State of Asia

STATE OF ASIA, the podcast from Asia Society Switzerland, is back with engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.
The new season premieres Tuesday, September 3. New episodes follow every other Tuesday.
Plus: look out for bonus episodes bringing you insights from some of the many events organized by Asia Society Switzerland.
Stay up-to-date on all our activities: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast series from Asia Society Switzerland.
Season 7 trailer - Published: August 27, 2024
Editor/Producer:
Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

Journalist and Musician Kunga Tenzin Dorji, known as Supe, talks about his homeland Bhutan – the landlocked country located in the Eastern Himalayas. Until the 1960s, the kingdom of Bhutan was isolated from the rest of the world. When Bhutan started to open up, it did not modernize blindly, as Supe points out. The tiny nation wedged between India and China was able to preserve its national identity, which remains visible in the country’s cultural heritage, and in its political and socio-economic systems.
Your host: Denise Staubli, Program Manager, Asia Society Switzerland
Moderator: Simona Grano, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Taiwan Studies Project at the University of Zurich (UZH)
Speaker: Kunga Tenzin Dorji (Supe), freelance journalist and musician
Production: Denise Staubli

Show Notes

• Phobjikha Valley – a spectacular wide valley in Bhutan at an elevation of 3’000 meters, where you also find the very endangered black-necked cranes
• Ema Datshi – the national dish of Bhutan
• Anthony Bourdains’ series Parts Unknown on Bhutan, who gives a good assessment of Bhutan
• The History of Bhutan, by Karma Phuntsho
• So Close to Heaven: The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas, by Barbara Crossette, for a better understanding of geopolitics of Bhutan
• The Circle of Karma, by Kunzang Choden, fiction and quite revealing about Bhutan’s society and culture
• Asia Society Switzerland webcast A Closer Look at Bhutan with Kunga Tenzin Dorji and Dr. Simona Grano, July 1, 2021

Tomohiko Taniguchi was Special Advisor to Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister, the late Shinzo Abe.
He was the primary writer on Abe's foreign policy speeches, having joined the ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2005 after a 20-year career in journalism at Nikkei Business.
He is currently a professor at Keio University specializing in international political economy and Japanese diplomacy.

In this conversation, he talks about his worries for security in Asia; who he thinks is the biggest threat to the future of Japan, and why hope remains such an important commodity if we want to turn things around.
After listening to this episode, grab the opportunity to hear Tomohiko Taniguchi speak live, in person, at the STATE OF ASIA conference on November 10, 2022, in Zurich, Switzerland. He will be joined by many others of our trusted experts.
For more details, the full speaker line-up, and information on how to get tickets, visit our website.

State of Asia is a podcast series from Asia Society Switzerland. New episodes are published every other Monday.
Host: Nico Luchsinger, Executive Director, Asia Society Switzerland
Producer: Remko Tanis, Program and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland
Stay up-to-date on all activities of Asia Society Switzerland. Subscribe to our newsletter.

Leni Robredo was the 14th Vice President of the Philippines, serving from 2016 to 2022. During her term, she reinvented the Office of the Vice President from a purely ceremonial one into an advocacy centered office, instituting poverty alleviation programs all over the country.
This May, she lost in the presidential elections to Ferdinand 'Bong Bong' Marcos, Jr., who spoke at Asia Society on Sep. 23, 2022. Robredo then set up Angat Buhay, a non governmental organization which focuses on education, health, community engagement, disaster response and rehabilitation. Angat Buhay aims to become the biggest network of volunteers in the entire country.

In this episode, Robredo talks about how a targeted disinformation campaign tripped up her run for President of the Philippines this spring, what can be done to combat fake news, and about the ambitious goals she sees ahead for ASEAN.
After listening to this episode, grab the opportunity to hear Leni Robredo speak live, in-person, at the STATE OF ASIA conference on November 10, 2022, in Zurich, Switzerland. There, she will be joined by many others of our trusted experts.
For more details, the full speaker line-up, and information on how to get tickets, visit our website.
Stay up-to-date on all activities of Asia Society Switzerland. Subscribe to our newsletter.

State of Asia is a podcast series from Asia Society Switzerland. New episodes are published every other Monday.
Host: Nico Luchsinger, Executive Director, Asia Society Switzerland
Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

Human rights lawyer Dilfuza Kurolova and political scientist Dr. Farkhod Tolipov talk about their homeland Uzbekistan – the land locked and most populous country of Central Asia. After two decades of economic and political isolation under the former President Islom Karimov, there are hopes that the current president will bring the much needed change to the former Soviet country. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is more reform-orientated, more democratic and more liberal than his predecessor, and there has been a shift towards a more liberal life, though only a very slight one, and there is much to do to create a democratic system in Uzbekistan, as our speakers point out.
4:12 Background information on Uzbekistan

6:30 Dilfuza and Dr. Tolipov’s views on Uzbekistan, and where it stands today

21:20 The cotton industry

26:57 Uzbekistan’s involvement in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and reactions from Russia

34:47 Dilfuza and Dr. Tolipov’s recommendations for places to visit and food to try

Your host: Denise Staubli, Program Manager, Asia Society Switzerland
Moderator: Simona Grano, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Taiwan Studies Project at the University of Zurich (UZH)
Speakers:
Dilfuza Kurolova, human rights lawyer and founding-curator of the Global Shapers Tashkent Hub
Dr. Farkhod Tolipov, Director of the non-governmental Research Institution “Bilim Karvoni” (“Caravan of Knowledge”)
Production: Denise Staubli
Show Notes

Green dumplings –in season in Spring/Summer

Watermelons – very big and tasty in the Summer

Plov – National dish of Uzbekistan

Khiva – Ancient city in Xorazm Region, Uzbekistan

The capital city Tashkent with its big bazaars and the famous Tashkent metro (featuring very beautiful tunnels and stations). Most stunning station: “Cosmos” station

New Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

Publications by Dr. Farkhod Tolipov

Asia Society Switzerland webcast A Closer Look at Uzbekistan with Dilfuza Kurolova and Dr. Farkhod Tolipov, May 20, 2021