Sinica Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Sinica Podcast turns 10 Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

For our 10th anniversary show, Kaiser and Jeremy recorded live on Zoom, shared some reminiscences, reflected on how China and the podcast have changed in the years since they started the show, and took questions from listeners who tuned in. A video version of the podcast is available here.

8:05: A bird’s-eye view of Western media coverage of China

26:52: The demise of area studies, and the rise of disciplines in China studies

36:59: How to keep up with current events in China

44:51: A discussion on xenophobia and nationalism in Chinese society

1:16:37: Can person-to-person diplomacy exist in an increasingly insular world

Recommendations:

Jeremy: An interview with Stephen King by Terry Gross on Fresh Air, Stephen King is sorry you feel like you’re stuck in a Stephen King novel, and an article on SupChina, My family survived the lockdown in Wuhan. Now it’s my turn, in New York, by Zeyi Yang.

Kaiser: Fearing for my mother in Wuhan, facing a new Sinophobia in the US, by Xiao Jiwei, and Shockwave, by Adam Tooze.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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

China's Venezuelan vicissitudes Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

In a show taped on March 2, before the full force of COVID-19 had hit the U.S., Kaiser and Jeremy chatted with Parsifal D'Sola Alvarado about China's strategy in the resource-rich but economically devastated Venezuela. Parsifal is a co-founder of the Andrés Bello China-Latin America Research Foundation and a foreign policy adviser to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

2:47: China-Venezuela relations before Hugo Chávez

11:29: Popular attitudes toward China under Chávez

30:27: Between Maduro and Guaidó, China is hedging its bets

40:40: Documenting Chinese interaction in Venezuela

45:02: Do policymakers understand China’s involvement in South America

Recommendations:

Jeremy: A list of healthcare and medical professionals on Twitter, dubbed “COVID-19 medical Twitter” by Jeremy.

Parsifal: A book in Spanish by Francisco Suniaga, El pasajero de Truman, and The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom, by Simon Winchester.

Kaiser: Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe.

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This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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

R.I.P. Liu Dehai, pipa virtuoso Apr 13, 2020

Show notes

Liú Déhǎi 刘德海, master of the pipa, a type of Chinese lute, died at the age of 83 on April 11, 2020.

Liu was born in Shanghai in 1937. He received his early music education there before the Communist victory in 1949, and went on to become one of the idealistic young musicians who tried to form a specifically Chinese orchestral tradition. He learned a number of traditional instruments but became famous for playing the pipa, as well as for arranging and composing for it. Among many other achievements, he went on to play with both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Liu’s most famous work is “Ambush From All Sides” (十面埋伏 shímiàn máifú), which is featured in this podcast. It’s an ancient tune, but he rearranged it into the intense version you hear on this podcast — perhaps the closest thing to heavy metal that China produced before the 1990s, but played by one man on one acoustic instrument.

In this Sinica Podcast Extra, Jeremy talks to classical composer and avant-garde guzheng performer Wu Fei about Liu, his legacy, and the amazing “Ambush From All Sides.” (Full disclosure: Fei is Jeremy’s wife.)

You can hear Ambush From All Sides on the podcast itself, but you might also want to look at Liu’s amazing technique in this Youtube video. The painting at Mogao Caves in Dunhuang mentioned in the podcast is Playing the pipa behind the head.

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Will China save the planet? A climatic conversation with NRDC's Barbara Finamore Apr 09, 2020

Show notes

In a show taped in late February, Kaiser chats with Barbara Finamore, senior attorney and senior strategic director, Asia, for the Natural Resources Defense Council, who shares her perspective on China's impressive progress in curbing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the price of renewable energy, and producing electric vehicles. Tune in for a rare bit of optimism in these tough times!

6:05: How much China has invested in renewable infrastructure

14:48: The impetus behind Chinese environmental reform

28:59: The unsung heroes of China’s environmental movement

35:44: How jobs in clean energy can help revitalize an economy

45:23: Zero-emissions vehicles, and what the U.S. can learn

Recommendations:

Barbara: Subscribing to the China Dialogue newsletter, for updates on environmental news in China.

Kaiser: The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, by Isabel Wilkerson.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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

Former U.S. ambassador Michael McFaul on democracy promotion in Russia and China Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

This week, we bring you another show from the California podcast series that Kaiser recorded back in December, before the ravages of COVID-19. Take a break from thinking about the virus to listen to Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, talk about why China requires a very different foreign policy approach than Russia.

4:31: Ideology and remnants of the Cold War

13:57: Promoting democratic values in Russia

22:22: Public diplomacy work in the 21st century

38:47: What to make of Chinese influence operations abroad

Recommendations:

Michael: The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, by Elizabeth Economy, Following the Leader, by David Lampton, and Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers, by Yan Xuetong.

Kaiser: Basin and Range, by John McPhee.

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This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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

Dexter Roberts on ‘The Myth of Chinese Capitalism’ Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

On this week's show, veteran reporter Dexter "Tiff" Roberts chats with Kaiser and Jeremy about his new book, The Myth of Chinese Capitalism: The Worker, the Factory, and the Future of the World.

6:28: What is the myth of Chinese capitalism?

20:17: Chinese migrant workers and their children

35:54: Labor conditions in China

40:28: Strikes, the CCP, and labor union overhaul

45:48: Taobao villages and the transformation of the Chinese countryside

Recommendations:

Jeremy: Videos for children in Chinese and English, coupled with improvised music by Wu Fei.

Dexter: From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society, by Fèi Xiàotōng 费孝通.

Kaiser: The first two books in the trilogy by Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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

Janet Yang and Michael Berry on the state of cinema in a time of souring U.S.-China ties Mar 19, 2020

Show notes

This week on Sinica, Kaiser continues his California series with a conversation with Janet Yang, one of the legends of the U.S.-China film world, and Michael Berry, a professor at UCLA and a leading expert on Chinese cinema. They discuss how politics and other factors have taken the shine off the initial promise of U.S.-China film collaboration, but how some bright spots remain.

This episode is part of the California series of podcasts, made possible by the Serica Initiative.

6:07: The Golden Horse and Golden Rooster Awards

11:41: A “perfect storm” for Chinese film industry disruptions

23:12: Sentiments of Chinese filmmakers in the current moment

39:29: Censorship, film, and the era of hypersensitivity

Recommendations:

Janet: An animated movie that she created, based on a story about Cháng’é 嫦娥, the Chinese goddess of the Moon. Set to be released in fall 2020.

Michael: The bands Plini and The Aristocrats.

Kaiser: A book by Timothy C. Winegard, The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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

USCBC President Craig Allen on trade in a time of disruption Mar 12, 2020

Show notes

In a show taped live at the China-U.S. Summit at Duke University on February 29, Kaiser chats with Ambassador Craig Allen, the longtime Asia-based diplomat who now serves as president of the U.S.-China Business Council. Topics include the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. businesses with China exposure, the major issues plaguing American companies, the phase one trade deal inked in January, and more.

6:18: COVID-19 and decoupling

12:11: The role of business communities in the U.S.-China relationship

24:00: Where does Silicon Valley stand?

34:40: State-level sentiments outside the Beltway

Recommendations:

Craig: Capitalism, Alone: The Future of the System That Rules the World, by Branko Milanovic, and a report by BusinessEurope titledThe EU and China - Addressing the systemic challenge.

Kaiser: Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East, by Kim Ghattas.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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

UCLA's Alex Wang on where China leads and lags in climate change Mar 05, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, part of Sinica's California series, Kaiser chats with Alex Wang, a professor of law at UCLA and an expert on China's environmental law. Just back from the COP25 meeting in Madrid, Alex provides an informed and dispassionate assessment of China’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

8:26: China and the EU on climate change

21:42: Is coal making a resurgence in China?

26:22: The carbon impact of the Belt and Road Initiative

30:15: How California collaborates with China on climate change

39:21: Predictions for the 2020 UN Climate Change Conference

Recommendations:

Alex: The report Accelerating the low carbon transition, by David G. Victor, Frank W. Geels, and Simon Sharpe, and The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change: A Guide to the Debate, by Andrew Dressler.

Kaiser: The Netflix miniseries Trotsky, available with subtitles in English.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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

Jeff Wasserstrom on music in protest and revolution in modern China Feb 27, 2020

Show notes

From the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 that ended the Qing dynasty to the Second Sino-Japanese War to Tiananmen in 1989 and Hong Kong 30 years later, songs have inspired and united people in protest and political movements in China. In this episode, Kaiser chats with Jeff Wasserstrom of the University of California, Irvine, about the anthems that have animated activism, and about Jeff’s new book, Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink.

The episode is part of the Serica Initiative’s series of California-based podcasts.

7:18: “Wolf,” by Chyi Chin

13:37: “Nothing to My Name,” by Cui Jian

30:47: “Glory to Hong Kong,” by Thomas dgx yhl

44:33: A preview of Jeff’s book, Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink

Recommendations:

Jeff: 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, From Billie Holiday to Green Day, by Dorian Lynskey.

Kaiser: The albums Making Movies, by Dire Straits, and Voyage of the Acolyte, by Steve Hackett.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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