Vietnamese Diaspora Reflects on 50 Years Since Vietnam War

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured South Vietnam’s capital of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War. With 50 years now passed, those who left Vietnam — and subsequent generations — are reflecting on how the war and the ensuing exodus have influenced their identities and heritage. Three writers from across the Vietnamese diaspora write about the war and its lasting impacts on refugees and future generations in a new issue of the literary magazine McSweeney’s, titled “The Make Believers.” They join us to share what the anniversary means for them, and we’ll hear what it means to you. Guests: Thi Bui, author, illustrated memoir "The Best We Could Do" Doan Bui, writer and journalist Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, executive director, Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for KQED Podcasts comes from Landmark College, commemorating 40 years of educating people who learn differently, with programs on campus and online for both students and professionals.
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0:30.6	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Leslie McClure. I'm in today from Mina Kim.
0:53.2	50 years ago today, the Vietnam War ended with the fall of
0:57.0	Saigon. And it led to the displacement of millions of people, and it reshaped communities far beyond Vietnam's borders.
1:04.5	In a new issue of the literary magazine McSweeney's called The Make Believers, three writers from the diaspora reflect on their family's history.
1:12.6	And they join us to share what this anniversary means to them.
1:16.0	And we want to hear what it means to you.
1:18.3	That's next on Forum after this news. This is Forum. I'm Leslie McClure. I'm in today for Mina Kim. I think for many Americans with no direct connection to the Vietnam War. Their understanding, which is similar to
1:46.5	mine, probably comes from history classes, maybe movies. But for Vietnamese families, it might live in
1:52.6	the kitchen, it might live in bedtime stories, or maybe it was never told at all. 50 years after the
1:59.2	fall of Saigon, we're talking with three writers from the
2:02.5	Vietnamese diaspora. Their reflections are part of a new issue of McSweeney's, which is a literary
2:08.5	magazine. And we want to hear from you. What does the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War,
	...

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