Regional Podcast Pals: Joah McGee on Covering Tragedy & Hope on Insight Myanmar [S7.E23]

Wrapping up our short series on our regional podcast peers, Greg
interviews Joah McGee from the Insight Myanmar Podcast. Joah
begins by explaining his early life in Myanmar and how he
initially went to the country to study meditation and later
secured a proper job doing training for an American
Embassy-related organization. He managed to juggle professional
life dealing with politics, with a personal life in monasteries
practicing meditation. This eventually led Joah to making a
documentary about a famous monk and writing a guidebook for
foreigners wishing to study meditation in the country. As his
expertise increased, a podcast focused on spiritual aspirants was
the logical next step.


All was not to stay rosy, however, as the country suffered a
military coup in 2021. At that point, Joah and his partners made
the decision to transition the podcast to more general stories
about on-the-ground realities in the country, which of course
necessitated dealing with the complex political situation in
Myanmar. Greg questions Joah about issues such as
self-censorship, guest selection, and the overall tone of the
show. Joah explains that the harsh reality of current life in
Myanmar requires serious shows, but that he does his best to mix
things up and highlight the many special aspects of Burmese
culture that people often forget among the grim stories in the
news. 


For a great change of pace from the Bangkok Podcast, check out
Insight Myanmar. 


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