Book Reviews, History
Jeremiah Jenne
Peking Picnic by Ann Bridge

A 1930s novel of manners with evocative descriptions of Old Beijing offers surprisingly timeless observations about what it means to be an expat in China.

Peking Picnic by Ann Bridge
Audio, Contemporary China
Jeremiah Jenne
Let Only Red Flowers Bloom, with NPR ...

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.

Let Only Red Flowers Bloom, with NPR Correspondent Emily Feng
Book Reviews, History
Jeremiah Jenne
Lin Yutang: My Country, My People

In 1935, the Chinese author Lin Yutang offered Westerners an insider’s guide to China's society. It endures today despite his own cultural contradictions.

Lin Yutang: My Country, My People
Audio, History
Jeremiah Jenne
Is this America's Cultural Revolution Moment?

In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, Jeremiah and Chris Stewart of The History of China Podcast ask the question, "Is this America's Cultural Revolution moment?"

Is this America's Cultural Revolution Moment?
Contemporary China, Audio
Jeremiah Jenne
Experiencing the World of Jazz in China

Our latest episode explores jazz in China—from its revival in 1980s Beijing to today's talented performers. David Moser discusses how musicians with limited recordings mastered the medium and laid the groundwork for generations of skilled jazz players from China.

Experiencing the World of Jazz in China

Audio

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No Laughing Matters: The State of Stand-up in China Today

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No Laughing Matters: The State of Stand-up in China Today

On this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, David Moser and Jeremiah talk to journalist Chang Che about the state of comedy and entertainment in China and the precarious nature of creative expression in an increasingly ideological cultural landscape.

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History Wars: The PRC pushes back against unsanctioned views of the past

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History Wars: The PRC pushes back against unsanctioned views of the past

David and I discuss what's going on with the Qing history project, a controversy about Genghis Khan in France, and how PRC continues punching back against potentially problematic pasts.

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Do you really need to learn to write characters to study Chinese?

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Do you really need to learn to write characters to study Chinese?

Hosting solo in this week’s episode, David takes a geeky deep dive into the digital revolution in Chinese language learning in conversation with Chinese language pedagogy expert Matt Coss. 

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A Career of Change Making: A Conversation with Isabel Nepstad of Bellaterra Consulting

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A Career of Change Making: A Conversation with Isabel Nepstad of Bellaterra Consulting

Isabel Nepstad, CEO of BellaTerra Consluting, takes time out of her busy schedule to drop by the Barbarians at the Gate studio to share her career journey, give advice to those looking to pursue their professional lives in China and discuss the challenges and opportunities in the environmental and agricultural sectors in China and around the world.

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Have Tunes, Will Travel: The Musical Adventures of DJ Bo

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Have Tunes, Will Travel: The Musical Adventures of DJ Bo

With David off on summer shenanigans, Jeremiah flies solo as DJ Bo drops by the BATG studio to talk about his adventures performing across China, what drives his passion for music, and the case for Shanghai as the birthplace of Rock n’ Roll.

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Rocking China with Historian Andrew Field

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Rocking China with Historian Andrew Field

In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, we welcome back Andrew Field to discuss his new book Rocking China: Rock Music Scenes in Beijing, Shanghai, and Beyond. We look back on the bands and people who helped to shape Indie Rock in Beijing and China.

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Tik-Tok-for-Tat: Jeremiah and David try to Fix US-China Relations

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Tik-Tok-for-Tat: Jeremiah and David try to Fix US-China Relations

Fueled by too many red bulls (Jeremiah) and some pretty good pharmaceuticals following an emergency root canal (David), our intrepid cohosts throw caution to the wind and attempt to fix US-China Relations in a single podcast.

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What Xi Said: Comedy and Cross-Cultural Communication with Performer and Content Creator Jesse Appell

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What Xi Said: Comedy and Cross-Cultural Communication with Performer and Content Creator Jesse Appell

Jesse Appell turned a Fulbright Fellowship research into a comedy career in China with 3M+ followers. On this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, Jesse joins us to discuss cultural communication and comedy in the US and China.

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Getting Elevated in Qinghai with Entrepreneur and Mountain Guide Ben Cubbage

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Getting Elevated in Qinghai with Entrepreneur and Mountain Guide Ben Cubbage

In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, we are joined by Ben Cubbage of Elevated Trips. Ben calls in from the lofty heights of Qinghai to talk about life on the plateau, post-COVID tourism, and running an eco-travel and guiding business in China.

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The Forbidden City with Matthew Hu

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The Forbidden City with Matthew Hu

On this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, Matthew Hu of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Preservation Center joins Jeremiah and David Moser to look at the Forbidden City's past, present, and future and the challenges of restoring and exhibiting the museum’s 1.8 million artifacts.

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CCTV Follies with Journalist and Author Philip Cunningham

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CCTV Follies with Journalist and Author Philip Cunningham

Philip Cunningham joins the Barbarians at the Gate Podcast to discuss his Substack CCTV follies in which Phil watches the nightly Xinwen Lianbo so that you don't have to. We look at the ritual of news in defining the boundaries of discourse and the framing of stories in the Chinese media.

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When will China re-open its doors for study abroad and educational exchanges?

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When will China re-open its doors for study abroad and educational exchanges?

Jeremiah in Florida and David in Taiwan touch base and exchange updates on the evolving Covid-19 situation in China and elsewhere.

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Notes from the Medical Tent: Beijing Learns to Live with COVID

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Notes from the Medical Tent: Beijing Learns to Live with COVID

Podcaster Zhang Yajun joins Jeremiah and David to talk about the situation in Beijing as COVID spreads throughout the city.

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Special episode: The COVID lockdown protests, with David Moser and Jeremiah Jenne (Sinica Podcast)

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Special episode: The COVID lockdown protests, with David Moser and Jeremiah Jenne (Sinica Podcast)

Special bonus episode of the Sinica Podcast: David Moser and Jeremiah Jenne join Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn for a discussion of the weekend's anti-COVID lockdown protests in China.

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Standing Up to Zero COVID

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Standing Up to Zero COVID

This special episode of Barbarians at the Gate recorded last night provides a “time stamp" and an initial reaction to the protests in several major Chinese cities on November 26 and 27, including the situation in Beijing.

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Lockdowns, Legacies, and Looking Back with Journalist Melinda Liu

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Lockdowns, Legacies, and Looking Back with Journalist Melinda Liu

Award-winning journalist, Newsweek Bureau Chief, and long-time Beijing resident Melinda Liu joins David Moser and me on a special episode of Barbarians at the Gate. We're taking the long view of lockdowns, US-China relations, and some fascinating stories of World War II.

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Back to the Land: Author Alec Ash on escaping to Dali, rural retreats, and a return to England

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Back to the Land: Author Alec Ash on escaping to Dali, rural retreats, and a return to England

Author Alec Ash stops by the Barbarians at the Gate studio on his way through Beijing. David and I talk with Alec about Dali in a time of COVID, Alec's new book about urban refugees in the mountains of Yunnan, and his plans for the future.

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