Interviews & Videos
Last Boat out of Shanghai:
The Epic Story of the Chinese who Fled Mao’s Revolution

An Interview with Helen Zia by KQED Newsroom’s Thuy Vu about Helen’s new book: Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese who Fled Mao’s Revolution.

WMC Live #272: Helen Zia. (Original Airdate 1/20/2019)
Robin Morgan interviews Helen Zia about her book and relevance to today’s events. Listen on the WMC website.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the communist revolution in China. NPR’s Steve Inskeep talks to Helen Zia, who wrote a book about the Chinese who fled the revolution.



Here, Helen Zia is shown at a city-wide protest on the injustice and hate killing of Vincent Chin in Detroit, 1982.

A very informative interview with Helen Zia about her new book, Last Boat Out of Shanghai, by Rachel Myrow on San Francisco’s KQED radio program. Listen on the KQED website.

Bert Zipperer interviews Helen Zia about her new book, Last Boat Out of Shanghai, on Madison Wisconson’s WORT radio program. Listen on the WORT website.

Helen Zia in 2015 on the 78th anniversary of the Rape of Nanjing and the continued failure of the Japanese government to acknowledge the extent of their war crimes and human rights violations in that forgotten holocaust.

Helen Zia talked about her book, Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution, in which she reported on the four individuals who fled Shanghai following the 1949 Chinese Communist Revolution.

Drawing from hundreds of interviews, Zia retells these experiences with rich and harrowing detail. How do war, foreign occupation, and exile shape families and futures, and change the way we see ourselves and those around us?
Helen Zia – Shanghai Exodus 1949
Helen Zia – Shanghai Exodus 1949 from Edward Wong on Vimeo.
Helen Zia describes the social and historical context for the exodus of over one million people who escaped the turmoils of war and revolution in Shanghai 1949.
Helen Zia – My Mother’s Inspiration
Helen Zia – My Mother’s Inspiration from Edward Wong on Vimeo.
This video is about how Helen Zia was inspired by her mother’s story of abandonment.
Helen Zia Book Talk -Oakland Asian Cultural Center
Helen Zia Book Talk -Oakland Asian Cultural Center from Edward Wong on Vimeo.
This video is about Helen Zia’s book Last Boat Out of Shanghai. This book talk was done at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center on January 27, 2019.
Benny & Doreen’s Story
Benny & Doreen’s Story from Edward Wong on Vimeo.
This video is about Benny and Doreen and how they became separated in Shanghai in 1949. This video was shot at the The Last Boat Out of Shanghai book talk at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center on Jan. 27, 2019.