Maria Repnikova is a scholar of political communication in China and Russia. Originally from Latvia, she is an Associate Professor in Global Communication at Georgia State University. She is author of the books Chinese Soft Power and Media Politics in China: Improvising Power Under Authoritarianism, as well as many articles and papers on related topics.

Now, here we are in the U.S. where the Trump and Musk administration are pressuring and squeezing universities, law firms, and the media, and American news organization—not all but many—are bending the knee one by one to our new authoritarian government. I asked Maria what we can learn from China and Russia when it comes the mechanisms by which authoritarian regimes control and manipulate the news, and how critical journalism can survive in a newly hostile environment.

The Rhyming Chaos podcast is produced by Jeremy Goldkorn and edited by Cadre Scripts. The theme music is Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, arranged and performed by Wu Fei. Our cover art is by Li Yunfei.

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