Episode 132: Heidi Kühn, Founder of Roots of Peace and 2023 World Food Prize laureate
Release Date: 08/27/2025
Episode 148: Arnisson Ortega, Associate Professor from the Department of Geography and the Environment, Syracuse University
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan speaks with Arnisson Andre Ortega, Associate Professor from the Department of Geography and the Environment at Syracuse University. First, they discuss his current project, “City of Imperialism,” which examines the legacy of former U.S. military bases in the Philippines. Then, they unpack his lecture, “Geonarratives of Hope and Resistance,” which is a part of a collaborative project with human rights defenders in Negros Island. It shows that mapping is more than a technical tool, but can be used to support resistance and justice, especially...
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Episode 147: Courtney Wittekind, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Purdue University
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan speaks with Courtney T. Wittekind, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Purdue University. Together, they discuss Dr.Wittekind’s lecture, which is part of her forthcoming book, (Stanford University Press), and explore how speculation unfolds amid political, economic, and social instability. Focusing on Southwest Yangon, Dr. Wittekind examines everyday practices of speculation and gambling in a suburb where the Myanmar government proposed a plan to build a new city that never came to fruition. The conversation reflects on navigating the...
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Episode 146: Taomo Zhou, Associate Professor of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan and Carrie Mo, a master’s student in Asian Studies, interview Taomo Zhou, Associate Professor of Chinese Studies at the National University of Singapore, about her research on the life of Francisca Casparina Fanggidaej, an Indonesian transnational activist in the Afro-Asian movement and the mother of seven. Because of her involvement with the Communist Party of Indonesia (Partai Komunist Indonesia, PKI), Francisca went into exile in China after the 1965 Indonesia massacre, forcing her to separate from her family for many decades. By...
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Episode 145: Liang Wu, SEAP/Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan, joined by Yi-Jen Chen, a Cornell PhD student in Anthropology, interviews Liang Wu, a postdoctoral associate in Environmental Humanities in the Southeast Asia Program and the Department of Science and Technology Studies. Together, they explore what it means to rethink “maritime Southeast Asia.” Rather than treating Southeast Asia as a fixed geographic region, the conversation focuses on the circulation of labor and commodities across Southeast Asia and the globe. Dr. Wu highlights the central—yet often overlooked—role of Filipino seafarers,...
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Episode 144: Lydia O’Meara, Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan is joined by Francine Barchett, former host of the Gatty Rewind Podcast and a Cornell PhD candidate in Natural Resources & the Environment. Together, they interview Lydia O'Meara, a postdoctoral fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. Lydia studies how diets in coastal communities can reveal links between human nutrition and marine ecosystem health. Her research focuses on Timor-Leste in the Coral Triangle, a biodiversity hotspot where many people rely on fish but face growing threats from climate change and biodiversity loss....
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Episode 143: Patrick Daly, Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan is joined by Trifosa Simamora, a PhD candidate from the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, to interview Patrick Daly, a research scientist for sustainability and resilience in the Department of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Daly gave us a rundown of his lecture, Using Archaeology, History, and Geology to Build a Paleo-Tsunami History for Southeast Asia. We discuss his 20-year endeavor to craft a long history of tsunamis in this region through collaboration between the arts and sciences. Tune in to find...
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Episode 142: Mark Sanchez, Department of Asian Studies, Vanderbilt University
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan is joined by Elissa Domingo Badiqué, a recent doctoral graduate from the Department of Performing and Media Arts. Together, they interview Mark John Sanchez, Assistant Professor of Asian Studies at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Sanchez recapitulates his lecture on the legal tactics used by the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) to defend civil liberties during the martial law era under Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. He then reflects on how his personal journey and positionality have shaped his research. The conversation further explores the...
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Episode 141: Kevin D. Pham, Assistant Professor of Political Theory, University of Amsterdam
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan interviews Kevin Pham, Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of Amsterdam. Professor Pham’s talk is titled “A Postcolonial Theory of Free Speech,” in which he focuses on North Vietnamese intellectuals and their perspective on new speech in the 1950s. He argues that although the meaning and value of free speech have long been contested in the West, they overlook how people outside of the West, in illiberal conditions, theorize free speech. Growing up in San Jose, Professor Pham was intrigued by a trip to the Middle East and...
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Episode 140: Jangai Jap, Department of International Affairs, The University of Georgia
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, guest co-host Drake Avila, a master’s student in Asian Studies, joins host Namfon Narumol Choochan to interview Assistant Professor Jangai Jap from the Department of International Affairs at the University of Georgia. They discuss her recent research on ethnic rebellion in Myanmar and why the current explanation of post-independence political exclusion falls short in accounting for the rebellion's onset. Professor Jap shares how her Kachin heritage and NGO work experience in Myanmar have sparked her academic curiosity and shaped her doctoral and current research. Tune in for...
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Episode 139: Analyn Salvador-Amores, Department of Anthropology, University of the Philippines Baguio
Gatty Rewind Podcast
In this episode, host Namfon Narumol Choochan interviews Analyn Salvador-Amores (Ikin), Professor of Anthropology and former Director of the Museo Kordilyera at the University of the Philippines Baguio. Together, they discuss how the recent tourism trend has revitalized Kalinga tattoos, a tradition of the ethnolinguistic group in Buscalan village, northern Luzon, Philippines. Having conducted anthropological research on traditional tattoos for over 30 years, Professor Ikin provides nuanced insights into how tourism has changed the village’s landscape, tattoo practices, and reshaped gender...
info_outlineIn this episode, Francine Barchett interviews Heidi Kühn, founder of Roots of Peace and 2023 World Food Prize laureate. Kühn shares how a background in journalism and a life-changing cancer diagnosis led her to launch a global mission: turning “mines to vines.” She recounts how her organization cleared landmines in places like Vietnam and Afghanistan. Along the way, she offers moving stories about working with farmers in Quang Tri Province and her vision for creating a global “army of peacekeepers” through sustainable agriculture. The episode closes with advice for young changemakers and a reminder that even the smallest seed of hope can grow into global impact.
Lightning round: 3:20
Roots of Peace Summary: 8:32
Advice for researchers and recommendations: 37:14
The music on the podcast is from "14 Strings!", a Filipino-style Rondalla group established at Cornell University. Check them out here.
Produced by Adam Farihin and Cecilia Liu