Al Jazeera Podcasts.

Today, what does it mean to be labeled as a refugee, an exile, the other?

There's oftentimes always somebody there occupying this position that frightens

so-called average Americans. Author Vietan Nguyen has spent his life thinking about that question.

He draws a line from Vietnam to Gaza to ice raids in the U.S. under President Donald Trump.

I'm Natasha Deltu, and this is the take.

The question of whose inside or outside has always been contingent upon power.

And we should be really, really careful that we understand this so that when we are given that invitation to be on the inside, that we understand very clearly, this is always a contingent invitation.

We can be evicted at any time at the whims of those in power.

I'm Vietan Weng. I'm a writer. I am here at home in Pasadena, California.

We're absolutely thrilled to have you on the take. And it's such an incredibly pivotal, volatile,

volatile time to have you on. I mean, we're seeing how your book ties directly

into some of the things that are happening on the ground in the streets. You know, you gave this

lecture at Harvard, which, you know, obviously an Ivy League school, and that became your book

about being an other. But this is not just an abstract theory. You know,

this is playing out in real time in the streets. And just this past week, we've seen ice raids

that led to protests and intense police brutality. I was actually on the ground. I went to some

of these protests and witnessed it myself in downtown L.A.

When you look at everything that's going on right now, how do you see the idea of othering playing out?

I obviously think otherness is absolutely crucial to the way that our culture and our politics work.

As you mentioned, I gave these lectures at Harvard.

And Harvard has come to symbolize everything that President Trump and his administration believed

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