Locked and Loaded
Insight Myanmar25 Heinä 2023

Locked and Loaded

Episode #178: Step into the hidden world of Burmese small arms, where intrigue, danger, and geopolitical secrets intertwine. Miles Vining, a former US Marine and member of the Free Burma Rangers, recounts how his obsession with digital weapons in video games led him to start documenting real-life firearms in Myanmar.

Miles discovered a vast array of small arms sourced from unlikely corners of the globe. He describes the refurbishment and resourcefulness that keeps Burmese weaponry operational long after it was decommissioned elsewhere, as well as the intricate web of foreign influences and local production that shape the small arms landscape, and his work in unmasking the deeper political alliances they represent.

But Burmese small arms are not merely tools of war; they symbolize a nation's struggle for freedom, too. Miles describes the blurred lines between suppliers and fighters, along with corrupt commanders secretly supporting those they oppose.


“Diving into small arms research in Burma, you can go down some of the most amazing and fantastic rabbit holes and relationships and geopolitics and then who double crossed who and backtrack to where things are getting made and what secret deals were going on,” he says. “The whole shebang is there! But it's untouched, and nobody's interested in it, because it's the dark hole that Burma is, so it’s no surprise there. It's like the world doesn't care about Burma yet again!”

Jaksot(505)

The Weight of Survival

The Weight of Survival

Episode #491: The third episode in our five-part series features conversations recorded at the 16th International Burma Studies Conference at Northern Illinois University, where scholars, students, re...

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Reckoning with the Dhamma

Reckoning with the Dhamma

Episode #490: Matt Walton, a political theorist and scholar of Buddhism and politics in Myanmar, and author the acclaimed Buddhism, Politics and Political Thought in Myanmar, argues that Burmese polit...

23 Helmi 2h 29min

Choosing the Red Pill

Choosing the Red Pill

Episode #489: Neo grew up in Yangon, living a simple life—running a small convenience store, taking remote jobs, and spending his nights with friends, music, and beer. “I work and I play and I drink. ...

20 Helmi 2h 16min

Enemy of the State

Enemy of the State

Episode #488: Veteran journalist and human rights advocate Chris Gunness describes Myanmar as “an extraordinarily fascinating country,” one that shaped both his early reporting career and his later wo...

19 Helmi 1h 57min

The Right To Belong

The Right To Belong

Episode #487: Noor Azizah, a Rohingya genocide survivor and the founder and leader of the Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network, argues that violence against the Rohingya is still an ongoing real...

17 Helmi 1h 21min

The Erasure of Mindfulness

The Erasure of Mindfulness

Episode #486: Daniel M. Stuart, a Buddhist studies scholar and vipassana practitioner, rejoins the podcast to describe his growing interest in Dr. Leon Edward Wright, a Black Christian theologian whos...

16 Helmi 1h 41min

The Center Holds

The Center Holds

Episode #485: “I am not talking as a representative of Anya. I am just a normal person from Anya,” says Saw Bosco, a Myanmar peace process practitioner, grassroots educator on federalism, and politica...

13 Helmi 2h 12min

The Hidden War

The Hidden War

Episode #484: In Myanmar, landmine contamination has often been attributed to relics of World War 2 or past conflicts. “But in Myanmar today, landmines are not a historical problem,” Nyein Nyein Thant...

12 Helmi 1h 28min

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