Insight Myanmar

Soeya Min first got his start in the travel industry, then switched to the entertainment field. When the pandemic struck, with a lot of free time on his hands, he started learning about psychology.

Al…

Like many of his Bamar colleagues, Khun Be Du and his Karenni community first attempted to resist the military coup through non-violent means. When that could no longer be sustained, he banded togeth…

The days turned dark in March 2020 when the Burmese military began attacking and killing nonviolent protesters. Soon after the crackdown, activists still courageous enough to take to the streets bega…

The Myanmar military’s violent response to the democracy movement has caused angst among many devout Burmese Buddhists about how to defend themselves and their fundamental freedoms, while remaining t…

Kenton Clymer joins the podcast to speak about his book, "A Delicate Relationship: The United States and Burma/Myanmar since 1945." In the waning days of World War II, Americans were primarily concer…

Ma Thida’s book, Prisoner of Conscience, details her remarkable and inspiring life journey.

She was attending medical school when, in 1988, the military violently suppressed peaceful protesters. Soon,…

While our recent episodes have focused on the reality in Myanmar, this show explores the condition of allies outside the country who support the democracy movement. Although free from physical harm a…

The past ten years of Myanmar’s history have certainly not been boring, and journalist Mratt Kyaw Thu has been there to chronicle a lot of it.

Hailing from Rakhine state, Mratt made his way to Yangon …

On February 1st, 2021, General Min Aung Hlaing orchestrated a military coup in Myanmar. On February 24th, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized missiles and airstrikes as the first blow i…

Episode #98: Linn Thant never expected to see another military coup in Myanmar. In 1988, he was arrested, locked away, tortured for years and eventually sentenced to death. So Linn Thant did not expe…

From deep meditative absorption with Pa Auk Sayadaw, to sitting in caves in southern Spain in the company of drug addicts and criminals, Beth Upton has led a most amazing spiritual life!  

In 2008, Be…

Some listeners may recall Chit Tun’s first interview with Insight Myanmar, just weeks after the coup was launched. At that time, he was leading nonviolent protests throughout Yangon. He was hiding ou…

Nelson Mandela famously said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Conversely, one of the best ways to prevent change within a society is to limit access, ce…

Pyae Phyo Kyaw, a gay doctor, is simultaneously helping his countrymen while taking a sledgehammer to the barriers that have long defined Burmese society.

Pyae Phyo Kyaw was aware of his sexual orient…

In the aftermath of student strikes in 1968, Alan left Columbia University and moved to Berkeley, California. There, he found himself amid a whirlwind of social unrest: the counter-culture movement, …

Most people would not regard a violent military coup as the best time to start an organization, but that's exactly what Katie Craig and her partners did! 

Katie has worked with minority language commu…

“I think Tatmadaw is a place where soldiers and their families have lost their human rights,” Su Thit asserts. Her bold criticism of Myanmar's military is somewhat unusual because her husband was one…

Like so many other spiritual seekers from the West, Kim Shelton and her husband were attracted to Myanmar by the opportunities that the country presents for developing a deeper Buddhist practice. Kim…

When films examine a subject in detail, it’s sometimes described as a “meditation on…” that particular theme. Golden Kingdom, a 2015 film by Brian Perkins, fits this expression in more ways than one.

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Kenneth Wong, a Burmese language instructor at UC Berkeley, has spent a lifetime studying the history of Burmese films, and is one of the organizers of the Burma Spring Benefit Film Festival. He grew…