This is a live recording of the second session of Cosmopolitan Conversations, a recent symposium held in Shanghai at M on the Bund and sponsored by CET Academic Programs. All four conversations are hosted by UC Irvine Professor of History Jeffrey Wasserstrom, author of the new title China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know and the organizing force behind The China Beat, generally considered the best academic group blog on China today.

Our topic today is Making Sense of Shanghai's Changes. Joining Jeff for this discussion is Howard French, associate professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and former bureau chief for the Times in Shanghai. While you've doubtless run into Howard's writing before, you may not be aware that Howard has a growing reputation as a serious photographer as well, and has earned kudos especially for his Disappearing Shanghai series, a collection of photographs documenting the rapidly disappearing past in Shanghai.

Note as always that is a lengthy recording that clocks in at more than an hour and a half. If you don't plan to spend this long at your computer or want to grab the recording for later use, we encourage you to download this recording as a standalone MP3 file.