Faark I Hope It's Not Too Late
Jul 4, 2026 · 42 min · 12 segments
Title: Dust On Her Boots From Foreign Correspondent to Independent Media: Anna Fifield's Journey and Insights into Global Reporting In this episode, we explore the remarkable career of a veteran…
Anna FifieldGuestAlanHostBut when I was speaking to Charlotte Glenny a few weeks ago, and she spent a bit of time in Asia, and you obviously spent a bit of time in Asia as well, and she talks in her book, she mentions quite a bit about North Korea.
You've kind of written the book on the guy that runs the place.
So I went to North Korea 12 times during the course of my periods covering North Korea.
You know, I think the thing that many people think about North Korea, I mean, first of all, the leader, Kim Jong-un, who I wrote a book about, he is often viewed as this cartoon character villain.
I mean, he doesn't help himself because he looks like one with his weird haircut and the crazy things he does.
He had a very difficult task trying to keep this decrepit regime together, and he's done it.
But I think there is this widespread perception that the 25 million people of North Korea are brainwashed robots, and they are not at all.
And they are fed a constant diet of propaganda, you know, starting from kindergarten, where they are forced to sing these songs about the imperialist American aggressors.
But increasingly, you know, they are able to access information from the outside world despite the regime's best efforts.
So, you know, most North Koreans have now seen South Korean dramas, listened to K-pop, listened to or watched Chinese action films that are smuggled into the country.
And they know that the whole system is a lie, that Kim Jong-un is not some quasi-deity sent down from the mountains look after them.
But so they know all of this, but there is still to this day just no dissent, no opposition, no way for anybody to criticize Kim Jong-un or the regime without putting their lives at risk.
So I think that's the message that these are ordinary people trying to do their best under a terrible system.
Yeah.
But when I was speaking to Charlotte Glenny a few weeks ago, and she spent a bit of time in Asia, and you obviously spent a bit of time in Asia as well, and she talks in her book, she mentions quite a bit about North Korea.
You've kind of written the book on the guy that runs the place.
So I went to North Korea 12 times during the course of my periods covering North Korea.
You know, I think the thing that many people think about North Korea, I mean, first of all, the leader, Kim Jong-un, who I wrote a book about, he is often viewed as this cartoon character villain.
I mean, he doesn't help himself because he looks like one with his weird haircut and the crazy things he does.
He had a very difficult task trying to keep this decrepit regime together, and he's done it.
But I think there is this widespread perception that the 25 million people of North Korea are brainwashed robots, and they are not at all.
And they are fed a constant diet of propaganda, you know, starting from kindergarten, where they are forced to sing these songs about the imperialist American aggressors.
But increasingly, you know, they are able to access information from the outside world despite the regime's best efforts.
So, you know, most North Koreans have now seen South Korean dramas, listened to K-pop, listened to or watched Chinese action films that are smuggled into the country.
And they know that the whole system is a lie, that Kim Jong-un is not some quasi-deity sent down from the mountains look after them.
But so they know all of this, but there is still to this day just no dissent, no opposition, no way for anybody to criticize Kim Jong-un or the regime without putting their lives at risk.
So I think that's the message that these are ordinary people trying to do their best under a terrible system.
Yeah.
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