This week, individuals from the Chinese government have been formally charged by the US Justice Department with espionage in three different cases. We dive into the implications of each one and what it means for the ongoing turbulence between the two countries.

To assist us in understanding the sheer insanity of the times we are now living in, we discuss the classic film The Manchurian Candidate (1962), staring Frank Sinatra, Lawrence Harvey, Janet Leigh, and the Academy Award-nominated Angela Lansbury. If you can get past both the casual and the overt racism, you'll find a taut political thriller that blends paranoid, dread, and comedy in a way wholly unique in American cinema at the time. 

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Sources:

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/24/doj-indicts-nearly-a-dozen-individuals-in-china-espionage-cases-00063176

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/press-release/file/1545641/download

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1546466/download

https://apnews.com/article/business-china-beijing-criminal-investigations-government-and-politics-4202d00da079550ed0dcb338e8903468

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3970-the-manchurian-candidate-dread-center

https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/22239

https://www.filmsite.org/manc.html

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-manchurian-candidate-1962