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Tatler Asia
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Tatler Asia
Your next read: 8 provocative books curated by Natalie Portman
'Autocracy, Inc.' by Anne Applebaum Above 'Autocracy, Inc.' by Anne Applebaum uncovers how authoritarian leaders share propaganda techniques to maintain power. (Photo: Doubleday) Pulitzer Prize-winner Anne Applebaum delivers a chilling exposé that reframes our understanding of modern dictatorship. Rather than viewing autocratic regimes as isolated entities, this meticulously researched work reveals a sophisticated global network of collaboration. Applebaum's investigation uncovers how authoritarian leaders share strategies, resources and propaganda techniques to maintain power against democratic nations. For readers comfortable with traditional geopolitical narratives, this book presents a disturbing alternative reality where dictatorships operate as a unified, calculated force—a revelation that demands urgent attention and action. 'Saving Time' by Jenny Odell Above 'Saving Time' by Jenny Odell dismantles our fundamental assumptions about productivity and progress. (Photo: Random House Trade Paperbacks) Portman describes her pick as 'an exploration of how we can revise our relationship with time to inspire hope and action'. This radical critique by Jenny Odell dismantles our most fundamental assumptions about productivity and progress. Building on her acclaimed book How to Do Nothing , this work challenges the very foundation of our clock-driven society, arguing that our temporal structures serve profit rather than human flourishing. Odell draws from pre-industrial cultures, ecological rhythms and geological timescales to propose revolutionary alternatives to capitalist time consciousness. This isn't merely lifestyle advice—it's a comprehensive reimagining of how we might structure existence itself, demanding readers question everything they've been taught about efficiency and value. Now read: 7 inspiring wellness books for a grounded, mindful life 'The Safekeep' by Yael Van Der Wouden Above 'The Safekeep' by Yael Van Der Wouden explores the unreliable nature of memory. (Photo: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster) Van Der Wouden's stunning debut operates as both psychological thriller and historical reckoning. Set in post-war Netherlands, this tense narrative explores the unreliable nature of memory and the buried traumas that shape entire communities. Through the unsettling relationship between Isabel and Eva, the novel forces readers to confront how personal and collective histories can be manipulated, hidden or conveniently forgotten. This isn't comfortable historical fiction—it's a probing examination of how we construct truth from fragments of experience, challenging readers to question their relationship with inherited narratives. 'Saving Five' by Amanda Nguyen Above 'Saving Five' by Amanda Nguyen is an unflinching account of fighting to pass the Survivors' Bill of Rights Act. (Photo: AUWA) Portman thanks author Amanda Nguyen 'for sharing your truth, your light and for writing your story'. Nguyen's memoir transcends typical survivor narratives to become a blueprint for systemic change. Her unflinching account of fighting to pass the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights Act exposes the failures within America's justice system whilst demonstrating the power of individual activism. Uniquely weaving her personal trauma with imagined conversations with her younger selves, Nguyen creates a work that's simultaneously intimate and politically urgent. This book challenges readers to move beyond sympathy toward action, questioning their role in perpetuating or dismantling unjust systems. 'The English Understand Wool' by Helen DeWitt Above 'The English Understand Wool' by Helen DeWitt asks whether cultural preferences reflect learned class signalling. (Photo: New Directions) DeWitt's deceptively sharp novella dismantles our assumptions about cultural sophistication and good taste. Through the story of a young woman raised with impossibly high aesthetic standards, this work exposes how markers of refinement often function as instruments of social control. The protagonist's confrontation with New York's cultural sharks becomes a broader examination of authenticity versus performance in contemporary society. The author challenges readers to question whether their cultural preferences reflect genuine appreciation or learned class signalling, making this brief work surprisingly unsettling in its implications. Natalie Portman sums up the novella best: 'darkly funny but honest look at the exploitation of trauma within publishing'. 'The Coin' by Yasmin Zaher Above 'The Coin' by Yasmin Zaher presents a protagonist whose moral complexity defies easy categorisation. (Photo: Catapult) Zaher's bold debut refuses to provide a comfortable immigrant narrative. Following a young Palestinian woman navigating New York's cultural and economic landscapes, this novel presents a protagonist whose moral complexity defies easy categorisation. Through her eccentric teaching methods and involvement in luxury goods schemes, the narrator challenges conventional expectations about assimilation and ambition. Zaher forces readers to sit with discomfort, presenting a character who embodies contradictions rather than resolution. Portman lauds the author's writing, especially 'about the tension between the body and mind.' 'Consider Yourself Kissed' by Jessica Stanley Above 'Consider Yourself Kissed' by Jessica Stanley examine love's survival against unglamorous reality. (Photo: Riverhead Books) Stanley's novel transcends typical romance to examine love's survival against unglamorous reality. Set against a decade marked by Brexit and Covid, this work asks challenging questions about commitment in an era of constant disruption. Rather than offering fairy-tale conclusions, Stanley presents the complicated negotiations required for long-term partnership, acknowledging both love's resilience and its frequent failures. For readers accustomed to romantic fantasy, this book provides a more truthful—if sometimes uncomfortable—exploration of what sustaining love actually requires in our fractured contemporary world. For Natalie Portman, the book is 'a look at how relationships shift over time as Coralie navigates motherhood, love and her own desires'. NOW READ Female action heroes: 8 women who redefined courage long before 'Ballerina' pirouetted in From screen to your stove: 6 star-studded celebrity cookbooks worth trying 'Mission: Impossible': 7 stunts that redefined high-stakes action cinema Credits This article was created with the assistance of AI tools
New York Times
15-03-2025
- New York Times
She Survived Horror, and Then She Went to Space
There is a phrase that recurs at key points throughout Amanda Nguyen's powerful memoir of activism and recovery, 'Saving Five.' The first time we see it, it's in the message she writes and tapes to her computer shortly after her rape on the Harvard campus: 'Never never never give up.' In the days after the life-altering assault, it seems impossible to restore her shattered self. 'When will I stop feeling this way — like my insides are lacerated?' writes Nguyen. 'Like my spirit is irreparably broken?' Nguyen's narrative cuts back and forth in time, from her childhood growing up with a violently abusive father, to the landmark moment in 2016 when the Survivors' Bill of Rights Act was passed in Washington, to the vantage point of the adult Amanda, who eventually becomes an astronaut. Throughout, the author's central task is to bring her disparate selves back into a coherent whole. Nguyen uses two distinct registers for her parallel tales of personal recovery and political activism. In chapters such as 'How to Survive the Immediate Aftermath of a Rape: A Guide,' she presents a rigorously factual narration. By including hospital reports, medicines dispensed (such as anti-H.I.V. pills) and other clinical details, Nguyen conveys the chilly bureaucracy that surrounds victims. Though she recognizes its good intentions, this legal scaffolding immediately seems to depersonalize Nguyen, adding to her sense of self-erasure. This tension is embodied in her 'rape kit,' which contains the sample collected within hours of her attack — both a literal repository of evidence and a tangible reminder of the constant question of whether to press charges against her unnamed attacker (a fellow student). Still in the thick of shock, the college senior must make decisions that will affect her future forever. When she later pores over the 65-page dossier the hospital has given her, she learns that the state of Massachusetts will destroy her kit after six months if she does not proceed, even though the statute of limitations on sexual assault is 15 years. The contradiction outrages Nguyen — 'I feel powerless, invisible, betrayed a second time' — and this is the fire that eventually drives her activist journey. 'How can a dried-up leaf smooth itself back to life? It can't. But it can transform,' she writes. 'With the right heat, even a leaf can become a spark.' While navigating these bewildering legalities, Nguyen faces the immediate challenge of fighting back from the brink: Among the statistics she cites is the fact that a third of women who have been raped contemplate suicide. Nguyen must complete her senior year and pursue job applications — for work either at NASA, she hopes, or at the C.I.A., for which she is being recruited. More than once Nguyen considers her brutal dilemma: a career, or the pursuit of justice? Nguyen's other, alternating narration is the poignant and imaginative journey she takes as a 30-year-old woman, accompanied by versions of herself at 5, 15 and 22. These conversations may seem at first like a therapeutic exercise, but reclaiming her younger selves becomes a necessary rescue. 'So here I am, running away to find my mind or perhaps to lose it,' she writes. 'A place I go within myself. My interior world.' Together, her quartet of Amandas embark on a mythic adventure through the five stages of grief. On each stop (an arid desert, a flashing lighthouse by the sea, a junk ship near a harbor) the girls plumb memory: One Amanda describes the time her father broke her wrist the night before she was due to leave for college; another unearths the traumatic escapes her father and mother separately made as refugees after the fall of Saigon. Through these stories Nguyen finds empathy not just for the beaten child she was, seeking comfort in gazing at the stars (which led to her lifelong interest in space), but even for her enabling mother and enraged, controlling father. It is harrowing to learn that after Nguyen arrived in Cambridge, traveling straight from a Los Angeles emergency room, her father followed her; the university issued a restraining order against him. 'Harvard was my first real home, but one that I couldn't leave because I would not be protected outside its walls.' That her safe place (she never returned to California on breaks or holidays) became the site of such horror compounded Nguyen's trauma. Restoring even painful memories allows Nguyen to finally find some peace, as does the success of her drive for national legislation. (In 2019 she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her work.) It is sobering to realize that the rape survival memoir has become its own genre; readers may think of Chanel Miller's remarkable 'Know My Name' as they read Nguyen's. But as with accounts of grief, each writer's story is vivid and necessary. Nguyen's original contribution will, as its title promises, give both survivors and non-survivors some sense of hope for justice — and, now more than ever, such hope is essential.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Amanda Nguyen on Blue Orgin's first all-female spaceflight mission, new memoir
Amanda Nguyen, who transformed personal trauma into landmark legislation for sexual assault survivors, now has her sights set on making history among the stars as the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman in space. Appearing on "CBS Mornings" on Thursday, Nguyen said she is not afraid about her upcoming Blue Origin flight. "I really think back to my family and how they were refugees in Vietnam. If they could go through that journey, I can go through this, too," she said. Nguyen will join a historic all-female crew that includes "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King, pop star Katy Perry, philanthropist Lauren Sanchez, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe and producer Kerrianne Flynn. During the mission, Nguyen plans to conduct two science experiments — one in partnership with the Vietnamese National Space Center and another focused on women's health. "Women were barred from becoming astronauts at NASA early on because of menstruation. They didn't have the data to back that up," Nguyen explained. She is also celebrating the launch of her newly released memoir "Saving Five," which is written from the perspective of different ages of herself, addressing her 5-year-old, 22-year-old, 30-year-old selves and beyond. "I picked 5-year-old and 80-year-old because really I think the purpose in our lives is to live out our full potential and to make ourselves proud," Nguyen said. "Truly what I want people to know is that their dreams matter and can still come true." Nguyen discussed how she put her dreams on hold after experiencing sexual assault, choosing to pursue justice rather than her career. She subsequently drafted the Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights, which was passed unanimously by chambers of Congress. The legislation she championed extended the preservation period for rape kits, which were previously destroyed after just six months in Massachusetts and 30 days in New York. "After ten years of fighting for my rights, I finally get to honor the person that I was before I was hurt," Nguyen said. Nguyen's memoir, "Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope," is available now wherever books are sold. Watch: Trump's full address to Congress Takeaways from Trump's joint address to Congress Watch: Sen. Elissa Slotkin refutes Trump's speech to Congress in Democratic rebuttal
CBS News
06-03-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Amanda Nguyen plans to conduct women's health experiments during Blue Origin's first all-female spaceflight mission
Amanda Nguyen, who transformed personal trauma into landmark legislation for sexual assault survivors, now has her sights set on making history among the stars as the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman in space. Appearing on "CBS Mornings" on Thursday, Nguyen said she is not afraid about her upcoming Blue Origin flight. Nguyen will join a historic all-female crew that includes "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King, pop star Katy Perry, philanthropist Lauren Sanchez, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe and producer Kerrianne Flynn. During the mission, Nguyen plans to conduct two science experiments — one in partnership with the Vietnamese National Space Center and another focused on women's health. "Women were barred from becoming astronauts at NASA early on because of menstruation. They didn't have the data to back that up," Nguyen explained. She is also celebrating the launch of her newly released memoir "Saving Five," which is written from the perspective of different ages of herself, addressing her 5-year-old, 22-year-old, 30-year-old selves and beyond. "I picked 5-year-old and 80-year-old because really I think the purpose in our lives is to live out our full potential and to make ourselves proud," Nguyen said. "Truly what I want people to know is that their dreams matter and can still come true." Nguyen discussed how she put her dreams on hold after experiencing sexual assault, choosing to pursue justice rather than her career. She subsequently drafted the Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights, which was passed unanimously by chambers of Congress. The legislation she championed extended the preservation period for rape kits, which were previously destroyed after just six months in Massachusetts and 30 days in New York. "After ten years of fighting for my rights, I finally get to honor the person that I was before I was hurt," Nguyen said.
