Podcast: STATE OF ASIA

Engaging Conversations with Leading Minds

The STATE OF ASIA podcast brings you exclusive, engaging conversations with leading minds on issues that shape Asia and affect us all. It’s one of the most diverse, yet concise podcasts out there on what’s playing in Asia and how that affects us all.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or search for 'State of Asia' on any other podcast app. We're also on YouTube. All episodes are also available right here, on this site.

SEASON 8 (Spring 2025)

SEASON 7 (Fall 2024)

SEASON 6 (Spring 2024)

SEASON 5 (Fall 2023)

Featuring conversations with iconic veteran of diplomacy Bilahari Kausikan, former Ambassador and Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Alexander Gabuev, Director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Simona Grano, Senior Fellow at Asia Society's Center for China Analysis and Associate Professor at the University of Zurich, C. Raja Mohan of the Asia Society Policy Institute in Delhi on the State of Europe, and, chef Fuchsia Dunlop – master of Chinese cuisine.

Some of them spoke at last year's STATE OF ASIA conference on November 22, 2023, in Zurich. The evening before, Bilahari delivered the State of Asia Address, which is now available as a podcast here.

SEASON 4 (Spring 2023)

Featuring Pakistan's Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, renowned sinologist Marina Rudyak, CSIS fellow and expert on Vietnam and Southeast Asia Huong Le Thu, Taiwan journalist Brian Hioe, India expert Amrita Narlikar and Evan Feigenbaum, vice-president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Listen to all episodes right here, or in your favorite podcast app.

SEASON 3 (Fall 2022)

Featuring in-depth conversations on developments in Asia with perspectives from Leni Robredo, the 14th Vice President of the Philippines; Tomohiko Taniguchi, Special Advisor to Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister, the late Shinzo Abe; C. Raja Mohan, one of India's foremost foreign policy thinkers and Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New Delhi; Agatha Kratz, who leads research on E.U.-China relations at Rhodium Group; and James Crabtree, Executive Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies-Asia in Singapore.

All of them were present in Zurich at the inaugural STATE OF ASIA conference.

BONUS EPISODES

Special bonus episodes feature insights from around our network and straight from some of the many events organized by Asia Society Switzerland.

STATE OF ASIA podcast

Hosts: Serena Jung, Nico Luchsinger, Remko Tanis – Asia Society Switzerland

Editor/Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager – Asia Society Switzerland

All Episodes

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Like Swimming with Piranhas

The message for anyone doing business in China is clear: adapt or get washed away. Those who succeed have a clear shot at crushing their global competition, says Zak Dychtwald, founder and CEO of Young China Group.
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Reunified Vietnam At 50

Vietnam is rapidly increasing and intensifying its diplomatic ties around the world. Can it overcome the challenges to cement its place as Asia's next economic powerhouse?
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Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

A lot happened, so we covered a lot in our events and content over the first months of 2025. In this episode, we look back at the insights the many experts we featured shared with us.
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China's Assertive Insecurity in a Chaotic World, with Selina Ho

A look at Xi Jinping's trip to Southeast Asia as the trade war between China and the U.S. intensifies. Plus: why, after more than half a century, Beijing is leaning on a 1953 speech from Mao to rally people behind the leaders once again.
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Will Innovation Made in China Change the World?

Time and again, China’s innovations catch businesses, governments, and analysts in Europe and the U.S. off guard. It's not just AI, EVs and solar. With massive investments in quantum computing, biotech, and nuclear technology, what's next?
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What's Bonding Beijing and Bern?

Switzerland was one of the first western nations to recognize the People's Republic of China, in 1950, and one of the first to reach a free trade agreement with Beijing as well, in 2013. Historian Ariane Knüsel explores the special bond.
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Tech and Global Power, with John Lee

In a time when trade, technology, and global power dynamics are more interconnected and in flux than ever before, our 2025 TOY Senior Fellow John Lee provides perspective on where things stand.
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A Closer Look: Trade

Sharp insights from Singapore and Brussels on a new, uncertain era in global trade.
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Economy Watch: Japan, China, India

In three 12-minute conversations, get updated by Yumiko Murakami, Alicia García Herrero, and Garima Mohan on what to expect for the economies of Japan, China, and India.
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Is the Narrative on China Shifting?

Kaiser Kuo on why we are always so surprised about what China is capable of, whether it's in renewables, electric vehicles, or AI. And about the value of Chinese literature and soap operas in understanding the country.