Episodes

  • Feminist Rebels

    Feminist Rebels
    Mar 11 2025
    China’s leader, Mao Zedong famously said that “Women hold up half the sky.” But these days it doesn’t feel that way in China. Unfair marriage rules, difficulties getting a divorce, barriers to owning property and many more restrictions are challenging women to speak out, and act. We’ll hear about the Chinese “leftover women” who are veering from the traditional path and about the Chinese feminists of today. Guest: Leta Hong Fincher, author, Left Over Women. Recommended Books: Left Over Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China by Leta Hong Fincher Tiananmen Square by Lai Wen Sound design, original score, mixing and mastering by Rowhome Productions. Rowhome’s Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome’s Executive Producer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • Hollywood and China

    Hollywood and China
    Mar 4 2025
    Motion pictures first came to China in 1896. China was one of the first countries to screen the Lumiere brother’s “western shadowplays” as they were called. By the 1930’s Shanghai was known as the Hollywood of the East. That all changed after the founding of the People’s Republic. Western films were eventually allowed back into China but it wasn’t until the release of the American epic, Titanic and its blockbuster success in China that Hollywood woke up to the potential of the Chinese market. Hollywood studios soon swarmed into China, working with Chinese movie makers to concoct big movies for big audiences: The Great Wall; Mulan; Kung Fu Panda 3. Then the dream went in a different direction. We’ll speak with an American film producer who has been at the center of the push and pull between Hollywood and China. Guest: Peter Loehr, American movie executive with three decades in China. Recommended Books: The Golden Screen by Jeff Yang An Amorous History of the Silver Screen: Shanghai Cinema 1896 - 1937 by Zhang Zhen Sound design, original score, mixing and mastering by Rowhome Productions. Rowhome’s Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome’s Executive Producer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    49 mins
  • TikTok: What Now?

    TikTok: What Now?
    Feb 25 2025
    More than 170 million Americans are entertained, informed and earn big bucks from the Chinese-owned app, TikTok. Now their relationship with TikTok is in mortal danger, to say the least. American politicians seem to be able to agree on one thing: TikTok is bad. What happens now, and how did Americans get hooked on TikTok in the first place. Trump used TikTok to great affect in his campaign. What’s his attitude to TikTok going forward? What’s happening to the potential American buyers of TikTok? Guest: Peter Loehr, American movie executive with three decades in China. Recommended Reads: Love It; Hate It; Fear It: How TikTok Changed Our Culture by Sapna Maheshwani Sound design, original score, mixing and mastering by Rowhome Productions. Rowhome’s Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome’s Executive Producer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    55 mins
  • Journalists in China

    Journalists in China
    Feb 18 2025
    There are few American journalists reporting from inside China today. But that has not always been the case. In fact, American journalists in China freely reported on one of the biggest stories of recent history: the Chinese army’s massacre of protestors in Tiananmen Square in 1989. In this episode, we talk to Richard Roth, a CBS correspondent who was there during the 1989 protests. We feature Lingling Wei, the distinguished Wall Street Journal correspondent who was kicked out of China, along with other American reporters. How are journalists today reporting on China from afar? At this vital time, how do we get on the ground reporting from China when we can’t be on the ground? Guest: Lingling Wei, Wall Street Journal, Chinese born journalist now in New York Book Recommendations: Assignment China: An Oral History of American Journalists in the People’s Republic by Mike Chinoy Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life by Nicholas Kristof. Sound design, original score, mixing and mastering by Rowhome Productions. Rowhome’s Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome’s Executive Producer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • Two Strongmen

    Two Strongmen
    Feb 11 2025
    Trump has praised Xi Jinping in the past. He’s also slapped tariffs on China. What does the return of Trump mean for China? Economic rivalry for sure. Possible war over Taiwan? A battle over AI dominance and confrontation over China’s rapidly expanding military force, also for sure. How will Trump stop China from usurping America’s place on the global stage? Guest: Minxin Pei, Claremont College professor and China commentator. Book Recommendations: The Red Emperor: Xi Jinping and His New China by Michael Sheridan. Xi Jinping: The Backlash by Richard McGregor. Sound design, original score, mixing and mastering by Rowhome Productions. Rowhome’s Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome’s Executive Producer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    48 mins
  • Season 2 Trailer

    Season 2 Trailer
    Jan 31 2025
    Season 2 of Face-Off: US vs China begins Tuesday, February 11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    4 mins
  • The New Cold Wars: A Conversation with David Sanger

    The New Cold Wars: A Conversation with David Sanger
    Oct 1 2024
    In this bonus episode, Jane Perlez sits down with New York Times national security and White House correspondent David Sanger. In this candid conversation, they talk about his new bestseller: New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West. Plus they discuss Sanger's views on where the US - China relationship is headed, how he worries about the friendship between China and Russia, and a party in New York City where talk turned to the subject of nuclear weapons. This conversation was recorded in August 2024 at a surf club in Sydney, Australia. Follow David Sanger on Twitter at @SangerNYT. Sound design, original score, mixing and mastering by Rowhome Productions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 mins
  • Taiwan

    Taiwan
    May 21 2024
    Will the United States and China go to war over an island of 24 million people nearly 6,500 miles from California? Why is this a possibility? What is the history and significance of Taiwan to America and China? Guest: Lyle Goldstein, former professor US Naval College, now at Brown University. Taiwanese expert, Syaru Shirley Lin, founder of the think tank, Capri. An essay by Lyle Goldstein on how Taiwan features in US foreign policy. In the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. https://home.watson.brown.edu/research/research-briefs/trouble-taiwan About Shirley Lin’s CAPRI, a foundation that studies the Asia Pacific region. https://caprifoundation.org/syaru-shirley-lin/ A controversial essay on how nuclear weapons could be used in a war over Taiwan by Matthew Kroenig, a professor at Georgetown University and senior director at The Atlantic Council. Mr. Kroenig’s article is considered an outlier on the subject https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/deliberate-nuclear-use-in-a-war-over-taiwan-scenarios-and-considerations-for-the-united-states/ Sound design, original score, mixing and mastering by Rowhome Productions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    35 mins