Latest Episodes

Episode One

An Introduction to Who Killed Haing Ngor?

Episode 4 - Journos Part I

A look at the breathtaking casualty rate among the Cambodia’s international press corps; the disappearance of Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, and Tim Page’s quest to resolve their fate.

Episode 7 - The Oscar Winner vs the Orphanage

Haing Ngor returns to Cambodia's "Wild West" in the 1990's to run his foundation. But he soon find himself mired in a dispute with a Canadian-run orphanage, that drains his finances and impacts his ability to work. At the same time? He's shopping a screenplay.

Episode 10 - Finding Comrade Duch - Part II

There’s an enduring conspiracy theory about the murder of Haing Ngor. Many believe that the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot had him killed.

The person probably most responsible for fueling that conspiracy? It was Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Comrade Duch. He the top executioner for the Khmer Rouge.

That Pol Pot killed Haing Ngor is an idea I find wildly implausible, and so does Nic Dunlop, the Irish photographer who found him, leading to his arrest. 

This is the second part of our conversation.

Episode 13 - Art Imitates Life… Then Changes It

Art, it’s been widely said, imitates life. But there are also moments when it changes it. The impact of “The Killing Fields” was so profound, that some credit it with helping launch Cambodia’s peace plan, ending decades of civil war.

This is the second episode of a two-parter, in which I talk with journalist Jon Swain and photographer Roland Neveu. Along with Ngor, they share the distinction of having been the only people on the set of “The Killing Fields” who were also in Phnom Penh in 1975.

Photo courtesy of Andy Pendleton

Episode 2

The Mayor of Bamboo City

My interview with Andy Pendleton, on refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border in the ‘80’s and his impromptu evac of Haing Ngor.

Episode 5 - Journos Part II

A look at the breathtaking casualty rate among the Cambodia’s international press corps; the disappearance of Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, and Tim Page’s quest to resolve their fate.

And we dive into the mutiny on the Columbia Eagle — one of the rabbit holes in the search for Stone and Flynn.

Episode 8 - The Dissident and the Dictator

I have to admit: from the moment I decided to launch this podcast about the murder of Haing Ngor, I knew I had to interview Sam Rainsy - an opposition politician and a darling of the international press.

There’s a quote Rainsy gave that’s been stuck in the back of my head for decades. It was when Sam Rainsy said that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was behind the murder of Haing Ngor.

Episode 3

From Refugees to Deportees

A conversation with two former child refugees who became members of the Tiny Rascals Gang, were imprisoned, and then deported BACK to Cambodia, despite ample evidence of their commitment to bettering themselves and their communities. This episode also features Bill Herod, founder of the Khmer Vulnerability Aide Organization.

Episode 6 - Journos Part III

A look at the extraordinary casualty rate of the press corps in Cambodia in the 1970’s, including the disappearance of Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, and Tim Page’s quest to resolve their fate.

Tim Page had competition, in the form of military veteran and investigator, Zalin Grant.

It’s a tale of rabbit holes within rabbit holes — and here are more of them.

Part Three of Three.

Episode 11 - Trauma Talking

I’m talking with Dorothy Chow, the producer of the “Death in Cambodia” podcast. In it, she interviews her father, Robert Chau about his experience as a teenager escaping the Khmer Rouge.
That’s relatively rare. Many survivors are reluctant to talk about their unresolved trauma. That trauma and the intergenerational trauma they’ve handed down to their children are linked to the conspiracy theories surrounding the murder of Dr. Haing Ngor.

Dorothy Chow is part of a new initiative to break the culture of silence and to loosen grip the Khmer Rouge still have on survivors, even decades later.

Episode 9 - Finding Comrade Duch - Part I

A conversation with Nic Dunlop, the man who found and “wrote the book” on Kaing Guek Euv, better known as Comrade Duch.

He was the infamous head of S-21 - better known as Tuol Sleng - the Khmer Rouge prison and torture center.

Duch is the one who claimed Pol Pot ordered the murder of Haing Ngor - a conspiracy theory we dismiss.

Episode 12 - “It’s Always the Fixer”

My conversations with Jon Swain, of the Sunday Times, and photographer Roland Neveu. Both covered the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and went on to be involved in the film, “The Killing Fields.”

We take a look at Dith Pran’s role as a so-called “fixer” for “The New York Times,” whose courage and heroism is what “The Killing Fields” is all about.

Part One of Two.

That’s a wrap on Season One.
Stay tuned for Season Two!

Thanks for listening - and see you soon!

Check out these links:

Remembering Haing Ngor, The First Asian To Win Best Supporting Actor — For 'The Killing Fields' In 1985
A piece by Mike Roe in “LAist” about the Academy Awards, on March 12, 2023, and the win for Best Supporting Actor by Ke Huy Quan. Quan was the first Asian actor to win since Haing Ngor, in 1985. The only detail the piece fails to mention is that Quan, as a child, was a “boat person” - a refugee from Vietnam. He and Ngor don’t just share Asian heritage; they share their status as former refugees from the same period of Indochina conflict.

See “Background” for Episode One