Episode 15 of the podcast CrossWorld Puzzles is now out!
I was honored to welcome the wonderful Mizumi Dutcher, a policy researcher and former journalist specializing in Chinese politics, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian strategic affairs. She most recently served as a Foreign Policy Fellow at the U.S. House of Representatives. Her journalism career spanned more than two decades at Fuji Television, including service as the Washington Bureau Chief and an earlier posting in Beijing. Mizumi is currently a Doctor of International Affairs (DIA) candidate at Johns Hopkins SAIS. Her dissertation examines China-North Korea relations under Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un.
We discuss Mizumi’s upbringing in Japan and the U.S., including cultural adjustments she’s had to make; how her interest in China and journalism developed; some of the stories she covered in Beijing, including the heartbreaking Szechuan Earthquake; her fascinating friendship with Kim Jong-nam, the late brother of Kim Jong-un; and her career transition into academia. Viewers/listeners are sure to be particularly inspired by her courage to embark on a new journey after decades of work as an accomplished journalist–and the idea that when things are changing so quickly, it’s a risk to just stay the way we are.
Many thanks to Mizumi for kindly sharing her story with me. Her journey is all about following her heart from a very young age–including the time she moved to Beijing in hopes of finding a job (she did, and in her dream career to boot!). She is so humble despite her successes, and isn’t afraid to discuss how she feels vulnerable at times–yet has a quiet confidence when it counts most (like when she negotiated with Kim Jong-un to hear his side of the story).
The video podcast is below, but for more information on Mizumi, please see photos (and the episode transcript) here: https://crossworld-puzzles.com/episode15-mizumi/.
ポッドキャスト「CrossWorld Puzzles」の最新エピソードです。
今回は、中国政治の研究者でいらっしゃるダッチャー水美さんをお迎えしました。フジテレビで長らくジャーナリストとしてお務めになり、北京支局、東京本社の後、ワシントンDCでは支局長にまでなられた水美さん。その後学術界へと方向転換し、今はジョンズ・ホプキンズ大学で国際関係の博士課程にいらっしゃいます。
日本人とアメリカ人のご両親のもとで育ち、アイデンティティについて悩む中で、純粋に外国人になれる第3国である中国に関心をもった経緯は非常に興味深いです。北朝鮮の金正男氏と育んだ友情、アカデミアに移った理由も感慨深いものです。躊躇せず興味のあることは追求すべしというアドバイス、また、「変化が激しい今の時代、変わらない方がリスクが大きい」という言葉も、多くの人の心に響くのではないでしょうか。ぜひご覧ください！
The podcast can be followed on YouTube, Spotify, and (for audio only) Apple Podcasts.