Podcast Free Asia
When we were brainstorming what to call this podcast, since we are "Radio Free Asia," and podcasting is a radio format, Amy offered up the suggestion "Podcast Free Asia," garnering a few chuckles from Eugene. A few other titles were suggested, including "WTF," "WTRFA," "Eyes on Asia" (which was a previous English podcast at RFA), "Ear on Asia," and RFA Insider. They went with "RFA Insider" as a working title, but it looks like that may have stuck at this point.
That said, Amy in the first episode wanted to dub the section where we explained why were doing a podcast as "Podcast Free Asia." So from here on, any podcast-related news, announcements, corrections, and banter.. basically anything between the contact information bumper and The Rundown will be henceforth known as "Podcast Free Asia."
Eugene and Amy took the time to explain why we decided to make this podcast.
One major reason is because the English Service does not (yet) have any content where personalities appear in front of the camera or microphone like RFA's other language services. This will enable our audience to get to know some of the people in the English Service through this medium.
Another reason is because the dedicated journalists in the language services are often only known through bylines on the English Service website. Through this podcast we can showcase not only the valuable work that the other language services do, but also the people who do it.
The Rundown
Cantonese Service reproted that China wants English speakers to stop calling 2024 the "Year of the Dragon," instead inserting the Chinese word for dragon, which is usually transliterated as "long." However, because the "Year of the Long" would be confusing, whomever is behind the campaign added an extra o. So 2024 should be the "Year of the Loong." Eugene was not impressed.
The Asia Fact Check Lab debunked the disinformation that suggested U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1978 said it was the U.S. position that Taiwan was a part of the People's Republic of China. This was not the case. Carter was simply saying that the U.S. acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is a part of China. This is an early application of Washington's One China Policy, which takes no position on Taiwan's sovreignity.
How it's made
We interviewed Jamin Anderson from the Korean Service who created an excellent news piece about Ilya Voskresensky, a Russian travel blogger who was among the first guided tour to North Korea in four years. Jamin explained how she was able to track Ilya down even though she does not speak Russian, and how eager Ilya was to work with her. He additionally sent a whole library of great photos and videos of his journey, including pictures of some knockoff legos that he purchased as a present for his son!