Interview with author Tuong Vu (Madame Nhu - book)

From reading the book we get a whole other side of her pure Catholic faith, why did she believe that she was the ''Very Little One''?

I don't know, but it was perhaps the result of her reflections on an extraordinary life tied closely to the tragic fate of her nation in a turbulent time.

She was a formidable character, and very charming, so why was she so misunderstood in her lifetime?

She was a member of the colonial elites in a postcolonial society where the social status of such elites were not automatically accepted by ordinary people. As a woman, she was a very self-confident and outspoken person with a strong character, and sometimes relished in being herself and challenging cultural norms. Her behaviour may have been interpreted as arrogant, reckless, and foreign by many Vietnamese even though men who acted like her would have been forgiven.

Why do you think that she barely mentions her 1963 USA press tour in her memoirs?

I don't know. It was perhaps a traumatizing experience for her to recall in detail.

What was the most difficult task in editing her memoirs?

The most difficult task was to create an accurate and complete family tree of Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu. It is hard to believe how difficult this task was since her family was so prominent--she was of royal lineage through her grandmother being a granddaughter to the third emperor (Thieu Tri) and a half-sister of three later emperors (Dong Khanh, Kien Phuc and Ham Nghi) of the Nguyen Dynasty. Yet there is so little accurate or verifiable information available about that grandmother (without conducting time-consuming research in Vietnamese government archives). Like all monarchs, Nguyen emperors had numerous female partners besides their official wives, and information about them and their female children were often missing in official records as women were not treated with equal attention as men in Vietnam's Confucian society. Another reason has to do with politics. After the end of the Nguyen Dynasty's rule in 1945, and especially after the last Emperor Bao Dai was deposed as Head of State in 1955 by Ngo Dinh Diem, public information about the Nguyen lineage became less and less available. In communist Vietnam, the Nguyen Dynasty's legacy had fared much worse: until recently it had been considered a "traitorous" dynasty who sold their country to the French.

Accurate information about President Diem's family was also hard to obtain. The reasons for this lack of information are complex, but I believe one main reason has to do with the dramatic downfall of the Diem government that led not only to the deaths of Diem and his two brothers in the aftermath but also to the deliberate efforts by their enemies to discredit them or even erase them from history, and to the avoidance of publicity and stigmatization by those previously associated with him, especially his relatives and friends. After decades of public oblivion and erasure, reliable information about the family gradually disappeared and was replaced by myths and rumours.

The Ngo-Dinhs had a very difficult task in dealing with all these challenges while in power, do you think Madame Nhu helped the situation or escalated the tensions in South Vietnam?

I can say she played her role in earnest to her last breath. She did what she thought to be her obligations to her family and to her country. She did what she thought to be the right things to do to support President Diem. She ran for election to the National Assembly, championed a Family Law that contained some radical propositions, organized and trained a women's militia, and performed the functions of a first lady with remarkable pomp and character.

At the same time, she was just a human being and certainly made many mistakes. She could have paid more attention to and been more sensitive to cultural and social expectations while remaining the woman she was. She could have been more diplomatic in certain situations and deployed her charms more to win more friends rather than creating more enemies for the government of South Vietnam.

What did you learn from working on this project?

I learned so much about Madame Nhu and her family! Beyond that, I also acquired a better understanding of the politics in the First Republic of the Republic of Vietnam through her memoir. The boxes of documents the family donated to our US-Vietnam Research Center offered fascinating information about her visit to the US with her daughter in 1963 as well as other documents. (We have made these documents available online. For those who are interested, consult this link: https://usvietnamcenter.uoregon.edu/ba-tran-le-xuan-madam-ngo-dinh-nhu/). Editing her memoir gave me the impetus to search for more information about controversial historical events whose accounts have not been definitively settled. I had to know the details of what happened and the views from different people so that I could understand the memoir and provide additional information to readers if necessary.

Do you plan on writing a biography about Madame Nhu?

Besides the boxes of documents mentioned above, we have collected hundreds of documents from the National Archive II in Vietnam. If I have time, I hope to write a book that tells the story of her trip to the US in 1963 and the aftermath of the coup as a way to disentangle the Republic of Vietnam's complex relationship with the US.

Are you working on any projects for 2026?

We've had a very busy year in 2025, which marks the 50th anniversary of the end of war in Vietnam and the birth of the Vietnamese diaspora (1975). I've given many talks across the country at universities and community events this year. Besides Mme Nhu's memoir, we've just published a memoir about Ngo Dinh Diem written by a person who lived with him for nearly nine months in New York in 1951-1952 before Diem became Prime Minister and later President.

There is an ongoing exhibit of the Vietnamese dress "áo dài" that includes many sets donated by Madame Nhu's family to our Center. The exhibit is held at the Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. I was part of the curating team and we are trying to complete the exhibit catalog for publication early next year. Some Vietnamese American communities have expressed their interest in having the exhibit travel to their locations next year and beyond.

Next year we plan to publish a few manuscripts currently in various stages of preparation. One is "Love, War, and Imprisonment," a collection of poems by one of the most prominent poets of the Republic of Vietnam, Tran Da Tu. The poems were translated into English by Professor Emeritus Keith Taylor and will be published together with their original Vietnamese poems by Northern Illinois University Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press.

We are also working on the translation and publication of two edited volumes on the Republic of Vietnam. These are: Nu-Anh Tran and Tuong Vu, eds. Building a Republican Nation in Vietnam, 1920-1963 (University of Hawaii Press, 2022) and Trinh Luu and Tuong Vu, eds. Republican Vietnam, 1963-1975: War, Society, Diaspora (University of Hawaii Press, 2023). We also plan to publish a book on the challenges facing civil society in Vietnam today.

 

This Ain't Rock & Roll - Interview with author Daniel Rachel

*You have written some incredible books on British music and their cultural impact, what gave you the idea for your new book?
It’s bringing together two of my passions: music and study of the Third Reich. In many ways, the book has been brewing  in my mind since I was a young boy. I loved the Sex Pistols and found humour in ‘Belsen Was A Gas’ and Sid Vicious wearing a swastika T-shirt. At the same time, I was learning about the persecution of Europe’s Jews  under the Nazi party leading to the Holocaust. Wrestling with that contradiction, of music and history, has ultimately lead to this book.

*You've obviously done a lot of research, what was the starting point for this project?
I’ve always read about the Holocaust, Hitler and the Nazi party. I read Mein Kampf in my late-teens – its almost impenetrable. Also watching many, many films. So that part of the research is very much just part of my life. The starting point was really exploring what artists said about their engagement with the Third Reich. So, memoirs, the music press, documentaries.   

*What stage craft tricks do you think Hitler used to hypnotize the masses?
Many historians, witnesses, say Hitler was a master orator. He would start slowly, then build up into a  frenzy. The staging was the brilliance of Albert Speer’s theatrical mind. Searchlights searing into the sky. Beautiful stone abutments. Massive golden eagles. Flags and banners draped at intervals. Much of this is captured in Leni Riefenstahl’s film of the Nuremburg rally -  a key source of inspiration for many artists from Bowie to Bryan Ferry to Lemmy.

*Bowie really appreciated Hitler's power to transfix an audience, how do you think this impacted Bowie's stagecraft and Thin White Duke persona?
Bowie was absorbed by the Third Reich. He had a Nazi memorabilia collection. He was going to write a play / film about Goebbels. Much of it was from an Arthurian legend point of view, the Holy Grail. Henrich Himmler followed a similar path to justify the supposed superiority of the ‘Aryan’ race. And justification for the SS and, by default, Nazism. Bowie certainly indulged in this, perhaps cocaine influenced, but his interest spans more than ten years. Fortunately, he had the good grace to explain, if not excuse, his behaviour.

*Nazi iconography really hit a nerve with the 70's punk rock movement's, in what way did this impact their sensibilities? 
The swastika has become synonymous with punk. But it is largely unaccountable. Many artists divorced Third Reich theatricality from the atrocities the state was responsible for. The Clash spoke against fascism. Their managers – Caroline Coon and Bernie Rhodes – refused to accept the swastika. Rhodes broke with Malcolm McLarren over it. Very soon, Sniffin Glue and Ripped & Torn fanzines challenged punks about wearing the Nazi emblem.

*What do you want people to understand from reading your book?
That musicians, the media, the music industry and fans have a responsibility to history to the indulgence of the Third Reich for creative purposes. Ideologically Nazism is intrinsically linked to a hatred and persecution of Jewish people. In the modern world, there is an awakening to racism and misogyny. Nazism must be part of this. We cannot change the past. But we can affect the present.  

*For you, what was the biggest surprise that you uncovered during your research?
The extent of Third Reich and Nazis influence in music. Punk was just one time when the swastika was used. The story spans from the Beatles to Lady Gaga to Kanye West to Roger Waters.

*Im not talking about the Nazi's racist message, but what do you think is the key to Nazi rhetoric that some of these musicians used in their work and connected with them? Was it a state of mind they tried to put their audience in?
Nazism was designed to be powerful. To be sexually attractive. To instil fear. Language, sexuality, imagery, the uniforms, menace was built into the theatrical spectacle. There’s a clear line connecting these concepts with rock stardom. Likewise, audiences succumb to or are seduced by these elements of a rock concert.  Fascism is highly skilled in seduction. A civilised nation, Germany, fell for it as a nation in the 1930s. We see similar patterns repeating in history today.

*What are you planning to work on in the future?
Co-curating a massive immersive exhibition on the 90s for 2026!

 

NEW BOOK Celebrates Jim Morrison's Films

 

The power and magic that surrounds the music of Jim Morrison & The Doors is legendary, but a little known fact is that Jim Morrison was also a passionate cinephile, and now finally a book has been released detailng his talent as a filmmaker from 1965-71. The book Jim Morrison: The Genius of an Unsung Filmmaker, written by underground film director Fabrizio Federico, is a unique and razor-sharp look into Morrison as a shamanic artist. ''This book is essential to Jim's story, he loved cinema it was his life, even his lyrics are cinematic. I really enjoyed researching this book, I've been a Doors fan since I was ten years old so being able to write about Jim's love of film was a dream come true, because not many people even know that he was a filmmaker. It's like a hidden secret, but he really understood how to hypnotize an audience with his vision, and you can see that in his wild performances too. This book is also a manual into what techniques Jim used to create mass-madness.''

After studying cinema at UCLA, where he met fellow bandmate Ray Manzarek, they incorporated this unique cinematic quality into The Doors dark psychedelic music, making them the kings of Acid-Rock during the turbulent sixties. Proving that the devil has the best songs. The Doors were also one of the first bands to make artistic music videos, and in 1968 they even made a fly-on-the-wall documentary called Feast of Friends, which chronicles their spring tour, while at the peak of their powers. The film is full of riots and transcendence and is now a cult classic. Morrison's independent movie HWY was screened only a few times before his tragic death in 1971, making him a member of the notorious 27 Club.  

Jim Morrison could have been an amazing independent filmmaker had he lived longer and it would have enhanced his already solid legacy. His movies prove that there is an unbreakable bond between alchemy/ritual/shamanism and the power of cinema.

In this book his film projects and thoughts on performance are examined through interviews he gave talking about his films, giving us a glimpse into the real artistic heart of Jim Morrison. Plus how he used mind control through media manipulation to achieve superstardom. Additionally, there are rare and previously unpublished glimpses into Morrison's cinematic wisdom, and his point of view on the dark powers of cinema. Through trace and hypnosis he could spellbind an audience and for the very first time this is examined. An unremittingly exhilarating journey into the psychosis of an alluring yet enigmatic artist. A must read for fans of The Doors. 

Amazon: Buy Here

                                       

PUNK AUTHOR: Neil Saint

Im really looking forward to this book, but you also run a radio show, tell us about it?Retropopic was establishing by myself as a brand in 2017 as a radio show that went out from 2RRR in Sydney. Essentially I was looking to broadcast and overviewing the schedule of that station I could see there was nothing there at all directed towards ‘retro’ and ‘pop’. It’s a bit like the Beatles in that the thrust of what they created was Beat music whereas the thrust of what I create is broadcasts and podcasts directed towards Retro Pop so it was just a case of putting those two words together and adding the ic to make it ‘descriptive’. The reason for the ‘Radio’ part is like the ‘Music’ part in that people needed to know it was a radio show as well as a podcast brand. The unique selling point of RETROPOPIC RADIO is each edition focuses on an artist interview. It is after all the global home of the great artist interview, which fits as people from over 150 countries listen in. I now broadcast from 4 stations, 2 in the UK, 1 in Mexico and 1 in the US.     

Did you discover any new stories that you think will now become legendary thanks to your book? With the book I had done so many interviews I wanted to take things to the next level. Many of my greatest interviews were with punk icons so that’s really where the idea for Spitting & Screaming came from as there is content from over 50 interviews with the main participants of UK punk (hich really only existed in that 76-77 bubble). I suppose it was great hearing from Kenny Morris why he walked out on The Banshees and how Damien O Neill came up with the lead guitar on Teenage Kicks. This punk label that was placed on, first of all, an essentially London based music scene has uncertain provenance but the explanation of the word punk being put on a musical genre is all there at the start of the book and evidenced, not least as I spoke with Legs McNeil who founded the NY magazine called Punk but in true punk fashion mate

FUCKING READ THE BOOK: Spitting & Screaming (book link)     

Which are some of your fav punk recordings? I mean that is punk isn’t it (and ‘we don’t care’). I spose Pretty Vacant is a favourite 45 particularly as Glenn Matlock ripped the guitar idea from Abba song SOS. Never Mind The Bollocks is too well produced to be punk! May be with the genres covered today London Calling is more of a punk album.    

What was it about punk that inspired you so much? Punk’s not a movement to inspire though Fabio, you need to inspire yourself! It’s a genre long gone, I mean Green Day ‘give me a break’ though of course the attitude lives on. Punk is still alive if you like as a descriptive word. With 71,000 + listens the podcasts are going great and will continue.

 Podcast link 

What do you have in mind for your next book?My next book is available on pre order. It’s on The New Seeers and is available here: Book