From an episode of Future PerfectPresented by Dylan Bird

Interview

Future Perfect: Cheng Lei On Imprisonment, Resilience And Freedom

Dylan Bird is joined by Cheng Lei, journalist and recipient of the 2024 Press Freedom Award, to discuss her extraordinary life journey and her experience after being wrongfully imprisoned in China for over three years on false charges of espionage, as explored in her new book Cheng Lei: A Memoir of Freedom.

“The first day [after returning home from prison to Australia] was a mix of regaining and loss, because It’s not until you regain something that you realise what you lost … that day my heart was overwhelmed by love and sadness and indescribable joy and light”

Photo credit: supplied.

Dylan Bird and Cheng Lei
Listen to Future Perfect: Cheng Lei On Imprisonment, Resilience And Freedom43:1716 June 2025