Best J Alejandro Podcasts (2026)

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57. “Zero Day Attack”: a TV show on Chinese invasion of Taiwan 34:30

Play Pause

5M ago34:30

34:30

We speak to Hsin-mei CHENG, producer of the 2025 television series “Zero Day Attack” (零日攻擊) - a 10-episode drama that imagines Taiwanese internal divide and cohesion after the Chinese PLA have launched an invasion of Taiwan. She speaks about her experience developing the show and the challenges of censorship and self-censorship in the creative indu…

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56. The Great Recall of 2025: Nathan Batto “Frozen Garlic” (Academia Sinica) 34:40

6M ago34:40

34:40

On July 26th, a third of Taiwan will vote on recall referendums (大罷免) for 24 legislators throughout Taiwan. Our guest is Nathan F. Batto, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica. Taiwan watchers also know him as the writer of Frozen Garlic wordpress on Taiwanese elections. We discuss how we got here: the …

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Finding your Uniqueness with Alejandro Pérez Heinze 48:41

6M ago48:41

48:41

#89: My guest today is Alejandro Pérez Heinze who is a composer, Flamenco guitarist, audio engineer, Kontakt instrument producer, and audio educator based in Mexico. He has worked on a wide variety of projects including Kontakt instrument production on Kena: Bridge of Spirits, also working with Austin Wintory on projects such as Thai Cave Rescue, a…

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55. How China's reshaping the global cybersecurity and digital norms (Article 19) 38:32

7M ago38:32

38:32

Michael Caster (Head of Global China Programme) and I-Chen Liu (Asia Programme Officer) are researchers from the international non-profit organization ARTICLE 19, whose report “Cybersecurity with Chinese Characteristics” (2025) outlines PRC’s influence over cybersecurity norms in 3 Indo-Pacific countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, and Vietnam; and with …

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From YouTube to Composing for AAA Games with Venus Theory 53:28

7M ago53:28

53:28

#88: My guest today is Venus Theory, who is a music producer and Youtuber based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Venus Theory is known not only for his lush electronic music, but also his massive YouTube channel. He also recently finished writing the soundtrack for the hit game Avowed by Obsidian Entertainment. In this episode, we dive into Venus Theor…

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54. On classical music and healing: Mimi Yu (cellist, author of “The Unforgetting Body”) 43:18

7M ago43:18

43:18

Mimi Yu (尤虹文) is the author of three memoirs, including the 2019 title “The Unforgetting Body” in which she details her recovery from depression. Yu is a cellist who has worked with musicians like Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Katz, and Robert Levin. She played cello while at The Juilliard School and has a B.A. in economics from Harvard University…

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How to Freelance in 2025 with Jamie Brindle 46:31

8M ago46:31

46:31

#87: My guest today is Jamie Brindle, who’s actually our first ever non-audio guest for the podcast! Some of you may already be familiar with Jamie and his work on social media, where he helps out freelancers across all industries, focusing on aspects around pricing, dealing with client pushback, finding quality clients, and much more. In this epis…

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53. Jimmy Lai is China's most feared critic: Mark L. Clifford (author of "The Troublemaker") 51:11

8M ago51:11

51:11

Jimmy Lai, the 77-year-old media tycoon of British citizenship, has been detained for over five years, mostly in isolation. He is one of over 1,500 political prisoners in Hong Kong. Today's interview contains a clip of a conversation between Jimmy Lai and Natan Sharansky from November 20, 2020, one month before Lai’s arrest. Sharansky is a former S…

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Building the Blueprint of Game Audio with Alexander Brandon 59:55

8M ago59:55

59:55

#86: My guest today is Alexander Brandon, a game audio designer based out of Seattle, Washington. He has had an incredibly diverse and impactful career, starting off in the early ages of game audio working on projects like Unreal, Thief, and Deus Ex. He also contributed to projects such as Skyrim, Job Simulator, and so so many others. In this episo…

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52. Borders, politics, and identity through nature writing: Jessica J. Lee (author of "Dispersals") (Live on April 11, 2025) 50:39

8M ago50:39

50:39

British-Canadian-Taiwanese writer Jessica J. Lee (李潔珂) is the author of three books of nature writing, Dispersals (2024), Two Trees Make a Forest (2019), and Turning (2017), the children’s book A Garden Called Home (2024), and co-editor of the essay collection Dog Hearted (2023). She has a PhD in Environmental History and Aesthetics and is the foun…

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Building a Career in New Age Music with Radhika Vekaria 52:49

9M ago52:49

52:49

#85: My guest today is Radhika Vekaria, a musician and recording artist born in the UK and based out of Los Angeles. Radhika is known for creating the album WARRIORS OF LIGHT, which was recently nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age Ambient and Chant category. In this episode, we dive deep into Radhika’s Indian music upbringing, how she became…

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The Business of Film Sound with Devendra Cleary 59:58

9M ago59:58

59:58

#84: My guest today is Devendra Cleary, a production sound mixer based in Los Angeles. He got his start working as a boom mic operator in college and eventually got his first big break working on the TV show Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Since then, he’s worked on projects such as Firefly, Anchorman, Sex and the City, and, recently, Twisters and Star W…

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51. Former Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on collective weakness and a new world order 23:45

10M ago23:45

23:45

Anders Fogh Rasmussen is former Prime Minister of Denmark (2001-2009) and Secretary General of NATO (2009-2014). He’s Chairman of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation. We sat down with Rasmussen this week at Yushan Forum, the annual summit organized by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation. This conversation…

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50. Ukraine War, 3 years: Mariia Makarovych (Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine) 59:03

10M ago59:03

59:03

Mariia Makarovych is Head of the East Asian Office of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine. Today, we discuss the on-going peace negotiations, the role of civil society organizations the past three years, society preparedness prior to 2022, Russian propaganda since 2014, and today, the role of China. Makarovych is an economic and policy analyst…

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49. “The Battle for Taiwan” by Jonas Parello-Plesner (Live on Feb 19, 2025) 1:02:20

10M ago1:02:20

1:02:20

Jonas Parello-Plesner is Executive Director of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation. He’s the author of the book, “The Battle for Taiwan”. “The Battle for Taiwan” (“Kampen om Taiwan”) was first published in Denmark in 2023 as the first book on Taiwan for the Danish audience. The English edition was published in April, 2024. Alliance of Democracie…

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48. Alejandro Mayoral Baños on RightsCon 2025 (Access Now) 54:51

11M ago54:51

54:51

Alejandro Mayoral Baños is the Executive Director of Access Now, an international NGO focusing on digital human rights. Access Now is the organizer of RightsCon - world’s largest digital human rights summit. The 2025 edition is set to take place in Taipei from February 24 to 27, 2025, where more than 550 sessions are expected to be staged. Baños ta…

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Building a Music Production Career from Scratch with Chong The Nomad 36:28

11M ago36:28

36:28

#83: My guest today is Alda Agustiano, also known as Chong The Nomad, who is a music producer and DJ based in Seattle, Washington. Alda has been producing music for well over a decade now, recently releasing her debut album titled “Do We Make Of This?” and also working on projects such as Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings, and getting music sync…

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Composing Across Cultures with Mikey J 35:20

12M ago35:20

35:20

#82: My guest today is Mikey J, a composer, producer, and dancer based in the United Kingdom. He has worked on a huge variety of projects from Danny Boyle’s Free Your Mind Matrix Adaptation, scoring and music directing the 2024 revival of Romeo & Juliet starring Tom Holland, founding the award winning dance company Boy Blue, and is even a member of…

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From Roadie to Hollywood Sound Designer with Dror Mohar 50:37

1y ago50:37

50:37

#81: My guest today is Dror Mohar, a sound designer and engineer based out of Los Angeles. He has worked on an insane number of projects, including Inglorious Basterds, DJ Hero, Fable III, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and more recently, Lady in the Lake on Apple TV. In this episode, we talk about how Dror grew up in Africa, ended up in the UK, a…

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Sound Design and Nature Recording with Andy Martin 45:36

1y ago45:36

45:36

#80: My guest today is Andy Martin, a sound designer and nature recordist based out of Seattle, Washington. Andy’s had an incredibly long and varied career in the world of sound design, working on projects such as Grim Fandango, all of the games in the inFAMOUS series, Medal of Honor, and has even worked with Skywalker Sound as a virtual reality so…

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Building a 40-Year Career in Audio with Rob Pearsall 57:44

1y ago57:44

57:44

#79: My guest today is Rob Pearsall, a composer and sound designer based out of Seattle, Washington. He has had a career in game audio spanning over 20 years and dove into game audio for the first time at 46 years old. Since beginning his career he has worked on Halo: Reach, Halo 4, Destiny, République, BattleTech, Falcon Age, The Lamplighters Leag…

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11.1.24 | coalitionworks 9 is live, 2 out of 3, and other such things. 4:55

1y ago4:55

4:55

cw9 is live go check it out! https://coalitionfordigitalnarratives.org/works-9/ what the hell is this?https://cruzfolio.com/the-writing-record/

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The Psychology of Working in Game Audio with Raison Varner 1:05:02

1y ago1:05:02

1:05:02

#78: My guest today is Raison Varner, a voice actor, sound designer, composer, videographer, and writer. He’s had a very broad and varied career, starting in 2006 as an intern on the original Prey game, then working as a composer, sound designer, voice actor, and writer for the Borderlands games for 12 years. He has also worked as an art director f…

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47. Countering FIMI and Election Interference in Taiwan: Ben Graham Jones (“Taiwan P.O.W.E.R”) 44:25

1y ago44:25

44:25

Ben Graham Jones is an election observer. In his new report “Taiwan POWER” on the 2024 presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan, Jones sets up Taiwan as a model for resilience against foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). Jones identifies a set of strengths that's the core of Taiwan’s resilience against FIMI: Purpose-dri…

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Becoming a Sound Designer Later On During Your Career with James Thatcher 43:05

1y ago43:05

43:05

#77: My guest today is James Thatcher, a sound designer and nature recordist based out of Seattle, Washington. He has had an incredibly diverse set of experiences before getting into the world of pro audio, most notably working in Michelin Star restaurants in France before making his way into the world of game audio years later. He has released app…

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46. Rafer Johnson and Taiwanese Olympian C.K. Yang in 1960: journalist Mike Chinoy and filmmaker Frank W. Chen 40:28

1y ago40:28

40:28

“Decathlon: The CK Yang & Rafer Johnson Story” 《奧運傳奇：楊傳廣與強生》is a tribute to one of the greatest Taiwanese Olympians - C.K. Yang - and his American rival and long-time friend, Rafer Johnson. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, C.K. Yang (Yang Chuan-kwang 楊傳廣) won silver and became the first person with a Chinese surname to win an Olympic medal. Raf…