The Vietnam Weekly Podcast

Today’s guest is former U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius, whose personal history with Vietnam dates back to his first arrival in 1996. We talked about his ongoing engagement with the country spanning the public and private sectors, the current rapid pace of economic and regulatory change, looming challenges such as demographic change, the impact of Trump administration policies such as tariffs and the gutting of USAID, and why he is ultimately bullish on Vietnam’s future.Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly here.Support the podcast through Buy Me A Coffee. Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s guests are Dr. Nguyễn Thùy An, Historian and Labor Education Professional at the University of Maine, specializing in the history of U.S. foreign relations and Vietnamese history; and Dr. Sean Fear, Lecturer in International History at the University of Leeds, whose research focuses on the Republic of Vietnam. We discussed progress on reconciliation between Vietnam and the U.S., which took something of a hit following reporting that American diplomats have been told to avoid events related to reunification; how the teaching of the war in Vietnam has evolved; perspectives on the Republic of Vietnam over time; the role of reunification in modern Vietnam; the state of reconciliation within Vietnam and between Vietnam and the overseas diaspora; and what is missing from international perspectives on reunification and the war more broadly. Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly here.Support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee. Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s guest is Robyn McGuckin, Executive Director of P4G, who joined from Hanoi, where the 2025 P4G Vietnam Summit begins this morning.We discussed P4G’s goals and approach, the hurdles faced by many climate tech startups and the so-called ‘valley of death,’ the interface between climate tech startups and government, P4G’s national platforms, their nine partner countries, P4G’s success stories in Vietnam such as Stride and Alterno, how P4G connects with and assesses startups, climate tech funding challenges unique to Vietnam, the significant of the 2025 P4G Vietnam Summit, and more.Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly here.Support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee.Related link:Vietnam's Climate Tech Ecosystem (Vietnam Weekly Podcast) Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s guest is Khang Vu, a visiting scholar at Boston College with a Ph.D. in International Relations with a focus on East Asian Security from Boston College. Vietnamese foreign policy is one of his key areas of expertise.We discussed Vietnam’s success in avoiding Trump tariffs thus far, the planned China-backed Lao Cai-Hai Phong railway, Vietnam’s history of dealing with territorial disputes with China and potential lessons for other Southeast Asian countries, the government’s ongoing spree of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership upgrades, the importance of Cambodia and Laos to Vietnam’s strategic security, the ‘era of national rise’ and its foreign policy impact, and more.Recent articles by Khang: What Southeast Asian Countries Can Learn from Vietnam’s History of Negotiating Territorial Disputes with China (The Diplomat)Vietnam’s ‘Era of National Rise’ and the Risk of Imperial Overreach: Lessons from 1975 (The Diplomat)Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly here.Support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee. Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s guest is Kyle Freeman, a Partner at Dezan Shira & Associates who leads the International Business Advisory team and the firm's North American client services desk in Asia.We discussed the latest tariff threats coming from President-Elect Donald Trump, how Vietnam benefited from U.S. trade policy during his first administration, Vietnam’s exposure to potential trade remedies given its huge surplus and growing Chinese manufacturing investment, how export-focused companies are preparing for another Trump presidency, and more.Related Links:US trade deficit with Vietnam soars beyond $110 billion, as weak dong boosts exports (Reuters)The Fiction of Western Unity on China De-Risking (Foreign Policy)Trump’s Tariffs Helped Northern Vietnam Boom Like Never Before. What Now? (The New York Times)Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly here.Support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee. Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s guest is Huê-Tâm Jamme, an assistant professor at Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning.Huê-Tâm explores the effects of new technologies on space and society, especially on how people move, work, shop, and socialize in cities - and she has extensive research experience in Vietnam.We discussed her theory of ‘productive frictions’ in urban areas; the impact of mass transit on daily life; misguided discussions of motorbike bans in urban centers; and how Ho Chi Minh City should harness its unique nature to present itself as a new model for urban development, rather than pursuing the same strategies used by other cities.Related Links:Productive Frictions: A Theory of Mobility and Street Commerce Grounded in Vietnam's Motorbike-Centric Urbanism (PDF)‘Historic achievement’: Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City’s first metro line opensSubscribe to the Vietnam Weekly here.Support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee. Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s guest is Daniel Nguyen, the founder of Sông Cái Distillery.We discussed his background in community development in the United States and rural Vietnam; Sông Cái’s mission as a case study for adding value to agriculture unique to Vietnam; the relationship between ethnobotany, land value, and forest preservation; creating value for smallholder farmers through grains and botanicals not previously desired on the market; Sông Cái’s focus on averting land degradation and biodiversity loss; building relationships with ethnic minority communities, and more.Subscribe to the Vietnam Weekly here.Support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee.Get in touch with comments, feedback, or guest ideas: [email protected]. Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe