Dan Wang on Modern China
Aug 28, 2025•1 hr 17 min
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Episode description
Dan Wang at long last makes his solo ChinaTalk debut! We’re here to discuss and celebrate his first book, Breakneck.
We get into…
- Engineering states vs lawyerly societies,
- The competing legacies of the 1980s in China, the decade which saw brutal repression via the One Child Policy and Tiananmen alongside intellectual debate, cultural vibrancy, and rock and roll,
- Methods of knowing China, from the People’s Daily and Seeking Truth to on-the-ground research,
- How to compare the values of China’s convenient yet repressive society with the chaotic pluralism of the USA,
- What Li Qiang’s career post-Shanghai lockdowns can tell us about the value of loyalty vs competence in Xi’s China.
Outro music: Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro (YouTube link)
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