ChinaTalk

Mister Softee, the famed northeastern American ice cream brand, in Suzhou, China? Yes, that was a thing. Turner Sparks, rising from humble beginnings as just another English teacher making his way in the world, achieved fame and fortune thanks to a catchy jingle and some tasty mango-flavored soft serve. Yet his vision of China-wide ice cream domination dissolved amid a deluge of backstabbing regulators, slashed tires, and stolen cones. Listen here to learn about the circumstances that finally melted Turner’s ice cream dream.

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In 1927, Mao wrote that "In a very short time...several hundred million peasants will rise like a mighty storm, like a hurricane, a force so swift and violent that no power, however great, will be able to hold it back." During the 40s and 50s, he was able to realize this vision to disastrous effect. On this show, Tulane Professor Brian DeMare joins the show to discuss the history and legacy of the land reform movement, including forays into the role of Xi's father and William Hinton's Fanshen.

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Intro Music: 没有共产党没有新中国

Outtro Music: 听妈妈讲过去的故事

(hip hop felt out of place this week...not to worry we'll be back with more in the next episode)

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Tanner Greer of the blog Scholarstage joins the show in a wide-ranging discussion touching on Xi's ideology, incentives in western China-watching, Mormons in China, why it's worth studying classical Chinese history, and AI-assisted writing. 

ChinaTalk has hit its 100th episode! That's two and a half full workweeks of informed, respectful, and hopefully entertaining conversation on everything China. As the media industry has cratered, spaces for intelligent and open discussion on China that live outside of paywalls basically don't exist anymore. Since COVID has locked me out of China and forced me to move to the US, my living expenses have gone up, and spending dozens of hours on this podcast is looking increasingly unsustainable. Right now, I make less than $5 an hour producing this show. If you'd like to see ChinaTalk continue to come out weekly,

Please consider supporting me at glow.fm/chinatalk

I'm also thinking about launching some member rewards, like live zoom, tapings of episodes where audience members can ask questions as well as a book club. Thanks so much!

Outtro music: 功夫胖 KUNGFUPEN 🔥🔥🔥 热得冒烟

Jordan

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How do you even go about answering that question? Is there a consensus in Washington on how to confront China and does that consensus make any sense? Ali Wyne and Jessica Chen Weiss come on to discuss. 

Currently, I make $4/hr from donations adding up all the time it takes to prep, record, and edit the show. This is the 99th episode of ChinaTalk. If you'd like to see the show continue production at the same frequency of one episode per week, please consider donating to support ChinaTalk at https://glow.fm/chinatalk.

Intro music: Oddisee - Skipping Rocks

Outtro music, what mumble rap sounds like in Mandarin in 2020: JelloRio 李佳隆 ：还没离开

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Lingling Wei and Bob Davis of the WSJ discuss their new book Superpower Showdown. We dive deep into the personal dynamics within the Xi and Trump administrations as well as what the twists and turns over the past few years reveal about the US-China relationship.

Please consider supporting ChinaTalk. This show took me 10 hours of reading, 2 hours of script-writing, an hour of recording, and four hours of editing. Right now, I receive $50 in donations per episode, meaning my work on this podcast earns me $3/hr. I'm coming up on my 100th episode and of late have been reflecting on how much time I'm spending on something that brings in so little financially. If you have the means and would like to put ChinaTalk on more stable footing, do consider showing your support. 

Donate at https://glow.fm/chinatalk/

Intro music: Madlib, Distant Land

Outtro music: Senior PRC official Liao Min recording back in the early 1990s during his days as a PKU grad student, 流动的青春

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Should the US ban TikTok? What role does open source play in the tech ecosystem and the Chinese government's plans for self-reliance? Why does tech occupy such a unique role in the US-China tech cold war? And what can Kanye teach us about foreign policy?

Today's guest is Kevin Xu, author of the interconnected newsletter.

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Intro Music: Kanye's Runaway. 

Exit Music: 2019 New Blood DBC Cypher. 

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Eddie Fishman, who worked in Obama's State Department's Policy Planning Staff, joins to discuss his recent articles on sanctions and the world order. 

If you know of any job opportunities (or just wanna say hi!) do reach out. I'm at [email protected] or @jordanschnyc on twitter.

And as always, the newsletter and Patreon! 

Intro music: 一丢丢 by AR

Outtro music: selection from the 说唱听我的 cypher

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How can China be so corrupt and yet grow so fast? What's the relationship between corruption and competent governance? How does 'access money' at the higher levels differ from the 'profit-sharing' you see lower down in the bureaucracy? How does China in the 21st century compare with America's gilded age? And why won't anyone give me dinosaur eggs?

To discuss, Prof. Yuen Yuen Ang joins the show to talk about her fantastic new book, China's Gilded Age.

Please subscribe to my Patreon! Or better yet, a full-time job offer as your humble host is very much unemployed! Patreon will suffice though.

The incredible propaganda rap song feat. Xi Jinping here. 

And the best Chinese tv show of the decade.

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This week Trump banned valid H1B holders from entering the country. What are the broader implications for America's technological ecosystem and national security? To discuss, Tina Huang and Remco Zwetsloot from CSET talk about their recent research on tech and immigration. We discuss the potential lasting impacts of the, for now, temporary ban, how the US immigration process compares to other nations' policies, what China is doing to bolster their homegrown talent as well as the threat of corporate espionage. 

Please consider donating to the ChinaTalk Patreon. 

Here is the paper I mentioned on corporate espionage. See here for the CSET research discussed.

Intro Music: 胜利就在前方了 by KaKa.

Outtro Music: Hamilton Mixtape, Immigrants, We Get the Job Done

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On June 15th, dozens of soldiers died in clashes on the China-India border. What exactly happened up in the Himalayas? What's the historical background? What does this mean for the trajectory of China-India and US-India relations? 

We also get into development policy, water rights, and some improv featuring terrible Trump and Modi accents (I didn't even try when doing Xi). 

Thanks to Akhil Bery and Sasha Riser Kositsky for coming on the show. Please consider donating to the ChinaTalk Patreon. 

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