Episode
Amanda Nguyen: from rape survivor to astronaut, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Time Woman of the Year
- Podcast
- Culture 101
- Published
- May 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1139
- Processing state
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Summary
Amanda Nguyen was sexually assaulted while at Harvard, then discovered her rape kit would be destroyed in six months unless she filed for an extension. Blinded by rage, she emailed everyone she knew and built a team that passed the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights through the US Congress unanimously, signed into law by Barack Obama. She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, named Time Woman of the Year in 2022, and last April became the first Vietnamese American woman in space. When she landed, a survivor texted to point out the date: April 14, the same day her rape kit had been scheduled for destruction eleven years earlier. She joins Culture 101 to discuss her memoir Saving Five.