, but it was unmistakable to military planners. A direct clash with Soviet power could end catastrophically. The Northern Advance, it became clear, would almost certainly provoke war with a nation capable of destroying the Japanese Army. This strategic defeat tilted the balance decisively toward the Nanshin-ron. If Japan could not safely expand northward, it must expand southward, toward Southeast Asia, the Dutch East Indies, Indochina, and the western Pacific. The appeal of the Nanshin-ron was immediately apparent to the Navy, which had always been more oriented toward maritime commerce and expansion across the ocean. The territories to the south were not militarily formidable. The colonial powers, Britain, the Netherlands, France, were either already defeated in 1940 or distracted by their own desperate struggles leaving Britain fighting alone against Germany. The United States, though potentially a formidable adversary, was not yet at war, and there was a chance, however slender, that a decisive blow against American naval power might convince America to negotiate rather than fight. But beyond strategic opportunity, the Nanshin-ron offered something that the Hokushin-ron did not: it offered resources of staggering abundance. The Dutch East Indies possessed oil reserves that could dwarf Japan's consumption for years. Malaya produced the world's rubber. Thailand offered agricultural bounty and geographic position. Burma's timber and agricultural products could feed Japan's growing empire. The Philippines possessed harbors, airfields, and economic output. These were not marginal additions to Japan's economy—they were transformative. Together, they would convert Japan from a resource-hungry island nation into the master of an imperial domain encompassing hundreds of millions of people and containing most of the strategic materials necessary for sustained industrial warfare. In the last episode I explained the western sanctions and embargoes that drained Japan's military of the resources they required to continue the China War. By 1941, Japan faced a civilization crisis. Japan imported roughly 90 percent of its petroleum, and the bulk of that came from the Dutch East Indies and the United States. Suddenly, the American supply was cut off entirely. Reserves would last perhaps 18 months if Japan's military and industrial consumption continued at existing rates. After that, the military machine would sputter and die. The industrial economy would collapse. Even civilian life would become impossible to sustain. Japan was facing not merely economic inconvenience but literal strangulation by the Western powers. Yet it would be a mistake to reduce Japanese motivation to just materialism. Japanese military leaders wrapped their conquests in an ideological framework, one that many of them genuinely believed, or wanted to believe, served a higher historical purpose. The concept of the Daitoa Kyoeiken, the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere," posited a new regional order in which Japan would play the leading role in liberating Asian peoples from Western colonial domination and creating an Asian-centered political and economic system. This ideology drew on genuine anti-colonial sentiment. For a century, Western powers had dominated Asia, treating Asian peoples and nations as subordinate, colonized territories existing to serve Western economic interests. Japan, which had modernized and Westernized enough to avoid colonization, saw itself as the natural leader of an Asian renaissance—a civilizing force that would restore Asian dignity and independence even as it established Japanese hegemony. Of course, this was propagandistic. Japanese conquest represented a substitution of one imperial master for another, and often a harsher and more brutal one at that. But for understanding Japanese decision-making, the ideology mattered profoundly. It provided Japanese leaders with a moral narrative for conquest. It allowed them to understand themselves as liberators rather than mere conquerors. It provided a rationale for extracting resources from occupied territories and for mobilizing subject populations to support the Japanese war effort. And it resonated with anti-Western sentiment throughout Asia, making Japanese occupation seem, in some quarters, preferable to continued Western colonial rule. The slogan Hakko ichiu—"eight corners under one roof", captured this ideological vision: a unified Asia and eventually world under Japanese guidance. Whether Japanese leaders truly believed this vision or cynically deployed it as propaganda, it shaped how they understood their actions and justified them to their subjects. Now I know this is a podcast dedicated to the century of humiliation, ie: China's experience. But I thought it was necessary just to have one episode explain what Dan Carlin titled "a supernova in the east" and I have titled an implosion in the east. I won't go into depth into the campaigns as some of them have a lot of Chinese involvement and we will be covering them in depth, but rather I will explain the rationale for Japan's numerous invasions following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan's assault on Malaya began within hours of the Pearl Harbor attack, indeed, Japanese troops were already landing on the Kota Bharu beachhead on the Malaysian peninsula before dawn on December 8, 1941 local time. Malaya was one of the world's largest rubber producers, and Singapore, at the tip of the peninsula, was the linchpin of British naval power in the Far East.The Japanese interest in Malaya was straightforward but crucial: rubber. The Japanese military consumed vast quantities of rubber for tires, gaskets, hoses, and countless other applications. American and Dutch rubber supplies were now cut off by embargo. Malaya's rubber plantations represented perhaps the world's richest reservoir of this strategic material. Beyond rubber, Malaya and the surrounding region were major tin producers—essential for alloys and manufacturing. For Japan to conduct prolonged warfare, Malaya was not a luxury target; it was a necessity. Singapore represented something different: a symbol of Western power in Asia and a strategic chokepoint. As the major British naval base in the region, Singapore served as the anchor of British imperial authority across the South China Sea. By seizing Singapore, Japan would not only capture crucial resources and port facilities but would also deliver a psychological blow to the entire edifice of Western dominance in Asia. The fortress city that the British considered nearly impregnable fell within seventy days, a stunning demonstration of Japanese military capability and the vulnerability of overextended Western empires. If Malaya was critical for rubber, the Dutch East Indies was essential for oil. The region, comprising present-day Indonesia, was the world's third-largest oil producer and had reserves that could sustain Japanese military operations for years. This was the jewel of the resource-conquest strategy. Japanese planners had long eyed the East Indies, but direct conquest had seemed risky while Britain and America remained neutral or opposed. With both now at war, the window of opportunity had opened. Japan needed the oil so desperately that when the Dutch East Indies Petroleum Company initially agreed to some Japanese oil purchases before the war, Tokyo was already planning its takeover. The conquest of the Dutch East Indies would provide not just oil but also tin, nickel, bauxite, and other materials essential to an industrial war machine. The islands would also provide air and naval bases from which Japan could defend its new empire and potentially threaten Australia. The Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies, which began in late December 1941 and accelerated through January and February 1942, was methodical and comprehensive. Various island groups were targeted systematically: Java, Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas. Dutch military forces, though brave, were overwhelmed. By March 1942, Japan had secured the entire archipelago,a stunning logistical and military achievement that delivered vast resources into Japanese hands. Thailand presented a fundamentally different case from Japan's other targets. Rather than conquest, Japan pursued alliance with military strongman Plaek Phibunsongkhram, who had seized power in a 1938 coup as a nationalist ideologue determined to reassert Thai sovereignty and recover territory lost to French colonialism in the nineteenth century. Thailand was the last independent state in mainland Southeast Asia, hemmed in by British-controlled Burma and Malaya to the west, and French Indochina to the east. For a century, Thailand had survived by playing European imperial powers against each other. But by the late 1930s, this strategy was becoming obsolete. Europe was distracted by Hitler's Germany. Colonial powers were weakening. Japanese power was visibly ascending. Phibunsongkhram recognized both danger and opportunity. He could resist Japan and invite invasion, or he could ally with Japan and profit from rising Asian power. Japanese diplomats approached Thailand with sophistication: they offered military alliance and support for Thai territorial expansion at French expense. This addressed Thailand's deepest national wound, the humiliation of nineteenth-century territorial losses to France. The Franco-Thai War of 1940-1941 became transformative. With Japan providing military support, advisors, tanks, aircraft, Thai forces defeated the French for the first time in history. By May 1941, Thailand had recovered 54,000 square kilometers of Cambodian territory and portions of Laos. For Phibunsongkhram, this was extraordinary: he had achieved what Thai leaders could not in a century, reclaiming territory from a Western imperial power. Domestically, his position was dramatically strengthened. The parallel to China's century of humiliation—the foundation of your podcast is striking: Thailand too was reversing colonial diminishment through association with rising Asian power. The Thai-Japanese relationship was unique. Unlike the Philippines, Malaya, or the Dutch East Indies, Thailand would retain nominal independence. Phibunsongkhram remained in power. Japanese occupation was light. Thai forces maintained their own command structure. Most importantly, Thailand's territorial gains from the Franco-Thai War were recognized and secured. Japan valued Thai cooperation more than conquest. Burma, controlled by the British, was the next target in Japan's southwestward advance. Japanese planners had multiple motivations for invading Burma. First, it was strategically positioned on India's eastern frontier, and Japan harbored ambitions of eventually striking toward India and linking up with Germany in the Middle East or at least destabilizing the British position in South Asia. Second, Burma was a significant producer of timber and agricultural products. Third, and perhaps most importantly, the invasion of Burma was meant to cut the Burma Road, the crucial supply line that allowed American aid to reach Nationalist China. The invasion of Burma began in late 1941 and accelerated through early 1942. The invasion of the Philippines, which began on December 10, 1941, just days after Pearl Harbor, served multiple strategic purposes. Like the assault on Pearl Harbor itself, it was meant to neutralize American military power in the region, in this case, the American garrison under General Douglas MacArthur and the American colonial administration. But the Philippines were also valuable in their own right. The islands sat directly in the path of what Japan envisioned as its defensive perimeter. By controlling the Philippines, Japan would make it extraordinarily difficult for American forces to project power westward into Southeast Asia. The territory would provide naval and air bases critical to defending Japan's new empire. Additionally, the Philippines possessed some agricultural and industrial resources valuable to the war effort, and their conquest delivered a psychological victory, defeating American forces and ending American colonial rule in Asia, which appealed to anti-Western sentiment that Japan tried to cultivate. Beyond Southeast Asia and the Philippines, Japan rapidly invaded Guam and Wake island to extend Japan's defensive perimeter further into the Pacific and eliminate American air and naval bases that could threaten Japanese operations. Guam, seized on December 10, 1941, fell within two days, the American garrison was small and the island's strategic value lay primarily in denying the United States a forward staging ground for any counteroffensive. Wake Island, attacked the same day and finally captured on December 23 after a brief but heroic American defense, served similar purposes: cutting off American reconnaissance and interdicting potential supply lines to the Philippines. Now I believe that's enough of the implosion in the east, let's get back to the situation in China. After Chiang Kai-shek sent his letter of support to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, pledging Chinese commitment to what he termed a new "common battle." he did something most revealing about his mood towards the global war. He played "Ave Maria" on his gramophone, celebrating with an almost spiritual gratitude the implications of what had just transpired in the American Pacific. This moment crystallized the profound difference Pearl Harbor would mean to different members of the emerging Allied coalition. For the United States, the attack was pure shock, a violation of the sanctity of American soil and the complacency of American isolationism. For Britain, it was like the pricking of a large, painful blister—painful but perhaps not entirely unexpected given Japan's regional ambitions. But for China, the relief that surged through the government and the consciousness of the Chinese people surpassed even Britain's response. For four long years, China had fought Japan almost alone, watching as Western nations remained neutral or limited their commitment to rhetorical support and modest material assistance. Now, suddenly, the trajectory of the entire conflict had shifted with breathtaking speed. Chiang's emotional state at this moment could scarcely be contained, and those close to him understood that beneath his carefully maintained Confucian composure burned an intoxicating sensation of vindication. These Western powers who had been so impatient with Chinese strategy, who had mocked the retreats of the Nationalist Army and spoken scornfully of Japanese capabilities, were now themselves in headlong retreat from those very islanders. In Hong Kong, Singapore, and Manila, British and American forces would be fighting desperately for their lives against the Japanese military that China had been contending with for years. Chiang could not have failed to perceive the irony: the Japanese had conquered vast stretches of China through relentless campaigns, yet Westerners had dismissed Chinese resistance as inadequate. Now the Japanese were proving that they posed a formidable challenge to Western military power as well. There was a bitter satisfaction in this vindication, even as Chiang understood that the strategic implications of American entry far outweighed any emotional satisfaction. What was pragmatic and strategically clear to Chiang, however, was far more important than any emotional satisfaction. The United States was now at war, and it was on China's side. This represented the transformation for which Chiang had labored for years, bringing the full weight of American industrial capacity and military might to bear against the Japanese enemy. The diplomatic foundations for this alliance had already been laid in the months preceding Pearl Harbor. Beginning in the spring of 1941, the United States had begun to commit significant resources to supporting China. In April 1941, following the conclusion of the Soviet-Japanese neutrality agreement, which had devastated Chinese morale by suggesting that Japan might attack the Soviet Union rather than move southward, the Roosevelt administration had determined to provide $45 million worth of militarily useful commodities to China as an immediate gesture of support. Then, on May 6, 1941, President Roosevelt had made a more formal commitment by announcing that the munitions provisions of the Lend-Lease Act applied to China, declaring a phrase that captured the strategic logic of American assistance: "defending China is the key to defending America." This declaration represented a significant shift in American policy, elevating China from a regional concern to a central element of American grand strategy in Asia. Subsequently, in July 1941, Roosevelt had sent Owen Lattimore to China to serve as political adviser to the Chinese government, a position that signaled deepening American engagement with Chinese affairs. In August, the administration appointed John Magruder as military attaché and head of the American Military Mission to China (AMMISCA), with the primary responsibility of overseeing the delivery of Lend-Lease material to the Chinese armed forces. On the diplomatic front, Chiang moved with remarkable alacrity. He had already severed relations with Germany on July 2, 1941, the very day after Hitler had formally recognized the Wang Jingwei puppet government in an attempt to appease Japan and encourage it to finally implement the Southern Advance. Now, on December 8, 1941, just one day after the Pearl Harbor attack, Chiang took the decisive step of formally declaring war against the Axis powers, Germany, Italy, and Japan. This declaration transformed China's position from a beleaguered nation fighting a war of survival into a formal member of the Allied coalition. Chiang had seized the opportunity that Pearl Harbor presented to ally China with a genuinely strong power against Japan, a gambit that fundamentally altered the diplomatic weight and international legitimacy of both the Chinese government and the Chinese cause. From a strategic perspective, the Japanese had committed what Chiang and others immediately recognized as a catastrophic blunder. On the operational level, Pearl Harbor was indeed a devastating tactical success, the American Pacific Fleet was crippled, and Japanese forces now enjoyed temporary naval superiority throughout much of the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Yet strategically, Pearl Harbor represented a failure of epic proportions, a miscalculation rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of the intangibles of warfare: what motivated the Chinese people and what motivated the Americans. The Chinese had understood, through four years of brutal conflict, that warfare was about more than territorial conquest and resource acquisition. It was about will, about endurance, about the capacity to absorb punishment and continue fighting. The Japanese had learned this lesson imperfectly in China, where despite overwhelming military advantages they had been unable to force a decisive conclusion or compel Chinese surrender. The Americans would teach the Japanese this lesson even more emphatically. The attack on American sailors in Hawaii instantly galvanized the American population to prosecute an unlimited war, with Tokyo itself as the ultimate destination of American counterattack. While Americans would remember the "date that will live in infamy" primarily because of the assault on Pearl Harbor itself, the strategic consequence was that Japanese actions in Hawaii had introduced numerous new adversaries into the Pacific conflict: not only the United States, but also Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. These additions transformed what had been, from the Japanese perspective, a regional conflict with manageable parameters into a global war that Japan could not possibly win through any conceivable means. What made this particularly disastrous for Japan was the context in which the new theater had been opened. Japan was already deeply mired in a quagmire in China—a "malignant quagmire," as one observer would later characterize it, that had consumed vast resources, inflicted enormous casualties, and failed to produce decisive victory. In military strategy, it is sometimes wise to open a new theater in order to attack an enemy from an additional and unexpected direction, thereby dispersing their forces and creating new challenges for them to manage. But opening a new theater that introduces an entirely new, powerful adversary, and doing so when one is already overextended in an existing theater is a prescription for strategic catastrophe. This was precisely what Japan had done at Pearl Harbor. Chiang Kai-shek understood the magnitude of Japan's miscalculation with crystalline clarity. He understood that whatever the military complexities that lay ahead, whatever the challenges of coordinating with Western allies, and whatever the limitations of Western military assistance to China might be, the fundamental equation had changed. The United States would ultimately defeat Japan. The Chinese did not need to defeat Japan by themselves; they merely needed to survive long enough for American industrial and military capacity to grind the Japanese military into defeat. In the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Chinese and American officials moved swiftly to formalize the alliance and establish the mechanisms of wartime cooperation. Roosevelt asked Chiang Kai-shek to serve as commander in chief of the Allied forces in the China theater, a designation that recognized China's central role in the Pacific War and elevated Chiang's international standing to something he had long sought: a position as an equal partner in the Allied coalition, a seat at the "top table of global decision-making" alongside Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. To support this expanded role and to ensure effective coordination of the military effort, Roosevelt dispatched Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell to China. Stilwell was not chosen randomly; he brought fifteen years of experience in China, a deep familiarity with the country, its military, and its complexities that few American officers possessed. Stilwell was appointed to serve simultaneously as the U.S. government's military representative in China, as chief of staff of the China Theater, and as commander in chief of the American forces in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater. This appointment established the framework for joint Chinese-American military cooperation and represented an American commitment to the Asian theater that, while never receiving the resources devoted to the European theater, nonetheless signified recognition of China's strategic importance. Trust me, going forward we will be having a lot of time dedicated to the hilarious bromance / bro hatred of Vinegar Joe and Peanut. Yet the formation of an alliance and the establishment of command structures was easier than the practical implementation of military cooperation. The fundamental challenge that would plague Chinese-American relations throughout the war emerged almost immediately: the problem of delivering military assistance to China. Before Pearl Harbor, the United States and China had reached agreement on three major points regarding military assistance. First, the United States would provide training and technical support to assist China in establishing a modern air force. Second, the United States would provide training and equipment for a ground army consisting of thirty divisions. Third, the United States would assist China in constructing railways and highways from Yunnan to Burma, along with the provision of rolling stock and vehicles to support these new transportation routes. These were ambitious plans, reflecting the extent of Chinese need and American willingness to support the Chinese war effort. However, the outbreak of the Pacific War threw American plans into disarray. The fundamental strategic doctrine guiding American policy was the "Europe first" strategy, which meant that the European theater and the defeat of Nazi Germany received priority over the Pacific theater. Additionally, China's geography made it extraordinarily difficult to supply. China could only be reached through supply lines of extraordinary length and complexity, either through the port of Rangoon in Burma and then overland via the treacherous Yunnan-Burma Road, or through the port of Hong Kong, which immediately fell into Japanese hands after Pearl Harbor. The first Sino-American loan agreement had specified that the United States would deliver commodities worth $45 million to China in 1941. However, shipping shortages meant that only $26 million worth of commodities actually left the United States. These commodities were shipped to the transit port of Rangoon, where a massive traffic jam developed as supplies accumulated faster than they could be distributed onward to China. Along the Yunnan-Burma Road, that "much-contested life line" as it came to be known, conditions were chaotic. The road had always been a source of trouble: it was long, extraordinarily difficult to keep in repair, fantastically dangerous to travel, and too narrow to permit much volume of traffic at any one time. Due to mismanagement and pilfering, the commodities that were shipped out of Burma suffered heavy losses in transit, and only one-third of them eventually arrived in Chongqing. Yet the United States had already established one valuable asset in China that could be deployed relatively quickly: an air force nucleus. Just before Pearl Harbor, a group of American aviators had been formally organized in Chongqing who worked on volunteer status for China under the command of Colonel Claire Chennault, an American aviation officer who served as instructor at the Chinese Air Force Cadet School. Some of these men had been flying in China since the Kuomintang first began purchasing American aircraft, having come to demonstrate the aircraft and remaining to pilot and teach. Others had hurried to China after being released from their volunteer service in Spain, where they had gained combat experience during the Spanish Civil War. It was a familiar joke that pilots from both sides of the Spanish conflict were likely to meet and work side by side in China, but political convictions proved immaterial to these professional aviators, they got on well enough with each other, mercenaries of the twentieth century united by their expertise and their willingness to fight. When American traffic on the Burma Road swelled in volume and became chaotic, with cargo lost to pilfering and trucks breaking down from mishandling, the air freight service into Chongqing became increasingly vital to maintaining Chinese military capabilities. The backbone of this organization was American, and it had been in operation for months before the Japanese attack. Halfway down the Burma Road, over the border in Burma, was a plane factory backed by American and Chinese capital, providing some degree of repair and maintenance capacity for the aircraft operating out of China. Recognizing the strategic value of these experienced aviators and the need to formalize and expand their operations, American and Chinese officials moved quickly to incorporate this volunteer group, formally known as the American Volunteer Group or "Flying Tigers," into the U.S. Army Air Force. This transformation of volunteer aviators into official American military personnel represented a commitment to providing air support to Chinese operations, recognizing that air power could compensate to some degree for Chinese numerical disadvantages in ground combat. In Chongqing, it was clear that among the United Nations fighting Japan, America was the only one taking China seriously, the only one prepared to invest significant resources in Chinese military capabilities and the Chinese war effort. Yet Pearl Harbor brought consequences that extended far beyond the strategic and diplomatic spheres. For Western civilians living in China,missionaries, teachers, doctors, businessmen, and journalists, the attack represented a catastrophic change in their status and their fate. Until December 8, 1941, Westerners residing in China had maintained a curious protected status as foreign neutrals, even in areas nominally controlled by the Japanese. This status had provided them with a measure of distance from, and protection against, the grinding reality of the war that had devastated Chinese populations. For a century, Americans had been part of an imperial presence in China, sometimes benevolent, sometimes violent, but always ultimately under Western control. That world came to an abrupt end on December 8, 1941. All across eastern China, Americans and Britons were rounded up and interned. The International Settlement of Shanghai—that remarkable oasis of neutrality that had persisted in the midst of a war-torn city—was now reunified under Japanese control. Thousands of foreigners with Allied nationality were sent to holding camps scattered throughout occupied China. Some, like the eleven-year-old British boy Jim Ballard, would remain imprisoned for the remainder of the war, enduring hunger, cold, and disease in camps like Longhua, which housed approximately 2,000 detainees. Forty years later, as the novelist J. G. Ballard, he would memorialized this experience in his semi-autobiographical novel Empire of the Sun. For missionaries like Velva Brown, the evacuation process was degrading and final. The missionary staff were permitted to pack no more than three suitcases with their belongings. As they prepared to leave, Japanese and Taiwanese "sightseeing" parties arrived to decide which houses they might want to occupy. The journey home aboard crowded Japanese ships offered no concessions to status or dignity; ambassadors, consuls, merchants, and missionaries alike were given "bed-sized strips of Chinese matting which we spread side by side on the iron floor of the hold," as Brown recorded. The humiliation was compounded by the finality of it all. For many, their decades-long presence in China was ending not in orderly retreat but in hasty evacuation, leaving behind "servants, many of whom had been with us for fifteen or twenty years." Despite these immediate human tragedies, the strategic transformation that Pearl Harbor wrought for China was undeniable. Chiang Kai-shek now embarked on an entirely new sort of life, heavily involved with the leaders and generals of the Western powers. He held diplomatic discussions with the leaders of the United Nations and military planning sessions with Western generals. In these unfamiliar circumstances, he did his best to live up to the Confucian ideal of the gentleman, seldom permitting the mask to slip—though the pressure of these new responsibilities and the intoxicating combination of vindication and anxiety would occasionally prove too much even for his considerable self-control. Within weeks of Pearl Harbor, Chiang demonstrated the value he could bring to the new alliance. He visited India and spoke with the leaders of the Indian independence struggle as an ally and friend, as a fellow non-European speaking to others seeking to escape from colonialism and imperial domination. He joined the Allies in their first joint campaign, not in China but in the jungles of neighboring Burma, committing Chinese forces to operations outside China's borders in support of the broader Allied military strategy. Yet the price that Chiang would pay for China's belated entry into the global alliance against the Axis powers would prove to be a heavy one. Chiang desperately needed his new American and British partners, but accepting this alliance would unleash forces within Chinese society that would threaten the very basis of his political control. The complexities of this bargain would become most visible in the four-year struggle between Chiang and General Joseph Warren Stilwell, the American officer who would become simultaneously his chief of staff and the administrator of American military assistance to China. This relationship, shaped by mutual suspicion, different strategic visions, and incompatible political agendas, would define Chinese-American military cooperation during the Pacific War and would have profound implications extending far beyond the battlefields of Asia. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Pearl Harbor's shock reverberated through Asia. Japan's assault on Hawaii, combined with invasions of Burma, the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island, inadvertently transformed regional conflict into global war. Chiang Kai-shek, vindicated after four years of isolation fighting Japan, embraced American alliance with profound relief. The U.S. committed military aid, appointed General Stilwell as chief of staff, and recognized China as a co-belligerent. For Chiang, this partnership brought diplomatic status but also internal tensions that would define the Pacific War's final chapter.
Listen to current week's news from and about the Church in Asia in a capsule of around 10 to 15 minutes. This week we look at deadly Philippine floods, Thai Catholic school security, a Hong Kong sedition ruling, Cambodian dissident arrests, Sri Lankan prison unrest, Indian church clashes, Indonesian dress-code warnings, and Seoul's World Youth Day. Tune in for the latest developments from Asia. Filed by UCA News reporters, compiled by Fabian Antony, presented by Joe Mathews, Cover photo by AFP, background score by Andre Louis, edited and produced by Binu Alex for Union of Catholic Asian News. For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit www.ucanews.comTo contribute please visit www.ucanews.com/donateOn Twitter Follow Or Connect through DM at : twitter.com/ucanewsTo view Video features please visit https://www.youtube.com/@ucanews
Judge rejected fraud claims in June A former Philipstown couple who claim they were victims of fraud is appealing a state judge's ruling upholding the foreclosure and sale of the Route 9 property where they lived and worked. An attorney for Sokhara Kim and Chakra Oeur last month filed a notice of their intent to appeal a June ruling by state Judge Gina Capone. Her decision denied the couple's attempt to regain 3154 Route 9, where they operated Nice & Neat Dry Cleaners and sold Cambodian food. The couple also rented a storefront in the building to the owner of a nail salon. Kim and Oeur, immigrants from Cambodia who also operated an art gallery at the property, were evicted on Dec. 9, 2025, ending a foreclosure process that began in August 2022 when Kim stopped making payments to MT&T Bank on a $570,000 mortgage. An MT&T subsidiary, Chesapeake Holding, paid $620,200 for the parcel at auction in May 2024. Capone rejected Kim and Oeur's main contention — that they were victims of Derek Keith Williams, who met the couple when his girlfriend, Mauny Bun, owned the nail salon. Williams, who is facing fraud and grand larceny charges, convinced Kim that he paid off the mortgage, according to court documents. Then, for the next few years, he hid the foreclosure by demanding that Kim "turn over any mail or paperwork relating to the property," said her attorney, Jacob Chen. In Capone's 31-page ruling, she said both Kim and Oeur were "wholly aware" of the foreclosure and the sale of the property well before they claimed to have learned of the eviction in November 2025. She cited appearances Kim made with Williams in Erie County Court when M&T filed a notice of default on the mortgage loan. She also said a handwritten complaint Kim filed in January 2025 against M&T with the Federal Reserve used the case number for the foreclosure. In addition, said Capone, the contention that Williams withheld mail about the foreclosure "is undermined by the fact that, according to Ms. Kim, Mr. Williams was not living at the subject premises, and present there on a day-to-day basis, until September 2023," a year after the bank initiated the proceeding. "Throughout these many proceedings, stretching across various jurisdictions and courts, one constant, according to the plaintiff, was that Ms. Kim and Mr. Williams acted in concert to prevent, hinder and interfere" with the bank's efforts to gain the property, said Capone. Williams, a self-described "sovereign citizen" who had been serving a six-month sentence in the Putnam County jail for driving an unregistered vehicle without a license, was charged in February with six felonies: four for grand larceny and two for filing a false instrument with the intent to defraud. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held in the Putnam jail on $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond. His next appearance in Putnam County Court is scheduled for Wednesday (Aug. 19) before Judge Anthony Mole.
Matthew Campbell penned a whodunit tale about plundered Cambodian art and antiquities, the international market for stolen goods, the sometimes unwitting participation of prominent museums, and the fight to return objects to their rightful places and owners. Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C., hosted this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode of Compliance Champions, Delphine Forma, Head of Policy Europe and APAC at Solidus Labs, speaks with Dr. Vin Pheakdey, Deputy Director General and Chair of the FinTech Working Group at the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia.They explore how Cambodia has transformed its approach to digital assets — from restricting unlicensed crypto activity in 2018 to establishing a formal, dual-authority licensing framework under SERC and the National Bank of Cambodia. Dr. Vin walks through the architecture of Prakas 093, which classifies digital assets as financial instruments and securities, and explains what firms need to demonstrate to navigate the sandbox process and secure a full licence. He also shares the most common gaps SERC sees in applications — practical intelligence for any firm considering the Cambodian market.The conversation also explores the realities of supervising a borderless market. Dr. Vin shares why offshore unregulated platforms remain one of the biggest challenges facing regulators, why international cooperation and information sharing are indispensable, and how Cambodia is embedding market integrity into its framework through transaction monitoring, trade surveillance, RegTech, SupTech and direct supervisory access to transaction data.They also discuss Project Bakong — Cambodia's blockchain-based digital payment system with over 65% population penetration — and how its success has shaped the country's confidence and approach to broader digital asset regulation.Rounding out the episode: Cambodia's international engagement strategy including its bilateral meeting with the U.S. SEC, lessons learned for other emerging market regulators, and a preview of the joint NBC-SERC guideline on digital asset supervision currently in development.A sharp, forward-looking conversation offering a rare regulator-side view into how emerging markets are building digital asset frameworks — and why Cambodia's approach deserves more attention than it gets.
⚠️ Heads up: this episode opens with combat footage from the Tet Offensive and includes graphic descriptions of battlefield injury, a child in medical crisis, and animal experimentation. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available by call or text at 988.⚠️ Jeb and Blake look at the birth of NDE research: a field of study with a significant footprint in the metro-Atlanta area. Rats are bothered. Soldiers are wounded. Canadian teens are frozen. ...and we're here to talk about all of it.
In the headlines today, violence in Narathiwat is escalating and becoing deadly, then, a Cambodian migrant working is accusing police of extortion, in crime news more troublemakers are turning to disguise themselves as foreigners to commit their crimes, also, a New Zealand teen has been granted bail after an alleged theft watch at an airport, then finally in sports news there's been a major shakeup at the highest echelons of Muay Thai at One Championship.
When a 1,000-year-old Cambodian statue came up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York, it sparked off an investigation that uncovered one of the world’s most extensive art trafficking networks. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Matthew Campbell and American lawyer Bradley Gordon on how Cambodia’s looted treasures ended up scattered around the world and what it takes to bring them home. Read more: Chasing the Man Who Stole the Gods Watch, from Originals: Cambodia to Museums: We Want Our Statues Back We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng; Reported by Matthew Campbell; Edited by Aaron Edwards. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey and Yang Yang; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa and Emma Munger. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer. Photo by Agnes Dherbeys/The New York Times/ReduxSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
When a 1,000-year-old Cambodian statue came up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York, it sparked off an investigation that uncovered one of the world’s most extensive art trafficking networks. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Matthew Campbell and American lawyer Bradley Gordon on how Cambodia’s looted treasures ended up scattered around the world and what it takes to bring them home. Read more: Chasing the Man Who Stole the Gods Watch, from Originals: Cambodia to Museums: We Want Our Statues Back We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng; Reported by Matthew Campbell; Edited by Aaron Edwards. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey and Yang Yang; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa and Emma Munger. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer. Photo by Agnes Dherbeys/The New York Times/ReduxSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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On June 10, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York returned two pieces of artwork to Cambodia: an Angkor statue and a sandstone lintel. It's the latest repatriation effort by the U.S.'s premier art museum, and the third time the Met has had to give up Cambodian artifacts specifically. Matthew Campbell's The Man Who Stole The Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy (Penguin, 2026) dives into the story of the Cambodian antiquities trade, from looted temples in the Cambodian forests, through dealers in Bangkok like Douglas Latchford, and then into museums and billionaire homes in the West. And he also digs into how this trade fell apart: How the U.S. Department of Justice and activists in Cambodia pressured dealers and museums like the Met to give this art back. Matthew is an award-winning reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek. His previous book, Dead in the Water—co-authored with Kit Chellel—was selected as a Book of the Year by The Economist, the Financial Times, and The Times. Matt has reported from more than twenty-five countries on crime, corruption, terrorism, economics, and the environment. His work has earned some of journalism's highest honors, including awards from the Gerald Loeb Foundation, the Overseas Press Club, the National Press Club, SOPA, and SABEW for both feature and investigative reporting You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Man Who Stole the Gods. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
On June 10, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York returned two pieces of artwork to Cambodia: an Angkor statue and a sandstone lintel. It's the latest repatriation effort by the U.S.'s premier art museum, and the third time the Met has had to give up Cambodian artifacts specifically. Matthew Campbell's The Man Who Stole The Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy (Penguin, 2026) dives into the story of the Cambodian antiquities trade, from looted temples in the Cambodian forests, through dealers in Bangkok like Douglas Latchford, and then into museums and billionaire homes in the West. And he also digs into how this trade fell apart: How the U.S. Department of Justice and activists in Cambodia pressured dealers and museums like the Met to give this art back. Matthew is an award-winning reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek. His previous book, Dead in the Water—co-authored with Kit Chellel—was selected as a Book of the Year by The Economist, the Financial Times, and The Times. Matt has reported from more than twenty-five countries on crime, corruption, terrorism, economics, and the environment. His work has earned some of journalism's highest honors, including awards from the Gerald Loeb Foundation, the Overseas Press Club, the National Press Club, SOPA, and SABEW for both feature and investigative reporting You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Man Who Stole the Gods. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/southeast-asian-studies
On June 10, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York returned two pieces of artwork to Cambodia: an Angkor statue and a sandstone lintel. It's the latest repatriation effort by the U.S.'s premier art museum, and the third time the Met has had to give up Cambodian artifacts specifically. Matthew Campbell's The Man Who Stole The Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy (Penguin, 2026) dives into the story of the Cambodian antiquities trade, from looted temples in the Cambodian forests, through dealers in Bangkok like Douglas Latchford, and then into museums and billionaire homes in the West. And he also digs into how this trade fell apart: How the U.S. Department of Justice and activists in Cambodia pressured dealers and museums like the Met to give this art back. Matthew is an award-winning reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek. His previous book, Dead in the Water—co-authored with Kit Chellel—was selected as a Book of the Year by The Economist, the Financial Times, and The Times. Matt has reported from more than twenty-five countries on crime, corruption, terrorism, economics, and the environment. His work has earned some of journalism's highest honors, including awards from the Gerald Loeb Foundation, the Overseas Press Club, the National Press Club, SOPA, and SABEW for both feature and investigative reporting You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Man Who Stole the Gods. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/art
On June 10, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York returned two pieces of artwork to Cambodia: an Angkor statue and a sandstone lintel. It's the latest repatriation effort by the U.S.'s premier art museum, and the third time the Met has had to give up Cambodian artifacts specifically. Matthew Campbell's The Man Who Stole The Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy (Penguin, 2026) dives into the story of the Cambodian antiquities trade, from looted temples in the Cambodian forests, through dealers in Bangkok like Douglas Latchford, and then into museums and billionaire homes in the West. And he also digs into how this trade fell apart: How the U.S. Department of Justice and activists in Cambodia pressured dealers and museums like the Met to give this art back. Matthew is an award-winning reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek. His previous book, Dead in the Water—co-authored with Kit Chellel—was selected as a Book of the Year by The Economist, the Financial Times, and The Times. Matt has reported from more than twenty-five countries on crime, corruption, terrorism, economics, and the environment. His work has earned some of journalism's highest honors, including awards from the Gerald Loeb Foundation, the Overseas Press Club, the National Press Club, SOPA, and SABEW for both feature and investigative reporting You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Man Who Stole the Gods. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-review
On June 10, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York returned two pieces of artwork to Cambodia: an Angkor statue and a sandstone lintel. It's the latest repatriation effort by the U.S.'s premier art museum, and the third time the Met has had to give up Cambodian artifacts specifically. Matthew Campbell's The Man Who Stole The Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy (Penguin, 2026) dives into the story of the Cambodian antiquities trade, from looted temples in the Cambodian forests, through dealers in Bangkok like Douglas Latchford, and then into museums and billionaire homes in the West. And he also digs into how this trade fell apart: How the U.S. Department of Justice and activists in Cambodia pressured dealers and museums like the Met to give this art back. Matthew is an award-winning reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek. His previous book, Dead in the Water—co-authored with Kit Chellel—was selected as a Book of the Year by The Economist, the Financial Times, and The Times. Matt has reported from more than twenty-five countries on crime, corruption, terrorism, economics, and the environment. His work has earned some of journalism's highest honors, including awards from the Gerald Loeb Foundation, the Overseas Press Club, the National Press Club, SOPA, and SABEW for both feature and investigative reporting You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Man Who Stole the Gods. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The US has once again imposed a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, designed to prevent any ships from leaving or entering Iranian ports. Also, following two powerful earthquakes that devastated Venezuela's Caribbean coast, anger is growing in some of the hardest-hit communities over unsafe public housing. And, a look at how India's caste system persists even in diaspora communities across the globe. Plus, a conversation with Cambodian singer Chhom Nimol on how she developed her unique voice. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Live July 12, 2026(The Yaron & Nikos Dialogues, Episode 7)Egalitarianism, Khmer Rouge & the Killing Fields of Cambodia | Yaron & Nikos DialoguesWhat Happens When Equality Becomes an Absolute? The Deadly Lessons of Pol Pot's CambodiaCould the pursuit of equality become one of history's deadliest ideas?The Khmer Rouge didn't simply commit mass murder—they attempted to erase individuality itself. Under Pol Pot, Cambodia became history's most radical experiment in egalitarianism, where intelligence, achievement, family, love, private property, and even wearing glasses could become death sentences.In this episode, Yaron Brook and Nikos Sotirakopoulos examine the philosophical roots behind one of the twentieth century's greatest atrocities. They explore how egalitarian ideals became totalitarian terror, why many Western intellectuals excused the regime, and what Cambodia still teaches us about collectivism, freedom, and human nature.The discussion also includes updates on the Yaron Brook documentary project, film recommendations, and the return of the show's music segment.Watch the full episode: https://youtube.com/live/ESzykH4naC8More from Nikos Sotirakopoulos: https://www.nikos.org/Support Nikos: https://www.youtube.com/@nikos_1717Main Topics00:00 Introduction, World Cup & documentary update10:26 Why Cambodia matters12:21 Cambodian genocide overview16:03 French colonialism & Pol Pot's influences22:18 Rise of the communist movement25:10 Vietnam War & revolutionary momentum29:04 Origins of the Khmer Rouge30:12 Mao's influence33:19 U.S. bombing & communist recruitment38:01 Radical egalitarianism becomes terror45:02 Emptying Phnom Penh49:34 S-21 prison & ideological purges54:00 Love and family under communism59:31 Starvation, terror & Vietnam's invasion1:04:28 Fate of Khmer Rouge leaders1:07:18 Western intellectuals and Cambodia1:12:31 Film recommendations1:13:51 Justice after the Khmer Rouge1:13:59 Music Review: R.E.M. – Stand1:23:20 Next Dialogue: Ronald Reagan & Ayn RandLive Audience Q&A1:18:50 Simple Minds – Don't You Forget About Me1:26:27 Brad Pitt on Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead1:31:23 Could Western egalitarianism lead to another Cambodia?1:34:22 China's support for the Khmer Rouge1:36:12 Germany, Argentina & defeating bad ideas1:39:39 Is cynicism rational today?1:43:21 Christian New Right vs. Democratic Socialists1:45:00 Why does collectivism demand self-sacrifice?1:48:13 The cost of anti-profit morality1:51:05 Connor McGregor—an egoist?1:54:42 Did Pol Pot use starvation as a purge?1:58:56 Was Vietnam heroic for ending the Khmer Rouge?2:00:19 Richard Wolff revisited2:02:51 Does France owe Cambodia an apology?2:04:42 World Cup red card controversy2:05:53 Did communist leaders think Pol Pot went too far?2:08:00 Why Vietnam embraces capitalism today2:09:25 Did Ayn Rand comment on Pol Pot?2:11:43 Resistance inside Cambodia2:15:35 Why didn't Mao invade Hong Kong?2:16:38 Cambodia reading recommendations2:21:18 London's Muslim neighborhoods & the documentary2:23:55 John Galt's real message2:26:56 Ayn Rand on censorship2:33:49 Why communist Poland & Cuba tolerated Christianity2:34:33 Did Tito prove socialism works?2:37:21 Lisbon event with Nikos?2:39:53 Is colonialism part of Western civilization?
警視庁本部、東京都千代田区カンボジアにある子会社の登記手続きを円滑に進めるため、現地政府職員に賄賂を渡したとして、警視庁捜査2課は7日までに、不正競争防止法違反容疑で、建設業「フジパスク」役員ら男3人と、法人としての同社を書類送検した。 Tokyo police last month sent to prosecutors papers on Fujipassc Co. and three men linked to the Japanese construction company for allegedly bribing a Cambodian government employee.
Geoffrey Wawro, guest author, explains that in 1970, Nixon ordered an incursion into Cambodia to destroy NVA supply dumps and the Ho Chi Minh Trail extensions. While US forces captured significant materiel, the NVA simply withdrew deeper into the interior and rebuilt their supply lines shortly after the Americans left. This widening of the war triggered unprecedented domestic protests, most notably at Kent State, where National Guard troops killed four students. Despite the outcry, Nixon found support among the "Silent Majority" and working-class "hard hats" who loathed the anti-war movement. The Cambodian operation exemplified the mismatch between the US desire for a quick victory and the NVA's strategic patience. Ultimately, the incursion failed to cut the trail permanently as the NVA adapted by establishing new routes through Laos to compensate for the losses. The Vietnam War: A Military History (6)
In the headlines today, an incredibly tragic story of an 11-year-old boy slamming a pickup truck into a group of monks leaves 8 dead, then we also have some horrifying stories involving some pyromaniac attacks, also, heroin smuggling arrests have had such a negative affect on Thailand's reputation that the Prime Minister is stepping in to address it, down in Pattaya, hotels are continuing to struggle as tourism numbers refuse to climb, but finally we'll have a palate cleanser after all of that as Thailand has announced 35 destinations for visa-free travel for Thai citizens.
https://rhr.tv/stream Bitcoin Crowdfunding for Venezuela Earthquake Relief Supplies https://x.com/pakovm/status/2070254848814288935 Strike Now Authorized Under MiCA Across All 27 EU Countries https://x.com/jackmallers/status/2072353197650518196 Bark Wallet Solves Offchain State Backups with Encrypted Snapshots https://x.com/notgrubles/status/2072386304642286029 Blink Wallet Introduces Non-Custodial Accounts https://blink.sv/blog/non-custodial-accounts-in-blink-wallet Calvin Kim Receives OpenSats Long-Term Support Grant https://opensats.org/blog/calvin-kim-receives-lts-grant OpenSats Developer Spotlight: Egge (Coco) https://opensats.org/blog/developer-spotlight-egge-coco OpenSats Developer Spotlight: Rajarshi Maitra https://opensats.org/blog/developer-spotlight-rajarshi-maitra OpenSats Grant Map https://opensats.org/map BitGo CEO Announces ~15% Workforce Reduction for Strategic Focus https://x.com/mikebelshe/status/2070240967479996463 Strategy Announces Digital Credit Capital Framework https://www.strategy.com/press/strategy-announces-digital-credit-capital-framework_06-29-2026 Cambodia Launches Smart Policing Initiative in Phnom Penh Cambodia's Ministry of Interior formally launched a China-backed “Smart Police” initiative in the capital city of Phnom Penh. The new policing system will connect 487 cameras equipped with AI-powered identity and vehicle tracking and send all video feeds into a new centralized command center. To support the rollout, Chinese-backed regional security partners are providing financial and technical support for the project and have pledged to expand the camera grid in the future. Cambodian officials say the project will protect residents and tourists. But in a country where dissent is overtly and systematically punished, these new AI-powered systems can easily double as a surveillance machine capable of identifying anyone who criticizes the ruling party. FinancialFreedomReport.org Ashigaru Terminal v1.0.0 Released: Whirlpool Coinjoin Client Built from Sparrow https://ashigaru.rs/news/release-terminal-v1-0-0/ COLDCARD 5.5.1 and 1.4.1Q Firmware: BIP-322 Proof of Reserves, WIF Store, and Secure Notes Upgrades https://blog.coinkite.com/coldcard-5.5.1-1.4.1q-release/ Wasabi Wallet v2.8.0 Release https://github.com/WalletWasabi/WalletWasabi/releases/tag/v2.8.0 Noah v0.1.3 Release https://github.com/smolcars/noah/releases/tag/v0.1.3 New Checkout Method for in Person BTCPay Stores https://x.com/MrKukks/status/2072677988026421484 Bitcoin Core secp256k1 Pull Request #1884 https://github.com/bitcoin-core/secp256k1/pull/1884 Tails 7.9.1 Release https://tails.net/news/version_7.9.1/ Open Standard Introduces Open USD https://joinopenstandard.com/blog/introducing-open-usd The Secret History of Polymarket – Part 1: DARPA, Thiel, and Prediction Market Origins https://unlimitedhangout.com/2026/06/investigative-series/the-secret-history-of-polymarket-part-1/ Claude Code Accused of Hiding China Proxy Fingerprints Inside System Prompts https://www.internationalcyberdigest.com/claude-code-accused-of-hiding-china-proxy-fingerprints-inside-system-prompts/ Foreign Influence Campaign Against American AI – Part II: Singham Ground Game https://www.btcpolicy.org/articles/foreign-influence-campaign-against-american-ai-part-ii-singham-ground-game AI Drones Rapidly Restoring Degraded Land in Brazil (MORFO) https://x.com/alex_verem/status/2072001777487196662 Home Mining Playbook: https://www.tftc.io/home-mining-energy-playbook 3:33 - Sweaty rip 6:38 - Dashboard 9:28 - Venezuela relief 14:28 - Strike EU 16:13 - Bark 18:43 - Blink 23:23 - Open USD 27:13 - OpenSats 31:03 - BitGo layoffs 32:28 - Strategy update 33:58 - HRF Story of the Week 38:43 - Boosts 44:18 - Software updates 47:58 - Secret history of Polymarket 53:18 - BPI foreign AI 59:38 - MORFO Shoutout to our sponsors: Coinkite https://coinkite.com/ Strike https://strike.me/ Stakwork https://stakwork.ai/ Salt of the Earth https://drinksote.com/rhr Follow Marty Bent: Twitter https://twitter.com/martybent Nostr https://primal.net/marty Newsletter https://tftc.io/martys-bent/ Podcast https://tftc.io/podcasts/ Follow Odell: Nostr https://primal.net/odell Newsletter https://discreetlog.com/ Podcast https://citadeldispatch.com/
In April, a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier was indicted for using classified intelligence to make bets online. It comes as online prediction markets have exploded in popularity. The war in Iran and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have revealed suspiciously-timed bets on when an attack might happen, even the fate of world leaders. Correspondent Jon Wertheim reports on the phenomenon of betting on war and the creation of a whole new category of insider trading. Andy Bast and Jessica Kegu are the producers. A year-long investigation by 60 MINUTES examines what might be the greatest art heist in history: the theft of thousands of sacred stone, bronze and gold artifacts from religious sites across Cambodia. Correspondent Anderson Cooper reports on Douglas Latchford, the British dealer who masterminded the looting amidst genocide, civil war and political turmoil and sold to the world's wealthiest collectors and most prestigious museums. The Cambodian government has spent more than a decade tracking it all down and wants their history and heritage brought home. This is a double-length segment. Michael H. Gavshon and Nadim Roberts are the producers.
LastPass says Klue breach affected customer information, but passwords remain secure. Attackers begin exploiting Cisco Unified CM vulnerability. CISA flags actively exploited Ubiquiti and Lantronix flaws, urges rapid patching. DifyTap flaws could expose private AI conversations across tenants. Researchers find AI plugin registry let unofficial tools masquerade as trusted software. xpl0itrs launches leak site, signaling shift toward full-service cyber extortion. Ransomware attack hits Indian auto giant Bajaj Auto. U.S. presses Meta to submit AI models for national security reviews. Alleged criminal marketplace administrator extradited to the US. U.S. expands sanctions against Cambodian scam network tied to cyber fraud operations. On today's Industry Voices segment, we are joined by Mike Masciulli, Managing Director, Migration Products and Services at Semperis, discussing RC4 and AD Migration: The Break Scenarios Hiding in Your Source Domain. And a lesson in access control. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you'll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest On today's Industry Voices segment, we are joined by Mike Masciulli, Managing Director, Migration Products and Services at Semperis, discussing RC4 and AD Migration: The Break Scenarios Hiding in Your Source Domain. If you enjoyed this conversation, check out the full interview here. Selected Reading Password manager maker LastPass says hackers stole customer support case data during Klue breach (TechCrunch) Klue says hackers stole credential from 2022 that led to customer data breaches (TechCrunch) Cisco Unified CM flaw CVE-2026-20230 now exploited in attacks (BleepingComputer) U.S. CISA adds Ubiquiti UniFi OS and Lantronix EDS5000 plugin flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (SecurityAffairs) DifyTap: Zafran discovers how attackers can silently wiretap AI data across tenants on a platform powering 1M+ apps (Zafran) 23 ClawHub Plugins Squat Official Org Scopes (Manifold Security) Cyber Intel Brief: xpl0itrs Leak Site Launch (Dataminr) Indian auto giant Bajaj Auto hit by ransomware incident (The Record) U.S. Presses Meta to Agree to A.I. Reviews as Security Concerns Rise (NY Times) Algerian Man Extradited to US for Running Cybercrime Marketplaces (SecurityWeek) US adds sanctions against accused Cambodian scammers Prince Group (Reuters) Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation (The White House) Meta Exposed Data Internally From Its Controversial Employee-Tracking Program (WIRED) Share your feedback. What do you think about CyberWire Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show. Want to hear your company in the show? N2K CyberWire helps you reach the industry's most influential leaders and operators, while building visibility, authority, and connectivity across the cybersecurity community. Learn more at sponsor.thecyberwire.com. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is Papaya Salad, known as Som Tum, the greatest dish on earth? In this food heavy episode, we discuss Thai cuisine, with Adam suggesting that Papaya Salad is a perfect dish. Adam also shares stories of his travels around Thailand, including working on a durian farm on the Cambodian border. If you love Thai food or if you've ever wondered just how big a durian really is, don't miss the debate! We apologize in advance to fans of cheddar cheese.Support the show and access the Lost & Found section, as Alun explains the reason why he can't eat papaya, and we discuss our favourite cuisines from around the world.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tripologypodcastSubmit your travel stories: https://www.tripologypodcast.com/talesofatripNeed travel insurance? We recommend SafetyWing! Click here to get started: https://safetywing.com/?referenceID=26035801&utm_source=26035801&utm_medium=AmbassadorRequire an onward flight? Please use this fantastic flight rental service: https://onwardticket.com/tripologypodcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/yccRBh8fXInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tripologypodcast/Website: https://www.tripologypodcast.comX: https://x.com/tripologypodThank you, as always, for your continued support. It means the world.
PART 2: With the Cambodian government's ongoing crackdown on the scam industry, tens of thousands of former scammers are stranded on the streets of Phnom Penh. Are they being treated as criminals or as victims themselves of a global industry designed to extract their labor? In part 2 of our series on The Sunday Story, investigative reporter Shibani Mahtani continues the story of one Ugandan scam worker as he tries to make his way home.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
Who are the workers behind the global scam industry? In Cambodia, more than 200,000 scam workers have been released from fortified compounds, where many of them had been trafficked, held against their will, and forced to work for little pay. The Cambodian government's recent crackdown has enabled reporters to get a closer look at an industry responsible for defrauding Americans of at least 20 billion dollars in 2025.But how did these workers end up in Cambodia, and what was the promise that drew them there? In this two-part series for The Sunday Story, investigative reporter Shibani Mahtani dives into the previously hidden world of the global scam industry. And she follows the story of one Ugandan man, who traveled far from home for a job that was “too good to be true.” Listen to Part 2 here.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
Today, I'm joined by award-winning journalist Matthew Campbell to talk about his new book, The Man Who Stole the Gods. For decades, the Bangkok-based Brit, Douglas Latchford, bought priceless Cambodian artworks that had been looted from ancient religious sites. Some of these pieces made their way to the collections of museums as august as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In The Man Who Stole the Gods, Matthew shines a light on the looters who stole this art and the international team of sleuths who helped return these works to their native country. If you'd like to support the show, please consider beocming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast.
In this episode of Memory, Evidence, Change, host Kate speaks with Bodie Barton, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide and a 1997 graduate of Keene State College. Bodie reflects on his childhood in Cambodia, the sudden violence that shattered his family's life, and the years of displacement, hunger, and loss that followed under the Khmer Rouge regime. He shares memories of the loved ones who helped him survive, including his mother and brother, and recounts the long journey that eventually brought him to the United States as a refugee. Today, Bodie works to support others through his career in human services, drawing on his own experiences of trauma, resilience, and healing. Throughout the conversation, he offers powerful reflections on gratitude, community, and the importance of listening to one another's stories. This episode is part of our Memory Series, featuring firsthand accounts from individuals whose lives have been shaped by genocide and mass atrocity.
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 24! Our guest today is Lian Cheun, the Executive Director of the impactful group Khmer Girls in Action. A 1.5 generation refugee from Cambodia, Lian grew up in the Bay Area and has spent more than two decades organizing Cambodian and Southeast Asian youth in Long Beach. Lian along with Khmer Girls in Action turn grassroots activism into real policy change, where youth leaders became part of Long Beach's participatory budgeting process, even helping decide how public funds are spent. Lian has worked with a variety of groups like the Migrant Forum in Asia, the Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) at the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO), and President Obama's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Khmer Girls in Action has been and continues to be a political home as well as a safe and brave space to build youth and community power in order to win racial, gender and economic justice… and, they're led by Southeast Asian women and youth! From refugee camp to prestigious award winner Lian has had a remarkable journey. To learn more about their work, volunteer, or support them, you can visit their website kgalb.org, donate by clicking on the donate link, or follow them on instagram @investinyouthlb. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.
Bitcoin just cratered to a six week low below $73,000 as fresh U.S. airstrikes on Iran reignited Strait of Hormuz war fears, triggering $897 million in long liquidations and the second largest daily IBIT outflow on record at $528 million. The pain is everywhere right now. Fund manager Michael Kramer is warning a $150 billion Treasury liquidity drain over the next week could send BTC much lower, while CME finally killed the famous weekend gap by launching 24/7 futures trading. Meanwhile, Iran is calling negotiations a strategic deadlock, the CFTC made a stunning admission that the Gemini case never should have been filed, the FBI just seized a record $8 billion in Bitcoin from a Cambodian scam compound, and Paxos became the first blockchain native firm approved by the SEC to clear and settle U.S. securities on chain. Plus a single enterprise client racked up a $500 million Claude bill in 30 days with no usage limits. We are breaking down whether Bitcoin defends $72K or rolls over to new lows, what the Hormuz escalation means for risk assets, and why this could be the most consequential 24 hours of the entire cycle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Khmer Rouge almost rid the world of Cambodian rock, but it lives on in the band Dengue Fever. Founded by two American brothers and powered by the voice of Khmer American immigrant Chhom Nimol, Dengue Fever performs songs influenced by the musicians who are mostly gone. Go see Dengue Fever live in San Francisco on June 20, 2026, at the Chapel. Find more tour stops at https://denguefevermusic.com or at their Instagram @denguefevermusic Dengue Fever songs played in this episode: "A Thousand Tears of A Trantula" (Escape from Dragon House) "Tiger Phone Card" (Venus on Earth) "Sni Bong" (Escape from Dragon House) "Family Business" (Cannibal Courtship) Check out our website www.infatuasian.com and write to us at: infatuasianpodcast@gmail.com, and please follow us on social media @infatuasianpodcast Cover Art and Logo designed by Justin Chuan @w.a.h.w (We Are Half the World) #asianpodcast #asianamerican #infatuasian #representationmatters
Thailand is rocked by a viral Facebook sex livestream scandal under police investigation, an intoxicated monk is defrocked after causing chaos in Udon Thani, and a deadly train and bus collision leaves eight dead and raises serious safety concerns. Meanwhile, China pushes forward with plans for a year-long space mission ahead of a 2030 moon landing, an Indian man is arrested on Koh Pha Ngan over alarming gun videos, and a Cambodian fortune teller is detained for fraud and sexual assault linked to fake spiritual rituals. Here's everything you need to know.
Mike talks with filmmaker Kimi Takesue, whose work — spanning documentary, fiction, and experimental forms — is now collected on the Criterion Channel. Takesue grew up shuttling between Honolulu and Massachusetts, and that cross-cultural, biracial upbringing informs every frame she has made, from early shorts rooted in identity politics to acclaimed features documenting cross-cultural encounters in Uganda, Laos, and Hawaiʻi.Her films, including Where Are You Taking Me?, 95 and 6 to Go, and Onlookers, examine those encounters through an observational lens, tracing the power dynamics and unspoken tensions that emerge when tourists and locals share the same unequal terrain. Takesue discusses her practice of traveling without research or agenda, letting one thing unfold into the next, and how a devastating failed fiction project directly led to the making of Where Are You Taking Me? She also talks about the rhythm and formalism of Onlookers, the tension between aestheticizing beauty and critiquing the tourist gaze, the influences she only fully embraced later in her career, and her current work-in-progress following tour guides at Cambodian atrocity sites.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth
Mike talks with filmmaker Kimi Takesue, whose work — spanning documentary, fiction, and experimental forms — is now collected on the Criterion Channel. Takesue grew up shuttling between Honolulu and Massachusetts, and that cross-cultural, biracial upbringing informs every frame she has made, from early shorts rooted in identity politics to acclaimed features documenting cross-cultural encounters in Uganda, Laos, and Hawaiʻi.Her films, including Where Are You Taking Me?, 95 and 6 to Go, and Onlookers, examine those encounters through an observational lens, tracing the power dynamics and unspoken tensions that emerge when tourists and locals share the same unequal terrain. Takesue discusses her practice of traveling without research or agenda, letting one thing unfold into the next, and how a devastating failed fiction project directly led to the making of Where Are You Taking Me? She also talks about the rhythm and formalism of Onlookers, the tension between aestheticizing beauty and critiquing the tourist gaze, the influences she only fully embraced later in her career, and her current work-in-progress following tour guides at Cambodian atrocity sites.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth
Joseph fled through the Cambodian jungle as war surrounded him, crying out for God to save his life. Years later, after escaping the devastation of the Killing Fields, he discovered the One who had been pursuing him all along — Jesus.Help us record more testimonies
Episode #537: “Refugees are incredibly remarkable. They're working day-in and day-out to provide for their communities, but they're working under a set of assumptions and a set of regulations that prohibited them from working.” Maximillian Mørch, Head of Program Development and Quality Assurance at The Border Consortium, describes how a system built as an emergency response in 1984 has hardened into a four-decade reality along the Thai–Myanmar border. TBC has long provided food, shelter materials, cooking fuel, nutritional support, and technical assistance across nine border camps. Today, more than 100,000 refugees live inside those camps, with tens of thousands more in rural border areas outside the camp system and at least 50,000 in Thailand's cities. The displacement is not temporary, and it has only further deepened again since the 2021 coup. For decades, camp refugees were largely confined. Leaving without authorization risked being treated as an undocumented migrant, and work outside the camps was prohibited. That restriction made food aid the central pillar of survival. Mørch emphasizes that dependence was structural, not moral: refugees sustained their communities through constant labor, but under rules that prevented real economic participation. Over time, the camps evolved from transplanted villages into organized settlements with homes, schools, clinics, markets, religious life, and refugee-led governance. The Karen Refugee Committee and Karenni Refugee Committee oversee services, coordinate with Thai authorities and NGOs, and manage disputes. Yet the system's viability rested on uninterrupted funding—and in 2025 it began to fail. Food and fuel alone exceptionally costly, and funding gaps at one point left camps without food support for weeks, as global humanitarian crises competed for shrinking resources. With return to Myanmar unsafe and resettlement opportunities collapsing—especially after the suspension and termination of a major U.S. process—Thailand's August 2025 resolution granting eligible refugees the right to work marked a historic rupture. The policy reframes survival around income, with research suggesting a week's wages can exceed a month of past food assistance. Labor shortages in Thailand, particularly after reported departures of Cambodian workers, helped push the reform. Eligibility remains limited, rollout is complex, families generally stay in camps, and around 10% of residents will still need direct aid. “Everyone wants to be self-dependent,” he says. “No one wants to be held hostage to the changing fluctuations” of humanitarian funding. Mørch's portrait is of a system forced to reinvent itself—opening a breach in confinement, but not yet a full pathway out.
Today we'll be talking about Thailand's big policy shift limiting visa-free stay duration in order to attract more quality tourists, at Survanabhumi airport, a Chinese passenger has gone viral for smashing his way through automated passport control gates, near the Cambodian border, a British content creator claims Thai soldiers fired warning shots in his direction, then there are a couple of knife attack stories involving an unemployed boyfriend and some accidentally smashed baby chicks, and a little later, Thai ride-hailing apps have been given a month long deadline to improve their safety standards.
Today on Scope Conditions: when the bombs don't go off, the war isn't over.We tend to think of peace as beginning when the bombs stop falling. But as our guest today shows us, this is only half the story. Over the course of the Vietnam War, the United States engaged in massive bombing in Cambodia. Between 1965 and 1973, the U.S. dropped 500,000 tons of explosives there — more than the combined weight of every man, woman, and child in the country. Dr. Erin Lin, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Ohio State University, set out to understand the continued impacts of this cataclysmic bombing campaign on Cambodian society. A landmark 2011 study had given us a partial answer: it had concluded that US bombing had no measurable long-term effects on economic outcomes in Southeast Asia. For years, that finding set the terms of the debate.In her award-winning book, When the Bombs Stopped: The Legacy of War in Rural Cambodia, published by Princeton University Press, Erin pushes back. She argues that those analyses were looking at the wrong level — that district-level aggregates conceal devastating effects on individual households and farms. More than that, they were looking at only half the intervention. It's the bombs that didn't detonate — an estimated 26 million cluster munitions still embedded in the soil — that are shaping life today in rural Cambodia.Erin spent years farming alongside families, combing through declassified military records, and building some of the most granular data ever assembled on the American bombing campaign. Her creative multi-method research design allows her to trace the dramatic long-term consequences of unexploded ordinance for the economic livelihood of Cambodian farmers.We talk with Erin about the many ironies laced through her findings: that cluster munitions are most likely to fail in soft, fertile soil, meaning Cambodia's most agriculturally valuable land is also its most contaminated; that bomb contamination can paradoxically shield farmers from predatory land seizures by political elites; and that unexploded ordnance, rather than forging solidarity among those living with it, tends to deepen ethnic divisions within villages.We hope you learn from this conversation. To stay informed about future episodes, follow us on X and Bluesky @scopeconditions and check out our website, scopeconditionspodcast.com, where you can also find references to all the academic works we discuss. And if you like the show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.We note that we recorded this interview before the recent US-Israeli war with Iran. Now, here's our conversation with Erin Lin.Works cited in this episodeBiddle, Steven. 2004. Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle. Princeton University Press.Brooks, Rosa. 2014. “Cross-Border Targeted Killings: ‘Lawful but Awful'?” Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 38:233–50.________. 2014. “Drones and the International Rule of Law.” Ethics & International Affairs 28(1):83–103. ________. 2016. How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon. Simon and Schuster.Horowitz, Michael C. 2010. The Diffusion of Military Power. Princeton University Press.Lyall, Jason, and Isaiah Wilson. 2009. “Rage against the Machines: Explaining Outcomes in Counterinsurgency Wars.” International Organization 63(1):67–106.Reiter, Dan, and Allan C. Stam. 2010. Democracies at War. Princeton University Press.Pape, Robert A. 2014. Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War. Cornell University Press.Schelling, Thomas. 2008. Arms and Influence. Yale University Press.Sheehan, Neil. 1971. “Should We Have War Crime Trials?” New York Times Book Review.
On this week's show, Patrick Gray and James Wilson are joined by special guest-host Dmitri Alperovitch. They discuss the week's cybersecurity news, including: The US government is mad as hell about Chinese firms stealing American AI technology Dmitri has an opinion or two about the US selling Nvidia chips to China Speaking of Chinese AI, Kimi's new 2.6 is very interesting The US sanctions a Cambodian senator for earning mega bucks through scam compounds And a ransomware family is promoting itself as being … quantum-safe? This week's show is sponsored by Trail of Bits. CEO and co-founder Dan Guido chats to Pat about how private inference works and Trail of Bits' audit of WhatsApp's private AI setup. This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes Exclusive: US State Dept orders global warning about alleged AI thefts by DeepSeek, other Chinese firms | Reuters moonshotai/Kimi-K2.6 · Hugging Face Discord Sleuths Gained Unauthorized Access to Anthropic's Mythos | WIRED Newly Deciphered Sabotage Malware May Have Targeted Iran's Nuclear Program—and Predates Stuxnet | WIRED Hackers deployed wiper malware in destructive attacks on Venezuela's energy sector | The Record from Recorded Future News Mystery Around Venezuelan Cyberattack Deepens, with New Discovery of "Highly Destructive" Wiper Risky Business #819 -- Venezuela (credibly?!) blames USA for wiper attack - Risky Business Media AI Tools Are Helping Mediocre North Korean Hackers Steal Millions | WIRED CISA: US agency breached through Cisco vulnerability, FIRESTARTER backdoor allowed access through March | The Record from Recorded Future News US, UK authorities warn that Firestarter backdoor malware survives patching | Cybersecurity Dive Surveillance campaigns use commercial surveillance tools to exploit long-known telecom vulnerabilities | CyberScoop UK regulator closes loophole that allowed rogue companies to track phone users' location | Reuters US sanctions Cambodian senator for millions earned through scam compounds | The Record from Recorded Future News Vercel says some of its customers' data was stolen prior to its recent hack | TechCrunch Supply Chain Security Incident Update Apple fixes bug that cops used to extract deleted chat messages from iPhones | TechCrunch Kyle Daigle on X: "Wanted to provide more clarity about this. Yesterday, we had a regression in merge queue behavior where, in some cases, squash or rebase commits were generated from the wrong base state, making earlier changes appear reverted in branch history. 2,804 pull requests out of over 4M" / X Securing the git push pipeline: Responding to a critical remote code execution vulnerability - The GitHub Blog One ransomware crew now drives half of all cyber claims: At-Bay | Insurance Business In a first, a ransomware family is confirmed to be quantum-safe - Ars Technica What we learned about TEE security from auditing WhatsApp's Private Inference
In this episode of A Little Faith, Micahel interviews Stephanie Keating about her mission work in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the faith crisis she faced when COVID upended her life. Sponsored by WCF, Stephanie moved to Cambodia in 2017 to teach English and the Bible, eventually marrying a Cambodian brother Pisey in early 2020. As borders shut, work disappeared, and she became pregnant, Stephanie returned to Canada in July 2020 while Pisey stayed behind. Their applications for him to come to Canada were repeatedly refused, leaving them separated for nearly two years; Pisey first held their son Elisha at 17 months old. Stephanie shares anger, grief, and the struggle of “unanswered prayers,” and the scriptures that anchored her. 2 Kings 6 and Job 5:17–18 both stand out to Stephanie to help her frame suffering, and help her deepen her faith.
Separated from her family and trained as a child soldier, Loung Ung's unbreakable spirit helped her survive Pol Pot's regime, which killed nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population.In the Chinese tradition of Loung Ung's mother, the element of fire was dangerous in a daughter: too bold, too defiant, too difficult to control. And, according to her, Loung had been born with ‘too much' of it. But when the Khmer Rouge seized power in April 1975, that fire became key to Loung's survival. Between 1975 and 1979, up to 2 million Cambodians died through execution, famine and disease. Forced into the countryside to do hard labour, Loung's family struggled. As their world was torn apart, Loung was told by her mother to run away. Loung would end up as a child soldier, separated from the rest of her siblings. Once the regime fell, she became the only child from the family chosen to go to the USA for a better life. But it was a dangerous journey and Loung would suffer with PTSD for years afterwards. The plan was to reunite the family within a few years, though due to financial constraints that wasn't possible. As an adult, Loung has worked on campaigns addressing violence against women, the use of child soldiers and landmine eradication worldwide and has managed to reunite with her siblings. Her story was eventually made into a film, directed by Angelina Jolie, named after Loung's memoir of the same name: First They Killed My Father. Loung has written two other memoirs: Lucky Child and Lulu in the Sky. Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Emily NaylorLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else's life and expect the unexpected. Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice
Locked Shields wraps another year. Open models challenge Mythos. CISA tracks FIRESTARTER inside a federal agency. The White House targets foreign AI model extraction. Microsoft lets admins remove Copilot. Treasury sanctions a Cambodian scam-compound senator. Breeze Cache rushes a patch. Researchers downplay OT malware hype, while NIST pushes for better OT visibility. Our guest is Eric Russo, Director, SOC Defensive Security at Barracuda, discussing the risks posed by employees downloading pirated software. Con artists charge crypto for counterfeit clearance. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you'll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Our guest is Eric Russo, Director, SOC Defensive Security at Barracuda, discussing the risks posed by employees downloading pirated or cracked software onto corporate devices. You can learn more here. Selected Reading Locked Shields 2026: 41 Nations Strengthen Cyber Resilience in World's Biggest Exercise (SecurityWeek) Open source models can find bugs as well as Mythos (The Register) CISA: US agency breached through Cisco vulnerability, FIRESTARTER backdoor allowed access through March (The Record) Trump Administration Vows Crackdown on Chinese Companies 'Exploiting' AI Models Made in US (SecurityWeek) Microsoft now lets admins uninstall Copilot on enterprise devices (Bleeping Computer) US sanctions Cambodian senator for millions earned through scam compounds (The Record) Cloudways Patches Actively Exploited File Upload Flaw in Breeze Cache Plugin (Beyond Machines) Dragos: Despite AI use, new malware targeting water plants is ‘hype' (CyberScoop) NIST cyber center to launch OT ‘visibility' project (Federal News Network) Crypto scam lures ships into Strait of Hormuz, falsely promising safe passage (Ars Technica) Share your feedback. What do you think about CyberWire Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show. Want to hear your company in the show? N2K CyberWire helps you reach the industry's most influential leaders and operators, while building visibility, authority, and connectivity across the cybersecurity community. Learn more at sponsor.thecyberwire.com. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Another week with Sen off mysteriously leaving Migs and Ro to hold down the fort. The boys talk about their time at the Sydney Comedy Festival (featuring Vietnamese/Cambodian Sen). Migs then talks about his upcoming South America trip at the end of the year including training for a trek, Ro continues to complain about the Sydney housing market, we have a few listener submissions and we end with the top work trends for 2026.Our segment this week is "Finding the Best," where we put head to head the greatest [insert name here]'s of all time i.e. who is the greatest Michael of all time?___________________________________________________________ FULL PODCAST EPISODES
The construction worker's son who learned to build spacecraft is about to disrupt a $1.4 trillion industry that hasn't changed in 70 years. Nick Callegari spent his childhood summers working construction sites alongside his father, a laborer who still builds walls in Florida using the exact same methods he used 30 years ago. Then Nick went to work as an engineer at SpaceX, where he watched a team challenge every assumption about what's possible and accomplish the extraordinary. That contrast haunted him. 41% of America's construction workforce retires by 2031. We're already millions of homes short. And Nick's own family experienced the crushing pain of housing insecurity, so he understands the problem that faces millions of American families. So he left SpaceX and rockets behind to solve it. In this deeply personal episode of The Optimistic Outlook, Forbes 30 Under 30 founder Nick Callegari reveals how his company Verustruct are using mobile robotics and AI-powered 3D printing to build affordable homes at a scale traditional construction never could, and why this matters to investors, manufacturers, and anyone who believes advanced technology should serve basic human needs first. Host Peng-Sang Cau— a Cambodian refugee, former founder, and now Siemens' startup ecosystem leader — brings her own story of survival and technology's promise to this conversation about who gets access to the future we're building. You'll discover: Why the housing shortage is a skilled labor crisis that automation must solve How the Verustruct mobile 3D printing system works differently and with greater agility than any other 3D printing technology for homes What $2.1M in pre-seed funding means for construction's digital transformation Why "the future is here, but not evenly distributed" — and what Siemens is doing about it The personal pain that drives mission-focused founders to tackle society's thorniest problems How Siemens for Startups partners with innovators from concept to automation at scale This isn't another startup story. It's about how we're finally applying spacecraft-level innovation to the fundamental right of shelter. For leaders in construction tech, real estate development, automation, venture capital, or manufacturing: this is the conversation about where digital transformation meets demographic crisis. Show notes: More about Verustruct: https://www.verustruct.com/ Siemens for Startups Program: https://www.siemens.com/en-us/company/innovation/startups/
Jay Rayner and the panel are at the Forum Theatre in Stockport answering the questions from a keen audience of home cooks. Joining Jay are chefs, cooks and food writers, Angela Gray, Sarah Rankin, Nisha Katona and Rob Owen Brown. The panellists discuss how to use orange in savoury dishes, the best uses for leftover celery, and the question on everyone's mind - should orange juice be with bits or smooth?Jay chats to chef and founder of local Cambodian restaurant, Y Sok about the flavours, techniques and importance of fish sauce in Cambodian cookery. Producer: Dulcie Whadcock Assistant Producer: William NortonA Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
Monday, 30th March 2026 Monday Night Meditation at the Cambodian Society of WA (CBSWA) with Ajahn Kassapa. These weekly teachings give an introduction into meditation and some guidance and basics into the practice of the Buddhist Path. They usually consist of a thirty-minute meditation, a short talk and then questions & answers. Chapters 00.00.00 Metta Sutta in English 00:03:27 Guided Meditation 00:36:10 Dharma Talk 00:58:00 Sharing of Merits 01:00:00 Close If you wish to support the BSWA, please use this link Ko-Fi BSWA teachings are available from: · BSWA Teachings · BSWA Podcast Channel · BSWA DeeperDhamma Podbean Channel · BSWA YouTube Teaching retrieved from CBSWA please visit to find out how to attend the monastery in person.
3. Westmoreland's three-phase plan focused on building massive infrastructure and then launching "crushing operations" to force North Vietnamese negotiations. However, the "search and destroy" metric of success—body counts—failed because 90% of operations made no enemy contact. The NVA often disappeared into trackless jungles to live to fight another day. Meanwhile, President Johnson respected Cambodian and Laotian neutrality despite NVA exploitation. He feared that widening the war into these vast sanctuaries would require massive troop increases the U.S. could not sustain, choosing instead to focus combat within South Vietnamese borders. (3)
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