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Sinica - Live: The Cultural Revolution at Fifty

Wed, 04 May 2016 09:00:00 -0700

50 years ago, Mao Zedong launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, inaugurating a decade of political turmoil with his calls for young people to "bombard the headquarters." In this special live edition of our podcast recorded at The Bookworm Literary Festival in March, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser welcome Melinda Liu, longtime China bureau chief of Newsweek for a discussion of the 50th anniversary of this definitive event. Melinda shares stories about her brother, who remained in China after the civil war and experienced it firsthand. [standalone mp3 file] [rss feed]

Sinica - Public Opinion with Chinese Characteristics

Mon, 18 Apr 2016 09:00:00 -0700

The immense popularity of social media has afforded China watchers a terrific window onto public opinion in China. In recent years, a slew of English-language websites have emerged to interpret the various trends and phenomena, discourse and debates on the Chinese Internet for non-Chinese audiences, but for our money, the very best of the bunch is ChublicOpinion.com — public opinion with Chinese characteristics — written by Ma Tianjie. A graduate of Peking University who now works for China Dialogue, Ma Tianjie offers penetrating insight and analysis written with great flare. He joins Kaiser, Jeremy, and Ada Shen in the studio for a wide-ranging discussion that reveals the mysterious origins of "diaosi" culture and looks at some of the controversies and conversations that have dominated Weibo and WeChat in recent months. [standalone mp3 file] [rss feed]

Sinica - Everything Old is New Again

Sun, 13 Mar 2016 09:20:09 -0700

Members of the Politburo are rarely praised for their dancing skills, but consider Xi Jinping's almost flawless execution of the political two-step: first casting himself as the voice of liberal moderation in the face of Bo Xilai's mass propaganda, and then draping himself in the mantle of Maoist China and the Communist Revolution once his position was secure. The changes are enough to prompt anyone to ask: how exactly did this happen and does it even make sense?

Today on Sinica we take a look at the political movement some academics are calling Neo-Maoists, the traditionally conservative politicians and Party members whose influence began eroding with market reforms in the 1980s but have arguably witnessed a comeback of sorts in the last two years. In conversation with Jude Blanchette, former Assistant Director of the 21st century China program at UCSD, now with the Conference Board, Kaiser and Jeremy take a look at the history of the movement, who the major players are today, and how it is playing out in the Chinese media. Also, we pick our favorite upcoming events from the Beijing Literary Festival. [standalone mp3 link] [sinica rss feed]

Sinica - Allegiance

Fri, 19 Feb 2016 09:00:00 -0800

Kaiser and Jeremy recorded today's show from New York, where they waylaid Holly Chang, founder of Project Pengyou and now Acting Executive Director of the Committee of 100 for a discussion on spying, stealing commercial spying, spying and broadway.

Yes, you read that right. After catching the Broadway musical Allegiance about the Japanese-American internment camps in WWII, we wanted to do a show discussing the experiences people of Chinese heritage have with racial profiling today, and particularly the experiences of the Chinese diaspora community in the United States. Give the show a listen and let us know what you feel in the comments section below! [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Sauced: American Cooking in China

Fri, 05 Feb 2016 09:00:00 -0800

Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined this week by Howie Southworth and Greg Matza, creators of the independent video series Sauced in Translation, a reality show that journeys into the wilder parts of China in search of local Chinese specialities that can be repurposed into classic American dishes. The show is a great concept, brilliantly executed, and we're delighted to have Howie and Greg here to share some behind-the-scenes stories and talk about how they got started mixing Chinese and American cuisine. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - The China Meltdown

Sat, 23 Jan 2016 09:00:00 -0800

With equity markets in freefall, housing prices skipping downwards, foreign reserves plummetting, and industrial production on a roadtrip back to the last decade, it's no surprise permabears like Gordan Chang are stocking up on popcorn to bask in what they see as the long-due collapse of the Chinese economy. It all raises the question of how bad things are going to get, which leads to the question of how bad they are right now.

Joining Kaiser, Jeremy and David in the studio today to talk about the Chinese economy and its recent tailspin is none other than Tom Orlik, an economist at Bloomberg and author of the book Understanding China's Economic Indicators. Tom has years of experience writing about China and joins to share his thoughts on what parts of the economy are doing decently and where the real problems lie. We hope you love the show. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Air Pollution and Climate Change

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 12:43:01 -0800

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined by Deborah Seligsohn, former science counselor for the US Embassy in Beijing and currently a doctoral candidate at UCSD, where she studies environmental governance in China. With more than 20 years of China experience, Deborah is one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on the question of China's policy response to questions of air pollution and climate change, which is why we are delighted to have her on the show.

Like Sinica? Don't forget that you can subscribe to our iTunes podcast feed by using our custom RSS feed. And please feel free to download this show as a standalone mp3 file and share with anyone you think might also like hearing the show. Thanks!

Sinica - While We're Here: China Stories from a Writers' Colony

Fri, 18 Dec 2015 09:00:00 -0800

When Ernest Hemingway somewhat presciently referred to Paris as a movable feast ("wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you") he captured the feelings of many long-term China expats rather concisely. So why exactly does everyone like to compare life here to Paris in the 1920s? And if life is so romantic here, where are the writers in our midst and what are they producing anyway?

This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to host the editors of While We're Here: China Stories from a Writer's Colony, a compilation of short stories, poems and more lovingly assembled by Alec Ash and Tom Pellman of The Anthill. Join us to hear some selections and gossip unapologetically about the writers in question. And if you want to pick up the book, you can find it for your Kindle here on Amazon or drop by The Bookworm in Beijing for a physical copy. [standalone mp3 link]

Sinica - Out of Africa: the Swifts of Beijing

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 09:00:00 -0800

With amazing research now suggesting that Beijing swifts, the tiny creatures most residents pass by without noticing, are some of the most well-travelled birds on the planet, averaging an astonishing 124,000 miles of flight in their life, barely landing for years-on-end, and migrating as far as the southern tip of Africa. this week on Sinica hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn invited Terry Townshend, founder of the environmental education organization Eco-Action and author of Birding Beijing for an inside look at how the scientific community discovered these amazing facts, and then more generally for a discussion of how the changing urban landscape in Beijing is affecting the natural environment for these amazing creatures.

Sinica - Live at the Bookworm, Part II

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 09:00:00 -0800

This is the second part of our episode of Sinica recorded last month during a special live event at the Bookworm literary festival. In this show David Moser and Kaiser Kuo were joined by China-newcomer Jeremy Goldkorn, fresh off the plane from Nashville to field questions from our live Beijing audience. During this show we talk about what Beijing means to us and what we see happening in China going forward.If you're a long-time listener, be sure to check out this unusual episode—recorded in front of a live audience. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Live at the Bookworm, Part I

Fri, 13 Nov 2015 19:17:19 -0800

Our episode of Sinica this week was captured last month during a special live event at the Bookworm literary festival, where David Moser and Kaiser Kuo were joined by China-newcomer Jeremy Goldkorn, fresh off the plane from Nashville. During the show we talked about Beijing-lifers and how the city has changed during our time here. If you're a long-time listener, be sure to check out this unusual episode—recorded in front of a live audience. This is part one: the second half will follow [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Hope and Fear in the Age of Asia

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 09:00:00 -0700

The West has spent decades pleading with China to become a responsible stakeholder in the global community, but what happens now that China is starting to take a more proactive role internationally? In today's show, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to be joined by Dutch journalist Fokke Obbema (the de Volkskrant correspondent with a perfectly normal Dutch name), author of the recent book China and the West: Hope and Fear in the Age of Asia.

As always, if you'd like to download new episodes of Sinica automatically, subscribe to our show via iTunes using our custom RSS feed. The easiest way of doing this is to open iTunes, select the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu and copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box when prompted. Everyone is also welcome to download this show directly from Popup Chinese as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy and let us know what you think.

Sinica - Tu Youyou and the Nobel Prize

Wed, 21 Oct 2015 19:14:55 -0700

This week on Sinica, we are delighted to present a show on Tu Youyou, the Chinese scientist who recently shared a Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery of the anti-malaria compound artemisinin, thus making her the first citizen of the People's Republic of China to receive the Nobel Prize in the natural sciences. [standalone mp3 file]

Sinica - Edmund Backhouse in the Long View of History

Sat, 03 Oct 2015 14:14:09 -0700

Edmund Backhouse, the 20th century Sinologist, long-time Beijing resident, and occasional con-artist, is perhaps best known for his incendiary memoirs, which not only distorted Western understanding of Chinese history for more than 50 years, but also included what in retrospect can only be seen as patently fictitious stories of erotic encounters between the British Baronet and the Empress Dowager Cixi.

This week on Sinica, we are delighted to be joined by Derek Sandhaus of Earnshaw Books, who has recently produced an abridged edition of Backhouse's memoirs for the Hong Kong publishing house. As an expert on the facts and fictions of Edmund Backhouse, Derek joins us for a discussion of what is real and less-than-real in Backhouse's deathbed reminiscences, and what we can and should learn about Qing-era China from his memoirs. [standalone mp3 download]

Sinica - Hip Hop in China

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 10:13:01 -0700

Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined today by Jerry Chan and Matt Sheehan for a look at hip-hop in China. Both guests should be familiar to long-time listeners in Beijing. Jerry has been involved with the local music scene for over a decade and now works as marketing director for True Run Media. Matt Sheehan is the Beijing correspondent for the Huffington Post and has recently written on rap in China as well. [standalone mp3 download]