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Chinese Studies
Military History December 4, 2022

Agents of Subversion

The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China

John Delury

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China (Cornell University Press, 2022) by Dr. John Delury reconstructs the remarkable story of a …

Chinese Studies

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Interviews with scholars of China about their new books.

East Asian Studies December 2, 2022

Fragile Cargo

The World War II Race to Save the Treasures of China's Forbidden City

Adam Brookes

Hosted by Ed Pulford
The two parallel Palace Museums in Beijing and Taiwan, and their separate collections of thousands of precious artworks and artifacts from imperial times, reflects a key moment in the 1940s …
Diplomatic History December 1, 2022

The Nuclear Club

How America and the World Policed the Atom from Hiroshima to Vietnam

Jonathan R. Hunt

Hosted by Grant Golub
The Nuclear Club: How America and the World Policed the Atom from Hiroshima to Vietnam (Stanford UP, 2022) reveals how a coalition of powerful and developing states embraced global governance …
Asian Review of Books December 1, 2022

The Sassoons

The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire

Joseph Sassoon

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
The Sassoons were one of the great merchant families of the nineteenth century, alongside such names as the Jardines, the Mathesons, and the Swires. They dominated the India-China opium trade …
The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones November 30, 2022

The Future of Xi and China

A Discussion with Sue Lin Wong

Sue Lin Wong

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones
What will a Chinese-dominated world look like? And since Xi Jin Ping will probably rule China for life, what does he want to do; what does he believe in and …
East Asian Studies November 29, 2022

The Politics of Time in China and Japan

Back to the Future

Viren Murthy

Hosted by Shatrunjay Mall
Drawing on a wide range of texts and using an interdisciplinary approach, The Politics of Time in China and Japan: Back to the Future (Routledge, 2022) by Viren Murthy shows …
Asian Review of Books November 24, 2022

Himalaya

Exploring the Roof of the World

John Keay

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
“History has not been kind to Himalaya,” writes historian and travel writer John Keay in his latest book Himalaya: Exploring the Roof of the World (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022). The region …
Japanese Studies November 24, 2022

Outcasts of Empire

Japan's Rule on Taiwan's "Savage Border," 1874-1945

Paul D. Barclay

Hosted by Shatrunjay Mall
Outcasts of Empire: Japan’s Rule on Taiwan’s “Savage Border,” 1874-1945 (University of California Press, 2018) by Paul D. Barclay unveils the causes and consequences of capitalism’s failure to “batter down …
Economics November 22, 2022

Trafficking Data

How China Is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty

Aynne Kokas

Hosted by Peter Lorentzen
On August 6, 2020, the Trump Administration issued a ban on TikTok in the United States, requiring that the owner, Beijing-based Bytedance, sell the company to American investors or shut …
Disability Studies November 18, 2022

Disability in Contemporary China

Citizenship, Identity and Culture

Sarah Dauncey

Hosted by Shu Wan
In Disability in Contemporary China: Citizenship, Identity and Culture (Cambridge UP, 2022), Sarah Dauncey offers the first comprehensive exploration of disability and citizenship in Chinese society and culture from 1949 to …
Nordic Asia Podcast November 18, 2022

Towards a Green China

Gørild Heggelund, Yong Zhou, and Bjorn Leif Brauteseth

Hosted by Arve Hansen
What does the concept of ecological civilisation mean in practice? And how can we understand the relationship between grand visions, legal systems, green politics and development processes on the ground …
Economics November 18, 2022

Outsourcing Repression

Everyday State Power in Contemporary China

Lynette H. Ong

Hosted by Peter Lorentzen
How do states coerce citizens into compliance while simultaneously minimizing backlash? In Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China (Oxford UP, 2022), Lynette H. Ong examines how the Chinese …
East Asian Studies November 18, 2022

Testing the Literary

Prose and the Aesthetic in Early Modern China

Alexander Des Forges

Hosted by Sarah Bramao-Ramos
The eight-legged essay (bagu wen) was the one genre of writing that dominated in late imperial China. As the primary mode of expression in which men were schooled, writing and reading shiwen (modern …
Gender Studies November 16, 2022

The Economics of Gender in China

Women, Work and the Glass Ceiling

Sisi Sung

Hosted by Kelsi Caywood
Alongside rapid socio-economic development, China has achieved remarkable gains in gender equality on metrics like health, education, and labor force participation. Yet, the glass ceiling phenomenon and the underrepresentation of women in …
Language November 15, 2022

Speak Not

Empire, Identity and the Politics of Language

James Griffiths

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
As globalisation continues languages are disappearing faster than ever, leaving our planet's linguistic diversity leaping towards extinction. The science of how languages are acquired is becoming more advanced and the …
Chinese Studies November 15, 2022

Mao and Markets

The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise

Christopher Marquis and Kunyuan Qiao

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise (Yale University Press, 2022) by Dr. Christopher Marquis & Dr. Kunyuan Qiao presents a thoroughly researched assessment of how China’s economic …
SSEAC Stories November 15, 2022

Belitung

The Afterlives of a Shipwreck

Natali Pearson

Hosted by Michele Ford
In 1998, the Belitung, a ninth-century western Indian Ocean–style vessel, was discovered in Indonesian waters. Onboard was a full cargo load, likely intended for the Middle Eastern market, of over …
LGBTQ+ Studies November 14, 2022

Transtopia in the Sinophone Pacific

Howard Chiang

Hosted by Thomas Baudinette
As a broad category of identity, “transgender” has given life to a vibrant field of academic research since the 1990s. Yet the Western origins of the field have tended to …
East Asian Studies November 11, 2022

Renegade Rhymes

Rap Music, Narrative, and Knowledge in Taiwan

Meredith Schweig

Hosted by Li-Ping Chen
Like many states emerging from oppressive political rule, Taiwan saw a cultural explosion in the late 1980s, when nearly four decades of martial law under the Chinese Nationalist Party ended …
Chinese Studies November 9, 2022

When the Iron Bird Flies

China's Secret War in Tibet

Jianglin Li

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In When the Iron Bird Flies: China's Secret War in Tibet (Stanford University Press, 2022), Jianglin Li presents an untold story that reshapes our understanding of Chinese and Tibetan history …