Knowing your audience. Multinational branding. The ideal brand-customer relationship. Creating tangible, transformative results through trust and understanding each others needs. Gumpian journeys and near-death experiences as deep-game changers. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and harnessing the energy of facing your fears. The importance of contingencies in long-term planning, and how if you think you’re still in the same business today that you were two months ago, you’re likely in trouble. Veteran music businessman JOSH LEVINE of the “Rebel Radio” podcast and I get into all of this and more.    Episode Permalink: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/josh-levine-entertainment-brands-and-creatives AMP Music Summit (online, May 6): https://ampmusicsummit.com Josh’s "Rebel Radio” Podcast: https://www.rebelradio.net Mark Levine (Josh’s dad) interview: http://howchinaworks.libsyn.com/mark-levine-a-true-friend-of-china

RONALD PAREDES designed the logo of the podcast you’re listening to, but that’s only a tiny hint of what he’s all about. On our first talk (linked below) we talked about his background in Venezuela and his initial move to China when things went south in his home country. Today we discuss his experiences lately in Nantong, China as a father, husband, freelancer artist and designer, and socially aware human. Ronald cares deeply about women’s rights, homeless or otherwise displaced people, the overnight bricking up of the back road out of his town, rising nationalism and racism, the lack of acceptance and growing outright resentment he receives from less-educated people in his relatively rural home, and his feeling of being rootless and floating as he enters middle life. It’s a moving, candid, and powerful share by Ronald, and I’m honored to bring it to you.    Ronald Paredes online: https://mundosanto.art "Creativity Roots” latest episode: https://creativityroots.com/2020/04/22/change-happens-within/ “The Daily" April 20th episode: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/podcasts/the-daily/coronavirus-how-long-lockdowns.html Ronald Paredes 2017s interview: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com/022-the-war-of-art-ronald-paredes

In the last week I’ve been a guest on THREE shows I love, so instead of releasing new interviews of my own, I wanted to take a break and acknowledge / share the shows that folks were nice enough to invite me on. Special THANKS to all involved with making the Grey Space Podcast, The Cinematography Podcast, and the CinemATL Podcast. Links below to check them all out!    Grey Space Podcast: https://youtu.be/VSKCGHftiX8 CinemATL Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/ycyuhxan The Cinematography Podcast: http://camnoir.com/podcast/ep71/

My guests this week are JOHN PETERSON and CHRIS SANDERS. John is a friend from all the way back in high school, and Chris has been a great friend and business / creative collaborator in LA for over 15 years. They are on two opposite sides of the country and dealing with the pandemic response in their own ways, and each talk adds an interesting perspective to the mix. Chris is also this week’s long-form interview guest on “If I Knew You Better”, linked below.    CHRIS SANDERS on “If I Knew You Better” - Permalink: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/chris-sanders-austin-hollywood-and-masonry

This week my monthly freeform check-in show with KEVIN GEIGER - a little ditty that we call the “Fretful Laowai Radio Hour” - moves BACK to it’s original home, “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom”! Kevin and I discuss the latest and not always greatest news in our respective worlds as we stay at home away from home. Please SHARE-RATE-SUBSCRIBE and most of all, be safe!   DHL China PPE shipping deal (in Chinese): https://marketing.5idhl.com/overseasstudent2020/?tracking=&from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0   Kevin Geiger AWN article: https://www.awn.com/blog/new-normal   Kevin Geiger on “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom”: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com/size/5/?search=geiger   Kevin Geiger on “If I Knew You Better”: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/size/5/?search=geiger

STAR BURLEIGH, BRIAN ENGELMAN, JONO KENYON | Pandemic Perspectives from Los Angeles, Louisville, and Auckland   Star is a fashion stylist and designer based in Los Angeles but whose work is around the world. Brian is a media entrepreneur who left LA to move to Louisville, Kentucky. Jono is a British actor back home n Auckland, New Zealand whose vacant ROOM in LA I’m staying in as we wait out the next chapter in the pandemic drama. Listen and hear how three people are having very different responses to this unique time. NOTE that these conversations were all recorded at various points LAST week relative to the release date. The differences between now and then are stark.    STAR BURLEIGH online: http://www.starburleigh.com BRIAN ENGELMAN online: http://www.thenewamericanmedia.com JONO KENYON on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5645314/

Welcome to the rebooted podcast! For the time being, I’ll be doing special episodes talking to all sorts of people, in and out of China, about their response to the pandemic and the impact it’s having on them. This week we hear from Jeff Marder and Susie Qin. Jeff is a musician in NYC with strong ties to China, and Susie is a resident of Beijing who shares her experiences both with COVID-19 as well as SARS v1.0, which she lived through as a high school student - two great short chats back-to-back. Please enjoy, be safe, and tune in next week for more!   Previous long-form “BFMK” interviews: Jeff Marder: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com/077-broadway-music-freemasonry-martial-arts-more-jeff-marder Susie Qin: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com/089-susie-qin-from-erdos-to-beijing-places-in-between   Brendan Davis online: Twitter: @VeritasInLux Web contact: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/contact-us

In this week's episode - cross-posted on both "If I Knew You Better" and "Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom"! - I discuss the BFMK reboot, a new layer for KNEW, the great new episode of “How China Works” done by my partner Yingying Li, and much more. KNEW is adding a feature that I think of as “Marc Maron hosts The Daily”, while the revived BFMK will take my solo China-centric chats in a new direction. Please check them all out via the links below, SUBSCRIBE and SHARE if you enjoy, and stay safe and sane while we head into the next exciting chapter of global humanity.    Show libraries: “If I Knew You Better”: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com  “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom”: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com “How China Works”: http://howchinaworks.libsyn.com