In Episode 15, we welcome 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 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.

For more information on Mizumi, please see photos (and the episode transcript) here: https://crossworld-puzzles.com/episode15-mizumi/.

CrossWorld Puzzles is a podcast that explores how multicultural individuals consider life’s big questions, such as where to be based, how to build their career, who to spend their life with, etc.