One in a Billion

If you have spent a good chunk of your life studying and working like a robot, how would you know to wake up one day, and say "I am not a robot!" That's Kou Aizhe's story.

A former librarian and TV journalist, he was inspired by "This American Life" podcast to create his own show "Gushi FM." The idea is to give voice to real people with real-life experiences and struggles. It's now one of the most popular podcasts in China since it was launched in 2017, reaching 600,000 listeners and counting.

"Leaving a robotic life to create my own show" is about his thinking at various turning points and crossroads.

This interview will be in Mandarin Chinese.

View Chinese (中文) and English Transcript Click here:

Music credits (sourced from freemusicarchive.org): Tech Toys by Lee Rosevere What's Behind the Door by Lee Rosevere Sad Marimba Planet by Lee Rosevere Wilsons Snipe by Chad Crouch You're Enough by Lee Rosevere Wonder Under by Glad Rags

We want to include you in this conversation.

To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under "Pitch a Story."

Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story?

"One in a Billion" is listening to #China, one person at a time.

Subscribe to "One in a Billion" below:

PRx | iTunes | SoundCloud

Part 3 of a Special Summer Series from Shanghai: In Context with Anita Xu: "How can this be...the rest of my life!?"

If you'd invested almost your entire adult life training to be a professional landscape designer, you'd landed at your dream job. But a few years later, you looked around your workplace and you discovered something that would forever change your idea of what is a good life or what is a good career.

What would you do?

That's what happened to Lu Xiaoya (卢小雅) 3 years ago, when she was 27 years old.

In this Episode 3 "How can this be... the rest of my life !?" Anita talks with Lu about that life-changing moment, and what she did next.

Lu will tell her story in Mandarin Chinese.

View Chinese (中文) and English Transcript Click here.

Music credits (sourced from freemusicarchive.org): Whats Behind the Door by Lee Rosevere Curiousity by Lee Rosevere Sad Marimba Planet by Lee Rosevere As I Was Saying by Lee Rosevere I Was Waiting for Him by Lee Rosevere Curiousity by Lee Rosevere Wonder Under by Glad Rags

We want to include you in this conversation.

To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under "Pitch a Story."

Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story?

"One in a Billion" is listening to #China, one person at a time.

Subscribe to "One in a Billion" below:

PRx | iTunes | SoundCloud

Part 2 of A Special Summer Series from Shanghai: In Context with Anita Xu.

Can you imagine your life's mission is to meet the expectations of your parents?

Ever since she was a little girl, Carol pushed herself, moving to a big city from a small town, working her way up and up to satisfy her parents. Now, at age 33, Carol's lost. Her parents have changed their minds. They ask her to slow down, but it's too late! Why? Take a listen.

In this Episode 2 "Why Work So Hard?," our contributing podcaster Anita Xu talks with a close friend Carol Luo about her dilemma.

This interview will be in Mandarin Chinese. View Chinese (中文) and English Transcript Click here.

Music credits (sourced from freemusicarchive.org & purple-planet.com): Snipe by Chad Crouch's Wilson Fearless by Purple Planet Music Yorgan by Circus Marcus Easy Life by Lee Rosevere Quizitive by Lee Rosevere Wonder Under by Glad Rags

We want to include you in this conversation.

To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under "Pitch a Story."

Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story?

"One in a Billion" is listening to #China, one person at a time.

Subscribe to "One in a Billion" below:

PRx | iTunes | SoundCloud

Season 4 kicks off with a Summer Special Series from Shanghai: In Context with Anita Xu- "Why Risk It?"

It's an intimate conversation between digital marketing professional Anita Xu and her college buddy Xu He. Xu He chose to become an entrepreneur after feeling unfulfilled in his first few jobs after graduating from a top journalism university in Shanghai. Anita, our contributing podcaster, is puzzled. She saw him as a rising star in the journalism world, and she wonders -why risk it?

This interview will be in Mandarin Chinese. You can read an English transcript or check out our website at www.oneinabillionvoices.org.

Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Quizitive by Lee Rosevere Tech Toys by Lee Rosevere Whats Behind the Door by Lee Rosevere Theme from Penguins on Parade by Lee Rosevere And So Then by Lee Rosevere Wonder Under by Glad Rags

What makes people in China laugh? Why would they spend time and money to go to a stand-up act by an American comedian in Beijing? And, who is he?

This is story about an American scholar turned comedian who dedicates his life to bringing Chinese and Americans together through humor and laughter.

Music Used: Brad McCarthy's One in a Billion Theme Song

What is love about? Can you show gratitude without spending or giving money?

Can you show care without sacrificing your passion?

To truly show gratitude, must you also sacrifice?

With these questions in mind, I interviewed Jinzhao (JZ) Wang, a 28 year old Chinese American a few months ago.

JZ told me she can't fully enjoy what gives her pleasure without also feeling guilty. Why? What is her guilty pleasure?

What makes it wrong?

Music Used:

One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy

Mountain Monk C By Lobo Loco

Space (Full) by Andy G. Cohen

You Um, I'll Ah by Doctor Turtle

I'll Be Seeing You by Sammy Fain (Sung by JZ Wang)

Are you the person you or your parents want to be?

Is your personal dream inseparable from your parents? Can it be? Should it be?

That is Angela's agony.

How does she navigate around a set of cultural expectations to create her own path?

Check out my interview with Angela Tang, a rising senior at Williams College, in Episode #3 "This Chinese Life: Whose Life is This Anyway."

We want to include you in this conversation.

To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under "Pitch a Story."

Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story?

"One in a Billion" is listening to #China, one person at a time.

Subscribe to "One in a Billion" below:

PRx | iTunes | SoundCloud

Music used:

Brad McCarthy's One in a Billion Theme Song Andy G. Cohen's A Perceptible Shift Jesse Spillane's Number 0 Josh Woodward's Under the Stairs Instrumental Jahzzar's No-End Ave

What does it mean to be Chinese? 415 million Chinese millennials in China wrestle with crushing pressure to live up to a cultural identity and societal ideal.

What are they? How do they cope? What are their biggest fears?

Check out Part 2 of my interview with author/public speaker Zak Dychtwald "This Chinese Life: What does it mean to be Chinese?"

Music used: Brad McCarthy's "One in a Billion Theme" Jason Shaw's "Acoustic Meditation" Doctor Turtle's "Wherever I Lay My Hat, That's My Wife" Andy G. Cohen's "Space (Full)"

He grew up in a predominantly white suburban town in California.

His parents would take him travelling around the world for work since he was a child.

Then one day, he stumbled upon a movie - "Enter the Dragon" (starring Bruce Lee) that would strike his fancy about another world - China.

That's where Zak Dychtwald decided to go right after he graduated from Columbia University six years ago. Without a word of Chinese or a drop of Chinese blood, he went in search of himself.

Why China?

Check out my interview with Zak in a 2-part series "This Chinese Life: As a 28 year old white American in China" (Part 2 will be released 9/18).

Currently, Zak Dychtwald is author of "Young China - how the restless generation will change their country and the world."

He is CEO/Founder of "Young China Group" - a think tank offering educational and cultural insight about millennials in China and America. He splits his time between New York and Chengdu.

Music and Audio Credits: Brad McCarthy's "One in a Billion Theme" Andy G. Cohen's Oxygen Mask Philipp Weigl's "Even When We Fall" Jahzzar's "Playtime" Chris Zabriskie's "Your Mother's Daughter" Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" John Boswell's "Bruce Lee Remix- Be Water My Friend"

An unexamined life is not worth living.

What leads one to examine one's life?

A surprise setback? An unforgettable encounter? An ongoing desire?

All of these experiences tend to re-emerge or surge in our memory as we look back on 2017.

In this last episode of Season 2 "Reflections on 2017: What's Weighing on My Mind," we listen to three compelling stories from Maggie Shi, Joel Tsui and Justine Yan. Each embodies a personal awakening during one's reckoning with the past, present and future.

I hope you'll find them helpful to your own thinking about this year as we count down to 2018.

Listen to our latest podcast episode "Reflections on 2017."

We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under "Pitch a Story."

Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story?

"One in a Billion" is listening to #China, one person at a time.

Subscribe to "One in a Billion" below: PRx | iTunes | SoundCloud

Music used:

Dave O'Brien's Busy Bees Doctor Turtle's Which That is This Arne Bang Huseby's Stormy Blues Lobo Loco's Mountain Monk Chan Wai Fat's Dream Instrumental Dengue Fever's One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula Live Jason Shaw's Landra's Dream Live music in Kasghar, Courtesy of Justine Yan