How our memory of war can shape the future

This episode of Throughline explores how collective and personal memories of war shape national identities and future trajectories. Drawing on the lived experience of Vietnamese-American author Viet Thanh Nguyen, the episode examines the ways in which nations curate their histories through memorials, museums, and media—often erasing or distorting the experiences of the defeated or marginalized. Nguyen reflects on his childhood in a refugee camp, his fragmented memories of the Vietnam War, and his journey to Vietnam as both a tourist and a writer seeking truth. He reveals how both American and Vietnamese narratives of the war are selective, self-justifying, and rooted in victimhood, creating what he calls a 'memory industry' that perpetuates national myths. The episode also draws parallels to contemporary conflicts in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Iran, illustrating how the world’s attention shifts while the human cost of war lingers. Ultimately, Nguyen argues that true healing requires not just remembering, but achieving 'happy forgetting'—a future built on justice, equity, and the amplification of countless voices rather than a single heroic or tragic narrative.