

Sinica Podcast
Kaiser Kuo
A weekly discussion of current affairs in China with journalists, writers, academics, policymakers, business people and anyone with something compelling to say about the country that's reshaping the world. Hosted by Kaiser Kuo.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 17, 2019 • 37min
Live from Columbia: China tech triage with Samm Sacks
Samm Sacks, a Cybersecurity Policy and China Digital Economy Fellow at New America, speaks with Kaiser on Huawei’s nebulous role in the U.S.-China trade war, Beijing’s long march to technological self-reliance, and the growing U.S. Commerce Department Entity List. This episode was recorded live at the Columbia China and the World Forum 2019, on September 28, 2019, at Columbia University. 4:12: Trading Huawei for soybeans11:24: The growing Entity List22:16: Beijing’s retaliation 25:09: Silicon Valley’s varying views27:21: Censorship on TikTok and Bytedance Recommendations:Samm: Novels by Irish millennial Sally Rooney, for her ability to invoke emotions you didn’t know you had.Kaiser: Guitar nerd galore. Effects pedals by brand Mooer — the Radar Speaker CAB Simulator, and the overdrive pedal called the Hustle Drive — as well as the JAM BUDDY by JOYO.This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 10, 2019 • 1h 1min
Jude Blanchette on the Hong Kong protests
Jude Blanchette, the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), joins Kaiser for a discussion of the ongoing Hong Kong protests, possible U.S. responses, Beijing's puzzling inaction, the perspectives of mainland Chinese, and media coverage of ongoing events in Hong Kong.4:52: Hong Kong’s young democratic leaders15:39: The volatility of the Hong Kong protests27:10: Mainland sentiments on Hong Kong38:21: Media coverage of the protests46:04: Speaking Mandarin, a new liability in Hong Kong?Recommendations:Jude: How Hong Kong got to this point, an essay by Richard Bush. Kaiser: Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century, by George Packer.This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 9, 2019 • 34min
Podcast Golden Week: TechBuzz China Ep. 53: NetEase
Episode 53 of TechBuzz China is about NetEase. Listen to learn about the company’s founder, William Ding, and how he built a $33 billion empire based on a unique business style as well as on his belief that a company doesn’t need a direction or specific labels. Today, NetEase’s offerings range from email to publishing and developing games, and from breeding pigs to educating people. This episode originally aired on October 4, 2019. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 8, 2019 • 1h 18min
Podcast Golden Week: Peter Hessler on ChinaEconTalk
SupChina is celebrating Golden Week with a few of our best episodes from the Sinica Podcast Network. For today’s selection, enjoy this interview with Peter Hessler on ChinaEconTalk, along with host Jordan Schneider.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 7, 2019 • 60min
Podcast Golden Week: Ta for Ta Episode 22
SupChina is celebrating Golden Week with a few of our best episodes from the Sinica Podcast Network. Today, please enjoy episode 22 of Ta for Ta, hosted by Juliana Batista.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 4, 2019 • 60min
Podcast Golden Week: Middle Earth #16
SupChina is celebrating Golden Week with a few of our best episodes from the Sinica Podcast Network. Today, please enjoy episode 16 of the Middle Earth Podcast, hosted by Aladin Farré.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oct 3, 2019 • 1h 16min
Is China the Enemy? Featuring Ezra Vogel and Orville Schell
The Sinica Podcast this week features an exclusive recording of a China Institute event in New York on September 17 that sought to answer this question: How can the United States live with a rising China, an ideologically different country that is home to one-fifth of humanity? Joe Kahn, the managing editor of the New York Times and the paper’s former Beijing bureau chief, moderates the discussion with Ezra Vogel, the eminent Harvard University professor and author, and Orville Schell, author and the director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society.What to listen for on this week’s Sinica Podcast:10:50: Changing rhetoric: Harmful or helpful?24:32: The future of the “China model”33:09: Trump’s impact on U.S.-China relations38:24: The legacy of engagement41:04: A case for reengagement with ChinaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sep 26, 2019 • 54min
Christian Shepherd on Xinjiang and China's changing ethnic policy
This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser and Jeremy speak with Christian Shepherd, the Beijing correspondent for the Financial Times. They discuss his debut long-form piece for the FT, Fear and oppression in Xinjiang: China’s war on Uighur culture, dive into the policy drivers behind the assimilation efforts being carried out by the central government in Xinjiang, and discuss his experiences while reporting from the region.What to listen for on this week’s Sinica Podcast:16:22: In an effort to forcefully assimilate Xinjiang into greater China, public signage in Uyghur has been replaced with Mandarin Chinese, and bookstores have been emptied of Uyghur-language texts. Christian noticed the same trend in legal language: “If you look at policy documents now, in Xinjiang and other regions, there has been that shift [to Mandarin]. The use of hanyu [汉语 hànyǔ, Mandarin Chinese] is diminished. Instead, it’s all guoyu [国语 guóyǔ, national language].” The linguistic replacement is also occurring in schools. Christian states: “In fact, in the schooling system, the emphasis is on that national language, instead of [on] the idea of there being multiple languages that were on an equal status.” 34:26: Have there been any legal efforts to change the language within the Chinese constitution regarding minority policy? Christian explains: “I think there’s a real desire on the part of the Party to continue to pay lip service to the idea of being the champion of minority rights. Clearly, that is what is talked about through all government propaganda, and you see it in billboards all over Xinjiang about how Xi Jinping cares about the rights of the individual, [about] minorities, and about fostering ethnic unity and how that will lead to one great big family nationally.” Recommendations:Jeremy: The Planet Money podcast, particularly episode 939, The Working Tapes of Studs Terkel. Christian: Under Red Skies, by Karoline Kan, and the work of Darren Byler, including his column at SupChina and his blog, Living Otherwise. Kaiser: A documentary, The Brink, by director Alison Klayman.This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sep 19, 2019 • 34min
Introducing 'Strangers in China'
The Sinica Podcast Network is proud to introduce the latest member of our family, Strangers in China, hosted by Clay Baldo. It features the voices of an emergent new China. Dissident voices, outspoken voices, marginalized voices, queer voices. Some are people who just find one aspect of living in China unreasonable, others are people who are rebellious. Some want to push the boundaries creatively, while others are just fighting to be seen. All are uniquely Chinese.People who think differently can feel out of place in China and we capture that experience. Our perspective: If they live differently, they see Chinese society in a new way. We’re here to listen closely and illuminate their stories.Subscribe to Strangers in China to hear the voices of a new China. Find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Stitcher, or plug the RSS feed directly in to your favorite podcast app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sep 12, 2019 • 1h 18min
‘Mirrorlands’: Ed Pulford on the Sino-Russian border
This week, Sinica features a chat with Ed Pulford, author of the recent book Mirrorlands: Russia, China, and Journeys in Between. Kaiser chats with Ed about the Sino-Russian border and Ed’s anthropological travelogue exploring the border’s past and present.What to listen for on this week’s Sinica Podcast:28:06: Ed describes some of the tensions and perceptions that exist in the borderlands between Siberia and China’s northeast: “I think the increasing presence of Chinese ‘things’ — whether it’s material objects, consumer goods, or people who are coming over as tourists increasingly but also for longer as traders in the post-Soviet era — it’s a big shock and it has [presented] a lot of worries about the osmotic potential for what would happen if things were balanced out in terms of population and land use.”43:43: Ed talks about Leonid, a Nanai man (赫哲族, Hèzhézú) whom he met during his travels along the Russian-Chinese border, his own ethnic awakening, and others that are occurring (and not occurring) around the world. “Among many, many indigenous groups of the Far East, the Far North, and Siberia, the post-Soviet period has been one where interest in global indigeneity — whether it’s Native American populations, Maori, or any other global indigenous cause — [there has] been a huge boom.” Ed explains that within China, conditions are different: “There’s been a lot of this inter-indigenous group communication and networking. Whereas in China, at least from the Hèzhé and other groups, including the Éluósīzú and other minority groups, they’re part of a Chinese world that is not so much a part of those same discussions.” Recommendations:Ed: The Crab Cannery Ship and Other Novels of Struggle, by Kobayashi Takiji, and National Book Award finalist Pachinko, by Minjin Lee.Kaiser: Ivanhoe, a 1982 film adaptation of the original work by Sir Walter Scott.This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.


