NYT bestselling YA author Xiran Jay Zhao (@XiranJayZhao) joins me to talk about her new book, Iron Widow, a Pacific Rim meets Handmaiden's tale sci-fi retelling of the story of Wu Zetian. Co-hosting is ChinaTalk's editor Callan Quinn (@quinnishvili).

We discuss:

• Chinese history Easter eggs in Iron Widow
• Going viral and Youtube China content
• How censorship is stifling creativity in C-dramas
• Why Xiran thinks Confucius was an arsehole

Link to Iron Widow:

https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Widow-Xiran-Jay-Zhao/dp/0735269939

Rhodium' careers site: https://rhg.com/careers/

Outtro Music: Lexie Liu's Manta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fvUnPl5_BA

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

NYT bestselling YA author Xiran Jay Zhao (@XiranJayZhao) joins me to talk about her new book, Iron Widow, a Pacific Rim meets Handmaiden's tale sci-fi retelling of the story of Wu Zetian. Co-hosting is ChinaTalk's editor Callan Quinn (@quinnishvili).

We discuss:

Link to Iron Widow:

https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Widow-Xiran-Jay-Zhao/dp/0735269939

Rhodium' careers site: https://rhg.com/careers/

Outtro Music: Lexie Liu's Manta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fvUnPl5_BA

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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Is the treatment of China in Western public discourse inevitable? Yale Law School postdoc, particle physicist and essayist Yangyang Cheng (@yangyang_cheng) joins me alongside undergrad Alex Liang to talk about understanding the other, how the personal can be lost in the noise of geopolitical tension and science across borders.

We also discuss

• Power hierarchies and identities
• The “new red scare” and scrutiny on Chinese scientists
• The Large Hadron Collider as a
• Language as an instrument of state power

"Brain drain" and other phrases Yangyang doesn't like

Links to Yangyang’s articles:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-china-US.html

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/05/west-china-threat-real-place-domestic-agendas

https://thebulletin.org/premium/2020-12/the-edge-of-our-existence-a-particle-physicist-examines-the-architecture-of-society/

Outro music: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free by Nina Simone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inNBpizpZkE

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What's it like to live across the US-China scientific divide? Yale Law School postdoc, particle physicist and essayist Yangyang Cheng (@yangyang_cheng) joins me alongside undergrad Alex Liang to talk about understanding the other, how the personal can be lost in the noise of geopolitical tension and science across borders.

We also discuss

Please consider supporting ChinaTalk on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk

Links to Yangyang’s articles:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-china-US.html

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/05/west-china-threat-real-place-domestic-agendas

https://thebulletin.org/premium/2020-12/the-edge-of-our-existence-a-particle-physicist-examines-the-architecture-of-society/

Outro music: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free by Nina Simone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inNBpizpZkE

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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Dewey Murdick, director of CSET, discusses how the organization has brought a new level of rigor to hot topics ranging from chips to immigration and AI safety policy.

We also discuss:

Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk for an ad-free feed.

Outtro music that Dewey eventually got around to sending me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41U78QP8nBk Daisy Bell - the first computer to sing

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What happens when a new think tank gets tens of millions of dollars to address national security + tech questions? Magic (in the form of many many good reports)!

Dewey Murdick, director of CSET, discusses how the organization has brought a new level of rigor to hot topics ranging from chips to immigration and AI safety policy.

We also discuss:

• CSET's Map of Science and the fate of Google Scholar
• Being beholden to the checkbooks of funders
• Topics that make policymakers' eyes roll - but shouldn't
• The optimal employment conditions for growing temperate, nice, low-ego, tasty fruit

Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk for an ad-free feed.

Outtro music that Dewey eventually got around to sending me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41U78QP8nBk Daisy Bell - the first computer to sing

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Can eating your sons be morally justified? Stratagems of the Warring States is a collection of stories compiled during the Han dynasty about the many states that fought for control of all under heaven in the Warring States Period between the fifth and third centuries BC.

Featuring tales of hostages, statecraft, assassinations and throwing shade on princelings, in this special episode of ChinaTalk, voice actors Jacob Guenther and Chara Lin perform excerpts of Jennifer Dodgson's translation into English, while Dodgson herself discusses each piece.

Check out Jennifer's website hosting her translations here.

Performances include

Outtro music: Prince Qin Breaking Through the Enemy Array, traditional Tang-era music performed by Hubei Chime Bells Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvTul5_js_A&list=RDadcGeuTMmBA&index=8

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can eating your sons be morally justified? Stratagems of the Warring States is a collection of stories compiled during the Han dynasty about the many states that fought for control of all under heaven in the Warring States Period between the fifth and third centuries BC.

Featuring tales of hostages, statecraft, assassinations and throwing shade on princelings, in this special episode of ChinaTalk, voice actors Jacob Guenther and Chara Lin perform excerpts of Jennifer Dodgson's translation into English, while Dodgson herself discusses each piece.

Check out Jennifer's website hosting her translations here.

Performances include

• Qin recruits troops and advances on Zhou to demand the nine cauldrons
• East Zhou wishes to grow rice
• Gong Ta defects from West Zhou
• Zhang Yi runs out of money in Chu
• An attack on Zhongshan
• The Queen Dowager of Zhao takes over the running of state affairs

Outtro music: Prince Qin Breaking Through the Enemy Array, traditional Tang-era music performed by Hubei Chime Bells Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvTul5_js_A&list=RDadcGeuTMmBA&index=8

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What does the 6th Plenum communique tell us about where Xi wants to take China? What can you learn by reading the People’s Daily daily and writing a substack on it? And how would you design a course to learn how to read the CCP?

To discuss, Manoj Kewalramani (@theChinaDude) of the https://trackingpeoplesdaily.substack.com/ and https://manojkewalramani.substack.com/ newsletters, joins to discuss.

Outtro music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m1Uf1hbrxU

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What does the 6th Plenum communique tell us about where Xi wants to take China? What can you learn by reading the People’s Daily daily and writing a substack on it? And how would you design a course to learn how to read the CCP?

To discuss, Manoj Kewalramani (@theChinaDude) of the https://trackingpeoplesdaily.substack.com/ and https://manojkewalramani.substack.com/ newsletters, joins to discuss.

For an ad-free feed, please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk

Outtro music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m1Uf1hbrxU

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices