Viet Thanh Nguyen on the Lasting Impact of the Vietnam War 50 Years Later

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KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Viet Thanh Nguyen came to the United States as a 4-year-old refugee after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. His family eventually settled in San Jose. Nguyen went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-Winning novelist and memoirist whose books center the experience of Vietnamese people. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, we’ll reflect on the war’s lasting impact and what we have – and have not – learned from it. And we’ll talk about his new book of essays, “To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other,” which explores the role of artists in political discourse. Guests: Viet Thanh Nguyen, author and professor at USC. His latest book is a collection of essays, "To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other." His previous books include the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Sympathizer," "The Committed," and the memoir, “A Man of Two Faces." Bryan Vo, Forum intern Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1:00.2	From KQBD in San Francisco, I'm the Lexus Madrigal.
1:07.4	Vietan Wynne came to the United States as a four-year-old refugee after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.
1:13.6	Eventually, his family settled in San Jose's burgeoning Vietnamese community, and his parents became the owners of a local grocery store.
1:16.6	He went on to win a Pulitzer Prize, and he's now a professor at USC.
1:21.6	We'll talk about the legacies of the Vietnam War, 50 years after it came to an end, how they're
1:26.6	interwoven with Wynn's own family
1:29.2	life and how writing has helped him understand the experience of being an other in America.
1:35.3	It's all coming up next right after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:51.4	It's been 50 years since what we call the Vietnam War came to an end.
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