Olive Yang (1927-2017) was a Burmese opium kingpin in the Golden Triangle in the 1950s, who, working alongside exiled Chinese soldiers, pioneered opium trafficking on an industrial scale, and was a forerunner to more famous megakingpins like Lo Hsing Han or Khun Sa. They also may have been trans, or genderqueer, or nonbinary, and we're going to explore that today.

The Kickstarter for TIGER BLUES is live now

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/harujinshounds/tiger-blues-a-queer-alt-history-steampunk-novel?ref=discovery&term=tiger%20blues&total_hits=20&category_id=47

Jason Shannon is an indie Canadian author of science fiction and more. He has published 6 novels - The Zimmer Insurgency, The Hounds of Harujin, The Moon Panther, Rain's Agenda, The Rise and Fall of Chaz

Oregano, and Attila the Valley Girl - as well as several short stories. Visit www.jasonmshannon.com to read the short

stories, as well as novel excerpts, or for links to download/buy. All novels are available in print and ebook. Chaz, Zimmer, Attila, and

One Night in Ikh Khulan are available in audiobook.

Buy my ebooks/audiobooks https://www.jasonmshannon.com/store

Upcoming shows:

Brampton Book Fair June 7

Bracebridge Comiccon June 14

Port Hope Comiccon June 21

Belleville Comiccon June 22

Brighton Comiccon June 28

Hottest Street Sale July 12

Flamborough Book Fair July 13

Word on the Street Sept 27/28

Audiobook for Rain's Agenda coming soon

Follow my social media @harujinshounds

Sources

Paluch, Gabrielle. The Opium Queen: The Untold Story of the Rebel Who Ruled the Golden Triangle.Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2023.

“Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2008.” Human Rights Documentation Unit, November, 2009, https://www.burmalibrary.org/sites/burmalibrary.org/files/obl/docs08/HRYB2008.pdf.Accessed 10 March, 2025.

“Current Conditions in Insein Prison.” Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), 5 December, 1993,https://www.khrg.org/2014/02/93-12-05/current-conditions-insein-prison.Accessed 10 March 2025.

Gibson,Richard M., and Wenhua Chen. TheSecret Army: Chiang Kai-Shek and the Drug Warlords of the GoldenTriangle.Singapore: Wiley, 2011.

HanThit.“Bombblasts, gunfire at Myanmar’s biggest prison kills eight, includingguards.” Myanmar Now, 19 October, 2022,https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/bomb-blasts-gunfire-at-myanmars-biggest-prison-kills-eight-including-guards/.Accessed 10 March, 2025.

“InsideBurma’s Insein Prison”. BBC, 14 May, 2009,http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3006922.stm. Accessed 10March, 2025.

Lintner,Bertil. TheRise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB).Ithaca, New York: Cornell Southeast Asia Program, 1990.

Lintner,Bertil. “The Golden Triangle Opium Trade: An Overview.” AsiaPacific Media Services, 2000, March.

McCoy,Alfred W. The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the GlobalDrug Trade, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, Central America, Colombia –Revised Edition. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 2003.

Paluch,Gabrielle. “The Female Warlord Who Had C.I.A. Connections and OpiumRoutes.” The NewYork Times,21 July 2017,www.nytimes.com/2017/07/21/world/asia/burmese-warlord-olive-yang.html.Accessed 1 February 2025.

Snow,Oliver. “Inside Insein.” Frontier Myanmar, 3 July, 2018,https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/inside-insein/. Accessed 10 March,2025.

Sparrow,Gerald. OpiumVenture.London: Pan Books, Ltd, 1960.

Winn,Patrick. Narcotopia:In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Survived the CIA. NewYork: Hachette, 2024.

Yawnghwe,Chao Tzang. TheShan of Burma: Memoirs of a Shan Exile.Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 1987.

Jason Shannon's seventh novel, Tiger Blues, is live on Kickstarter now! This queer, alt-history steampunk novel is a one-of-a-kind wild ride. This episode intros the book, includes Chapters 1 and 2, and outlines the campaign.

Support the campaign:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/harujinshounds/tiger-blues-a-queer-alt-history-steampunk-novel?ref=discovery&term=tiger%20blues%20jason&total_hits=8160&category_id=47

Upcoming events:

www.jasonmshannon.com/events

Coming 2025 – Tiger Blues: a novel

2 transmen try to keep a Buddhist amulet out of Mao’s hands in 1940s Tibet. Those transmen (or genderqueer/nonbinary – not my place to say) are real life badasses Olive Yang (Burmese drug kingpin, 1927-2017) and Kawashima Yoshiko (Japanese war criminal, 1907-1948). Subscribe to my mailing list to stay updated, www.jasonmshannon.com/contact

This week PL Stuart comes back to the podcast to discuss Book 2 in his Drowned Kingdom Saga, The Last of the Atalanteans. The Drowned Kingdom Saga is an epic, 7-book series featuring a fantasy version of the myth of Atlantis. Book 5: A Pack of Wolves just came out earlier this year, and Book 6: A Black Dragon on Red is coming 2026. Spoiler discussion begins at 44 minutes.

P. L.'s Website: ⁠https://www.plstuart.com⁠Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/P-L-Stuart/author/B08W2PSJ56?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedrownedkingdomsaga7847

Before We Go Blog: https://beforewegoblog.com/about/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/plstuart-author.bsky.social

Twitter: https://twitter.com/plstuartwrites

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plstuartwrites

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p.l.stuart/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21031579.P_L_Stuart___

Jason Shannon is an indie Canadian author of science fiction and more. He has published 6 novels - The Zimmer Insurgency, The Hounds of Harujin, The Moon Panther, Rain's Agenda, The Rise and Fall of Chaz

Oregano, and Attila the Valley Girl - as well as several short stories. Visit www.jasonmshannon.com to read the short

stories, as well as novel excerpts, or for links to download/buy. All novels are available in print and ebook. Chaz, Zimmer, Attila, and

One Night in Ikh Khulan are available in audiobook.

Buy my ebooks/audiobooks https://www.jasonmshannon.com/store

Upcoming shows:

Merchants and Mages Fantasy Market May 24

Beaverton Comiccon May 25

Brampton Book Fair June 7

Hottest Street Sale July 12

Flamborough Book Fair July 13

Word on the Street Sept 27/28

Audiobook for Rain's Agenda coming soon

Follow my social media @harujinshounds