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No, this is not an April Fool’s joke. Episode 18 of the podcast has just gone online. However, you may find it tough to verify the accuracy of the material covered; these stories from the seventeenth century are some of the most obscure in the entire podcast series! Check the episode out, for some stories you have never heard before.
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/22435915/episode-18-arakan-and-all-that/
The latest episode went up last night. Now the podcast moves to the east side of the Southeast Asian mainland. This is the first in a two-part series on how the French conquered Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. If you are interested in what I may say in the future about the twentieth-century Vietnam War, this episode is an important stepping stone, setting the stage to that conflict by bringing in the French.
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/25285779/episode-25-french-indochina-part-i/
For the podcast’s 32nd episode (33rd if you count the introduction), we will return to the Southeast Asian mainland, and cover the history of Burma, modern-day Myanmar, in the early twentieth century. In particular we will concentrate our attention on the nationalist movements that sprang up, to oppose British rule. Three of the nationalists we will meet here, Aung San, U Nu and Ne Win, will become important in future episodes, so remember their names!
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/28583933/episode-32-nationalism-in-british-burma/
This episode is a break from the narrative usually presented. Recently I was interviewed by Stephanie Craig for another podcast, History Fangirl, to give the historical background behind Thailand and Bangkok. On the page hosting this episode is a link to the interview on HistoryFangirl.com; check it out to learn about the other places Stephanie has visited.
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/31825716/episode-40-the-history-fangirl-interview/
Though I am out of town this week, Episode 45 is now available for your listening pleasure. This is another World War II episode that is not set in Southeast Asia, but next to it. Today we begin the long jungle war in New Guinea, as the Japanese stage their first invasions of the world’s second largest island. Meanwhile to the southeast, in the Coral Sea, Japanese and American aircraft carriers meet. The result is a crucial battle, halting the Japanese advance toward Australia from the sea.
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/34022877/episode-45-the-new-guinea-campaign-part-1/
Today the podcast takes a break from the usual routine, and you will hear me answer the questions which you the listeners sent in over the past month or two. Listen and enjoy!
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/36623452/episode-51-question-and-answer-session-1/
With this episode we finish the podcast narrative about World War II in Burma, or as we now call it, Myanmar. Here the British and the Japanese fight for the city of Rangoon, modern-day Yangon. In the middle of the battle the rainy season begins, which forces both sides to call a halt to most of the fighting. But in 1945, the war will end before the rainy season does.
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/39455264/episode-56-the-forgotten-war-in-burma-part-4/
In today’s episode we begin covering the events of the First Indochina War, waged between the French and the Vietnamese communists, then called the Viet Minh. Here we go from 1946 to 1950. For most of this time the struggle was a stalemate, with the French controlling all cities in Vietnam, while the Viet Minh roamed the countryside. Then in 1950 the Viet Minh won a key battle in the area northeast of Hanoi; this is now considered the turning point of the war.
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/43333910/episode-65-the-first-indochina-war-part-2/
For Part 4 in our podcast series on the First Indochina War, this episode covers the events of 1952 and most of 1953. We will look at the battles in northwest Vietnam, as the Viet Minh invade this area. Then we will see the opening of a second front in Laos, which will start an on-and-off civil war that will last for the next 22 years. Finally, we will learn how Laos and Cambodia achieved full independence from France.
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/43999852/episode-67-the-first-indochina-war-part-4/
Happy Father’s Day, if you are in the United States! And on this day 71 years ago, the communist revolt called “The Malayan Emergency” began. Now with today’s
podcast episode, we finish our coverage of the early Cold War years by looking at the Malayan Emergency, and we will follow the path the Malay peninsula took to become
independent. Hint: it was different from the rest of Southeast Asia, where nationalist movements developed many years earlier.
https://www.blubrry.com/hoseasia/44740935/episode-69-the-malayan-emergency/
This episode continues the narrative we started last time, on the Second Indochina War’s phase in Laos, also called the Laotian Civil War. Unfortunately, the cease-fire and the coalition government set up at the end of the previous episode couldn’t last. Today we look at events in 1963 and 1964, and learn the overall trends that will characterize the war until the next cease-fire is signed, in 1973.
https://blubrry.com/hoseasia/49507836/episode-75-the-second-indochina-war-part-5/
Happy New Year, and here is the first podcast episode for 2020! In Episode 81 the first American combat troops come to Vietnam, only to find that their visit will not be a short one, and that a lot more Americans will have to join them.
https://blubrry.com/hoseasia/53790933/episode-81-the-second-indochina-war-part-9/
With the previous episode of the podcast, we took a break from the narrative and had a question and answer session. Now with Episode 86, we resume our ongoing narrative about the Second Indochina War, also known as the Vietnam War. Today we finish looking at the events of 1967, and that will get us ready for the Tet Offensive next time.
https://blubrry.com/hoseasia/57384680/episode-86-the-second-indochina-war-part-13/
Better late than never, as the saying goes! Sorry for the delays. This episode covers the war in Vietnam during 1970 and 1971. Also covered are events in the United States at the same time that affected the war: more antiwar protests, and the publication of the Pentagon Papers.
https://blubrry.com/hoseasia/64228638/episode-93-the-second-indochina-war-part-20/
With this episode, the second hundred episodes of the podcast will begin! Today we look at Burma from the 1950s to 1988, going up to the point just before the country was renamed Myanmar. During this period, the country had only two leaders, U Nu and Ne Win. U Nu tried unsuccessfully to turn Burma into a socialist state, while Ne Win was a dictator who did some wild things because he was also superstitious.
https://blubrry.com/hoseasia/70370482/episode-101-burma-a-ne-win-situation/
Spring is on the way! While you are waiting for the season to change, here is the next episode of the podcast. This episode looks at Vietnam from 1975 to 1986, and Cambodia from 1979 to 1989. During this time there were conflicts between Vietnam and the Khmer Rouge, and between Vietnam and China. Together we call these clashes the Third Indochina War, and because they were waged on a small scale, without big battles like those of the previous wars, they are almost forgotten today.
https://blubrry.com/hoseasia/74701892/episode-107-the-third-indochina-war/
This is the first episode I promised on special topics that were overlooked when we were going through the historical narrative, in previous episodes. Today we have an in-depth look at the Boat People, the refugees who fled Vietnam in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Listen and enjoy!
https://blubrry.com/hoseasia/87495585/episode-122-the-boat-people/
I started working on Episode #129 of the podcast in the middle of August, but was interrupted in early September by illness. Now I have recovered enough to finish the episode, so here it is. This time we visit Sumba, an island in eastern Indonesia that you probably haven’t heard of, because it is really remote and not visited much, compared with the other islands. Listen and enjoy!
https://blubrry.com/hoseasia/118846640/episode-129-sumba-the-forgotten-island/