Conversations That Can’t Wait
A podcast by Helen Avadiar–Nimbalker | Published by Asia Freedom Network
“Behind every headline is a life. This podcast listens to the ones we scroll past.”
In a time when crises scroll past us in seconds, The Human Trace asks us to pause.
To listen.
To feel.
To trace the human cost of what systems erase.
Hosted by trauma specialist and anti-trafficking strategist Helen Avadiar–Nimbalker, The Human Trace is not a podcast that chases virality — it invites gravity. Produced by the Asia Freedom Network, it brings forward the stories left behind in our algorithmic rush. Not soundbites. Not sensationalism. Just truth. Sometimes hard. Always human.
From scam centers to stateless children, caste discrimination to conflict zones, Season One moves across the personal and the political, offering conversations that don’t just inform — they disarm. Helen doesn’t just conduct interviews; she holds space. Her lens is global, her tone intimate, and her mission clear: to listen deeply to those we overlook.
🎙️ SEASON ONE — Episode Guide
The Human Cost of Scam Centers
Guests: Mechelle Moore & BC Tan
Scam centers dominate headlines — but the truth behind them is far darker. Helen unpacks the rise of forced criminality in Southeast Asia, where victims of trafficking are coerced into cyberfraud operations under torture and threat.
Breaking the Pattern: Gender-Based Violence in Public and Private Spaces
Guest: Tehmina Kaoosji
In Malaysia and across Asia, the fight against gender-based violence is evolving. Journalist and gender equity advocate Tehmina Kaoosji joins Helen to dissect the media’s role, the persistence of harmful norms, and the generational shift toward transformative justice.
Layered Injustice: How Caste Sustains Exploitation
Guest: Kamal Raj, Cross Global Asia Foundation
The caste system didn’t vanish — it adapted. Kamal Raj explores how caste hierarchies underpin bonded labor, manual scavenging, and modern trafficking, often hiding in plain sight. This episode includes a powerful reading list for further reflection.
📚 Ambedkar, Siddarth Kara, and others featured.
Migration Isn’t the Crisis. Our Systems Are.
Guest: Heidy Quah
When refugees and undocumented people are criminalized for surviving, who holds the system accountable? Heidy Quah speaks on detention centers, legal limbo, and how policy neglect sustains displacement — not the other way around.
Legal Invisibility & The Children We’re Not Protecting
Co-Host: Dr. Hartini Zainudin
Millions of stateless children live without legal identity — denied education, healthcare, and protection. This episode exposes the systemic failure to safeguard childhood, and asks: What kind of future are we building when we ignore the invisible?
Global Disruption, Local Fallout & The Human Cost of Economic Shifts
Guest: Dr. Lauren Pinkston (upwardlydependent.com)
A trade policy in one country can lead to trafficking in another. Helen and Lauren explore how tariffs, supply chains, and economic sanctions quietly create new forms of exploitation across Southeast Asia.
Beyond the Scam — Inside the Networks of Forced Criminality
Guests: Erin West, Mechelle Moore
In Part 2 of the scam center investigation, Helen digs deeper with Erin West, founder of Operation Shamrock, and co-host Mechelle Moore. They expose the networks behind crypto fraud, labor trafficking, and the global impunity that allows it to persist.
Beyond the Quake: War, Silence & Survival in Myanmar
Guest: Melody Mettlach Crisp (Thr5ve)
After the 2025 earthquake in Myanmar, the cameras left — but the crisis didn’t. This episode explores the man-made war behind the natural disaster: military violence, displacement, and what it means to survive when the world looks away.
🔗 Links to Rohingya history, civil resistance, and aid access included.
The Thread That Connects It All
Each episode of The Human Trace is part field report, part memorial, and part mirror. Together, they form a mosaic of stories about people navigating the cracks of broken systems — and building something stronger in the aftermath.
Helen brings decades of lived experience to the mic. She’s not a commentator. She’s a practitioner. From refugee camps to UN consultations, from shelters to sewing rooms, she has walked beside survivors, challenged institutions, and redesigned what trauma-informed care can look like.
She’s also the founder of:
- The Whispering Willow – a healing sanctuary for survivors of trauma
- Rise Foundation Asia – a regional anti-trafficking organization
- Mosaic Market – a Chiang Mai-based artisan shop and training space
- ✂️ A forthcoming sustainable fashion label designed by women in recovery
In all her work, Helen returns to the same truth: stories are where justice begins.
Listen, Follow, Share
- TheHumanTracePodcast.com
- Apple Podcasts
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- @asiafreedomnetwork on Instagram & LinkedIn
About Helen Avadiar–Nimbalker
Helen is a trauma specialist, anti-trafficking strategist, and Director of the Asia Freedom Network. For over 20 years, she has supported displaced communities, advised governments on systems reform, and co-built regional approaches to survivor care. Her work spans crisis response, community healing, ethical fashion, and storytelling. With The Human Trace, she continues her life’s work — amplifying the voices too often unheard.
