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Chinese Studies
Nordic Asia Podcast August 5, 2022

China’s Role in the Future of Green Energy

A Discussion with Einari Kisel

Einari Kisel

Hosted by Nordic Asia Podcast
How green is green energy really? And what role does Asia, more specifically China play in the transition to green energy? On the 7th of July, International Energy Agency came …

Chinese Studies

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Interviews with scholars of China about their new books.

Writ Large August 4, 2022

On "The Story of the Stone"

A Discussion with Ronald Egan

Ronald Egan

Hosted by Zachary Davis
The 1750s are remembered as a high point of China's Qing Dynasty: a time of power, prestige, and social harmony. But The Story of the Stone paints a different picture …
Japanese Studies August 2, 2022

Sino-Japanese Reflections

Literary and Cultural Interactions between China and Japan in Early Modernity

Joshua A. Fogel and Matthew Fraleigh

Hosted by Jingyi Li
Joshua A. Fogel and Matthew Fraleigh's edited volume Sino-Japanese Reflections: Literary and Cultural Interactions between China and Japan in Early Modernity (de Gruyter, 2022) offers ten richly detailed case studies that …
Nordic Asia Podcast August 1, 2022

The Implications of the Ukrainian War for Taiwan’s Relations with China

A Discussion with Sean King

Sean King

Hosted by Julie Yu-Wen Chen
Is a Chinese invasion on Taiwan a storm on the horizon when the West is busy with the Ukrainian war? Will Nancy Pelosi’s plan to visit Taiwan in August, the …
Grinnell College: Authors and Artists August 1, 2022

Tasting Paradise on Earth

Jiangnan Foodways

Jin Feng

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Today I talked to Jin Feng of Grinnell College about her fascinating book Tasting Paradise on Earth: Jiangnan Foodways (U Washington Press, 2019). Preparing and consuming food is an integral part …
East Asian Studies July 26, 2022

Designing Reform

Architecture in the People's Republic of China, 1970-1992

Cole Roskam

Hosted by Ed Pulford
China’s urban landscapes are full of radically different architectural styles which memorialise different eras in the country’s political past, from the remains of imperial palaces or city walls, to Republican-era …
Chinese Studies July 25, 2022

Chinese Village Life Today

Building Families in an Age of Transition

Gonçalo Santos

Hosted by Suvi Rautio
Today I had the pleasure of talking to Professor Gonçalo Santos (University of Coimbra), about his new book, Chinese Village Life Today: Building Families in an Age of Transition, which was published …
Recall This Book July 21, 2022

Pu Wang and John Plotz Look Back on their Cixin Liu Interview

Pu Wang and John Plotz

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz
Our first August rebroadcast was John and Pu's 2019 interview with SF superstar Cixin Liu (you may want to re-listen to that episode before this one!). Here, they reflect on …
Chinese Studies July 20, 2022

Cadre Country

How China Became the Chinese Communist Party

John Fitzgerald

Hosted by Dong Wang
Since the founding of the Communist Party in China just over a century ago there is much the country has achieved. But who does the heavy lifting in China? And …
East Asian Studies July 19, 2022

Cultivating Membership in Taiwan and Beyond

Relational Citizenship

Hsin-I Cheng

Hosted by Li-Ping Chen
Citizenship is traditionally viewed as a legal status to be possessed. Cultivating Membership in Taiwan and Beyond: Relational Citizenship (Lexington, 2021) proposes the concept of relational citizenship to articulate the value-laden …
Economics July 14, 2022

China's Contained Resource Curse

How Minerals Shape State Capital Labor Relations

Vivian Jing Zhan

Hosted by Peter Lorentzen
Contrary to intuition, many countries have found that having abundant natural resources such as petroleum or diamonds may be a curse as much as a blessing. Broad-based economic development may …
Asian Review of Books July 14, 2022

Beethoven in Beijing

Stories from the Philadelphia Orchestra's Historic Journey to China

Jennifer Lin

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
In 1973, the Philadelphia Orchestra boarded a Pan Am 707 plane in Philadelphia for a once-in-a-lifetime journey: a multi-city tour of Maoist China, months after Nixon’s history-making visit.  There was …
East Asian Studies July 14, 2022

Milk Craze

Body, Science, and Hope in China

Veronica S. W. Mak

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Veronika Mak’s Milk Craze: Body, Science, and Hope in China (U of Hawaii Press, 2021) mixes historical and ethnographic research on milk to understand the morality politics of class, labor, and identity …
The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones July 12, 2022

The Future of Hong Kong

A Discussion with Ho-Fung Hung

Ho-Fung Hung

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones
Hong Kong has always existed on the edge of empires, providing services and capabilities to powerful nations. And even to this day when the one country two systems idea is …
Nordic Asia Podcast July 8, 2022

Finnish Maritime Interaction with China in the 18th Century

A Discussion with Erja Kettunen-Matilainen

Erja Kettunen-Matilainen

Hosted by Ari-Joonas Pitkänen
As COVID-19 disrupted maritime trade with China, the world was again reminded of the importance of shipping in global commerce. The roots of Nordic maritime trade relations with Asia go …
Recall This Book July 7, 2022

Cixin Liu Talks about Science Fiction

Cixin Liu

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz
John and Pu Wang, a Brandeis professor of Chinese literature, spoke with science-fiction genius Cixin Liu back in 2019. His most celebrated works include The Three Body Problem, The Dark …
East Asian Studies July 6, 2022

Timber and Forestry in Qing China

Sustaining the Market

Meng Zhang

Hosted by Huiying Chen
Focusing on timber in Qing China (1644-1911), Dr. Meng Zhang's (Assistant Professor of History at Vanderbilt University) new book, Timber and Forestry in Qing China: Sustaining the Market (U Washington Press, 2021) traces the …
Anthropology July 4, 2022

Commodities of Care

The Business of HIV Testing in China

Elsa L. Fan

Hosted by Adam Bobeck
Commodities of Care: The Business of HIV Testing in China (U Minnesota Press, 2021) examines the unanticipated effects of global health interventions, ideas, and practices as they unfold in communities …
American West July 4, 2022

The Chinese Question

The Gold Rushes, Chinese Migration, and Global Politics

Mae Ngai

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann
Between 1848 and 1899, miners extracted more gold from the earth than in the previous 3,000 years of human history combined. Each gold rush in this period, from the Sierra …
Nordic Asia Podcast July 1, 2022

The Struggle for Hong Kong

A Conversation with Jeffrey Wasserstrom

Jeffrey Wasserstrom

Hosted by Duncan McCargo
Why should we view the anti-China protests that began in Hong Kong in 2019 through a comparative lens? How do earlier episodes in Hong Kong’s history help us make sense …