Manila Chan
On this page, you will find samples of previously published works, ranging from print articles to videos and podcast audio. My current project is a podcast series partnership with a famed Hollywood producer/director focusing on the Lao-American diaspora as a result of the US Secret War. The project is currently in pre-production. More details soon. Watch this space!
Audio / Video
Playlist
Articles
Elon Envy
Elon Envy How Silicon Valley’s tech titans are scrambling to mimic Musk’s moves in Washington & curry favor with the Trump White House For years, it’s been a two-man race for the coveted title of “The World’s Richest Man” between tech titans Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. But in 2025, that moniker bears little import relative to the power of the President of the United States of America. So if you’re among the class of tech billionaires not in the running for the title of ‘richest man’, and you didn’t just stage the wildest political comeback in a century, your next best move is being power-adjacent. That appears to be the tact embraced by industry elites in Silicon Valley just moments after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. A flood of donations came roaring in from the typically liberal-leaning west coast. More than $170M rushed into the coffers for his inauguration fund, with tech executives writing hefty checks to bankroll the festivities, and to secure their seat behind the dais. Million dollar donations came from Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft exec Bill Gates, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were
America’s Legacy of War in Laos
America’s Legacy of War in Laos There’s been much talk lately about ‘war criminals’ – with the latest accusation coming from the United States accusing Vladimir Putin of Russia of war crimes in the ongoing war in Ukraine, now in its sixth week. The rhetoric climbed to the highest levels in early April 2022 when for just the second time in history – a state was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council. In the UN’s 77 years, Russia joins Libya in this dubious distinction. This, highlighting not only US hypocrisy but that of all nations who supported the US-led vote because there is no other member country that has left behind greater humanitarian crises in its wake than the United States of America. Take for instance Laos. The tiny, landlocked, Southeast Asian country was the staging ground for the first proxy war between the United States and Russia (then the Soviet Union). Many today, can compare the events unfolding in Ukraine to those of 1960s Laos – caught in the crosshairs of the American invasion of Vietnam, to the lesser-known Secret War in Laos that spanned four consecutive US presidents: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. It’s called “The Secret War”
Elon Envy
Elon Envy How Silicon Valley’s tech titans are scrambling to mimic Musk’s moves in Washington & curry favor with the Trump White House For years, it’s been a two-man race for the coveted title of “The World’s Richest Man” between tech titans Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. But in 2025, that moniker bears little import relative to the power of the President of the United States of America. So if you’re among the class of tech billionaires not in the running for the title of ‘richest man’, and you didn’t just stage the wildest political comeback in a century, your next best move is being power-adjacent. That appears to be the tact embraced by industry elites in Silicon Valley just moments after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. A flood of donations came roaring in from the typically liberal-leaning west coast. More than $170M rushed into the coffers for his inauguration fund, with tech executives writing hefty checks to bankroll the festivities, and to secure their seat behind the dais. Million dollar donations came from Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft exec Bill Gates, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were
America’s Legacy of War in Laos
America’s Legacy of War in Laos There’s been much talk lately about ‘war criminals’ – with the latest accusation coming from the United States accusing Vladimir Putin of Russia of war crimes in the ongoing war in Ukraine, now in its sixth week. The rhetoric climbed to the highest levels in early April 2022 when for just the second time in history – a state was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council. In the UN’s 77 years, Russia joins Libya in this dubious distinction. This, highlighting not only US hypocrisy but that of all nations who supported the US-led vote because there is no other member country that has left behind greater humanitarian crises in its wake than the United States of America. Take for instance Laos. The tiny, landlocked, Southeast Asian country was the staging ground for the first proxy war between the United States and Russia (then the Soviet Union). Many today, can compare the events unfolding in Ukraine to those of 1960s Laos – caught in the crosshairs of the American invasion of Vietnam, to the lesser-known Secret War in Laos that spanned four consecutive US presidents: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. It’s called “The Secret War”