In this episode we chat with Shanghai-based author and editor Jacob Dreyer, a China watcher who writes with great insight and nuance about the shifting landscape of China-US relations. We touch on questions such as: Is the China model of governance outperforming Western liberal democracy? Is China winning the AI and technology wars? (Spoiler alert: That ship has sailed.) How do the architecture and logic of surveillance and information control systems differ between the U.S. and China? Is the cu...
Jul 15, 2025•42 min
This week on the podcast, we explore the role of the horse in Chinese culture with author David Chaffetz, whose new book Raiders, Rulers, and Traders traces the sweeping impact of horse domestication across world civilizations. Chaffetz explains how equestrian cultures not only transformed warfare and mobility in China, but also reshaped the very boundaries of empire and cultural identity. Our conversation follows China’s long and complex relationship with the horse, from defending against nomad...
Jul 01, 2025•32 min
In this classic episode from 2020, we look at Putonghua, the spoken language most people refer to as Mandarin. David wrote a book in 2016 on the evolution of Putonghua in China. What's the point of Putonghua? What is a dialect and what is a language in China? And what's the difference between Mandarin as spoken during the dynastic period, "Guoyu" (National Speech) in the Republican Period, and Putonghua in the PRC? We also get an assist from Zhang Yajun who talks with David about the differences...
Jun 17, 2025•29 min
In this special episode, we examine the Trump administration's ongoing attacks on higher education in America and their implications for the future of US-China academic exchanges. On May 29, the Department of Homeland Security banned Harvard from enrolling international students —a decision that is now being challenged in the courts even as the educational plans of nearly 7,000 students and post-grads are thrown into jeopardy. This announcement comes on the heels of US Secretary of State Marco R...
Jun 02, 2025•25 min
In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, hosts Jeremiah Jenne and David Moser interview Steven Schwankert about his groundbreaking research into the forgotten story of the Chinese survivors of the Titanic disaster. Schwankert, author of The Six: The Untold Story of the Titanic's Chinese Survivors, details how he uncovered the remarkable tale of six Chinese men who survived the sinking in 1912—a story largely erased from historical records. The conversation explores how these third-class passen...
May 20, 2025•45 min
In this episode, Jeremiah and David explore a topic drawn from their many years of experience with American study abroad programs: culture shock.
May 01, 2025•32 min
In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, we talk with Emily Feng about her new book Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting for NPR, Emily paints a picture of how state control has intensified over recent years, reshaping Chinese society, politics, and culture. Emily explains how she wove together personal stories into the historical, cultural, and political contexts, offering insights into the lives of Uyghurs separ...
Apr 15, 2025•28 min
This week, we catch up with Dutch sinologist Manya Koetse, the creator of " What's on Weibo ," a platform offering in-depth insights into trends, events, memes, and social phenomena on Weibo, one of China's largest social media platforms, often referred to as the "Chinese Twitter." As a bridge for non-Chinese speaking audiences to understand the dynamics of Chinese digital culture, "What's on Weibo" has evolved over the years, recently expanding to include a premium newsletter while maintaining ...
Apr 01, 2025•28 min
In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, host Jeremiah Jenne speaks with Chris Stewart, the creator of the History of China podcast. They discuss Chris's transition from living in Shanghai to returning to Bozeman, Montana, his journey into Chinese history, and the challenges of podcasting. The conversation also touches on the impact of COVID-19, the cultural revolution, and the importance of historical context in understanding current events. Chris shares insights on audience engagement and th...
Mar 21, 2025•34 min
This week, we explore a topic close to our hearts: the world of jazz in China. Both Jeremiah and David bring their musical expertise to the table—Jeremiah as a rock and blues keyboardist, and David as an active pianist in Beijing's jazz scene. David takes us back to his experiences in the 1980s, a period of renaissance for jazz in Beijing, when Chinese rock musicians began to discover—or rediscover—this intricate Western genre. During China's early "Reform and Opening Up" era, musicians with lit...
Mar 07, 2025•37 min
In this episode, Jeremiah and David welcome Jane Perlez, former Beijing bureau chief for the New York Times (2012-2019), to discuss the evolving challenges of reporting from China. Drawing from her firsthand experience, Jane details the gradual erosion of press freedom under Xi Jinping's leadership, including the 2018 expulsion of journalists and the ongoing obstacles faced by news assistants working for foreign media. The conversation explores both the creative strategies reporters now use to c...
Feb 14, 2025•35 min
Happy Year of the Snake! In this archive episode from January 2024, we chat with Andrew Stokols, who is researching varieties of digital urbanism globally, with an emphasis on China. We briefly compare notes on the urban development of Beijing in the 21st century, including the contradictions between Beijing as a technologically advanced urban center and an ancient capital city. Andrew also provides updates on the progress of Xiong’an, the digital “smart city” being constructed in Hebei province...
Jan 29, 2025•39 min
In this episode, we are thrilled to welcome Jean Hoffman Lewanda back to the podcast to discuss her new book, Shalama: My 96 Seasons in China , published by Earnshaw Books. Listeners may recall Jean's previous appearance, where she shared insights about her father, Paul Hoffman's memoir, Witness to History: From Vienna to Shanghai—A Memoir of Escape, Survival, and Resilience . That captivating memoir details how Paul fled Vienna at the age of 18 to escape the rise of Nazism, arrived in Shanghai ...
Jan 15, 2025•34 min
In this episode, we invite Rory Truex, an associate professor at Princeton University, to discuss a recurring issue on the podcast: the plight of the US-China academic exchange and the urgent need to attract more American scholars to do research in China. Despite the recent revival of several American academic programs in China, the post-COVID number of US students in the PRC is still woefully inadequate. Professor Truex gives an overview of some reasons for this deterioration of interest by Ame...
Dec 23, 2024•38 min
MIT professor Tristan Brown discusses his award-winning book on how Feng Shui shaped law and society in imperial China. From environmental regulation to social order, discover how feng shui had less to do with furniture placement and was more about power, belonging, and the control of space in a rapidly evolving society.
Nov 26, 2024•42 min
Last week’s election of Donald Trump to a second term as U.S. President disappointed half of the American electorate and much of the world (outside the Kremlin). To help Jeremiah and David process what’s next, they’re joined by Brendan O’Kane— writer, translator, expert in the literature of the late Ming Dynasty, and a Pennsylvania voter. Brendan explores the works of Zhang Dai (張岱 1597-1634), the Jin Ping Mei 金瓶梅, and other literary examples from the twilight of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Wh...
Nov 12, 2024•35 min
"We can overestimate and underestimate how much things changed when Xi Jinping took power, but the intensity of concern over historical narratives has definitely grown under his leadership." - Jeffrey Wasserstrom In this episode, Jeremiah and David are joined by Jeffrey Wasserstrom , Chancellor's Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine, and a leading expert in modern Chinese history. We discuss the legacies of the Hong Kong protests, the rise of Xi Jinping's historical narra...
Oct 16, 2024•44 min
In this episode of Barbarian at the Gate, hosts Jeremiah Jenne and David Moser are joined by special guest Karlis Rokpelnis, China country representative for the European Union's Euraxess Research Mobility Initiative. Together, they delve into the evolving landscape of international education in China, discussing the factors influencing the decline in student exchanges and the varying approaches of American and European institutions. Karlis offers his unique perspective on the changes he's obser...
Sep 19, 2024•29 min
As David at least gets set for another semester, he and Jeremiah reconnect to catch up on a mix of timely topics from China and the US. They explore the declining number of Chinese students studying in the US and the cautious return of American students to China, offering insights and practical advice on how to introduce China to American students in nuanced ways. They discuss the difference between fostering an appreciation for Chinese culture and people versus endorsing government policies. Th...
Aug 27, 2024•40 min
In this episode, Edward Wong, diplomatic correspondent and former Beijing Bureau Chief for the New York Times, joins us to discuss his new book, Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning with China . Edward’s father, Yook Kearn Wong, lived through the Japanese occupation and the Communist Revolution in China. Captivated by Mao’s vision of a powerful China, he served in the People’s Liberation Army during the Korean War and later served in Xinjiang. By 1962, disillusioned with the Communist Party, he ...
Jul 22, 2024•36 min
In this episode, we welcome back a friend of the podcast, Jonathan Chatwin , to discuss his new book, The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China's Future. Since the Emperor Kangxi made his southern tour in 1684, many emperors and Chinese leaders have undertaken similar inspection tours, including Mao, Deng, and Xi Jinping. Deng’s southern tour took place in the backdrop of contentious debates about his radical restructuring of the economy in the Reform era. Jonathan describes how D...
Jun 27, 2024•36 min
This episode features a lively conversation with Fan Yang, Professor of Media and Communication Studies at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, about her new book Disorienting Politics: Chimerican Media and Transpacific Entanglements . The term “Chimerica” is a portmanteau word, blending “China” and “America.” The neologism denotes the economic, political, and cultural entanglements of the two countries. Fan Yang uses the concept of “Chimerican media” to explore how the conflicts and ten...
Jun 05, 2024•40 min
This episode represents a new direction for the podcast, recorded on the eve of Jeremiah’s move to a new home base in Geneva. We start with a retrospective snapshot of the podcast’s beginnings – with many episodes recorded under the backdrop of COVID-19 – and then segue into our perennial concern, the plight of academic exchange in China, for which our consensus was “cautious optimism," while accepting an unsatisfying "new normal.” We sign off with future plans and ideas for the next phase of Ba...
Apr 17, 2024•34 min
In this episode, John Alekna talks about his fascinating new book Seeking News, Making China: Information Technology and the Emergence of Mass Society. In 20th-century China, the gradual importation and development of information technology had an enormous impact on the way that news was disseminated and accessed by the general public. When radio first appeared in the early 1920s, less than 8 in 1,000 people had access to newspapers, whereas, by the time of the Mao period, hundreds of millions o...
Mar 26, 2024•38 min
In this episode, we welcome back to the podcast our good friend, Alec Ash, who has written a fascinating book recounting a year spent in the city of Dali, Yunan Province. Unlike Alec’s previous book, Wish Lanterns, his new book, The Mountains are High, is a highly personal account of his attempt to find solace and healing after a pivotal emotional crisis and his decision to disentangle himself from his urban Beijing life and escape to a simpler life in mountainous Yunnan Province. But Alec’s lif...
Mar 06, 2024•36 min
In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, our guest is Michael Wester, founder and publisher of True Run Media and The Beijinger. Mike is a long-time resident of Beijing, and we talked with him about running the city’s most-read expat publication, his experiences in organizing the “Safe and Sane” WeChat communities during the pandemic, and what the future holds for the international population of China’s capital. Later, Jeremiah surprises David and Mike with an announcement.
Feb 10, 2024•43 min
In this episode, we chat with Andrew Stokols, who is currently a Ph.D. candidate at MIT researching varieties of digital urbanism globally, with an emphasis on China. On the podcast, we briefly compare notes on the urban development of Beijing in the 21st century, including the contradictions between Beijing as a technologically advanced urban center and an ancient capital city. Andrew also provides updates on the progress of Xiong’an, the digital “smart city” being constructed in Hebei province...
Jan 16, 2024•39 min
Has the Chinese government killed stand-up comedy in China? In May of 2023, a popular standup comedian made an innocuous joke in which he mentioned a phrase used to laud the fighting spirit of the People’s Liberation Army. The next day, a complaint from a nationalistic netizen resulted in the Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media Company being fined a whopping $2 million and the temporary shutdown of virtually all the standup TV shows and comedy clubs in China’s major cities. The immediate aftermath of...
Dec 20, 2023•39 min
On this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, I talk to Kristel Ouwehand, also known by her Tibetan language name, Tenzin Dolma, the founder of Snowland Academy in Gansu province where she lives with and teaches young Tibetan artists. Beginning at age 17, Tenzin traveled across Central America, Europe, parts of the Middle East, and the east coast of Africa before settling in India. She stayed in India for 11 years, mastering the traditional art of thangka painting. She also learned to craft butter ...
Dec 05, 2023•43 min
Jeremiah kicks off the podcast with news that the decades-long Qing History Projectn being carried out by, among other institutions, Renmin University and the Chinese Academy of Social Science(CASS) seems to have been " put on ice " after the draft document produced by the team of Chinese historians was deemed as “politically unacceptable” by the authorities. One of the specific objections to the project’s content was that it was “overly influenced by the New Qing History,” referring to a group ...
Nov 17, 2023•47 min
