The Divide

Did you know that in China, there’s a quiet but determined group of people who, knowingly or not, record the events unfolding around them? In doing so, they’ve drawn the attention—and often the wrath—of a government determined to control how history is told.

In this episode, award-winning journalist and researcher Ian Johnson shares how he has been gathering these fragments of “unofficial history” into an online archive. He introduces us to the people behind these records—citizens, film makers, writers, and activists—and calls them what they are: underground historians.

As the U.S. 90-day tariff pause draws near, tensions are again rising in global trade. On Tuesday, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research reported that Taiwan’s manufacturing sector fell into contraction territory in May and that Taiwan Dollor . Does this have anything to do with the United States' trade policy? 

In this episode, political economist Greg Fuller unpacks US President Donald Trump's unpredictable tariff strategy, its ripple effects on global trade, and how smaller economies like Taiwan can weather the storm.

When we think of division, we often imagine differences in ideology, wealth, gender, or belief. These lines—whether drawn by politics, identity, religion, or even taste in food—can be hard to see, let alone measure.

In this episode, researcher Alex Kunz discusses his work using data visualization and mapping to explore the unique social and geographic divides within Taiwan—and how data can help us better understand the island’s complexities.

In Taiwan, nearly 5% of adolescents—roughly 54,000 students—experienced cyberbullying in the past year, with some facing such intense online abuse that it led to self-harm or suicide attempts. As internet use among teens grows more pervasive, so too does the emotional toll of life online, especially for young people from marginalized groups.

In this episode, we explore the human cost of a fragmented, unequal digital world. Host Iris speaks with Amanda Manyame from Equality Now and Mrinalini Dayal from the Alliance for Universal Digital Rights, who are fighting for stronger protections against tech-facilitated gender-based violence and calling for a universal digital rights framework that centers the voices of those most often silenced online. 

Did you know that Big Tech might know you better than you know yourself? Or that the AI tools designed to “serve” you may actually serve corporate interests instead? And that authoritarian regimes around the world are cutting off access to information through internet surveillance and digital censorship?

In this episode, we meet two people fighting for your rights in the digital realm—rights many don’t even realize they’re losing. Richard Whitt of the GliaNet Alliance is building a coalition of companies committed to putting users, not profits, at the center of AI development. And Jason from eQualitie shares how his team helps vulnerable communities in war zones and authoritarian states access uncensored information—and stay connected to the open internet.

On this 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre, the U.S. is moving to aggressively revoke Chinese student visas. What should a country do when its academic freedom is exploited by the Chinese Communist Party to advance its military capabilities?And 36 years after the bloody crackdown on students in Beijing, has the Chinese government successfully erased the memory and legacy of the June 4th protests?

In this episode, Chinese human rights advocate Yaqiu Wang reflects on the human cost of the broad student visa ban—and what it means to confront injustice in both China and the United States.

Last week, we heard from Michael Caster, head of the Global China Program at Article 19, who walked us through China’s legal architecture—from its Cybersecurity Law to the growing power of the Cyberspace Administration of China, or CAC—and how these institutions are being exported across the Indo-Pacific. We also discussed how Beijing’s approach is not just about controlling information but about shaping the global narrative on digital governance.

If you missed it, it’s definitely worth going back to hear how data localization, real-name registration, and the legal groundwork for internet shutdowns are being normalized under the guise of national security.

Today, we pick up where we left off—examining what these digital norms with “Chinese characteristics” look like in practice, and how countries in the region are responding.