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East Asian Studies
Critical Theory December 8, 2022

Palm Oil

The Grease of Empire

Max Haiven

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh
Palm oil is a commodity like no other. Found in half of supermarket products, from food to cosmetics to plastics, it has shaped the world in which we live. In …

East Asian Studies

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Interviews with scholars of East Asia about their new books.

East Asian Studies December 7, 2022

The Curious Case of the Camel in Modern Japan

(De)Colonialism, Orientalism, and Imagining Asia

Ayelet Zohar

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Ayelet Zohar’s The Curious Case of the Camel in Modern Japan: (De)Colonialism, Orientalism, and Imagining Asia (Brill, 2022) traces the use of camels in the visual vocabulary of Japan’s definition …
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 …
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 …
Japanese Studies December 2, 2022

Ryokan

Mobilizing Hospitality in Rural Japan

Chris McMorran

Hosted by John Traphagan
Today I talked to Chris McMorran about his new book Ryokan: Mobilizing Hospitality in Rural Japan (U Hawaii Press, 2022). Amid the decline of many of Japan’s rural communities, the hot springs …
Japanese Studies November 30, 2022

Overseas Shinto Shrines

Religion, Secularity and the Japanese Empire

Karli Shimizu

Hosted by Raditya Nuradi
Through extensive use of primary resources and fieldwork, Karli Shimizu's book Overseas Shinto Shrines: Religion, Secularity and the Japanese Empire (Bloomsbury, 2022) examines overseas Shinto shrines and their complex role in …
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 …
Japanese Studies November 29, 2022

Blind in Early Modern Japan

Wei Yu Wayne Tan

Hosted by Jingyi Li
While the loss of sight—whether in early modern Japan or now—may be understood as a disability, blind people in the Tokugawa period (1600–1868) could thrive because of disability. The blind …
Nordic Asia Podcast November 25, 2022

The Assassination and Legacy of Shinzo Abe

A Discussion with Paul Midford

Paul Midford

Hosted by Kenneth Bo Nielsen
The brutal assassination of Prime Minister Abe in July this year shocked Japan and has produced large and unexpected consequences for the nation´s politics. In this episode, we examine the …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Biography November 17, 2022

Our Man In Tokyo

An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor

Steve Kemper

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
A gripping, behind-the-scenes account of the personalities and contending forces in Tokyo during the volatile decade that led to World War II, as seen through the eyes of the American …
Asian Review of Books November 17, 2022

In Asian Waters

Oceanic Worlds from Yemen to Yokohama

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
In the nineteenth century, one group of American merchants reported an odd request from the Vietnamese emperor. An envoy asked if the traders could help procure a commodity brought by …
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 …
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 …