Episode 17 of the NüVoices Podcast is here! This week, Alice Xin Liu is joined by co-host Zhāng Líjīa 张丽佳. The two interviewed Zōu Shuǎng 邹爽, a director and playwright. As of 2018, she was made the artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival, following in the footsteps of legendary conductor Maestro Yú Lóng 余隆. She was recently nominated at the 2019 International Opera Awards in London in the Newcomer category for her work as a director. Coming from a musical household, Shuǎng had always been interested in performance art. The three dive into her past - first as a student in London, and her introduction to the world of opera as a director’s assistant. After returning to Beijing, she tried her hand at the formidable task of adapting European works of musical theater for Chinese audiences, the younger crowd in particular. Nowadays, she spends divides her time between the U.K. and China, working across different mediums, genres and cultures. In the self-care and recommendations section, Alice recommends the band “New Pants”, or xīn kùzi 新裤子 and their song I Love You, Wǒ Aì Nǐ 我爱你. Líjīa recommends City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death, and the Search for Truth in Tehran by Ramita Navai. To end this episode, Shuǎng recommends Miracles of Life by J.G. Ballard and the album Sleep by Max Richter.

This podcast was edited and produced by Jason MacRonald.

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In episode 15 of the NüVoices Podcast, co-host Alice Xin Liu interviews the co-founder and lead singer of Xiao Wang 小王, Anlin Fan. Since she started the band with her best friend, Yuyang, just a few years ago, Xiao Wang has become a staple of the Chinese rock and punk scene. When Anlin isn’t tearing up the stage, she spends her time finishing her master’s degree at McGill University. Here, she discusses growing up in China, the Riot Grrrl movement, tips on starting a rock band, her work with Rock Camp for Girls in Montreal, and her take on feminism and intersectionality. This episode also samples Xiao Wang’s new demo, “Sonic Baby,” and provides new recommendations for self-care.

This podcast was edited and produced by Jason MacRonald.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recorded live at the Beijing Bookworm Literary Festival, this week’s episode of the NüVoices podcast features a discussion with two prominent science fiction authors, Tang Fei and Ji Shaoting. The episode was recorded as part of a series of five live SupChina events at this year’s festival. Tang Fei and Ji Shaoting are both titans in the Chinese science fiction world. Tang Fei is a speculative fiction writer and a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Her story "Call Girl," which was translated by Ken Liu, appeared in Apex Magazine and was reprinted in Rich Horton's The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2014. In addition, she has authored several novels published in Chinese. Ji Shaoting, a former Xinhua journalist, is the founder and CEO of Future Affairs Administration, a professional cultural brand in China that helps aspiring science-fiction writers develop and produce their work. She is also the co-founder of guokr.com, a popular science explainer. Together with NüVoices co-host Alice Xin Liu, Tang Fei and Ji Shaoting explore the various challenges facing female Chinese science fiction writers, including widespread gender discrimination and expanding the market for Chinese science fiction works.

This podcast was edited and produced by Jason MacRonald.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In episode 13 of the NüVoices podcast, co-hosts Alice Xin Liu and Sophie Lu interview Cate Cadell, a tech writer for Reuters who is based in Beijing. Cate covers Chinese tech companies with a focus on cybersecurity, AI, surveillance, censorship, and ethics issues. This episode focuses on the troubled relationship between the Chinese government, technology, and ethics. In particular, spurred by recent, disturbing news of a leaked Chinese government database that gathered data on women’s “breeding” status, the discussion focuses on how the state’s tech practices have impacted women in China. Next, co-hosts lead Cate in a round of Sophie's favorite game, "Pick your Dystopian Future,” in which players must choose their preferred dystopian scenarios. In this edition, the discussants consider which worlds are worse: One where CRISPR humans eat non-CRISPRs? Or one without memory, where people — like women — can be erased from history? The game ends with a reflection on what would happen to humans without gender and death. This episode also features Sophie’s “exit interview” as she prepares to depart Beijing for Australia. In the final segment, on recommendations and self-care, Alice recommends Leon Legothetis and The Kindness Diaries. Sophie suggests rewatching Mad Men to see men go through their own “Lean In” moment in the 1960s–1970s, with disastrous results. In closing, Cate recommends a new documentary called People’s Republic of Desire, which looks at the fascinating world of live streaming in China. For a deeper dive, check out these articles: - Discrimination against women in tech (by Cate Cadell) - Sex dolls in China (by Joanna Chiu) - Social credit system (by Mara Hvistendahl) - How automation will replace female labor (by Sarah Holder) - CRISPR babies (by Christina Larson)

This podcast was edited and produced by Jason MacRonald.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the 12th episode of the NüVoices podcast, Alice Xin Liu and Sophie Lu interview Shuilam Wong, who goes by Shui, a comic artist who partnered with Jinna Kaneko to create the Hole in the Wall Collective with Jinna Kaneko. The two high school friends met back up in the city and decided to create their own indie zines (self-published magazines). We talked to Shui about being born in Tokyo and raised in Beijing and London (where she went to Camberwell College of Arts, and where she feels like she belongs to no particular place). We also discussed her artwork, which utilizes broad brushstrokes and a free-form sketch style to depict scenes inspired by a variety of characters in everyday life. Shui notes that her style is partially inspired by Old Master Q (老夫子), a classic Chinese comic. For recommendations, Alice recommends Sexy Beijing (www.sexybeijing.tv), and especially its star and producer, Anna Sophie Loewenberg, a precursor to all the badass females in her life. Sexy Beijing was a project that Loewenberg created with Jeremy Goldkorn and Luke Mines. Sophie recommends Woman World, a graphic novel published by Drawn & Quarterly and based on an Instagram comic about a world without men. Our guest, Shui, recommends yoga and a très noir French Pinocchio comic book by Winshluss.

This podcast was edited and produced by Jason MacRonald.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the first episode of the second season of the NüVoices podcast, Alice Xin Liu and Sophie Lu are joined by Alex Li, senior editor at Vice China. Alex has a Ph.D. in gender and sexuality studies and a master’s degree in psychology. She is also the host of the gender and sexuality channel Biede Girls for Vice China. Alice was previously a guest on her podcast, Biede Girls Podcast, to talk about her bicultural background. Alice, Sophie, and Alex talk about the meaning of "queer," bisexuality, Vice China, Chris Lee (Lǐ Yǔchūn 李宇春) and Tilda Swinton, and representations of queer, bisexual, and gay figures in the media. Alex has written for Vice on Chinese female filmmakers. In the self-care and recommendations section, Alex recommends saying no to social requests, and reading fan fiction that has themes of “shipping,” which refers to when characters are paired up in relationships that did not exist in the original work. Sophie recommends In the Turn, a documentary about a transgender girl discovering herself through roller derby. Alice recommends New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton, especially Sue Monk Kidd's introduction, as well as Janelle Monáe's fabulous bisexual performance at the Grammys and her feminist, queer album titled Dirty Computer.

This podcast was edited and produced by Jason MacRonald.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.