Axel Timo Purr talks to Filipino journalist and author Michael Beltran about his book on the communist leader José Maria Sison (Joma) - and about the dangers of writing critically in the Philippines. Beltran tells of the shadows of the Marcos era, of his mother, who fought for justice as a guerrilla fighter, and of today's reality of poverty, inequality and state repression. His book The Singing Detainee and the Librarian with One Book: Essays on Exile is also not really about ideology, but about people - those who live in economic or political exile, those who stay and those who resist.

Language: English

Place/Date: Manila, 23. August 2025

This podcast is part of the report Literary Travel in the Philippines.

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