Wo Men Podcast

To many readers of English-language media, "news assistant" is an unfamiliar term. Yet the people operating in this role are often integral to many overseas outlets' coverage of China. Also sometimes referred to as "news researchers," they are Chinese citizens working as journalists for foreign media who often do far more than mere research and yet are rarely credited for their work.

News assistants' responsibilities can include research, looking for interviewees, arranging interviews, translating, and some "researchers" even interview and write the stories independently — but with no byline.

The Chinese government has rules prohibiting Chinese nationals from being full-time journalists for foreign media publications, but over the past few decades, many Chinese writers and reporters have managed to take advantage of a loosening system or regulatory oversights to grow into experienced journalists and hugely talented — and hugely important — storytellers.

As China continues to recover from the Covid-19 crisis, some experts expected to see a strong consumption rebound in recent weeks. However, it didn't happen. Instead, the amount of saving in the first quarter of 2020 surged in China. Many Chinese, including the post-'90 and post-'00 generations who are used to living paycheck to paycheck, have started to save money. Seemingly, the global pandemic has changed many families' and individuals' consumption habits and lifestyles — at least in the short term.

For this episode of the Wǒ Men Podcast, our three co-hosts share their different views on consumption and money-saving and how Covid-19 has changed their outlook when it comes to personal finances.

While the world is suffering from the global pandemic of novel coronavirus Covid-19, Jingjing talks to Donna, a Chinese student studying in the UK. In this episode, Donna shares her perspectives on life under lockdown overseas, including how she ended up getting military food and her experience with racism in the UK.

When her hometown went into lockdown, Yuli Wang decided to help send messages of hope and support from around the world to Wuhan citizens.

Yuli Yang, a journalist born and raised in Wuhan, shared with us her #GoWuhan social media campaign launched right after the Covid-19 outbreak began making international headlines.

She and a group of volunteers translated kind and encouraging Twitter and Facebook messages sent from all over the world to the people of Wuhan and published them on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. This campaign aimed to boost the spirits of the people living in the epicenter of the disease and has received more than 3.3 million views on Weibo.

She also shared her views on why she feels that Chinese people are much more tolerant and comply with extreme measures employed by the Chinese government compared with other countries.

This interview was conducted one week before the podcast was released. Just this past week, many things have changed. The number of infections from the novel coronavirus Covid-19 has significantly increased in Europe and in North America, and many countries have started to employ lockdown measures as well.

As China continues to deal with novel coronavirus Covid-19, it's clear that this crisis wasn't only a test of China's governance and public health system. It was also a challenge to the resilience of many businesses in the country, particularly small and medium enterprises. What are the biggest challenges they are facing and what kind of measures can be taken to keep them in business?

For this episode, we talked to Benjamin Devos, the owner and CEO of the first French bakery in Beijing, Comptoirs de France Bakery. He shared with us the perilous challenges his business is now facing and some of the tough decisions he has had to make after 15 years of running a business in China.

A small community in Beijing has launched a crowdsourcing campaign to support the Comptoirs de France Bakery and the local business it represents. If you want to contribute, please hit that link for more details.

The novel coronavirus Covid-19 has taken hundreds of lives and caused disruption and psychological damage throughout China and — increasingly — across the world.

With millions still under lockdown and self-imposed quarantine within China, and many Chinese unable to return home at an important time of year due to travel restrictions, Wǒ Men hosts Jingjing, Yajun, and Karoline discuss their personal experiences and perspectives of life during the virus.

Last week, before the break out of the coronavirus, much of the world's attention focused on Davos, a little European ski resort town in Switzerland where this year the World Economic Forum celebrated its 50 year anniversary and welcomed more than 3,000 political, business and other leaders.

Jingjing and Yajun, the two co-hosts of Wǒ Men Podcast, met up there and shared their experiences and highlights at the summit from both a participant and organizer's perspective, respectively.

Podcast hosts Yajun Zhang and Jingjing Zhang come together at the start of 2020 to discuss their hopes, aspirations, and resolutions for the New Year.

This year more than 220,000 Chinese people sent online endorsements of gay marriage to China's top legislative body, arguing for a same-sex marriage amendment to be made to China's marriage laws.

For the system to change in China, the LGBTQ+ community needs allies. Olivia Wang explains to us how she takes action to support the LGBTQ community by attempting to influence both China's legal system and the people around her.

China dominates global headlines right now — and few of those headlines are positive. But is fear of the country justified? How to separate the people, the government, and the Party? And what impact is the breakdown in dialogue between China and the English-speaking world having on Chinese living and travelling abroad? Hosts Jingjing, Karoline, and Yajun share their perspectives from around the world.