So our show this week isn't technically a call-in show given the lack of phones in our studio, but it is as close as we can get it, so thanks to everyone who sent us a pre-recorded question. We had a lot more responses than we expected, and the result is today's weird and wonderful mix of commentary on everything from Beijing's inner-city gang problems to Jeremy's predictably lame go-to KTV song. So if you're a regular Sinica listener, don't miss our show this week as Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn and Gady Epstein field the thorniest of questions from you, the listener. We had so much fun that we're planning on doing it again!

Enjoy Sinica? If you've been listening for a while, we're getting you know that you can always download the latest Sinica shows from Sinica RSS feed as well as individually from our site as standalone mp3 files like that one. But do you also know that in addition to following our stuff here, you can also keep yourself in the loop by joining our Sinica page on Facebook? Well now you do....
 said on
January 26, 2013
kaiser, how about getting 方舟子 on the show? he's a well known provocative character in Chinese society,he speak pretty good English and lives in Beijing. I'm sure there's a lot you guys can talk about.
 said on
January 26, 2013
@dvd Are you sure that Fang Zhouzi speaks good English? I would love to have him on if that's the case. I'd have to hunt up a contact for him... Next time he exposes some academic fraud I'll reach out to him!
 said on
January 26, 2013
RECOMMENDATIONS

Thomas Friedman Op/Ed Generator

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Open Letter to the New York Times Concerning Thomas Friedman

http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/22/an_open_letter_to_the_new_york_times_concerning_thomas_friedman

MENTIONS

三十岁前别结婚 (Do Not Marry Before Age 30) by Joy Chen

http://www.amazon.cn/30岁前别结婚/dp/B0083EJFX8

Provincial Poetry

http://kaiserkuo.typepad.com/ich_bin_ein_beijinger/2007/11/provincial-poet.html
 said on
January 26, 2013
well, 方舟子 got his masters degree from Michigan state and spent over a decade in the US. his 新语丝 was one of the earliest chinese language web site around. besides exposing academic fraud he also have a lot to say about the chinese web/society(he have millions followers on weibo) in general. and the juicy part, his Personal grudge with hanhan. :)
 said on
January 26, 2013
I'm halfway through the show. I thought I could contribute a little tie-in to both the question on high-school gangs and the question on minority regions.

The only area in China where I've heard of stories of high-school violence is in towns and cities in Xinjiang, where gangs of Han, min-kao-han Uyghur (Uyghur with Chinese-language education) and min-kao-min Uyghur (Uyghur with Uyghur-language education) are pitted against each other.

Several acquaintances have been involved in incidents; terrible beatings, perhaps sometimes to the point of death. I've never heard stories that are quite as gruesome as the person that called in to the show (cut-off hands...)

On another note, I think that aspects of the minority 'question' can constructively be discussed on the show. But perhaps one other reason why minority issues have not yet been discussed on Sinica is that you often focus on the PR and media aspect of issues in China, no doubt because that's your area of expertise. Am I wrong in thinking that?
 said on
January 26, 2013
Laurence Brahm lives in Tibet before, and speaks good Mandarin and English.
 said on
January 27, 2013
方舟子... Oh my God....

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
January 30, 2013
speaking of 方舟子, here's a new exposes on Ping Fu and her new book. lol.

傅苹声称在文革期间她作为黑帮孩子被关进劳改队关了十年,惨遭红卫兵轮奸。其实傅苹本人就是个红卫兵,有照片为证。就像我此前猜测的,傅苹在文革中相比其他小孩应该过得不错,所以一恢复高考就能考上大学。

http://t.sohu.com/user/index_nologin.jsp?uid=9651952

http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2013/01/29/2204690.html

 said on
February 1, 2013
I strongly support the idea of getting Fang Zhouzi on the show. His English will most certainly be better than that of Michael Anti -- seriously, if you consider Anti's English comprehensible, then basically everybody goes.

The problem is not that Sinica hasn't had Chinese guests -- it has; the problem is that all those guests are famous (or infamous) "Chinese liberals" from the "Universal Values" crowd, representing views that (a) are very uniform and repetitive among themselves, compared to the wide spectrum of political opinions out there, and (b) despite being doubtlessly significant, don't reflect the mindset of the "common people" in China -- let along the (official) "mainstream voices" (there are people who can talk articulately about the government's positions, but you won't find them within the government, I guess).

Of course, Fang Zhousi is even less of a "typical Chinese". The outstanding quality that makes him a great guest is that even those he is also a "liberal", he is not an ideologue -- an extremely rare quality among politically minded Chinese (no matter their alignment). He is a hyperrational character who has no problem tearing apart the illogical group-think of "common Chinese liberal thinking" the same way he blows away the absurdity of fenqings.

By the way, while Fang is most famous for his anti-fakery work, his main dedication is something more fundamental: the anti-scientific nature of the traditional Chinese culture and its disastrous consequence in modern Chinese society. That's a topic you can talk about anytime, without relying on the breakout of a scandal.
 said on
February 2, 2013
Apologies to everyone waiting for Sinica. We have the show recorded, but due to a number of technical problems (including a failed hard disc) are having to restore and re-edit from scratch, so will not have the show out today (Saturday).

We do expect to have Sinica out on Sunday evening Beijing-time.
 said on
April 5, 2013
@wgj

In respect to the traditional lack of skepticism within the traditional (redundant) portions of Chinese society, it would be awesome to hear from current Chinese skeptics and their hardships in promoting critical thinking. In the U.S. anti-scientism is fueld by religious precepts where as in China it appears to be imbeded in tradtion. Of course this may be a distinction without a difference.
Mark Lesson Studied