Robert Scheer SI Podcast SI: War & Peace

Viet Thanh Nguyen: Telling the Story of Vietnam Through Fiction

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author discusses his acclaimed novel, "The Sympathizer," and the legacy of the Vietnam War on "Scheer Intelligence."
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author discusses his acclaimed novel and the legacy of the Vietnam War.
Photo courtesy John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

USC professor Viet Thanh Nguyen won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Sympathizer and is a 2017 MacArthur Fellow.  He tells Robert Scheer he wanted his novel to tell a story with the Vietnamese experience in the foreground unlike previous narratives about the country. He tells Scheer the United States has often in recent history used its overwhelming power in spite of its ignorance about a foreign country’s culture and people. And he says the independence that Vietnam now has allows the country to control its fate but also destroy its future.

Credits

Guest:
Viet Thanh Nguyen – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist – @viet_t_nguyen

Host:
Robert Scheer

Producers:
Joshua ScheerRebecca Mooney