The Tea Leaves Podcast

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John Brennan on U.S. Partnerships and Intelligence in the Indo-Pacific Region Oct 11, 2021

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Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan led the CIA from 2013 to 2017, following four years as assistant to President Obama for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. A key decision-maker on many of the country’s most critical national security matters, Mr. Brennan played a central role in efforts to counter international extremism, U.S. policy in Syria and the fight against ISIS, and the Iran deal. Mr. Brennan served six U.S. presidents, and in 2003 became the founding director of the CIA Terrorist Threat Integration Center. In this episode, John offered insights from his nearly four decades of experience in the CIA, commenting on the Afghanistan withdrawal and its implications for regional security, the role of the Quad and other U.S. partnerships in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and the CIA’s response to the unique intelligence challenges posed by China.

Dr. Michael J. Green on the Quad Summit and Suga’s Successor Sep 24, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Michael J. Green is senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and director of Asian Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Previously, Dr. Green served on the National Security Council staff from 2001 through 2005, first as director for Asian affairs, and then as special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for Asia. Today we are lucky to work with Mike at The Asia Group, where he is a senior advisor. In this episode, Mike and Rexon delved into Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's resignation, the race for leadership of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the AUKUS security pact, and the first in-person Quad Leaders Summit.You can find a full video of this episode at www.youtube.com/wSvkY8tzvEq21kNOjYILXQ

Shweta Rajpal Kohli of Sequoia India on Bridging Innovation and Regulation Sep 08, 2021

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Shweta Rajpal Kohli is Chief Public Policy Officer, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia. She advises the fund’s Indian and Southeast Asian portfolio companies on regulatory risks and engages policymakers on matters related to India’s startup ecosystem. Prior to joining Sequoia, Shweta was the head of public policy for India and South Asia at Uber, and then at Salesforce, following a two-decade career as a leading business journalist and TV news anchor. With 2021 projected to see a record of around USD 20 billion invested in Indian startups, Shweta and Rexon discussed the tremendous opportunities in India’s innovation ecosystem, including in the FinTech, EdTech, and enterprise tech sectors. They also weighed the regulatory challenges surrounding data localization and overseas listing for Indian startups, and Shweta offered advice for CEOs of multinational tech companies as they navigate India’s evolving policy environment.

How PichaEats Empowers Kuala Lumpur’s Refugee Community Through Food Aug 22, 2021

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PichaEats is a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based social enterprise in the food industry, focused on supporting the city’s large refugee community. PichaEats partners with refugee chefs to cook and package meals based on the chefs’ personal recipes, and sells and delivers those meals to individuals and catered events across the city. On this episode we spoke with Kim Lim, who alongside co-founders Suzanne Ling and Lee Swee Lin transformed PichaEats from a college service project into a self-sustaining business that has delivered more than 350,000 meals and partnered with 35 refugee chefs. Kim shared moving stories about the displaced individuals with whom PichaEats has partnered, and discussed PichaEats’ growth path and strategic vision, the challenges of running a social enterprise through COVID-19, and the status of refugees in Malaysia. She also shared some juicy details about the biryani, lamb-stuffed eggplant, and chicken mandi that have made PichaEats famous.

Anna Fifield on What Drives Kim Jong-un Aug 08, 2021

Show notes

Anna Fifield was Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post from 2018 to 2020, before which she covered the Korean Peninsula and Japan as the Post’s Tokyo bureau chief from 2014 to 2018. Anna is the author of The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un, and an authority on North Korean society and politics, having visited the country a dozen times to report on the Kim regime. She has also traveled across Asia to interview North Korean defectors, giving her rare insight into the lives of ordinary people in North Korea. Anna now lives in her home country of New Zealand, where she is the editor of the Dominion Post. Anna painted a rare portrait covering the totality of North Korean politics and society, including her analysis of Kim Jong-un’s leadership, North Korea’s nuclear program and the prospects for denuclearization, China’s relationship with the Kim regime, the state of human rights in North Korea and the lives of the North Korean people, and more.

Dr. Evan Medeiros on Biden’s China Strategy Jul 25, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Evan S. Medeiros is Penner Family Chair in Asian Studies at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a Senior Advisor at The Asia Group. Dr. Medeiros served on the National Security Council for six years under U.S. President Barack Obama, first as Director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia, and then as President Obama’s top advisor for U.S. policy in Asia. Combining expertise as a scholar of Chinese politics with first-hand experience at the height of U.S. China policy, Evan reflected on several critical issues in U.S.-China relations: U.S. President Joe Biden’s China strategy, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s leadership and rising nationalism in China, balancing interdependence and escalating risks in the bilateral relationship, and the outlook for engagement between U.S. and Chinese leaders.

NBA Asia Chief Scott Levy on Sports Culture in Asia and the Outlook for the Tokyo Olympics Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

Scott Levy is Managing Director of NBA Asia, where he oversees development and expansion of the National Basketball Association’s strategic initiatives across the Indo-Pacific region – excluding China. With the Tokyo Olympics opening later this month, Scott spoke with Tea Leaves about sports and consumer culture in different Asian markets, the NBA’s response to COVID-19, and the outlook for the Tokyo Olympics. You can access a full video of the conversation at www.youtube.com/channel/UCwSvkY8tzvEq21kNOjYILXQ.

Journalist Natasha Khan on the Hong Kong Protests and the City’s Future Jun 27, 2021

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Natasha Khan is a Hong Kong-based reporter at The Wall Street Journal, where she has covered major stories including Hong Kong’s popular protest movement, the emergence of COVID-19 and the city’s response, and major changes to Hong Kong’s political system. On this episode of Tea Leaves, Rexon and Shery spoke with Natasha about her experiences covering the protests, the economic, social, and political changes underway in the city, and how she continues to seek truth amid the crackdown on some media outlets in Hong Kong.

Ashley J. Tellis on India’s Battle Against COVID-19 and the Outlook for U.S.-India Relations Jun 13, 2021

Show notes

Ashley J. Tellis holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Previously, he served on the National Security Council (NSC) as special assistant to President George W. Bush and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia. On the NSC he was a top negotiator of the pivotal 2005 U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement – a landmark agreement that helped transform the U.S.-India relationship. On this episode, Rexon and Shery spoke with Ashley about India’s struggle to control the deadly second wave of COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and prospects in Indian domestic politics, and India’s “self-reliance” economic policy, protectionism, and actions against large tech companies. On the security front, they discussed opportunities and challenges in U.S.-India relations, the Quad partnership, and India’s relations with China and Russia.

Ambassador Nina Hachigian on the Role of Cities in Foreign Policy May 31, 2021

Show notes

Ambassador Nina Hachigian is Deputy Mayor for International Affairs for the City of Los Angeles and previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from 2014 to 2017. On this episode, Rexon and Shery spoke with Nina about how cities shape international relations, urban policy and the fight against climate change, and the challenges facing ASEAN amid the Myanmar coup. They also discussed LA’s preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics and working with Mayor Eric Garcetti on the city’s response to COVID-19.

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