Podcasts about Southeast Asia

Last time we spoke about the battle of Nanchang. After securing Hainan and targeting Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway corridors, Japan's 11th Army, backed by armor, air power, and riverine operations, sought a rapid, surgical seizure of Nanchang to sever eastern Chinese logistics and coerce Chongqing. China, reorganizing under Chiang Kai-shek, concentrated over 200,000 troops across 52 divisions in the Ninth and Third War Zones, with Xue Yue commanding the 9th War Zone in defense of Wuhan-Nanchang corridors. The fighting began with German-style, combined-arms river operations along the Xiushui and Gan rivers, including feints, river crossings, and heavy artillery, sometimes using poison gas. From March 20–23, Japanese forces established a beachhead and advanced into Fengxin, Shengmi, and later Nanchang, despite stiff Chinese resistance and bridges being destroyed. Chiang's strategic shift toward attrition pushed for broader offensives to disrupt railways and rear areas, though Chinese plans for a counteroffensive repeatedly stalled due to logistics and coordination issues. By early May, Japanese forces encircled and captured Nanchang, albeit at heavy cost, with Chinese casualties surpassing 43,000 dead and Japanese losses over 2,200 dead.    #187 The Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang-Shatow 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. Having seized Wuhan in a brutal offensive the previous year, the Japanese sought not just to hold their ground but to solidify their grip on this vital hub. Wuhan, a bustling metropolis at the confluence of the Yangtze and Han Rivers, had become a linchpin in their strategy, a base from which they could project power across central China. Yet, the city was far from secure, Chinese troops in northern Hubei and southern Henan, perched above the mighty Yangtze, posed an unrelenting threat. To relieve the mounting pressure on their newfound stronghold, the Japanese high command orchestrated a bold offensive against the towns of Suixian and Zaoyang. They aimed to annihilate the main force of the Chinese 5th War Zone, a move that would crush the Nationalist resistance in the region and secure their flanks. This theater of war, freshly designated as the 5th War Zone after the grueling Battle of Wuhan, encompassed a vast expanse west of Shashi in the upper Yangtze basin. It stretched across northern Hubei, southern Henan, and the rugged Dabie Mountains in eastern Anhui, forming a strategic bulwark that guarded the eastern approaches to Sichuan, the very heartland of the Nationalist government's central institutions. Historian Rana Mitter in Forgotten Ally described this zone as "a gateway of immense importance, a natural fortress that could either serve as a launchpad for offensives against Japanese-held territories or a defensive redoubt protecting the rear areas of Sichuan and Shaanxi". The terrain itself was a defender's dream and an attacker's nightmare: to the east rose the imposing Dabie Mountains, their peaks cloaked in mist and folklore; the Tongbai Mountains sliced across the north like a jagged spine; the Jing Mountains guarded the west; the Yangtze River snaked southward, its waters a formidable barrier; the Dahong Mountains dominated the center, offering hidden valleys for ambushes; and the Han River (also known as the Xiang River) carved a north-south path through it all. Two critical transport arteries—the Hanyi Road linking Hankou to Yichang in Hubei, and the Xianghua Road connecting Xiangyang to Huayuan near Hankou—crisscrossed this landscape, integrating the war zone into a web of mobility. From here, Chinese forces could menace the vital Pinghan Railway, that iron lifeline running from Beiping (modern Beijing) to Hankou, while also threatening the Wuhan region itself. In retreat, it provided a sanctuary to shield the Nationalist heartlands. As military strategist Sun Tzu might have appreciated, this area had long been a magnet for generals, its contours shaping the fates of empires since ancient times. Despite the 5th War Zone's intricate troop deployments, marked by units of varying combat prowess and a glaring shortage of heavy weapons, the Chinese forces made masterful use of the terrain to harass their invaders. Drawing from accounts in Li Zongren's memoirs, he noted how these defenders, often outgunned but never outmaneuvered, turned hills into fortresses and rivers into moats. In early April 1939, as spring rains turned paths to mud, Chinese troops ramped up their disruptions along the southern stretches of the Pinghan Railway, striking from both eastern and western flanks with guerrilla precision. What truly rattled the Japanese garrison in Wuhan was the arrival of reinforcements: six full divisions redeployed to Zaoyang, bolstering the Chinese capacity to launch flanking assaults that could unravel Japanese supply lines. Alarmed by this buildup, the Japanese 11th Army, ensconced in the Wuhan area under the command of General Yasuji Okamura, a figure whose tactical acumen would later earn him notoriety in the Pacific War, devised a daring plan. They intended to plunge deep into the 5th War Zone, smashing the core of the Chinese forces and rendering them impotent, thereby neutralizing the northwestern threat to Wuhan once and for all. From April onward, the Japanese mobilized with meticulous preparation, amassing troops equipped with formidable artillery, rumbling tanks, and squadrons of aircraft that darkened the skies. Historians estimate they committed roughly three and a half divisions to this endeavor, as detailed in Edward J. Drea's In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army. Employing a classic pincer movement, a two-flank encirclement coupled with a central breakthrough, they aimed for a swift, decisive strike to obliterate the main Chinese force in the narrow Suixian-Zaoyang corridor, squeezed between the Tongbai and Dahong Mountains. The offensive erupted in full fury on May 1, 1939, as Japanese columns surged forward like a tidal wave, their engines roaring and banners fluttering in the dust-choked air. General Li Zongren, the commander of the 5th War Zone, a man whose leadership had already shone in earlier campaigns like the defense of Tai'erzhuang in 1938, issued urgent orders to cease offensive actions against the Japanese and pivot to a defensive stance. Based on intelligence about the enemy's dispositions, Li orchestrated a comprehensive campaign structure, assigning precise defensive roles and battle plans to each unit. This was no haphazard scramble; it was a symphony of strategy, as Li himself recounted in his memoirs, emphasizing the need to exploit the terrain's natural advantages. While various Chinese war zones executed the "April Offensive" from late April to mid-May, actively harrying and containing Japanese forces, the 5th War Zone focused its energies on the southern segment of the Pinghan Railway, assaulting it from both sides in a bid to disrupt logistics. The main force of the 31st Army Group, under the command of Tang Enbo, a general known for his aggressive tactics and later criticized for corruption, shifted from elsewhere in Hubei to Zaoyang, fortifying the zone and posing a dire threat to the Japanese flanks and rear areas. To counter this peril and safeguard transportation along the Wuhan-Pinghan Railway, the Japanese, led by the formidable Okamura, unleashed their assault from the line stretching through Xinyang, Yingshan, and Zhongxiang. Mobilizing the 3rd, 13th, and 16th Divisions alongside the 2nd and 4th Cavalry Brigades, they charged toward the Suixian-Zaoyang region in western Hubei, intent on eradicating the Chinese main force and alleviating the siege-like pressure on Wuhan. In a masterful reorganization, Li Zongren divided his forces into two army groups, the left and right, plus a dedicated river defense army. His strategy was a blend of attrition and opportunism: harnessing the Tongbai and Dahong Mountains, clinging to key towns like lifelines, and grinding down the Japanese through prolonged warfare while biding time for a counterstroke. This approach echoed the Fabian tactics of ancient Rome, wearing the enemy thin before delivering the coup de grâce. The storm broke at dawn on May 1, when the main contingents of the Japanese 16th and 13th Divisions, bolstered by the 4th Cavalry Brigade from their bases in Zhongxiang and Jingshan, hurled themselves against the Chinese 37th and 180th Divisions of the Right Army Group. Supported by droning aircraft that strafed from above and tanks that churned the earth below, the Japanese advanced with mechanical precision. By May 4, they had shattered the defensive lines flanking Changshoudian, then surged along the east bank of the Xiang River toward Zaoyang in a massive offensive. Fierce combat raged through May 5, as described in Japanese war diaries compiled in Senshi Sōsho (the official Japanese war history series), where soldiers recounted the relentless Chinese resistance amid the smoke and clamor. The Japanese finally breached the defenses, turning their fury on the 122nd Division of the 41st Army. In a heroic stand, the 180th Division clung to Changshoudian, providing cover for the main force's retreat along the east-west Huangqi'an line. The 37th Division fell back to the Yaojiahe line, while elements of the 38th Division repositioned into Liushuigou. On May 6, the Japanese seized Changshoudian, punched through Huangqi'an, and drove northward, unleashing a devastating assault on the 122nd Division's positions near Wenjiamiao. Undeterred, Chinese defenders executed daring flanking maneuvers in the Fenglehe, Yaojiahe, Liushuihe, Shuanghe, and Zhangjiaji areas, turning the landscape into a labyrinth of ambushes. May 7 saw the Japanese pressing on, capturing Zhangjiaji and Shuanghe. By May 8, they assaulted Maozifan and Xinji, where ferocious battles erupted, soldiers clashing in hand-to-hand combat amid the ruins. By May 10, the Japanese had overrun Huyang Town and Xinye, advancing toward Tanghe and the northeastern fringes of Zaoyang. Yet, the Tanghe River front witnessed partial Chinese recoveries: remnants of the Right Army Group, alongside troops from east of the Xianghe, reclaimed Xinye. The 122nd and 180th Divisions withdrew north of Tanghe and Fancheng, while the 37th, 38th, and 132nd Divisions steadfastly held the east bank of the Xianghe River. Concurrently, the main force of the Japanese 3rd Division launched from Yingshan against the 84th and 13th Armies of the 11th Group Army in the Suixian sector. After a whirlwind of combat, the Chinese 84th Army retreated to the Taerwan position. On May 2, the 3rd Division targeted the Gaocheng position of the 13th Army within the 31st Group Army; the ensuing clashes in Taerwan and Gaocheng were a maelstrom of fire, with the Taerwan position exchanging hands multiple times like a deadly game of tug-of-war. By May 4, in a grim escalation, Japanese forces deployed poison gas, a violation of international norms that drew condemnation and is documented in Allied reports from the era, inflicting horrific casualties and compelling the Chinese to relinquish Gaocheng, which fell into enemy hands. On May 5, backed by aerial bombardments, tank charges, and artillery barrages, the Japanese renewed their onslaught along the Gaocheng River and the Lishan-Jiangjiahe line. By May 6, the beleaguered Chinese were forced back to the Tianhekou and Gaocheng line. Suixian succumbed on May 7. On May 8, the Japanese shattered the second line of the 84th Army, capturing Zaoyang and advancing on the Jiangtoudian position of the 85th Army. To evade encirclement, the defenders mounted a valiant resistance before withdrawing from Jiangtoudian; the 84th Army relocated to the Tanghe and Baihe areas, while the 39th Army embedded itself in the Dahongshan for guerrilla operations—a tactic that would bleed the Japanese through hit-and-run warfare, as noted in guerrilla warfare studies by Mao Zedong himself. By May 10, the bulk of the 31st Army Group maneuvered toward Tanghe, reaching north of Biyang by May 15. From Xinyang, Japanese forces struck at Tongbai on May 8; by May 10, elements from Zaoyang advanced to Zhangdian Town and Shangtun Town. In response, the 68th Army of the 1st War Zone dispatched the 143rd Division to defend Queshan and Minggang, and the 119th Division to hold Tongbai. After staunchly blocking the Japanese, they withdrew on May 11 to positions northwest and southwest of Tongbai, shielding the retreat of 5th War Zone units. The Japanese 4th Cavalry Brigade drove toward Tanghe, seizing Tanghe County on May 12. But the tide was turning. In a brilliant reversal, the Fifth War Zone commanded the 31st Army Group, in concert with the 2nd Army Group from the 1st War Zone, to advance from southwestern Henan. Their mission: encircle the bulk of Japanese forces on the Xiangdong Plain and deliver a crushing blow. The main force of the 33rd Army Group targeted Zaoyang, while other units pinned down Japanese rear guards in Zhongxiang. The Chinese counteroffensive erupted with swift successes, Tanghe County was recaptured on May 14, and Tongbai liberated on May 16, shattering the Japanese encirclement scheme. On May 19, after four grueling days of combat, Chinese forces mauled the retreating Japanese, reclaiming Zaoyang and leaving the fields strewn with enemy dead. The 39th Army of the Left Army Group dispersed into the mountains for guerrilla warfare, a shadowy campaign of sabotage and surprise. Forces of the Right Army Group east of the river, along with river defense units, conducted relentless raids on Japanese rears and supply lines over multiple days, sowing chaos before withdrawing to the west bank of the Xiang River on May 21. On May 22, they pressed toward Suixian, recapturing it on May 23. The Japanese, battered and depleted, retreated to their original garrisons in Zhongxiang and Yingshan, restoring the pre-war lines as the battle drew to a close. Throughout this clash, the Chinese held a marked superiority in manpower and coordination, though their deployments lacked full flexibility, briefly placing them on the defensive. After protracted, blood-soaked fighting, they restored the original equilibrium. Despite grievous losses, the Chinese thwarted the Japanese encirclement and exacted a heavy toll, reports from the time, corroborated by Japanese records in Senshi Sōsho, indicate over 13,000 Japanese killed or wounded, with more than 5,000 corpses abandoned on the battlefield. This fulfilled the strategic goal of containing and eroding Japanese strength. Chinese casualties surpassed 25,000, a testament to the ferocity of the struggle. The 5th War Zone seized the initiative in advances and retreats, deftly shifting to outer lines and maintaining positional advantages. As Japanese forces withdrew, Chinese pursuers harried and obstructed them, yielding substantial victories. The Battle of Suizao spanned less than three weeks. The Japanese main force pierced defenses on the east bank of the Han River, advancing to encircle one flank as planned. However, the other two formations met fierce opposition near Suixian and northward, stalling their progress. Adapting to the battlefield's ebb and flow, the Fifth War Zone transformed its tactics: the main force escaped encirclement, maneuvered to outer lines for offensives, and exploited terrain to hammer the Japanese. The pivotal order to flip from defense to offense doomed the encirclement; with the counterattack triumphant, the Japanese declined to hold and retreated. The Chinese pursued with unyielding vigor. By May 24, they had reclaimed Zaoyang, Tongbai, and other locales. Save for Suixian County, the Japanese had fallen back to pre-war positions, reinstating the regional status quo. Thus, the battle concluded, a chapter of resilience etched into the chronicles of China's defiance. In the sweltering heat of southern China, where the humid air clung to every breath like a persistent fog, the Japanese General Staff basked in what they called a triumphant offensive and defensive campaign in Guangdong. But victory, as history so often teaches, is a double-edged sword. By early 1939, the strain was palpable. Their secret supply line snaking from the British colony of Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland was under constant disruption, raids by shadowy guerrilla bands, opportunistic smugglers, and the sheer unpredictability of wartime logistics turning what should have been a lifeline into a leaky sieve. Blockading the entire coastline? A pipe dream, given the vast, jagged shores of Guangdong, dotted with hidden coves and fishing villages that had evaded imperial edicts for centuries. Yet, the General Staff's priorities were unyielding, laser-focused on strangling the Nationalist capital of Chongqing through a relentless blockade. This meant the 21st Army, that workhorse of the Japanese invasion force, had to stay in the fight—no rest for the weary. Drawing from historical records like the Senshi Sōsho (War History Series) compiled by Japan's National Institute for Defense Studies, we know that after the 21st Army reported severing what they dubbed the "secret transport line" at Xinhui, a gritty, hard-fought skirmish that left the local landscape scarred with craters and abandoned supply crates, the General Staff circled back to the idea of a full coastal blockade. It was a classic case of military opportunism: staff officers, poring over maps in dimly lit war rooms in Tokyo, suddenly "discovered" Shantou as a major port. Not just any port, mind you, but a bustling hub tied to the heartstrings of Guangdong's overseas Chinese communities. Shantou and nearby Chao'an weren't mere dots on a map; they were the ancestral hometowns of countless Chaoshan people who had ventured abroad to Southeast Asia, sending back remittances that flowed like lifeblood into the region. Historical economic studies, such as those in The Overseas Chinese in the People's Republic of China by Stephen Fitzgerald, highlight how these funds from the Chaoshan diaspora, often funneled through family networks in places like Singapore and Thailand, were substantial, indirectly fueling China's war effort by sustaining local economies and even purchasing arms on the black market. The Chao-Shao Highway, that dusty artery running near Shantou, was pinpointed as a critical vein connecting Hong Kong's ports to the mainland's interior. So, in early June 1939, the die was cast: Army Order No. 310 thundered from headquarters, commanding the 21st Army to seize Shantou. The Chief of the General Staff himself provided the strategic blueprint, a personal touch that underscored the operation's gravity. The Army Department christened the Chaoshan push "Operation Hua," a nod perhaps to the flowery illusions of easy conquest, while instructing the Navy Department to tag along for the ride. In naval parlance, it became "Operation J," a cryptic label that masked the sheer scale unfolding. Under the Headquarters' watchful eye, what started as a modest blockade morphed into a massive amphibious assault, conjured seemingly out of thin air like a magician's trick, but one with deadly props. The 5th Fleet's orders mobilized an impressive lineup: the 9th Squadron for heavy hitting, the 5th Mine Boat Squadron to clear watery hazards, the 12th and 21st Sweeper Squadrons sweeping for mines like diligent janitors of the sea, the 45th Destroyer Squadron adding destroyer muscle, and air power from the 3rd Combined Air Group (boasting 24 land-based attack aircraft and 9 reconnaissance planes that could spot a fishing boat from miles away). Then there was the Chiyoda Air Group with its 9 reconnaissance aircraft, the Guangdong Air Group contributing a quirky airship and one more recon plane, the 9th Special Landing Squadron from Sasebo trained for beach assaults, and a flotilla of special ships for logistics. On the ground, the 21st Army threw in the 132nd Brigade from the 104th Division, beefed up with the 76th Infantry Battalion, two mountain artillery battalions for lobbing shells over rugged terrain, two engineer battalions to bridge rivers and clear paths, a light armored vehicle platoon rumbling with mechanized menace, and a river-crossing supplies company to keep the troops fed and armed. All under the command of Brigade Commander Juro Goto, a stern officer whose tactical acumen was forged in earlier Manchurian campaigns. The convoy's size demanded rehearsals; the 132nd Brigade trained for boat transfers at Magong in the Penghu Islands, practicing the precarious dance of loading men and gear onto rocking vessels under simulated fire. Secrecy shrouded the whole affair, many officers and soldiers, boarding ships in the dead of night, whispered among themselves that they were finally heading home to Japan, a cruel ruse to maintain operational security. For extra punch, the 21st Army tacked on the 31st Air Squadron for air support, their planes droning like angry hornets ready to sting. This overkill didn't sit well with everyone. Lieutenant General Ando Rikichi, the pragmatic commander overseeing Japanese forces in the region, must have fumed in his Guangzhou headquarters. His intelligence staff, drawing from intercepted radio chatter and local spies as noted in postwar analyses like The Japanese Army in World War II by Gordon L. Rottman, reported that the Chongqing forces in Chaozhou were laughably thin: just the 9th Independent Brigade, a couple of security regiments, and ragtag "self-defense groups" of armed civilians. Why unleash such a sledgehammer on a fly? The mobilization's magnitude even forced a reshuffling of defenses around Guangzhou, pulling resources from the 12th Army's front lines and overburdening the already stretched 18th Division. It was bureaucratic overreach at its finest, a testament to the Imperial Staff's penchant for grand gestures over tactical efficiency. Meanwhile, on the Nationalist side, the winds of war carried whispers of impending doom. The National Revolutionary Army's war histories, such as those compiled in the Zhongguo Kangri Zhanzheng Shi (History of China's War of Resistance Against Japan), note that Chiang Kai-shek's Military Commission had snagged intelligence as early as February 1939 about Japan's plans for a large-scale invasion of Shantou. The efficiency of the Military Command's Second Bureau and the Military Intelligence Bureau was nothing short of astonishing, networks of agents, double agents, and radio intercepts piercing the veil of Japanese secrecy. Even as the convoy slipped out of Penghu, a detailed report outlining operational orders landed on Commander Zhang Fakui's desk, the ink still fresh. Zhang, a battle-hardened strategist whose career spanned the Northern Expedition and beyond , had four months to prepare for what would be dubbed the decisive battle of Chaoshan. Yet, in a move that baffled some contemporaries, he chose not to fortify and defend it tooth and nail. After the Fourth War Zone submitted its opinions, likely heated debates in smoke-filled command posts, Chiang Kai-shek greenlit the plan. By March, the Military Commission issued its strategic policy: when the enemy hit Chaoshan, a sliver of regular troops would team up with civilian armed forces for mobile and guerrilla warfare, grinding down the invaders like sandpaper on steel. The orders specified guerrilla zones in Chaozhou, Jiaxing, and Huizhou, unifying local militias under a banner of "extensive guerrilla warfare" to coordinate with regular army maneuvers, gradually eroding the Japanese thrust. In essence, the 4th War Zone wasn't tasked with holding Chao'an and Shantou at all costs; instead, they'd strike hard during the landing, then let guerrillas harry the occupiers post-capture. It was a doctrine of attrition in a "confined battlefield," honing skills through maneuver and ambush. Remarkably, the fall of these cities was preordained by the Military Commission three months before the Japanese even issued their orders, a strategic feint that echoed ancient Sun Tzu tactics of yielding ground to preserve strength. To execute this, the 4th War Zone birthed the Chao-Jia-Hui Guerrilla Command after meticulous preparation, with General Zou Hong, head of Guangdong's Security Bureau and a no-nonsense administrator known for his anti-smuggling campaigns, taking the helm. In just three months, Zhang Fakui scraped together the Independent 9th Brigade, the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Guangdong Provincial Security Regiments, and the Security Training Regiment. Even with the 9th Army Group lurking nearby, he handed the reins of the Chao-Shan operation to the 12th Army Group's planners. Their March guidelines sketched three lines of resistance from the coast to the mountains, a staged withdrawal that allowed frontline defenders to melt away like ghosts. This blueprint mirrored Chiang Kai-shek's post-Wuhan reassessment, where the loss of that key city in 1938 prompted a shift to protracted warfare. A Xinhua News Agency columnist later summed it up scathingly: "The Chongqing government, having lost its will to resist, colludes with the Japanese and seeks to eliminate the Communists, adopting a policy of passive resistance." This narrative, propagated by Communist sources, dogged Chiang and the National Revolutionary Army for decades, painting them as defeatists even as they bled the Japanese dry through attrition. February 1939 saw Commander Zhang kicking off a reorganization of the 12th Army Group, transforming it from a patchwork force into something resembling a modern army. He could have hunkered down, assigning troops to a desperate defense of Chaoshan, but that would have handed the initiative to the overcautious Japanese General Staff, whose activism often bordered on paranoia. Zhang, with the wisdom of a seasoned general who had navigated the treacherous politics of pre-war China, weighed the scales carefully. His vision? Forge the 12th Army Group into a nimble field army, not squander tens of thousands on a secondary port. Japan's naval and air dominance—evident in the devastation of Shanghai in 1937, meant Guangdong's forces could be pulverized in Shantou just as easily. Losing Chaozhou and Shantou? Acceptable, if it preserved core strength for the long haul. Post-Xinhui, Zhang doubled down on resistance, channeling efforts into live-fire exercises for the 12th Army, turning green recruits into battle-ready soldiers amid the Guangdong hills. The war's trajectory after 1939 would vindicate him: his forces became pivotal in later counteroffensives, proving that a living army trumped dead cities. Opting out of a static defense, Zhang pivoted to guerrilla warfare to bleed the Japanese while clutching strategic initiative. He ordered local governments to whip up coastal guerrilla forces from Chao'an to Huizhou—melding militias, national guards, police, and private armed groups into official folds. These weren't elite shock troops, but in wartime's chaos, they controlled locales effectively, disrupting supply lines and gathering intel. For surprises, he unleashed two mobile units: the 9th Independent Brigade and the 20th Independent Brigade. Formed fresh after the War of Resistance erupted, these brigades shone for their efficiency within the cumbersome Guangdong Army structure. Division-level units were too bulky for spotty communications, so Yu Hanmou's command birthed these independent outfits, staffed with crack officers. The 9th, packing direct-fire artillery for punch, and the 20th, dubbed semi-mechanized for its truck-borne speed, prowled the Chaoshan–Huizhou coast from 1939. Zhang retained their three-regiment setup, naming Hua Zhenzhong and Zhang Shou as commanders, granting them autonomy to command in the field like roving wolves. As the 9th Independent Brigade shifted to Shantou, its 627th Regiment was still reorganizing in Heyuan, a logistical hiccup amid the scramble. Hua Zhenzhong, a commander noted for his tactical flexibility in regional annals, deployed the 625th Regiment and 5th Security Regiment along the coast, with the 626th as reserve in Chao'an. Though the Fourth War Zone had written off Chaoshan, Zhang yearned to showcase Guangdong grit before the pullback. Dawn broke on June 21, 1939, at 4:30 a.m., with Japanese reconnaissance planes slicing through the fog over Shantou, Anbu, and Nanbeigang, ghostly silhouettes against the gray sky. By 5:30, the mist lifted, revealing a nightmare armada: over 40 destroyers and 70–80 landing craft churning toward the coast on multiple vectors, their hulls cutting the waves like knives. The 626th Regiment's 3rd Battalion at Donghushan met the first wave with a hail of fire from six light machine guns, repelling the initial boats in a frenzy of splashes and shouts. But the brigade's long-range guns couldn't stem the tide; Hua focused on key chokepoints, aiming to bloody the invaders rather than obliterate them. By morning, the 3rd Battalion of the 625th Regiment charged into Shantou City, joined by the local police corps digging in amid urban sprawl. Combat raged at Xinjin Port and the airport's fringes, where Nationalist troops traded shots with advancing Japanese under the absent shadow of a Chinese navy. Japanese naval guns, massed offshore, pounded the outskirts like thunder gods in fury. By 2:00 a.m. on the 22nd, Shantou crumpled as defenders' ammo ran dry, the city falling in a haze of smoke and echoes. Before the loss, Hua had positioned the 1st Battalion of the 5th Security Regiment at Anbu, guarding the road to Chao'an. Local lore, preserved in oral histories collected by the Chaozhou Historical Society, recalls Battalion Commander Du Ruo leading from the front, rifle in hand, but Japanese barrages, bolstered by superior firepower—forced a retreat. Post-capture, Tokyo's forces paused to consolidate, unleashing massacres on fleeing civilians in the outskirts. A flotilla of civilian boats, intercepted at sea, became a grim training ground for bayonet drills, a barbarity echoed in survivor testimonies compiled in The Rape of Nanking and Beyond extensions to Guangdong atrocities. With Shantou gone, Hua pivoted to flank defense, orchestrating night raids on Japanese positions around Anbu and Meixi. On June 24th, Major Du Ruo spearheaded an assault into Anbu but fell gravely wounded amid the chaos. Later, the 2nd Battalion of the 626th overran spots near Meixi. A Japanese sea-flanking maneuver targeted Anbu, but Nationalists held at Liulong, sparking nocturnal clashes, grenade volleys, bayonet charges, and hand-to-hand brawls that drained both sides like a slow bleed. June 26th saw the 132nd Brigade lumber toward Chao'an. Hua weighed options: all-out assault or guerrilla fade? He chose to dig in on the outskirts, reserving two companies of the 625th and a special ops battalion in the city. The 27th brought a day-long Japanese onslaught, culminating in Chao'an's fall after fierce rear-guard actions by the 9th Independent Brigade. Evacuations preceded the collapse, with Japanese propaganda banners fluttering falsely, claiming Nationalists had abandoned defense. Yet Hua's call preserved his brigade for future fights; the Japanese claimed an empty prize. 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. The Japanese operations had yet again plugged up supply leaks into Nationalist China. The fall of Suixian, Zaoyang and Shantou were heavy losses for the Chinese war effort. However the Chinese were also able to exact heavy casualties on the invaders and thwarted their encirclement attempts. China was still in the fight for her life.

It’s the annual discoveries episode! Thanks to Stephen and Aryeh for their corrections and suggestions this week! Further reading: Salinella Salve: The Vanishing Creature That Defied Science for Over a Century Three new species of the genus Scutiger Baeticoniscus carmonaensis sp. nov. a new Isopod found in an underground aqueduct from the Roman period located in Southwest Spain (Crustacea, Isopoda, Trichoniscidae) A new species of supergiant Bathynomus Giant ‘Darth Vader' sea bug discovered off the coast of Vietnam A New Species of easter egg weevil Bizarre ‘bone collector’ caterpillar discovered by UH scientists Researchers Discover ‘Death Ball’ Sponge and Dozens of Other Bizarre Deep-Sea Creatures in the Southern Ocean 1,500th Bat Species Discovered in Africa’s Equatorial Guinea Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I'm your host, Kate Shaw. This week we're going to learn about some animals discovered in 2025! We'll also make this our corrections episode. This is the last new episode we'll have until the end of August when we reach our 500th episode, but don't worry, until then there will be rescheduled Patreon episodes every single week as usual. We'll start with some corrections. Shortly after episode 452 was published in September, where we talked about the swamp wallaby and some other animals, Stephen emailed to point out that I'd made a major mistake! In that episode I said that not all animals called wallabies were actually members of the family Macropodidae, but that's actually not the case. All wallabies are macropodids, but they aren't all members of the same genus in that family. I corrected the episode but I wanted to mention it here too so no one is confused. Stephen also caught another mistake in episode 458, which is embarrassing. I mentioned that marsupials didn't just live in Australia, they were found all over the world. That's not actually the case! Marsupials are found in North and South America, Australia, New Guinea and nearby areas, and that's it. They were once also found in what is now Asia, but that was millions of years ago. So I apologize to everyone in Africa, Asia, and Europe who were excited about finding out what their local marsupials are. You don't have any, sorry. One update that Aryeh asked about specifically is an animal we talked about in episode 445, salinella. Aryeh emailed asking for more information if I could find any, because it's such a fascinating mystery! I looked for some more recent findings, unfortunately without luck. I do have an article linked in the show notes that goes into detail about everything we covered in that episode, though, dated to mid-January 2026, and it's a nice clear account. Now, let's get into the 2025 discoveries! There are lots more animals that were discovered last year, but I just chose some that I thought were especially interesting. Mostly I chose ones that I thought had funny names. Let's start with three new species of frog in the genus Scutiger. Species in this genus are called lazy toads and I couldn't find out why. Maybe they don't like to move around too much. Lazy toads live in mountains in some parts of Asia, and we don't know very much about most of the 31 species described so far. Probably the most common lazy toad is the Sikkim lazy toad that lives along high altitude streams in the Himalaya Mountains. It's mottled greenish-brown and yellowish in color with lots of warts, and while its feet have webbed toes, it doesn't have webbed fingers on its little froggy hands. This is your reminder that every toad is a frog but not every frog is a toad. The Sikkim lazy toad grows about two and a half inches long, or about 65 mm, from nose to butt. It seems to be pretty average for a lazy toad. The three new species of lazy toad are found in Yunnan Province in China, in a mountainous region where several species of lazy toad were already known. Between 2021 and 2024, a team of scientists collected 27 lazy toads from various places, then carefully examined them to see if they were species already known to science. This included genetic analysis. The team compared their findings with other lazy toad species and discovered that not all of the specimens matched any known species. Further comparison with each other revealed that the team had discovered three new species, which they described in December of 2025. Next, isopods are common crustaceans that live throughout the world. You have undoubtedly seen at least one species of isopod, because an animal with lots of common names, including woodlouse, pill bug, roly-poly, and sowbug, is a terrestrial isopod. That's right, the roly-poly is not a bug or a centipede but a crustacean. The order Isopoda contains more than 10,000 species, and there are undoubtedly thousands more that haven't been discovered by scientists yet. About half the species discovered so far live on land and the other half live in water, most in the ocean but some in fresh water. They don't all look like roly-polies, of course. Many look like their distant crustacean cousins, shrimps and crayfish, while others look more like weird centipedes or fleas or worms. There's a lot of variation in an animal that's extremely common throughout the world, so it's no surprise that more species are discovered almost every year. In 2021 and 2022, a team of Spanish scientists took a biological survey of an ancient Roman tunnel system beneath Carmona, Spain. The tunnels were built around 2,000 years ago as a water source, since they capture groundwater, but it hasn't been used in so long that it's more or less a natural environment these days. The scientists quickly discovered plenty of life in the tunnels, including an isopod living in cracks in some ancient timbers. It grows about two and a half millimeters long and actually does look a lot like a tiny roly-poly. It has long antennae and its body mostly lacks pigment, but it does have dark eyes. Most animals that live in total darkness eventually evolve to no longer have functioning eyes, since they don't need them, but that isn't the case for this new isopod. Scientists think it might take advantage of small amounts of light available near the tunnel entrances. As far as the scientists can tell, the Carmona isopod only lives in this one tunnel system, so it's vulnerable to pollutants and human activity that might disrupt its underground home. Another new isopod species that's vulnerable to human activity, in this case overfishing, lives off the coast of Vietnam. It's another isopod that looks a lot like a roly-poly, which I swear is not what every isopod looks like. It's a deep-sea animal that hunts for food on the ocean floor, and it's a popular delicacy in Vietnam. Remember, it's a crustacean, and people say it tastes like another crustacean, lobster. In fact, scientists discovered their specimens in a fish market. Deep-sea animals sometimes feature what's called deep-sea gigantism. Most isopods are quite small, no more than a few cm at most, but the new species grows almost 13 inches long, or over 32 cm. It's almost the largest isopod known. Its head covering made the scientists think of Darth Vader's helmet, so it's been named Bathynomus vaderi. Next we have a new species of Easter egg weevil, a flightless beetle found on many islands in Southeast Asia. Easter egg weevils are beautiful, with every species having a different pattern of spots and stripes. Many are brightly colored and iridescent. The new species shows a lot of variability, but it's basically a black beetle with a diamond-shaped pattern that can be yellow, gold, or blue. Some individuals have pink spots in the middle of some of the diamonds. It's really pretty and that is just about all I could find out about it. Another new insect is a type of Hawaiian fancy case caterpillar, which metamorphose into moths. They're only found on the Hawaiian islands, and there are over 350 species known. The new species has been named the bone collector, because of what the caterpillar does. Fancy case caterpillars spin a sort of shell out of silk, which is called a case, and the caterpillar carries its case around with it as protection. Some of the cases are unadorned but resemble tree bark, while many species will decorate the case with lichens, sand, or other items that help it blend in with its background. Some fancy case caterpillars can live in water as well as on land, and while most caterpillars eat plant material, some fancy case caterpillars eat insects. That's the situation with the bone collector caterpillar. It lives in spider webs, which right there is astonishing, and decorates its case with bits and pieces of dead insect it finds in the web. This can include wings, heads, legs, and other body parts. The bone collector caterpillar eats insects, and it will chew through strands of the spider's web to get to a trapped insect before the spider does. Sometimes it will eat what's left of a spider's meal once the spider is finished. The bone collector caterpillar has only been found in one tiny part of O'ahu, a 15-square-km area of forest, although researchers think it was probably much more widespread before invasive plants and animals were introduced to the island. Next, the Antarctic Ocean is one of the least explored parts of the world, and a whole batch of new species was announced in 2025 after two recent expeditions. One of the expeditions explored ocean that was newly revealed after a huge iceberg split off the ice shelf off West Antarctica in early 2025. That's not where the expedition had planned to go, but it happened to be nearby when the iceberg broke off, and of course the team immediately went to take a look. Back in episode 199 we talked about some carnivorous sponges. Sponges have been around for more than half a billion years, and early on they evolved a simple but effective body plan that they mostly still retain. Most sponges have a skeleton made of calcium carbonate that forms a sort of dense net that's covered with soft body tissues. The sponge has lots of open pores in the outside of its body, which generally just resembles a sack or sometimes a tube, with one end attached to something hard like a rock, or just the bottom of the ocean. Water flows into the sponge's tissues through the pores, and special cells filter out particles of food from the water, much of it microscopic, and release any waste material. The sponge doesn't have a stomach or any kind of digestive tract. The cells process the food individually and pass on any extra nutrients to adjoining cells. In 1995, scientists discovered a tiny sponge that wasn't a regular filter feeder. It had little hooks all over it, and it turns out that when a small animal gets caught on the hooks, the sponge grows a membrane that envelops the animal within a few hours. The cells of the membrane contain bacteria that help digest the animal so the cells can absorb the nutrients. Since then, other carnivorous sponges have been discovered, or scientists have found that some sponges already known to science are actually carnivorous. That's the case with the ping-pong tree sponge. It looks kind of like a bunch of grapes on a central stem that grows up from the bottom of the ocean, and it can be more than 20 inches tall, or 50 cm. The little balls are actually balloon-like structures that inflate with water and are covered with little hooks. It was discovered off the coast of South America near Easter Island, in deep water where the sea floor is mostly made of hardened lava. It was classified in the genus Chondrocladia, and so far there are more than 30 other species known. The reason we're talking about the ping-pong tree sponge is that a new species of Chondrocladia has been discovered in the Antarctic Ocean, and it looks a lot like the ping-pong tree sponge. It's been dubbed the death-ball sponge, which is hilarious. It was found two and a quarter miles deep on the ocean floor, or 3.6 km, and while scientists have determined it's a new species of sponge, it hasn't been described yet. It's one of 30 new species found so far, and the team says that there are many other specimens collected that haven't been studied yet. We haven't talked about any new mammal discoveries yet, so let's finish with one of my favorites, a new bat! It was discovered on Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea, which is part of Africa. During a 2024 biodiversity assessment on the island, a PhD student named Laura Torrent captured a bat that turned out to be not only a brand new species, it is the 1,500th species of bat known to science! Pipistrellus etula gets its name from the local language, Bantu, since “etula” means both “island” and “god of the island” in that language. The bat was found in forests at elevations over 1,000 meters, on the slopes of a volcano. Back in 1989, a different researcher captured a few of the bats on another volcano, but never got a chance to examine them to determine if they were a new species. When Torrent's team were studying their bats, one of the things they did was compare them to the preserved specimens from 1989, and they discovered the bats were indeed a match. P. etula is a type of vesper bat, which is mostly active at dusk and eats insects. It's brown with black wings and ears. Just like all the other species we've talked about today, now that we know it exists, it can be protected and studied in the wild. That's what science is really for, after all. It's not just to satisfy our human curiosity and desire for knowledge, although that's important too. It's so we can make this world a better place for everyone to live—humans, animals, plants, isopods, weird caterpillars, and everything else on Earth and beyond. You can find Strange Animals Podcast at strangeanimalspodcast.blubrry.net. That's blueberry without any E's. Thanks for listening! I'll see you in August.

Dr. Kari Johnstone joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they discuss how traffickers adapt fast, moving money, victims, and exploitation through digital systems most of us interact with every day, examining whether our institutions are adapting fast enough to protect victims without them risking everything to testify.Dr. Kari JohnstoneDr. Kari Johnstone is the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, representing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe at the political level on human trafficking issues and coordinating anti-trafficking efforts across the OSCE region. Before joining the OSCE, Dr. Johnstone spent nearly a decade (2014-2023) as Senior Official, Acting Director, and Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), where she advised senior leadership on global trafficking policy and programming and oversaw the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Her extensive U.S. government service also includes senior roles in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Dr. Johnstone holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.Key PointsThe OSCE survey revealed a 17-fold increase in forced criminality cases over five years across the 57 member states, making it the fastest growing form of human trafficking globally.Forced scamming, which originated in Southeast Asia, is now being exported to other regions as criminals adopt this lucrative business model that exploits victims with brutal tactics to defraud others.Technology and artificial intelligence present both challenges and opportunities in combating trafficking, allowing law enforcement to process data more quickly to find victims and perpetrators while also being misused by traffickers for recruitment and exploitation.Financial intelligence and following the money can supplement or even replace victim testimony in prosecutions, reducing the burden on survivors and providing effective pathways to convict traffickers.The non-punishment principle remains woefully inadequate in practice worldwide, with victims often arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for crimes directly related to their trafficking experience, creating lifelong consequences that prevent access to housing, employment, and stability.The United States leads globally on criminal record relief for trafficking survivors, with 48-49 states having vacature or expungement laws and new federal legislation (Trafficking Survivor Relief Act) awaiting presidential signature, though much work remains worldwide.Victim assistance must be unlinked from the criminal justice process, allowing survivors to receive care and services first before deciding whether to cooperate with law enforcement, which actually increases the likelihood they will come forward and participate.The demographics of trafficking victims are shifting beyond stereotypes, with forced scamming targeting educated individuals with IT and language skills, while forced criminality increasingly exploits younger children, including those under age 10, for drug-related crimes and violence.ResourcesOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human BeingsProtocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (UN Palermo Protocol)UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in PersonsU.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in PersonsTrafficking in Persons ReportTrafficking Survivors Relief ActEnding Human Trafficking PodcastTranscriptTranscript will be here when available.

In this conversation, Britten is joined by returning guest Suprasensory Shahir for a wide-ranging meditation on magic and The Magician (both as an archetype and as the first card of the Major Arcana). Together, they explore how magic moves through individuals and groups, why it resists ownership or hoarding, and what it means to live in right relationship with power. Britten also shares context around The Magician's Table, including Shahir's unprecedented return as a 13th Reader for 2026, and reflects on why presence, resonance, and devotion (rather than credentials) are the true thresholds for this work.   Topics They Cover: Magic and The Magician as an archetype, and the tarot card that inspired The Magician's Table Why magic wants to circulate, move, and be shared - not contained or possessed Personal magic versus group magic, and how power moves through a collective field Shahir's role as a 13th Reader, and what it means to hold space for others while participating fully Why Britten trusts intuitive selection over logic when inviting 13th Readers The structure of The Magician's Table: 12 Magicians, one 13th Reader, and why every seat matters Presence as the primary commitment and the real work of showing up A shared belief that everyone is magical   About Suprasensory Shahir: Suprasensory Shahir (they/he) is a love devotee mystic who shows up as an astrologer of the moment & diviner of the future. They embrace the spiritual tools of tarot, astrology & spirit guide connections to help people embrace a magical life. Shahir is a Queer Muslim from Southeast Asia who aligns themselves with Sufism, a mystical and inward-focused dimension of Islam.  Consultation: https://suprasensory.as.me/schedule.php  Writing: https://suprasensory.substack.com/  YouTube: Suprasensory Astrology https://www.youtube.com/@suprasensory  Instagram & Threads: https://www.instagram.com/suprasensoryshahir    +++ Introducing the 13th Readers for 2026: Arizona Smith: @arizonasmithhealing Leanne Thurogood: @oftheearthesoteric Lily Hussey: @goodhussey Suprasensory Shahir: @suprasensoryshahir +++ E M E R G E N C E  A S T R O L O G Y ⁠⁠https://brittenlarue.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@brittenlarue Order Living Astrology Join my newsletter here Check out my new podcast CRYSTAL BALLERS on Spotify, Podbean, and Apple. +++ Podcast art: Angela George. Podcast music: Jonathan Koe.    

In this week's episode of the ArtTactic Podcast, host Adam Green takes a closer look at Art SG, one of the few major art fairs to kick off the global calendar each January, and examines how Singapore's art market continues to evolve within the broader Asian ecosystem. Joined by Vivienne Chow, London correspondent and co-author of The Asia Pivot for Artnet News, they discuss how this year's edition of the fair performed, the makeup of the exhibitor list, and what it reveals about shifting gallery strategies in Asia. The conversation also explores Singapore's growing role as a regional hub, the recent influx of wealth, and what these dynamics mean for collectors, galleries, and the future of the market in Southeast Asia.

China's embassy in Manila has launched an unprecedented public campaign against Philippine government officials. In this episode, Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela - Beijing's primary target - explains what's at stake when foreign embassies publicly threaten democratic voices.The controversy began when Tarriela posted images from a student presentation featuring AI-generated caricatures of Xi Jinping. China's embassy called it “attacking and smearing Chinese leaders” and a “serious violation of China's political dignity.” Beijing summoned the Philippine ambassador and demanded Tarriela “pay the price.” Tarriela refused to apologize, receiving backing from Philippine officials and strong public support - 94% of Filipinos support transparency efforts in the West Philippine Sea.Tarriela identifies three reasons behind Beijing's escalation: the Philippines chairs ASEAN in 2026 and transparency during regional meetings could expose Chinese actions to neighboring countries; China may want to influence the 2028 Philippine election by reducing focus on West Philippine Sea issues; and transparency prevents China from executing operations like illegal reclamation without immediate international scrutiny.He describes coordination between the Chinese embassy and online accounts that amplify Beijing's messaging with identical talking points - evidence of organized information operations. Tarriela also addresses allegations that our co-host, the SeaLight Foundation's Ray Powell, is a U.S. agent providing him with money and instructions, while explaining why Powell's documentation of Chinese activities across Southeast Asia challenges Beijing's narrative.Since Tarriela's last podcast appearance in May 2024, Chinese Coast Guard vessels have moved closer to Philippine shores, now operating near Pangasinan, Ilocos, Mindoro, and Bataan. Meanwhile, transparency efforts have achieved measurable results: Filipino awareness of West Philippine Sea issues has grown significantly, and international embassies that previously avoided naming China now publicly identify Chinese actions.Tarriela makes the case for deploying U.S. Coast Guard vessels rather than Navy warships to counter China's gray-zone tactics, and explains why he continues speaking out despite personal attacks: “Standing up for our rights is the obligation of everybody. We owe this to our national heroes and to the next generation.”In the post-interview banter, Ray and Jim discuss how the Chinese embassy has also targeted Ray personally for SeaLight's investigation into Chinese influence over Mandarin-language media outlets in the Philippines. They explore parallels with Australia's experience combating similar influence operations and debate how democracies can balance freedom of the press with transparency about foreign funding and direction of media organizations.

Juanita Headley is the advocacy & communications representative at the Global Anti-Scam Organization. She is also an anti-trafficking advocate, human rights executive, and TEDx Speaker. In this episode, Headley joins host Chris Morgan to discuss scam compounds in Southeast Asia, the tactics traffickers use to lure victims inside, bringing cybercriminals to justice, and more. To learn more about the Global Anti-Scam Organization, or GASO, visit https://www.globalantiscam.org. • For more on cybersecurity, visit us at https://cybersecurityventures.com.

This week, the boys head to 1945, a peaceful and chipper year in history, to discuss Billy Wilder's masterpiece about an alcoholic, “The Lost Weekend”. After Dave and John give mini-reviews about “Mercy” (2026) and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (2025), and John gripes about his 40-minutes of trailers ahead of “Avatar”, the boys give a brief year-in-review of 1945, before John tries to convince Dave and Jeff to elevate this ‘great' movie to a ‘gold star'. Grab a drink and join us! linktr.ee/theloveofcinema - Check out our YouTube page!  Our phone number is 646-484-9298. It accepts texts or voice messages.  0:00 Intro; 4:06 “Mercy” mini-review; 7:06 “Avatar: Fire and Ash” mini-review; 13:53 Gripes about long movie trailers; 18:08 1945 Year in Review; 33:10 Films of 1945: “The Lost Weekend”; 1:19:41 What You Been Watching?; 1:24:54 Next Week's Episode Teaser Additional Cast/Crew: Ray Milland, Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, John Seitz, Miklos Rozsa, Edith Head, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Doris Dowling, Lillian Fontaine, Charles R. Jackson, Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kylie Rogers, Annabelle Wallis, Timur Bekmambetov, James Cameron, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Yeoh, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin. Hosts: Dave Green, Jeff Ostermueller, John Say Edited & Produced by Dave Green. Beer Sponsor: Carlos Barrozo Music Sponsor: Dasein Dasein on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ 
Dasein on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/dasein/1637517407 Recommendations: Life of Chuck, Jack Fisk, Fallout, Hamnet, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The Pitt, The Lord of the Rings. Additional Tags: Olivia De Havilland, Joan Fontaine, The Andrews Sisters, Gordon Ramsay, Thelma Schoonmaker, Stephen King's It, The Tenant, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist, Cul-de-Sac, AI, The New York City Marathon, Apartments, Tenants, Rent Prices, Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, Amazon, Robotics, AMC, IMAX Issues, Tron, The Dallas Cowboys, Short-term memory loss, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Netflix, AMC Times Square, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, MGM, Amazon Prime, Marvel, Sony, Conclave, Here, Venom: The Last Dance, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Oscars, Academy Awards, BFI, BAFTA, BAFTAS, British Cinema. England, Vienna, Leopoldstadt, The Golden Globes, Past Lives, Apple Podcasts, West Side Story, Adelaide, Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Melbourne, The British, England, The SEC, Ronald Reagan, Stock Buybacks, Marvel, MCU, DCEU, Film, Movies, Southeast Asia, The Phillippines, Vietnam, America, The US, Academy Awards, WGA Strike, SAG-AFTRA, SAG Strike, Peter Weir, Jidaigeki, chambara movies, sword fight, samurai, ronin, Meiji Restoration, plague, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, casket maker, Seven Samurai, Roshomon, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Stellan Skarsgard, the matt and mark movie show.The Southern District's Waratah Championship, Night of a Thousand Stars, The Pan Pacific Grand Prix (The Pan Pacifics), Jeff Bezos, Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, David Ellison, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg. 

This Day in Legal History: Paris Peace AccordsOn January 27, 1973, the United States signed the Paris Peace Accords, effectively marking the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Though primarily a geopolitical and military agreement, the Paris Peace Accords had significant legal dimensions. Negotiated between the U.S., South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong (under the banner of the Provisional Revolutionary Government), the accords represented a complex international legal settlement aimed at restoring peace in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.The agreement included provisions for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the release of prisoners of war, and the recognition of South Vietnamese sovereignty. Legally, the accords posed a challenge to domestic and international law frameworks, particularly in the way the U.S. executive branch negotiated and signed the agreement without formal Congressional approval. This would later contribute to the debate around the War Powers Resolution, passed in 1973, which sought to limit the president's ability to commit U.S. forces without legislative oversight.Though hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough, the accords failed to bring lasting peace. North Vietnam eventually overran the South in 1975, raising legal questions about treaty enforcement and the durability of international peace agreements brokered without strong enforcement mechanisms.A U.S. District Court judge in Minnesota is weighing whether to temporarily halt the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the state, which has come under intense scrutiny following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen and nurse. Local officials from Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul argue the federal crackdown involves unlawful tactics, including warrantless home raids and racial profiling, carried out by over 2,800 heavily armed agents—more than the total local police force. The Biden-appointed judge, Katherine Menendez, acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the case.The administration, defending the operation, dismissed the lawsuit as baseless. However, video evidence contradicts the official account of Pretti's death, showing he was unarmed and holding a phone when agents shot him, despite claims he posed a threat with a firearm. The incident has fueled widespread protests and demands for federal de-escalation from both state leaders and major Minnesota-based companies like Target and 3M.President Trump has sent border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, though it's unclear whether this signals an expansion or reassessment of federal actions. Trump says his administration is “reviewing everything” and that immigration agents will eventually withdraw. Tensions have also spilled into Washington, with Senate Democrats vowing to block DHS funding, risking a partial government shutdown. Meanwhile, even some Republicans are questioning the administration's approach.US judge to consider pause to Minnesota crackdown as Trump dispatches border czar | ReutersA federal judge in Boston has blocked the Trump administration from ending legal status for over 8,400 migrants from seven Latin American countries who had been allowed to live in the U.S. under family reunification parole programs. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction, preventing the Department of Homeland Security from terminating the programs, which benefited migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.These programs, created or expanded under President Biden, allowed U.S. citizens and green card holders to sponsor relatives while they awaited visa approval. The Trump administration moved to end the programs, claiming they were inconsistent with current enforcement priorities and enabled people to bypass traditional immigration processes.Talwani found that the administration failed to justify its decision, noting the government neither provided evidence of fraud nor assessed the real-life consequences for affected migrants. Many had already sold homes or left jobs in their home countries. She ruled that DHS's policy shift lacked a reasoned explanation and was therefore arbitrary and capricious under administrative law.The ruling is part of a broader class action brought by immigrant rights advocates challenging Trump's rollback of temporary protections. Talwani had previously tried to block similar efforts affecting hundreds of thousands of migrants, but those earlier rulings were overturned on appeal or by the Supreme Court.US judge blocks Trump administration's push to end legal status of 8,400 migrants | ReutersMy column for Bloomberg this week takes a look at the Empire State's budget. New York Governor Kathy Hochul's proposed no-tax-hike budget may appear fiscally cautious, but critics (includin me) argue it lacks the stable, long-term revenue needed to support key social programs like universal childcare. While the state currently enjoys relative revenue stability, the budget relies on temporary fixes, such as decoupling from parts of the federal tax code to generate $1.6 billion, instead of pursuing more durable sources of funding.My critique centers on Hochul's refusal to raise the top marginal corporate tax rate—currently 7.25% for large companies—which is lower than neighboring states like New Jersey (11.5%) and Connecticut (8.25%). I suggest raising the rate to at least 8.5% and making the existing corporate tax surcharge permanent. I argue that companies benefiting from New York's infrastructure and market can afford modest increases, and are unlikely to relocate given regional and national tax landscapes.Without securing permanent funding, the state risks repeating a familiar pattern: expanding programs in good times and cutting them during downturns. I warn that relying on temporary revenue maneuvers delays tough decisions and increases the likelihood of painful tax hikes or service cuts when the economy falters. In short, now is the time to align recurring revenues with long-term commitments, while conditions are favorable. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Today's story: Southeast Asia has become the global hub of online scams, where scammers in massive compounds target workers around the world. China and the United States have begun pressuring governments in the region to shut down the scam compounds. But it's still not clear if these efforts will make a difference. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish.com/833Get the full story and learning resources: https://plainenglish.com/833--Plain English helps you improve your English:Learn about the world and improve your EnglishClear, natural English at a speed you can understandNew stories every weekLearn even more at PlainEnglish.comMentioned in this episode:Hard words? No problemNever be confused by difficult words in Plain English again! See translations of the hardest words and phrases from English to your language. Each episode transcript includes built-in translations into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Turkish. Sign up for a free 14-day trial at PlainEnglish.com

Send me a messageThe EU Deforestation Regulation has been delayed — but the clock is still ticking. Are supply chains really ready?Deforestation has long been treated as a distant, upstream issue. With the EU Deforestation Regulation postponed until 31 December 2026, some companies may be tempted to pause. That would be a mistake. The expectations are clear, the data requirements are real, and the time to build traceability is now.In this episode, I'm joined by Priscillia Moulin, Director of Strategy at MosaiX, an organisation working directly with companies, traders, and producers to identify, monitor, and stop deforestation in global commodity supply chains. Priscillia has spent more than a decade working on the ground across Southeast Asia, helping companies translate sustainability commitments into operational reality.We talk through what deforestation-free supply chains actually look like in practice. You'll hear how satellite data and algorithms can detect land-use change, but why human expertise remains essential to avoid costly mistakes. We break down what the EU Deforestation Regulation will ultimately require, why traceability to plot level is unavoidable, and how many companies still lack visibility beyond tier one suppliers.You might be surprised to learn how quickly forest clearing can sometimes stop when buyers engage suppliers properly - and why simply dropping non-compliant suppliers often shifts risk rather than reducing it. We also explore real success stories, showing how data, supplier engagement, and local action combine to build resilience while protecting forests and livelihoods.

Whose power are you relying on? In this powerful message from the Every Nation 2013 Go Conference, Timothy Loh encourages us to put our own strength aside and receive the power of the Holy Spirit to be God's witnesses.Timothy served as the senior pastor of Every Nation Church Malaysia and as our regional director for Southeast Asia until his passing in 2024.Learn more about this year's upcoming Go Conference at go2026.org.

By popular demand, Michael Smith Jr., co-host of The Generalist podcast, and Daniel Cerventus Lim, semi-retired entrepreneur and community builder in Malaysia, return for another candid deep-dive into Southeast Asia and India tech landscape. Fresh off India's record-breaking IPO wave that's drawing regional companies like Pine Labs to redomicile, they dissect what this exit boom means for a Southeast Asian ecosystem still struggling with venture returns. Michael delivers his characteristically unflinching take on why "the year of [insert country]" never materializes beyond Singapore and Indonesia, while making the provocative case that most VCs fundamentally misunderstand B2B distribution strategy—specifically how hyperscaler marketplaces like AWS and Microsoft provide the GTM playbook that separates successful exits from perennial fundraising. Daniel shares emerging insights from the SME acquisition space, revealing the stark reality that traditional businesses are "seeing black" while venture-backed startups continue "seeing red." Together, they debate whether we're witnessing an AI infrastructure bubble that will pop or simply taper, examine why Southeast Asia leads globally in AI adoption despite the disconnect with venture outcomes, and question the fragility of cloud infrastructure after recent AWS and CloudFlare outages. The conversation culminates in a sobering assessment: the region has achieved a remarkable $300 billion digital economy milestone, but the path forward may require accepting longer timelines, smaller profitable exits over unicorn dreams, and modernizing traditional businesses rather than building the next ByteDance."If you don't think we're gonna get there, then you should all get outta tech because we're gonna get there. And if you're gonna get there, we barely have the horsepower to do the Google Docs that we have today, let alone the world I just described." - Michael Smith JrOn AI Assistance - “If you can get 90% of the stuff done, I just need to say yes or no. And that is like my [ideal state]." - Daniel Cerventus Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quotes of the Day by Michael, Daniel & Bernard[02:12] Record India IPOs signal redomiciling trend from Singapore[03:53] Pine Labs exit provides significant Southeast Asia returns[04:41] Indonesia's venture funding freeze despite strong exit activity[11:29] Year of whatever narrative never materializes for any country in ASEAN[15:05] AI infrastructure bubble debate: does it pop or fizzle?[18:42] OpenAI's unprecedented growth speed creates new tech pantheon[21:00] Recent AWS and CloudFlare outages highlight infrastructure fragility[24:00] AI agents remain in early stages of development[28:00] Real-world robotics models still lack adequate data foundations[34:00] AppPoint's dual NASDAQ-SGX listing demonstrates successful B2B strategy[38:00] B2B marketplace strategy provides essential distribution for startups[44:00] Reflections on eConomySEA 10th Year Report 2025[53:00] SME market offers modernization opportunities with lower risk[54:00] Southeast Asia modernization surprises many American visitors[56:00] SME acquisition market shows profitability versus startup losses[57:00] ClosingProfile: Michael Smith Jr., Tech Evangelist from Oracle & Co-Host, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast Daniel Cerventus Lim, semi-retired entrepreneur, Community Builder in Malaysia and TEDxKL founder. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cerventus/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/80164351656Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format.

Welcome to the third edition of our Start The Week show; a fast-paced ride through the hottest 5 travel topics in South East Asia and beyond. This week, Gary and Hannah take a sharp intake of breath as Thailand raises an alert for the deadly Nipah Virus. We also discuss 13 intriguing new city pairs for Changi Airport (with China a key focus), and a new tourism tax in Raja Ampat. Plus, we look at how the Philippines is trying to tap into the lengthy visa-processing wait for its citizens wishing to visit Japan, a new hotel art programme in Singapore, and the Red Lotus Lake social media furore around a Was-it-Wasn't-it-AI-Generated? image of Blackpink's Lalisa, Thailand's tourism ambassador. Very 'Zeitgeist 2026'! All this - and some top talking points to watch for over the next 7 days - in just 15 minutes.

The Pure Spiritual Milk 1 Peter 1:22 - 2:3 Message Slides For the bulletin in PDF form, click here. The Importance of God's Word at the Beginning of Our Journey The Importance of God's Word Throughout Our Journey The Importance of God's Word for the End of Our JourneyHome Church Questions1. 1 Peter 1:22-2:3 explores the importance of God's Word for our journey as exiles and sojourners. What are some similarities between God's Word and a trail map? 2. Look through the passage and identify the terms and phrases Peter uses to describe God's Word and the message of the Bible. How would you summarize the core message of the Bible (the Gospel)? 3. In 1:23, he says we are born again through the Word of God. In what way was the Word of God involved in your conversion? Why is the Word of God necessary as we consider reaching other people with the Gospel? 4. In our passage, “loving one another” and “valuing God's Word” are closely related. What are some ways they are related according to this passage? Do you think of God's Word primarily in the context of “the individual and God's Word” or do you think of it in the context of “God's people and God's Word”? What should this look like? 5. Have you ever longed for the pure spiritual/rational/logical milk of God's Word (2:2)? Do you long for it now? If not, what are some steps you can take to develop a hunger for God's Word? 6. What are the consequences of seeking to experience God apart from His Word? What are the consequences of seeking to experience the Bible without experiencing God? Which of these extremes do you gravitate toward? Explain why. 7. Peter references Isaiah 40 and encourages his readers that “the Word of the Lord remains forever” (1:24-25). We can be confident that God will finish what He started. In what area of your life do you need to be encouraged right now that God's Word endures forever, and He will finish what He has started? Pray for the Unreached: The Abai Sungai in Malaysia The Abai Sungai are a tiny Muslim fishing community in Sabah, Malaysia, with nearly all 1,600 people living in a single village. Their faith blends Islamic practice with fear of the evil eye and local animistic beliefs. With no Scripture, no audio resources, and no known believers, they remain one of the most spiritually isolated peoples in Southeast Asia. Pray for God to break through for spiritual openness in their village, and for Christ–followers to come and patiently share the hope and life found in Jesus.FinancesWeekly Budget 34,615Giving For 01/11 25,440Giving For 01/18 36,222YTD Budget 1,003,846Giving 956,770 OVER/(UNDER) (47,076) Fellowship Night of WorshipEach year at our Night of Worship, we gather in a circle with the band on the floor alongside the congregation, creating an intimate and meaningful space to begin the year together. Join us in the auditorium February 1, at 6:00 p.m. as we celebrate Jesus through worship, scripture, and prayer. Childcare is available for children 6 years and younger. To reserve childcare, please text Shanna Franklin at (501) 336-0332.New to Fellowship?We are so glad that you chose to worship with our Fellowship Family this morning. If you are joining us for the first time or have been checking us out for a few weeks, we are excited you are here and would love to meet you. Please fill out the “Connect Card” and bring it to the Connection Center in the Atrium, we would love to say “hi” and give you a gift. Fellowship equipping - register at fellowshipconway.org/equipping • Faithful and Fruitful is a five-week course designed to help you live with greater purpose, clarity, and faithfulness by stewarding the key areas God has entrusted to you. Through biblical teaching, practical wisdom, and guided reflection, this course invites participants to align everyday decisions with eternal values—becoming more intentional, generous, and fruitful in every season of life. This course starts February 1st! • Biblical Indispensable Relationships: Ever feel like navigating the relationships in your life is more like steering through a maze—where one friend or coworker can push every button you have, and others leave you wishing for something deeper and more meaningful? You're not alone. Join Michael Mercer for a transformative four-week journey into Biblical Indispensable Relationships. This course starts February 15th!Fellowship kids Parents Night out Mission FundraiserOur Fellowship Kids leaders are taking a trip to Belize this April to explore opportunities for future family mission trips. Please join us in praying over all God has planned for Fellowship Kids. We are having a Parents' Night Out on February 6, 2026, that will help raise funds for this trip. Register by January 30 at fellowshipconway.org/register. Father/Daughter Dance: 50s Sock HopDads, give your daughter a night to remember! Take your daughter on a dinner date, then swing by Renewal Ranch for our 50s Sock Hop on January 31st, 7:30-9:30 pm. We'll have root beer floats, oldies, and plenty of chances to make memories she'll cherish forever. Dust off those dancing shoes, daddy-o! Suggested ages: 3rd thru 12th grade. Register at fellowshipconway.org/register.2nd Annual Renewed Marriage NightJoin us for an encouraging evening focused on strengthening Christ-centered marriages. Friday, February 6th at 6:00 p.m., in partnership with the Fellowship Kids Parents' Night Out Mission Fundraiser. Dinner is provided, and there is no cost to attend—donations to the fundraiser are encouraged. If dropping off children, please register using the Parents' Night Out Registration form; otherwise, register at fellowshipconway.org/register. Space is limited, so sign up by January 30th. Fellowship Widows' LunchThe Widows' Valentine Luncheon will be on Thursday, February 12 at noon, 3680 Gresham Drive (home of Ambra Austin). Please RSVP to Judy at 329-3535 or Ambra at 730-6795 by January 29.Fellowship Women's Studies - Two Options -register at fellowshipconway.org/womenHebrews - An eight-week Bible beginning February 3. Precept Study on James - A 10-week study beginning February 17.

John Burrough, CEO of Partners International, is a former mission trip leader and played in the NFL—including playing in a Super Bowl. Listen as he shares how taking a mission trip completely changed his outlook and how that experience could impact and change your perspective in every area of life. Partners International began in the early 1940s with a missionary to China, Duncan Roberts, and from there continued to support and grow local leaders advancing the gospel in China. Later, the ministry's work expanded into Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The focus today is on reaching the unreached parts of the world for Christ. John will share how Partners International invests in local ministries and church networks advancing the gospel in the 10/40 window, and how they come alongside locals to help them go further and faster in achieving the mission God has given them. "All missions begins with prayer," John says, and shares how the Lord is mobilizing prayer for the unreached in restricted nations and hostile areas. Listen for the amazing story of a former Boko Haram member in West Africa who came to Christ while spying on a Christian leadership training session. The former terrorist is now advancing the gospel among the people he used to work with. The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily in 2026 for persecuted Christians in nations like North Korea, Nigeria and Bangladesh, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Ralph welcomes professor and historian Daniel Immerwahr to discuss the history of the United States' overseas possessions and his book "How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States."Daniel Immerwahr is a professor and historian at Northwestern University. He is the author of Thinking Small: The United States and the Lure of Community Development and How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States.What I wanted to do in the book was to look at the United States and to take seriously the parts of the United States that don't always feature in the textbooks—that are outside of the mainland, the contiguous blob. And what I discovered when I did that was that these places were often in the mainland's mind seen as peripheral places, but this was not a peripheral history…It turns out that once you've got the territories in view, you have a different understanding of them. And so a lot of US history (and really important parts of US history) has actually taken place outside of the part of the country that we normally think of as the United States.Daniel ImmerwahrI got really interested in the book in how it came to be and why it mattered that US standards prevailed and how other countries dealt with that by either jumping on the ship or trying to resist and that became difficult for them. And how emotionally hard it is for other parts of the world to [face] this onslaught of not just the US military, not just US planes, its bombs—we know all that stuff, and I don't want to diminish it, but all the US stuff and ways of talking and the English language and the dollar. And each one of those comes as a kind of challenge: Are you going to adopt this or not? Because life's going to be a little harder if you don't, but if you do, you're kind of a puppet. And everyone in the world has had to deal with that challenge on a daily basis—what screws they use, what language they speak, all that kind of stuff. And we don't talk about that a lot, but that actually strikes me as a really important facet of US power.Daniel ImmerwahrNews 1/23/26* Our first two stories this week come to us from New York City. On January 16th, Mayor Zohran Mamdani drew a line in the sand in an address celebrating a historic settlement with A&E real estate. While A&E is a serial offender, racking up “over 140,000 total violations, including 35,000 in the last year alone,” Mayor Mamdani made clear that this was to serve as an example for other landlords, saying “City Hall will not sit idly by and accept this illegality, nor will we allow bad actors to continue to harass tenants with impunity.” Mayor Mamdani made tenants rights a central pillar of his campaign and is signaling that it will be a major aspect of his administration as well, with the centerpiece being the “Rental Ripoff” hearings he plans to hold in all five boroughs. Yet again, Mamdani provides a blueprint for other Democratic elected officials in cities across the nation, if only they would pick up the mantle.* In other news out of New York, on January 13th New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced a “settlement ending Betar US's…campaign of violence, harassment, and intimidation against Arab, Muslim, and Jewish New Yorkers.” Betar, an extremist Zionist outfit, is considered so fringe that even the ultra-Zionist Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has labeled it an “extremist group” for its “embrace of Islamophobia and harass[ment] of Muslims.” Examples of Betar's bias-motivated harassment include labeling keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves – as “rape rags” and claiming that the number of babies who had died in Gaza was “not enough,” adding, “we demand blood in Gaza.” According to this announcement, Betar is seeking to dissolve its nonprofit corporation and intends to wind down operations in New York. Mayor Mamdani added, “For years, Betar has sowed a campaign of hatred across New York, trafficking in Islamophobic extremism and harassing those with whom they disagreed. There is no place for their bigotry in our politics, and I'm grateful for [Attorney General James's] unflagging pursuit of justice.”* In more Israel news, earlier this week Israeli human rights lawyer Alon Sapir recounted the following story on social media. “On Saturday, I represented an American Jewish activist in deportation proceedings from the country due to his leftism. In the hearing, they presented him with a photo from a demonstration in the US to link him to anti-Israel organizations.” The photo in question was “taken at a demonstration against the Nazis in Charlottesville [Virginia],” and the Israelis “apparently took it from a page that promotes white supremacy.” This deportation proceeding – wherein the Israeli government used a white-supremacist photograph of an activist protesting Nazism to deport him on the grounds of being anti-Israel, is of course, stunningly backwards. But, as Sapir writes, “Indeed, [this is] grounds for deportation from the Jewish state.” * In more news from abroad, the New York Times reports the People's Republic of China has hit a new economic milestone: the world's largest trade surplus ever. According to economic data released by the country's General Administration of Customs, “China's surplus, the value of goods and services it sold abroad versus its imports, reached $1.19 trillion, an increase of 20 percent from 2024.” As this piece notes, “The enormous trade surplus…came despite efforts by President Trump to use tariffs to contain China's factories.” While the tariffs succeeded in reducing China's trade surplus with the United States by 22% last year, Chinese firms compensated by increasing sales to other regions and “in many cases bypassing American tariffs by shipping goods to the United States through Southeast Asia and elsewhere.” In short, the tariffs have succeeded only in raising prices for American consumers by forcing Chinese firms to route their products through secondary markets instead of selling directly to Americans – further enriching China while further immiserating everyday Americans.* This trade surplus is expected to widen further with news of an economic thaw between China and Canada. AP reports Canada has “agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products,” according to Prime Minister Mark Carney. Carney added that there would initially be an annual cap of 49,000 Chinese EVs coming into the Canadian market at a tariff rate of 6.1%, but this cap would grow to about 70,000 over the next five years. In return, China will “reduce its total tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from 84% to about 15%,” and allow visa-free travel to China for Canadian citizens, many of whom are of Chinese descent. This deal is obviously a humiliating disaster for President Trump, who sought to both isolate China economically and force Canada to further subjugate itself to the United States, going so far as to muse about annexing the country and making it the “51st state.” Like the Greenland fiasco, this is a case of Trump needlessly alienating American allies, driving them into the open arms of more rational partners like China.* Meanwhile, in South Korea, Al Jazeera reports former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for his role in the failed coup attempt orchestrated by ousted president Yoon Suk-yeol. In a moving statement, Judge Lee Jin-gwan of the Seoul Central District Court, said Han “disregarded his duty and responsibility as prime minister,” and “As a result…South Korea was in danger ​of returning to the dark past ‌when the basic rights and liberal democratic order of the people were violated, potentially preventing them from escaping from the quagmire of dictatorship.” These words sound especially tragic to American ears at this moment, as our country slides ever further away from basic rights and liberal democratic order. Han is “the first member of Yoon's cabinet to be found guilty and sentenced to jail,” and his sentence gives an indication of how seriously the court is taking this matter. As we discussed last week, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Yoon himself.* Moving back to American politics, NOTUS reports Congresswoman and Senate hopeful Jasmine Crockett is amassing money from some unsavory donors. These include, “Tech titan and conservative provocateur Marc Andreessen [and] Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of Facebook fame,” as well as several super PACs funded by the cryptocurrency lobby. Perhaps most damningly though, she has received donations from the PACs for BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, and massive defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Crockett's acceptance of these donations has sent ripples through the progressive community. Fellow Texas Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett called it “very troubling that she would be reliant on those kinds of contributions.” Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, is quoted in this piece refuting characterizations of Crockett as in line with that group's preferences, saying “To call her in any way the progressive or leftist candidate is a misnomer...She's a somewhat effective anti-Trump troll and resistance liberal, but is not one of us when it comes to a progressive populist or anti-corporate warrior.” Green added that his group will likely endorse Crockett's opponent in the primary, Texas State Representative James Talarico. As of mid-January, Talarico leads Crockett 47% to 38% in the polls, with 15% undecided, per Emerson.* Another red state senate race, this one in Montana, just got more interesting in its own way. According to the Montana Free Press, “University of Montana President Seth Bodnar is expected to run for U.S. Senate as an independent,” which the paper claims is “part of an elaborate plan apparently backed by former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.” Apparently, this move has angered Montana Democrats, two of whom have filed long-shot bids to run against incumbent Republican Senator Steve Daines. The Free Press reached out to Tester for a comment, and he sent back a text message explaining his reasoning behind backing the independent bid, writing “Every race I ran as Montana Senator and U.S. Senator it was about distancing myself from the Democratic Party…. During my last two races the democratic Party was poison in my attempts to get re-elected.” Tester is likely taking some inspiration from the Independent Senate campaigns of Dan Osborn in Nebraska. Osborn ran against incumbent Republican Deb Fischer in 2024 and made the race unusually competitive, eventually losing 53% to 47%. Osborn is now running against Nebraska's other incumbent Republican Senator, billionaire Pete Ricketts, and the two are in a statistical dead heat in the polls.* Next, with tax season on the horizon, the neutering of the Internal Revenue Service is starting to be felt. More Perfect Union reports “The IRS is effectively unable to audit private equity, venture capital, and real estate investment firms,” because “Thousands of workers have been fired from the agency,” post-DOGE. According to the numbers, audits of the aforementioned giant enterprises have “dropped 80 or 90%.” Stunningly, Forbes reports that instead of fighting to re-fund the IRS and restore some oversight to the lawless corporate sector, lawmakers from both parties are seeking to slash $11.7 billion of the $80 billion allocated to the agency in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. As this piece notes, that number itself is deceptive; a report issued by the Treasury Inspector General, found that that $80 billion has already been shrunken down to just $37.6 billion, and the IRS has only spent about $13.8 billion of the IRA funding. The Treasury Inspector General's projections of the additional funds available to the IRS is approximately $19.3 billion, meaning an additional cut of $11.7 billion would effectively curtail any plans to expand the IRS to police large, complex financial entities.* Finally, on January 14th, Congresswoman Robin Kelly of Illinois formally introduced three articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. These articles, accusing Noem of obstruction of Congress, violation of public trust, self-dealing, and directing ICE to make “widespread warrantless arrests, forgo due process, and use violence against United States citizens, lawful residents, and other individuals,” initially garnered 80 Democratic cosponsors. But that list appears to be growing. Newsweek reports that as of January 21st, the list has grown to 100 cosponsors, nearly half of the 213-member Democratic caucus in the House. A successful impeachment vote is unlikely, as Republicans still control the House, but as provocative and unpopular actions across the country – by DHS in general and ICE specifically – continue to escalate, this list is only expected to grow. The larger question remains however: even if Noem is removed, will that force the administration to change course or will they simply appoint another pliant enforcer in her place. We can't know unless we try.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

In this episode, we tell the story of the Rani of the Jhansi Regiment, the first all-female combat unit in modern Indian history, formed in Singapore during World War II and led by Dr Lakshmi Sahgal, known as Captain Lakshmi.Most of its members were teenage Tamil girls from plantation communities in Malaya and Burma, many with little formal education, who left estate life to train as soldiers in the Indian National Army. We trace how they were recruited, trained, deployed to the Burma front, and forced into retreat as the war turned against Japan and the INA.Although the regiment never fought a major battle, its legacy reshaped ideas about women's roles in anti-colonial struggle and military service. Drawing on historical research and oral histories, this episode explores how nationalism, class, gender, and war collided in Southeast Asia, and how ordinary young women briefly became part of a global conflict and a revolutionary movement.Hosted by Agas Ramirez.Full script and bonus episodes available on Patreon.All links available here.Audio ClipsWildFilmsIndia - Laxmi Sehgal of the INA on The Forgotten Army ExpeditionDoordarshan National - Speech of Netaji Subhas Chandra BoseInterkast - शुभ सुख चैन की/Subh Sukh Chain Ki - With Auspicious Happiness | Anthem of Free IndiaYouTube Free Audio ClipsTheme Music - Goddess of War - Unicorn HeadsJourney Home - Chris Haugen

Elephants have played a surprisingly important role on the battlefield, even before the birth of Christ; notably in 5th Century BCE India, and during the Punic Wars in Africa.  But on 23rd January, 971, the Southern Han division of the Chinese military retired their famous elephant corps forever - after facing a massive aerial assault from crossbowmen from the Song Dynasty, who had defeated them in battle. War elephants were not just formidable attackers, but also served as platforms for archers, vantage points, and even provided cover for advancing troops. Despite their effectiveness, the inherent volatility of the animals - susceptible to spooking and turning on their own side -  led to their eventual decline. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how some elephants continued to serve in the military, even after the development of gunpowder; consider the awesome psychological impact of being attacked by a troupe of elephants; and reveal how the Romans learned to defend themselves from elephants - with the aid of some squealing pigs… Content Warning: animal cruelty. #China #Animals #War #Medieval #BC Further Reading: • ‘Elephants, kingship and warfare in Southeast Asia' (British Library, 2017): https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2017/05/elephants-kingship-and-warfare-in-southeast-asia.html • ‘In Ancient Rome flaming war pigs were used to counter elephants' (The Vintage News, 2016: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/09/15/ancient-rome-flaming-war-pigs-used-counter-elephants/ ‘War Elephants' (Royal Armouries, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI3-f8ebLlk This episode first aired in 2024 FRIDAY - MEGAPHONE COPYWe'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie PeartCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the basement room of an East London flat one rainy January morning, Jack sat down with the Irish writer Rob Doyle to discuss the publication of his third novel, Cameo, and delve into his long and complex love for the work of Martin Amis.Rob chose to talk about London Fields, the novel we first encounter on this series through the Financial Times columnist, Janan Ganesh. But whereas Ganesh grew up in Croydon in the late Eighties, with the London Amis depicts in the novel practically on his doorstep, Doyle had never been to England's capital when the cover of London Fields first caught his eye, aged 23, from the shelves of a book exchange at a backpacker's hostel in South East Asia.On a long bus journey in this far-flung part of the world, Doyle recounts coming to terms with the alchemic mastery of Amis's prose in this 1989 masterpiece. London Fields, he says, blended seamlessly the very highest ideas with the very lowest, all to great comic effect. Writing about London, Amis was engaged in an act of philosophy, dredged up from the deepest pits of urban and human decay.Rob and Jack go on to discuss that force of nature that is of course Keith Talent. Talent is for Doyle, as he is for Ganesh, not just one of Amis's greatest characters, but one of the greatest characters ever to cast a shadow on the history of English literature. Of all Amis's beleaguered and benighted male creations, Talent is also arguably the happiest, since apart from anything else, he would be the least bothered by Amis's contempt for him. Later on, Rob and Jack talk about the world Amis so often condemns his male characters to live in. Whether we look to John Self (a man consumed by his own oniomania), the bleak rivalry that sets Keith Talent and Guy Clinch on their fateful course with Nicola Six, or indeed that which Richard Tull and Gwyn Barry must see through a novel later in The Information, Amis's men are rarely sanguine creatures.Male conflict and humiliation were two of Amis's greatest subjects, but while Doyle still regards Amis as one of the best writers ever to interrogate them in their art, he is less convinced by Amis's opposition outlook on male relationships now, in his forties, than he was as a younger man.Happy New Year to you, dear listener. 2026 has begun.FOLLOW US ON TWITTER/ X: @mymartinamisFIND US ON YOUTUBE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transforming schools through ethical, large-scale Al integration and collaborative learning. About Jamie Toner Jamie is an education technology and innovation leader with experience across K-12 and Higher Education in the UK, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. As Director of Technology and Innovation at Singapore American School, he leads digital transformation, AI integration, and the development of forward-looking learning ecosystems.  Previously Founding Director of Digital Learning and Information Services at Harrow International School Shenzhen, Jamie has driven major projects in digital strategy and information services. Named on the recent CILIP 125 List of future leaders and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he researches and presents internationally on digital leadership and knowledge sharing. He is currently in the final stages of his PhD at the University of Sheffield on how legitimacy and epistemic authority are unevenly constructed and sustained within international schools. Jamie Toner on Social Media LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-toner-611b2478/  About Claire Simms Claire is an experienced international educator and digital learning leader with over 25 years in schools across Hong Kong, Malaysia, Switzerland, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore. She is currently Assistant Principal - Innovation and Technology at St. Joseph's Institution International School where she leads initiatives that enhance teaching and learning through technology. Since joining SJI International in 2016, Claire has held key leadership roles including Head of IPC and Head of Grade, helping to shape both curriculum and digital strategy. A Google Trainer, Coach, Innovator, and GEG Leader, Apple Learning Coach, and Seesaw Educator Lead, she regularly presents across the APAC region on digital learning and leadership. Claire holds a PGCE in Primary Education from the University of Sunderland and is currently completing her National Professional Qualification in Senior Leadership (NPQSL). Claire Simms on Social Media LinkedIn: https://sg.linkedin.com/in/claire-simms-13679643  Resources https://www.sas.edu.sg/  https://www.sji-international.com.sg/  John Mikton on Social Media LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmikton/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmikton Web: beyonddigital.org Dan Taylor on social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/appsevents  Twitter: https://twitter.com/appdkt  Web: www.appsevents.com Listen on: iTunes / Podbean / Stitcher / Spotify / YouTube Workspace Audit by AppsEDU Find and Fix Security Gaps in Your Google Workspace at https://workspaceaudit.com/  Get a complete, automated overview of your security posture. Our read-only scanner identifies misconfigurations and provides actionable steps to harden your environment. We also help you STAY secure. With our automated monitoring functionality you schedule daily, weekly or monthly scans, allowing you to fix issues before they become a problem. Get started for free with no obligation, your first scan is on us! https://workspaceaudit.com/ 

Kate Rowe's life has been full of wild adventures and hard living. But when she found sobriety, Kate discovered something big about herself. CW: This story contains discussion of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault and some strong language. Please take care when listening.Ever since she stepped off the boat at Circular Quay as a 20-something 10-pound Pom, Kate has run fearlessly toward outrageous adventure.As a young woman Kate travelled around Australia picking tobacco, hitchhiking and sometimes spent her weekends running riot in Kings Cross.Then in 1974, she tagged along with some random guys she'd met who wanted to walk across the island of Timor. From there, Kate ventured into South-East Asia, where she began smuggling bricks of cannabis from Thailand into Nepal.But everywhere she went, Kate took herself with her, and so all kinds of baggage from her early life came along for the wild ride.Eventually a cloud lifted, and when Kate found sobriety she realised something big about herself.Content Warning: This story contains discussion of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault and some strong language. Please take care when listening.How the F*ck Would I Know is published by Power Writers Publishing Group and can be found online.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores trauma, healing, recovery, England, London, disordered eating, eating disorder recovery, substance abuse, addiction, drug trafficking, drug dealing, heroin, opium, alcohol, alcoholism, addiction recovery, therapy, counselling, sexuality, LGBTQI+, queer community, Mardi Gras, 1978, lesbian, women's Lib.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

This week, the boys head back to 1982 to discuss Ridley Scott's “Blade Runner: The Final Cut”. Dave shared his thoughts on whether he prefers this or the original theatrical release (with or without the voice-over???), and Jeff and Dave debate how much, or how little, went into Harrison Ford wondering if he was still frozen in carbonite! Star Wars joke, we really discussed whether or not he was a replicant, of course. Jeff also got us started with a mini-review of “Song Sung Blue”. Grab a beer and listen!  linktr.ee/theloveofcinema - Check out our YouTube page!  Our phone number is 646-484-9298. It accepts texts or voice messages.  0:00 Intro; 5:00 “Song Sung Blue” mini-review; 16:25 1982 Year in Review; 36:16 Films of 1982: “Blade Runner: The Final Cut”; 1:13:46 What You Been Watching?; 1:25:08 Next Week's Episode Teaser Additional Cast/Crew: Harrison Ford, Philip K Dick, Ridley Scott, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, William Sanderson, James Hong, Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Craig Brewer, Michael Imperioli, King Princess, Jim Belushi, Fisher Stevens, Edward James Olmos, Timothee Chalamet, Josh Safdie, M. Emmet Walsh. Hosts: Dave Green, Jeff Ostermueller, John Say Edited & Produced by Dave Green. Beer Sponsor: Carlos Barrozo Music Sponsor: Dasein Dasein on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ 
Dasein on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/dasein/1637517407 Recommendations: Life of Chuck, Stranger Things, Jack Fisk, Fallout, Pluribus, Miami Vice, The Imagineers, Mary Supreme Additional Tags: Gordon Ramsay, Thelma Schoonmaker, Stephen King's It, The Tenant, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist, Cul-de-Sac, AI, The New York City Marathon, Apartments, Tenants, Rent Prices, Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, Amazon, Robotics, AMC, IMAX Issues, Tron, The Dallas Cowboys, Short-term memory loss, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Netflix, AMC Times Square, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, MGM, Amazon Prime, Marvel, Sony, Conclave, Here, Venom: The Last Dance, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Oscars, Academy Awards, BFI, BAFTA, BAFTAS, British Cinema. England, Vienna, Leopoldstadt, The Golden Globes, Past Lives, Apple Podcasts, West Side Story, Adelaide, Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Melbourne, The British, England, The SEC, Ronald Reagan, Stock Buybacks, Marvel, MCU, DCEU, Film, Movies, Southeast Asia, The Phillippines, Vietnam, America, The US, Academy Awards, WGA Strike, SAG-AFTRA, SAG Strike, Peter Weir, Jidaigeki, chambara movies, sword fight, samurai, ronin, Meiji Restoration, plague, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, casket maker, Seven Samurai, Roshomon, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Stellan Skarsgard, the matt and mark movie show.The Southern District's Waratah Championship, Night of a Thousand Stars, The Pan Pacific Grand Prix (The Pan Pacifics), Jeff Bezos, Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, David Ellison, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg. 

CRYPTID: The Rock ApesJoin Josh as he dives deep into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where American soldiers began reporting hostile encounters with large, ape-like creatures that didn't behave like any animal they had ever seen. Dubbed “Rock Apes,” these beings were said to walk upright, throw massive stones, and move through the jungle with unsettling intelligence.Were these encounters the result of fear, exhaustion, and the psychological toll of jungle warfare? Or is it possible that something unknown, something ancient, was already living in the jungle long before the war ever began?Follow us on Instagram @outtherecryptids and support the show on Patreon @outtherecryptids.

Renue Healthcare https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit https://Renue.Healthcare/Todd Bulwark Capital https://KnowYourRiskPodcast.comFind out how the future of AI could impact your retirement during Zach Abraham's free “New Year Reset” live webinar January 29th 3:30pm Pacific. Register at KnowYourRiskPodcast.com.Alan's Soaps https://www.AlansArtisanSoaps.comUse coupon code TODD to save an additional 10% off the bundle price.Bonefrog https://BonefrogCoffee.com/ToddThe new GOLDEN AGE is here!  Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE at:The Todd Herman Show - Podcast - Apple PodcastsThe Todd Herman Show | Podcast on SpotifyWATCH and SUBSCRIBE at: Todd Herman - The Todd Herman Show - YouTubeBREAKING - A leftist jury in Seattle has acquitted an illegal who rammed his vehicle into ICE agents last June, hospitalizing two agents, with leftists now emboldened by the ruling and calling for more attacks while promising jury nullification for their “comrades.”Keith Swank, Sheriff of Pierce County, Washington just made one of the greatest statements during congressoinal testimony that anyone has ever made. "Disrupt. Make them uncomfortable" - Don Lemon in MN after he stormed a church to "protest ICE"I have good news and bad news.1. Good news for folks in Southeast Asia who will start making big bucks online. 2. Bad news for Western Instagram influencers and OnlyFans girls: you'll need a real job soon. Are you entertained?Another guy doing it with the “Stranger Things” Cast of characters#1 - Everyone Is a Child of God John 1:12: "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God".Galatians 3:26:"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,”Romans 8:16:"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God".1 John 3:1:"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him".Romans 9:8: "Those who are children of the flesh are not the children of God, but children of the promise are counted as offspring".#2 - Jesus Had No Opinion on Same Sex Activity Leviticus 18:22 22 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.Matthew 5:17-20 The Fulfillment of the Law17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.Matthew 19:5 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'1 Corinthians 6:9-109 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Today I sit down with author and historian James McDougall and talk about his most recent book: Worlds of Islam: A Global History. From its birth in seventh-century Arabia, Islam has been a faith on the move. Over the span of a thousand years, armies, missionaries, and merchants carried it to the edges of Europe, the coasts of Southeast Asia, and the remote interior of China. By the nineteenth century, Islam encompassed a world of great diversity, from Muslim-ruled empires to new nations where Muslims lived out their faith among many others. As empires fell and new superpowers rose, Muslims proved to be as adaptable and dynamic as modernity itself.In Worlds of Islam, historian James McDougall explores Islam's origins and transformations as Muslims adapted to changing times and conditions, from Late Antiquity to the digital age. In the twentieth century, while monarchs in the Gulf asserted dynastic privilege and fundamentalists in Egypt and Pakistan preached social morality, revolutionaries from Algeria to Indonesia fought for national self-determination, and activists in North America and Europe campaigned for civil liberties and social justice.Sweeping and authoritative, Worlds of Islam narrates the epic story of how Muslims emerged as a community, built empires, traversed the globe, came to number in the billions, and became modern.Buy The Book HERE.Support Western Civ

It's Monday, January 19th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Inside Southeast Asia's expanding Islamization In one part of Southeast Asia, angry mobs constantly threaten a congregation with physical violence to try to prevent the Christians from worshipping Jesus. In yet another area, a young Christian female student fends off Muslim men relentlessly pressuring her into marriage, resulting in her forced conversion to Islam. These are real-life situations that countless Christians face daily across Southeast Asia as they live in Muslim-majority nations, reports International Christian Concern. Islam has a strong presence and history in Asia, with 1.3 billion Muslims across the region and 242 million followers in Southeast Asia alone.  More than 60% of the world's Muslims live in Asia. US kills Al-Qaeda leader linked to deadly ISIS attack on US troops U.S. Central Command, known as CENTCOM, announced on Friday a deadly strike on a leader affiliated with Al-Qaeda in northeast Syria, reports The Epoch Times. The man had direct ties to an ISIS attack that killed two American service members and an interpreter on December 13, 2025, according to a Saturday CENTCOM post on X. CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said, “The death of a terrorist operative, linked to the deaths of three Americans, demonstrates our resolve in pursuing terrorists who attack our forces. There is no safe place for those who conduct, plot, or inspire attacks on American citizens and our warfighters. We will find you.” Argentinian President Javier Milei defends unborn babies The abortion wars in Argentina are ongoing, reports LifeSiteNews.com. Javier Milei, who was elected president of Argentina in December 2023, ran on a staunchly pro-life platform. During his campaign, he promised to repeal Argentina's pro-abortion law, which passed narrowly in December 2020, and allows a mother to have her unborn baby killed up until 14 weeks of gestation. In a 2023 interview, Milei said, “It is true that women have the right to their own bodies. But the child in a woman's body is not her body. … That makes abortion a murder, enabled and aggravated by a power imbalance against a child that has no way to defend itself. … Life is a continuum with two quantum leaps – birth and death. Any interruption in the interim is murder.” In Psalm 139:13, King David told God, “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.” To his credit, Argentinian President Milei has halted the national distribution of abortion kill pills, canceling the planned distribution of over 100,000 doses. Abortion groups claim that these barriers likely account for the drop in the Argentinian abortion rate from 107,500 in 2023 to 79,186 in 2024. Senator to leftist obstetrician: “Can men get pregnant?” In a January 14th hearing on Abortion Kill Pill safety before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri could not get a straight answer from Dr. Nisha Verma, a board member of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, about basic biological reality. Listen. HAWLEY: “Dr. Verma, do you think that men can get pregnant?” VERMA: “I'm not really sure what the goal of the question is.” HAWLEY: “The goal is just to establish a biological reality. You just said a moment ago that ‘science and evidence should control, not politics.' So, let's just test that proposition. Can men get pregnant?” VERMA: “I take care of people with many identities, but …” HAWLEY: “Can men get pregnant?” VERMA: “I take care of many women that can get pregnant. I do take care of people that don't identify as women that…” HAWLEY: “Can men get pregnant?” VERMA: “Again, as I'm saying …” HAWLEY: “Let me just remind you what you testified to a moment ago. ‘Science and evidence should control, not politics.' Can men get pregnant? You're a doctor.” VERMA: “I totally agree that science and evidence should guide medicine.” HAWLEY: “Do science and evidence tell us that men can get pregnant? Biological men, can they get pregnant?” VERMA: “I also think yes/no questions like this are a political tool.” HAWLEY: “No, yes/no questions are about the truth, doctor. Let's not make a mockery of this proceeding. This is about science and evidence, and I'm asking you. “The United States Supreme Court just heard arguments yesterday at great length on this question. This is not a hypothetical question. This is not theoretical. It affects real people in their real lives. And you're here as an expert, called by the other side, as an expert. You're a doctor, and you follow the science and the evidence. So, I just want to know, based on the science, can men get pregnant? That's a ‘yes or no' question. It really is, I think.” VERMA: “I think you're trying to reduce the complexity of a lot.” HAWLEY: “I'm not. It's not complex. I'm trying to get to an answer, and I'm trying to test, frankly, your veracity as a medical professional and as a scientist. Can men get pregnant?” VERMA: “I think you're also conflating male and female.” HAWLEY: “This is extraordinary. No, I'm not conflating male with female. They're two different things. There's biological men and there's biological women. And I want to know, can men get pregnant?” VERMA: “What you are talking about is biological.” HAWLEY: “I'm not going to answer my question.” VERMA: “biological males….” HAWLEY: “This isn't hard, doctor. Can men get pregnant? Yes or No?” Instead of answering Senator Hawley's very simple question, Dr. Verma continued to play games and sidestep a direct answer. VERMA: “I would be more than happy to have a conversation with you that is not coming from a place of trying to be polarized and pushing…” HAWLEY: “I'm not trying to be polarizing. I'm trying to ask. I think it is extraordinary that we are here in a hearing about science and about women. And for the record, it's women who get pregnant, not men. “Science shows that this abortion drug causes adverse health events in 11% of cases. That's 22 times greater than the FDA label, another fact you haven't acknowledged, and yet you won't even acknowledge the basic reality that biological men don't get pregnant. “There's a difference between biological men and biological women. I don't know how we can take you seriously and your claims to be a person of science, if you won't level with us on this basic issue. I thought we were past all of this, frankly.” Christian publisher Robert Wolgemuth entered Heaven at 77 And finally, the widow of the recently deceased Christian author and publisher Robert Wolgemuth, remembered by ministry leaders as a “legend in Christian publishing,” has revealed additional details about his sudden death, reports the Christian Post. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, the founder of Revive Our Hearts ministry, who married Wolgemuth in 2015, published a social media post last Thursday, providing additional details about her husband's final days before his death on January 10 at age 77.  She explained, “Early Christmas Eve morning, I took him to the ER, as he was in pain, struggling to breathe. He declined quickly and within a few days was totally unresponsive. On January 10, I returned to our home a widow. That same day, Robert moved to his eternal Home, to find unending joy and rest with Christ.”  Nancy added, “In the midst of tears aplenty, I rejoice in the incredible joy and gift of walking with Robert as his wife for the last ten years.” Evangelist Greg Laurie said, “Robert helped bring about the New Believer's Bible, which has literally touched millions of people around the world, as well as my book Jesus Revolution.  As Robert often said, ‘The anticipation of Heaven changes everything.' May we all live with that anticipation.” No doubt, upon admission to Heaven, Robert Wolgemuth heard the words of Matthew 25:23 from his Savior: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, January 19th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Matthew Friedman joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as they explore how pig butchering scams work, why they're so effective, and how they're tied to forced labor and human trafficking, while explaining what prevention can look like from personal red flags to safeguards in financial systems.Matthew FriedmanMatthew Friedman is the Founder and CEO of The Mekong Club, a pioneering organization that mobilizes the private sector to fight modern slavery across Asia. A globally recognized expert on human trafficking, Friedman has spent over three decades working at the intersection of business, government, and humanitarian action to combat exploitation and promote ethical leadership. Before founding The Mekong Club, Friedman served as Regional Project Manager for the United Nations International Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP/UNDP), overseeing a six-country initiative spanning China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. He also served as Deputy Director for the USAID Office of Public Health (Asia Region), managing a $100 million annual portfolio. Friedman holds a Master's degree in Health Education from New York University and is a renowned keynote speaker who has delivered more than 900 presentations in 20 countries, inspiring individuals and organizations to take a stand in the fight against modern slavery.Key PointsPig butchering scams are sophisticated romance scams where criminals build trust over weeks before convincing victims to invest life savings in fake cryptocurrency schemes, with the metaphor referring to "fattening the pig before the slaughter."An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 young professionals have been trafficked into scam centers across Southeast Asia, where they are forced under extreme violence and coercion to run online scams targeting victims in wealthy nations.The Prince Group sanctions marked one of the most significant global crackdowns on forced-labor scam centers, with the UK freezing real estate assets and the US freezing $15 billion in cryptocurrency, signaling increased international cooperation.Financial institutions can help prevent pig butchering by monitoring unusual withdrawal patterns, such as when customers who haven't touched their accounts for 30 years suddenly liquidate everything, and by contacting clients before large transfers are completed.Victims in scam centers face brutal violence including being tasered, beaten, and in some cases tortured to death with videos sold as "hardcore" content, creating a level of violence unprecedented in modern slavery according to Friedman's 35 years of experience.Only 0.2% of the 50 million people in modern slavery receive assistance globally, not because counter-trafficking organizations don't care, but because the $236 billion generated by criminals vastly outweighs the $400 million available to fight it.Public education and awareness are critical for prevention, as people in North America remain largely unaware of pig butchering scams while Asian communities have become more informed through widespread media coverage and victim testimonies.The Mekong Club has developed multilingual e-learning tools including a three-and-a-half-minute video to help raise awareness about both human trafficking into scam centers and the scams themselves, emphasizing that prevention must be widespread.ResourcesThe Mekong ClubThe Mekong Club - Tools & ResourcesValid8 FinancialEnding Human Trafficking Podcast - Episode 269Matthew Friedman on LinkedInContact Matthew FriedmanEnding Human Trafficking Website

Episode #470: This episode of Insight Myanmar continues our three-part series covering the Decolonizing Southeast Asian Studies Conference at Chiang Mai University, bringing together voices exploring how colonial legacies still shape knowledge, identity, and power in the region. Thai scholar-activist Thiti Jamkajornkeiat argues that true decolonization requires more than inclusion—it demands structural transformation. “The problem about Southeast Asian studies,” he explains, “is that it has a colonial baggage and is exterior—it's been developed outside of Southeast Asia.” He calls for scholarship that centers local thinkers as equal contributors and research that serves the needs and livelihoods of Southeast Asians. For Thiti, decolonization must confront global hierarchies of knowledge, funding systems, and academic validation that continue to privilege Western authority. His vision is both intellectual and emotional: a call for courage, tenderness, and solidarity in reclaiming the power to define one's own story. From Myanmar, Kyaw shares reflections rooted in his upbringing within the country's monastic education system. Growing up as a novice, he experienced how Buddhist and secular teachings intertwined, shaping his understanding of education as a moral as well as intellectual pursuit. Today, amid crisis and repression, he highlights the resilience of Myanmar's people. “Despite everything going in a negative way, the resilience of this community is huge,” he says. For Kyaw, endurance is an act of care—protecting the collective spirit and reimagining the nation's future together. Khaing expands on this, focusing on the importance of communication and advocacy in a time when truth itself is dangerous. Having long listened to Insight Myanmar, she describes it as a vital platform allowing citizens to speak and be heard despite censorship and internet blackouts. “Your podcast is more than useful,” she insists. “It's advocacy, and information awareness.”

Welcome to the second edition of our new Start The Week show - a fast-paced summary of the hottest 5 travel topics in South East Asia and beyond. This week's show has a strong Chinese influence – a theme we expect to intensify through 2026. Gary and Hannah summarise the outlook for Trip.com's South East Asia expansion as it faces an antitrust investigation in China. In a week of tragic accidents in Thailand and Indonesia, high-speed rail construction and air passenger safety are in the spotlight. Plus, why has the Philippines finally decided to introduce visa-free entry for Chinese tourists? Is AirAsia's protracted restructure nearing completion - and what does it mean for air travel in the region? And, with the announcement of the BTS World Tour dates, why is Singapore “rubbing its hands with glee”? All this and more in 15 minutes…

This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Julian Legazpi, founder and chief venture officer of Infi Group, to trace his journey from growing up Filipino-Canadian to becoming a global operator, angel investor, and venture builder across Southeast Asia. Julian shares hard-earned lessons on grit, diaspora identity, and what it really takes to build, fund, and scale companies in emerging markets—beyond the hype and into the real work.Ep Timeline:[00:02:30] – Julian's hustle: venture building, investing, and scaling across Emerging Asia[00:04:17] – Origin story: Growing up Filipino-Canadian in Vancouver[00:06:56] – Mr. Worldwide era: Austria, Taiwan, Indonesia, and everywhere in between[00:08:48] – First influences: Rich Dad Poor Dad and Tito Ray's real estate seminar[00:14:05] – Skill stack: What traveling the world taught him about confidence[00:18:18] – Building confidence vs. competence: embracing failure as fuel[00:22:32] – The Philippine diaspora: Why most Phil-Ams see home as "back there"[00:29:20] – Jumping into entrepreneurship during COVID (worst timing ever)[00:32:47] – From angel investor to VC: putting money where your mouth is[00:37:09] – What Julian looks for in founders: "You're a cockroach, bro"[00:40:45] – Why Southeast Asia is always one cycle behind[00:44:48] – The vintage problem: Fund One exits and the recycling capital game[00:52:22] – Why most startups shouldn't take VC money (and what to do instead)[00:59:02] – The B2C trap: Why product businesses struggle with VC math[01:05:18] – The hybrid model: How InfiGroup blends VC, PE, and venture building[01:11:14] – InfiCommerce: Rolling up boring logistics businesses across the region[01:18:14] – Bridging the diaspora: Julian's mission to bring talent home"I cannot stress enough that we all have to find our own superpower. And everyone is different. Everyone has something that is not categorized in math, science, social sciences, economics, like we learned in school, right? There are these gray area fringe type of personality skillsets that you only get by working and constantly analyzing yourself."Resources:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlegazpiWebsite: https://infigroup.co/Links/Sponsors:OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/PLDT Enterprise: https://pldtenterprise.com- MSME Fiberbiz - https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-ROId-nbsi-fiberbiz - 5G SIM Only - https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-ROId-nbsi-smart-postpaidHustleshare is powered by PodmachineHustleshare is powered by PodmachineListen to our brand new podcast: Founders Only HEREDiamond Supporters: Sarisuki, PayMongo, SeekCap, Shoppable Business, Qapita, GoTyme Bank, Sprout Solutions, UNO Digital Bank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Angry Clean Energy Guy on "Sovereign AI" and the recipe with three ingredients each country needs to achieve it. Plus a special focus on the state of Sovereign AI in South-East Asia and why these nations (though not only these nations - indeed most nations) need a radical pivot: A stand-alone Minister of AI; a large build-out of data centers at home; and critically, a tsunami of solar, wind and storage to power this new brain with the only fuel that makes economic and security sense. The risk if they don't? Becoming vassal states to the algorithm. 

PREVIEW FOR LATER TODAY: GUEST CHRIS RIEGEL. Tariffs Force Global Shift in Electronics Manufacturing Away from China. Chris Riegel reports on a major shift in consumer electronics manufacturing away from China toward India, Mexico, and Southeast Asia. This transition is driven by aggressive tariffs—ranging from 27.5% to 100%—which are currently hurting Chinese manufacturers and forcing businesses to remodel their supply chains.

Have you ever thought about who might be on the other end of those scam calls and messages we all receive? The answer could be far more sinister than you might imagine. The "scammer" may also be a victim of human trafficking. These people are lured by the promise of well-paid jobs to travel to countries in Southeast Asia and are then forced to work in prison-like scam compounds. A BBC journalist and brave volunteers work to expose this brutal practice.

On today's show, host Esty Dinur is joined by Alfred W. McCoy to talk about his latest book, Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage, available from Haymarket Books. His book offers an intimate portrait of both covert operatives and antiwar activists, thus humanizing a history often told in impersonal terms of nuclear arsenals or diplomatic ententes. Turning away from the usual focus of the Moscow-Washington stalemate, McCoy looks at the regions of the world where the Cold War was actually fought, arguing that Southeast Asia experienced the worst of Cold War violence. From South Vietnam to the Middle East, to Africa and Latin America the major world powers fought surrogate wars amounting to 20 million deaths.  McCoy describes how the US spread its military around the world and operated covertly in Afghanistan, Angola, and elsewhere. He says that the first success of “the man on the spot,” Kermit Roosevelt Jr., was in Iran where he helped to install the Shah in “a spectacularly successful exhibit of regime change.” McCoy says that we're currently seeing a “radical shift in US geopolitical posture” moving away from “an international system of law and commerce to becoming a regional hegemony” as seen in what McCoy calls Trump's “tri-continental strategy.” Trump has decided to concentrate US power in the Americas, from Canada to Greenland and Venezuela. He says that Trump views oil and power as synonymous, but this is a miscalculation on Trump's part. McCoy sees the era of oil as over and the next horizon is in renewables and will be dominated by China.  Alfred W. McCoy holds the Harrington chair in history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since earning a history doctorate in 1977, his teaching and writing have focused on Southeast Asian history, modern empires, and the covert netherworld of syndicate crime and state security. Featured image of the cover of Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage, available from Haymarket Books. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post From the Cold War to the Trump Regime's Geopolitics with Alfred McCo... appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

In this episode of Picking Up Where We Left Off the conversation revisits the evolving maritime security challenges facing Southeast Asia—a region central to global trade and geopolitical stability. Building on insights from a 2024 Hollings Center dialogue in Kuala Lumpur, the episode explores how traditional threats such as smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal fishing are increasingly intertwined with emerging risks, including “dark shipping,” sanctioned oil transfers, and the growing vulnerability of undersea infrastructure. The discussion underscores how Southeast Asia's heavy reliance on secure sea lanes makes disruptions at sea not only a regional concern, but one with direct implications for international commerce, energy flows, and digital connectivity worldwide. Featuring perspectives from Gilang Kembara of Nanyang Technological University and Elina Noor of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the episode highlights the often-overlooked risks to submarine cables that carry the vast majority of global internet traffic, as well as the safety, environmental, and accountability gaps created by illicit maritime practices. The guests emphasize that addressing these challenges requires a coordinated, multi-stakeholder response—one that brings together governments, regional bodies such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States, and private-sector and cybersecurity actors. Rather than offering simple solutions, the episode makes clear that safeguarding Southeast Asia's maritime domain will demand sustained cooperation and a whole-of-society approach to managing the region's increasingly complex maritime risks.

Send us a textIn this episode of The Sober Butterfly Podcast, host Nadine Mulvina sits down with writer and traveler Melissa Rodway, author of The People You Meet: Luxury, Leeches, Love, and Lao Lao with a Host of Interesting Characters in Southeast Asia, for a thoughtful, story-driven conversation about how travel shapes identity, purpose, and connection.This episode goes far beyond bucket lists and destinations. Nadine and Melissa explore the deeper, often unspoken layers of travel—how movement through the world changes us emotionally and spiritually, the people who leave lasting imprints on our lives, and the difference between simply taking a vacation and truly traveling with intention.Melissa opens up about the realities of travel burnout, travel ego, and knowing when it's time to come home. She shares how her relationship with travel has evolved with age, why purpose matters more than pace, and how adventure doesn't disappear as we grow—it simply changes form. The conversation also touches on routine versus freedom, rest versus movement, and how travel can act as both a mirror and a teacher.Listeners will also hear about unforgettable people Melissa has met on the road, powerful moments from her global travels, and a memorable trip to Jordan that left a lasting impact. Throughout the episode, travel is framed not as an escape, but as a tool for self-discovery, discernment, and deeper connection.This episode is perfect for anyone who has ever felt changed by a trip, struggled with the tension between adventure and stability, or wondered what they're really searching for when they book the ticket.✨ In This Episode, We Discuss:How travel reshapes identity over timeThe people we meet on the road who stay with us long after the trip endsTravel ego, comparison, and letting go of “travel hierarchy”Recognizing travel burnout and knowing when it's time to come homeThe difference between vacations and meaningful travelHow purpose and priorities shift as we ageWhy adventure still matters—even when life changesThe inspiration behind The People You Meet

New research is transforming the outlook for cervical and uterine cancers -- two of the most serious gynecologic malignancies worldwide – and we'll be hearing from one of the people shaping that progress, Dr. Mary McCormack, on this episode of Raise the Line. From her perch as the senior clinical oncologist for gynecological cancer at University College London Hospitals, Dr. McCormack has been a driving force in clinical research in the field, most notably as leader of the influential INTERLACE study, which changed global practice in the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer, a key reason she was named to Time Magazine's 2025 list of the 100 most influential people in health. “In general, the protocol has been well received and it was adopted into the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines which is a really big deal because lots of centers, particularly in South and Central America and Southeast Asia, follow the NCCN's lead.”In this conversation with host Michael Carrese, you'll learn about how Dr. McCormack overcame recruitment and funding challenges, the need for greater access to and affordability of treatments, and what lies ahead for women's cancer treatment worldwide. Mentioned in this episode:INTERLACE Cervical Cancer Trial If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Sara Swenson is Assistant Professor of Religion and Affiliated Faculty in Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages at Dartmouth College. Her areas of expertise include Religions of Southeast Asia, Buddhism in Vietnam, Gender and Sexuality, Affect Theory, and Ethnography. She received her Ph.D. in Religion from Syracuse University in 2021. She also holds an M.Phil. in Religion and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Women's and Gender Studies from Syracuse University, an M.A. in Comparative Religion from Iliff School of Theology, and a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota Duluth. She pursues projects that highlight the power and agency of everyday people. Religions are often a vital resource for grassroots social action and community engagement, as exemplified by Buddhism in Vietnam. Her projects have received generous grant support from the American Council of Learned Societies; Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship; Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA); and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Dissertation Fellowship in Buddhist Studies. Swenson's new book, Near Light We Shine: Buddhist Charity in Urban Vietnam (Oxford UP, 2025) is one of the first major ethnographic studies on Buddhism in southern Vietnam, featuring new histories and interpretations of this rich subject. It shares new context for how religious practices affect urban migration, development, and humanitarian concerns, and presents theoretical advancements for understanding grassroots charity. Near Light We Shine offers a diversity of perspectives on grassroots Buddhist practices throughout Vietnam, by featuring interviews that have never been published before from marginalized Buddhist practitioners in Vietnam, such as day laborers, queer men, elderly women, and retired communist soldiers. References mentioned in the interview:  Le Hoang Anh Thu, "Doing Bodhisattva's Work: Charity, Class, and Selfhood of Petty Traders in Hồ Chí Minh City" here Nhung Lu Rots, "Towards an Alternative Buddhist Modernity: Hòa Hảo Charity Healing and Herbal Medicine in the Mekong Delta" here Elizabeth Perez, Religion in the Kitchen here Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) at the University of Wisconsin here Van Nguyen-Marshall, Between War and the State: Civil Society in South Vietnam, 1954–1975 here Casey R. Collins, Buddhist Contramodernism: Shinnyo-en's Reconfigurations of Tradition for Modernity here 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

Sara Swenson is Assistant Professor of Religion and Affiliated Faculty in Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages at Dartmouth College. Her areas of expertise include Religions of Southeast Asia, Buddhism in Vietnam, Gender and Sexuality, Affect Theory, and Ethnography. She received her Ph.D. in Religion from Syracuse University in 2021. She also holds an M.Phil. in Religion and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Women's and Gender Studies from Syracuse University, an M.A. in Comparative Religion from Iliff School of Theology, and a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota Duluth. She pursues projects that highlight the power and agency of everyday people. Religions are often a vital resource for grassroots social action and community engagement, as exemplified by Buddhism in Vietnam. Her projects have received generous grant support from the American Council of Learned Societies; Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship; Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA); and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Dissertation Fellowship in Buddhist Studies. Swenson's new book, Near Light We Shine: Buddhist Charity in Urban Vietnam (Oxford UP, 2025) is one of the first major ethnographic studies on Buddhism in southern Vietnam, featuring new histories and interpretations of this rich subject. It shares new context for how religious practices affect urban migration, development, and humanitarian concerns, and presents theoretical advancements for understanding grassroots charity. Near Light We Shine offers a diversity of perspectives on grassroots Buddhist practices throughout Vietnam, by featuring interviews that have never been published before from marginalized Buddhist practitioners in Vietnam, such as day laborers, queer men, elderly women, and retired communist soldiers. References mentioned in the interview:  Le Hoang Anh Thu, "Doing Bodhisattva's Work: Charity, Class, and Selfhood of Petty Traders in Hồ Chí Minh City" here Nhung Lu Rots, "Towards an Alternative Buddhist Modernity: Hòa Hảo Charity Healing and Herbal Medicine in the Mekong Delta" here Elizabeth Perez, Religion in the Kitchen here Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) at the University of Wisconsin here Van Nguyen-Marshall, Between War and the State: Civil Society in South Vietnam, 1954–1975 here Casey R. Collins, Buddhist Contramodernism: Shinnyo-en's Reconfigurations of Tradition for Modernity here Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/southeast-asian-studies

From the BBC World Service: China has announced record export numbers and the largest trade surplus in global history: $1.2 trillion. Despite the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs, China has been able to pivot to other international trading partners, including countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Then, global bond markets are where governments go to raise money to pay for services, but have they become too powerful?

From the BBC World Service: China has announced record export numbers and the largest trade surplus in global history: $1.2 trillion. Despite the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs, China has been able to pivot to other international trading partners, including countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Then, global bond markets are where governments go to raise money to pay for services, but have they become too powerful?

This week on The Global Fresh Series, we take a wide-angle look at how rapidly shifting environmental conditions, global demand, and innovation are reshaping the fresh produce landscape.We begin in California, where the state has officially been declared drought-free, marking a major turning point for growers, water policy, and long-term agricultural planning.From there, we travel to Southeast Asia, where surging demand for durian—driven by the Chinese market—is transforming the small rural village of Raub, in Malaysia. Once a quiet agricultural area, Raub is now positioning itself as a global supplier, expanding durian production and opening new export channels to India.We close the episode with a look at innovation closer to home, as four new potato varieties are introduced to the market—highlighting how plant breeding, consumer preferences, and adaptability continue to drive opportunity in staple crops.From climate resilience to exotic fruit demand and varietal innovation, this episode captures the interconnected forces shaping the future of global fresh produce.

This week on The Global Fresh Series, we take a wide-angle look at how rapidly shifting environmental conditions, global demand, and innovation are reshaping the fresh produce landscape.We begin in California, where the state has officially been declared drought-free, marking a major turning point for growers, water policy, and long-term agricultural planning.From there, we travel to Southeast Asia, where surging demand for durian—driven by the Chinese market—is transforming the small rural village of Raub, in Malaysia. Once a quiet agricultural area, Raub is now positioning itself as a global supplier, expanding durian production and opening new export channels to India.We close the episode with a look at innovation closer to home, as four new potato varieties are introduced to the market—highlighting how plant breeding, consumer preferences, and adaptability continue to drive opportunity in staple crops.From climate resilience to exotic fruit demand and varietal innovation, this episode captures the interconnected forces shaping the future of global fresh produce.

This week, the boys celebrate their 300th episode with Zack Snyder's “300”! While the commercial run began in 2007, we figured the premier at the Austin Butt-Numb-A-Thon from December 2006 was enough of an opening to category fraud “300” into our 300th episode. So we did! We drink, we laugh, John talked about “Marty Supreme”, Jeff gripes about Disney, and two out of the three boys gave the movie a gold star. Who was the holdout? Listen in! linktr.ee/theloveofcinema - Check out our YouTube page!  Our phone number is 646-484-9298. It accepts texts or voice messages.  0:00 Intro; 15:10 “Marty Supreme” mini-review; 20:15 1960 Year in Review; 43:44 Jeff's "Disney" Gripe; 53:13 Films of 2006: “300”; 1:34:10 What You Been Watching?; 1:47:16 Next Week's Episode Teaser Additional Cast/Crew: Gerard Butler, Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, Tomithee Chalamet, Josh Safdie, David Wenham, Lena Headey.  Hosts: Dave Green, Jeff Ostermueller, John Say Edited & Produced by Dave Green. Beer Sponsor: Carlos Barrozo Music Sponsor: Dasein Dasein on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ 
Dasein on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/dasein/1637517407 Recommendations: Stranger Things, Jack Fisk, Fallout, Pluribus, Miami Vice, The Imagineers. Additional Tags: Gordon Ramsay, Thelma Schoonmaker, Stephen King's It, The Tenant, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist, Cul-de-Sac, AI, The New York City Marathon, Apartments, Tenants, Rent Prices, Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, Amazon, Robotics, AMC, IMAX Issues, Tron, The Dallas Cowboys, Short-term memory loss, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Netflix, AMC Times Square, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, MGM, Amazon Prime, Marvel, Sony, Conclave, Here, Venom: The Last Dance, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Oscars, Academy Awards, BFI, BAFTA, BAFTAS, British Cinema. England, Vienna, Leopoldstadt, The Golden Globes, Past Lives, Apple Podcasts, West Side Story, Adelaide, Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Melbourne, The British, England, The SEC, Ronald Reagan, Stock Buybacks, Marvel, MCU, DCEU, Film, Movies, Southeast Asia, The Phillippines, Vietnam, America, The US, Academy Awards, WGA Strike, SAG-AFTRA, SAG Strike, Peter Weir, Jidaigeki, chambara movies, sword fight, samurai, ronin, Meiji Restoration, plague, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, casket maker, Seven Samurai, Roshomon, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Stellan Skarsgard, the matt and mark movie show.The Southern District's Waratah Championship, Night of a Thousand Stars, The Pan Pacific Grand Prix (The Pan Pacifics), Jeff Bezos, Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, David Ellison, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg. 

Sweet potatoes were among the American crops Christopher Columbus brought back to Europe—where they were thought to be an aphrodisiac. In China, this versatile root became a staple that fueled rapid population growth. Introduced to Japan to stave off famine, sweet potatoes later sustained the country's imperial expansion. Because this hardy plant can thrive in almost any soil, it has long been cultivated as a subsistence crop in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Oceania. In recent years, Western health experts have begun touting the humble sweet potato as a “superfood” with numerous nutritional benefits. Considering these events and many others, Staple to Superfood: A Global History of the Sweet Potato (Columbia UP, 2025) explores the sweet potato's rich history and remarkable global influence. Dr. Q. Edward Wang demonstrates how this resilient root has not only nourished communities but also defined their identities. Tracing its journeys through the intricate networks of global trade and cultural exchange, he shows how the sweet potato transformed agricultural practices, culinary traditions, and social structures worldwide. From the Americas to Europe to Asia and the Pacific, the spread of this crop illuminates the varied paths that global development has taken. Dr. Wang also contrasts the sweet potato with its botanically unrelated namesake, the white potato. Blending agricultural, cultural, and historical perspectives, Staple to Superfood offers a fresh look at the power of food to transform societies. It is a compelling exploration of how the sweet potato shaped the modern world and continues to influence global food systems today. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. 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

Sweet potatoes were among the American crops Christopher Columbus brought back to Europe—where they were thought to be an aphrodisiac. In China, this versatile root became a staple that fueled rapid population growth. Introduced to Japan to stave off famine, sweet potatoes later sustained the country's imperial expansion. Because this hardy plant can thrive in almost any soil, it has long been cultivated as a subsistence crop in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Oceania. In recent years, Western health experts have begun touting the humble sweet potato as a “superfood” with numerous nutritional benefits. Considering these events and many others, Staple to Superfood: A Global History of the Sweet Potato (Columbia UP, 2025) explores the sweet potato's rich history and remarkable global influence. Dr. Q. Edward Wang demonstrates how this resilient root has not only nourished communities but also defined their identities. Tracing its journeys through the intricate networks of global trade and cultural exchange, he shows how the sweet potato transformed agricultural practices, culinary traditions, and social structures worldwide. From the Americas to Europe to Asia and the Pacific, the spread of this crop illuminates the varied paths that global development has taken. Dr. Wang also contrasts the sweet potato with its botanically unrelated namesake, the white potato. Blending agricultural, cultural, and historical perspectives, Staple to Superfood offers a fresh look at the power of food to transform societies. It is a compelling exploration of how the sweet potato shaped the modern world and continues to influence global food systems today. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Sweet potatoes were among the American crops Christopher Columbus brought back to Europe—where they were thought to be an aphrodisiac. In China, this versatile root became a staple that fueled rapid population growth. Introduced to Japan to stave off famine, sweet potatoes later sustained the country's imperial expansion. Because this hardy plant can thrive in almost any soil, it has long been cultivated as a subsistence crop in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Oceania. In recent years, Western health experts have begun touting the humble sweet potato as a “superfood” with numerous nutritional benefits. Considering these events and many others, Staple to Superfood: A Global History of the Sweet Potato (Columbia UP, 2025) explores the sweet potato's rich history and remarkable global influence. Dr. Q. Edward Wang demonstrates how this resilient root has not only nourished communities but also defined their identities. Tracing its journeys through the intricate networks of global trade and cultural exchange, he shows how the sweet potato transformed agricultural practices, culinary traditions, and social structures worldwide. From the Americas to Europe to Asia and the Pacific, the spread of this crop illuminates the varied paths that global development has taken. Dr. Wang also contrasts the sweet potato with its botanically unrelated namesake, the white potato. Blending agricultural, cultural, and historical perspectives, Staple to Superfood offers a fresh look at the power of food to transform societies. It is a compelling exploration of how the sweet potato shaped the modern world and continues to influence global food systems today. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

Thanks to Audie, Katie, Eilee, Emily, Maryjane, and Dylan for their suggestions this week! Sorry this episode is late–the site was down.

Welcome to Season 6, Episode 2 ! Have you been caught up in the ube craze? For many people, especially in Southeast Asia, it's not a trend, it's a beloved food staple. This is most true in the Philippines where Ube is ubiquitous with many of their sweets. So in this episode, we talk ube… What is it? How is it used? What contributed to its rise in popularity, and more.  We also take time to explain the differences between ube, Okinawan sweet potato, and taro, and we wax poetic about our ube memories. Finally, we take time to talk about some specific restaurants (like Kasama in Chicago, Illinois and San & Wolves Bakeshop in Long Beach, California) and dishes to look for if you want to try ube (we highly recommend ube macapuno ice cream, ube crinkle cookies, ube matcha lattes, and sapin-sapin.  We begin the episode with some talk about New Years resolutions, 2025 Women's world champion figure skater Alysa Liu, and ube memories. At the end of the show, we also share another segment of What Are We Watching where we talk a little about Heated Rivalry as well as YouTube matcha content creators Michelle Kanemitsu, emily wada, and ur mom ashley.   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. Segments 00:25 Introduction… Talking New Years Resolutions, Celebrating Alysa Liu, and Sharing Ube Memories 12:34 The History of Ube 25:57 What Are We Watching? Heated Rivalry and YouTube Videos Ube Cheez Pandesal by San & Wolves Bakeshop