Podcasts about Asia Society

As a global power, China faces a growing tension between its ambitions to reshape the international order and its disinterest in bearing the costs of upholding that new system. In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Sam Chetwin George, Senior Fellow at the Asia Society's Center on U.S.–China Relations and Research Fellow at China Heritage, to explore Beijing's evolving perspectives on the post-World War II order and what comes next. They discuss China's vision for global governance, the ideological foundations of its international strategy, how its domestic economic challenges may shape its international priorities, and how it approaches the conflicts in Ukraine, Iran, and Myanmar.   To learn more about Sam's perspectives on Chinese foreign policy, you can read his new Foreign Affairs article, China Was Ready for the Age of Anarchy: Why Turbulence Will Make Beijing More Assertive. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/china-was-ready-age-anarchy

VOV1 - Triều Tiên ngày 7/6 tiếp tục khẳng định chương trình hạt nhân là vấn đề không thể thương lượng, đồng thời đẩy mạnh kế hoạch mở rộng năng lực sản xuất tên lửa nhằm tăng cường sức mạnh quốc phòng trong những năm tới.Theo Hãng Thông tấn Trung ương Triều Tiên (KCNA), bà Kim Yo Jong, em gái nhà lãnh đạo Kim Jong Un, tuyên bố vị thế quốc gia sở hữu vũ khí hạt nhân của Triều Tiên là “không thể đảo ngược” và sẽ không chấp nhận bất kỳ thách thức nào đối với vị thế này. Bà Kim Yo Jong nhấn mạnh chương trình hạt nhân của Triều Tiên không phải là vấn đề có thể đem ra đàm phán. Theo bà, lực lượng hạt nhân đã được hiến pháp hóa và đóng vai trò nòng cốt trong việc bảo vệ chủ quyền, an ninh quốc gia cũng như các lợi ích cốt lõi của đất nước. Tuyên bố được đưa ra sau khi phía Mỹ cho biết Tổng thống Donald Trump đã tái khẳng định mục tiêu phi hạt nhân hóa Triều Tiên trong cuộc gặp thượng đỉnh với Chủ tịch Trung Quốc Tập Cận Bình tại Bắc Kinh hồi tháng trước.Chủ tịch Trung Quốc Tập Cận Bình dự kiến sẽ thăm Triều Tiên trong hai ngày 8 và 9/6 tới, chuyến thăm đầu tiên của ông tới nước này sau gần 7 năm. Theo giới phân tích, chuyến thăm mang ý nghĩa quan trọng đối với cả Trung Quốc và Triều Tiên trong bối cảnh cục diện khu vực đang có nhiều thay đổi. Ông John Delury, chuyên gia cao cấp của Hiệp hội châu Á (Asia Society), nhận định việc đón tiếp Chủ tịch Tập Cận Bình cho thấy Triều Tiên vẫn duy trì quan hệ với các cường quốc hàng đầu thế giới. Trong khi đó, chuyến thăm cũng được xem là thông điệp của Trung Quốc khẳng định nước này vẫn là nhân tố có ảnh hưởng hàng đầu đối với Triều Tiên. Ông John Delury, nhấn mạnh: “Tôi nghĩ về tính biểu tượng, việc ông Tập Cận Bình theo dõi sát sao tình hình ở Bình Nhưỡng là rất quan trọng, và điều đó cho thấy ông ấy chú ý đến cả hai phía trên bán đảo Triều Tiên. Chuyến công du quốc tế gần đây nhất của ông ấy cũng là đến Hàn Quốc. Vì vậy, có một sự cân bằng nhất định mà phía Trung Quốc muốn duy trì, đó là việc theo dõi sát sao cả hai miền Triều Tiên.”Đồng tình với quan điểm này, Giáo sư Vương (Wang Yiwei) của Đại học Nhân dân Trung Quốc nhận định: Nếu xét về khía cạnh quân sự, tôi nghĩ Triều Tiên có mối quan hệ đặc biệt hơn với Nga, nhưng Trung Quốc vẫn rất quan trọng đối với Triều Tiên về năng lượng và thương mại, và cũng vì chúng tôi là láng giềng. Hơn nữa, khi Triều Tiên có được sự tự tin về an ninh và an toàn, có lẽ họ sẽ cởi mở hơn, và về cơ bản đó cũng là điều mà Trung Quốc mong muốn.”Liên quan tới kế hoạch tăng cường sức mạnh hạt nhân, nhà lãnh đạo Triều Tiên Kim Jong Un vừa thị sát một tổ hợp công nghiệp quốc phòng trọng điểm và chỉ đạo mở rộng năng lực sản xuất tên lửa đạn đạo và tên lửa hành trình lên khoảng 2,5 lần trong vòng 5 năm tới. Theo báo Rodong Sinmun, cơ quan ngôn luận của Đảng Lao động Triều Tiên, ông Kim Jong Un yêu cầu đưa nội dung mở rộng năng lực sản xuất tên lửa vào chương trình nghị sự của Hội nghị toàn thể lần thứ hai Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng khóa IX sắp tới. Ông nhấn mạnh việc gia tăng sản lượng quốc phòng theo kế hoạch 5 năm là nhiệm vụ chiến lược đặc biệt quan trọng nhằm củng cố năng lực phòng thủ quốc gia.Trong chuyến thị sát, nhà lãnh đạo Triều Tiên đánh giá cao các doanh nghiệp quốc phòng đã hoàn thành trước tiến độ kế hoạch sản xuất vũ khí chủ lực trong nửa đầu năm 2026, đồng thời yêu cầu nâng cao hiệu quả quản lý, vận hành sản xuất và công tác bảo quản trang thiết bị quân sự. Những động thái mới nhất một lần nữa cho thấy Triều Tiên tiếp tục theo đuổi chiến lược tăng cường sức mạnh hạt nhân và hiện đại hóa năng lực quân sự trong bối cảnh môi trường an ninh khu vực vẫn tiềm ẩn nhiều diễn biến phức tạp./.Phương Anh/Ban Thời sự VOV1Nhà lãnh đạo Kim Jong Un thị sát doanh nghiệp sản xuất vũ khí quan trọng của Triều Tiên. Ảnh: KCNA

The Hong Kong-born novelist and journalist talks us through his new novel "City on Fire," a whodunnit thriller set against the 2019 protests.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to info@chinabooksreview.com.

Outside of China, few understand the inner workings of the CCP better than former Australian Prime Minister, Global President of the Asia Society in New York, and Author of On Xi Jinping, Kevin Rudd.  With President Trump's trip to China fast approaching, he joined Bret to dissect the primary objectives of this month's summit, the tenuous politics of Taiwan and the Strait of Hormuz, and what a “win” for the U.S. would look like when talks conclude. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's guest is Thom Woodroofe. Thom is the author of the latest In the National Interest series titled ‘Power, Prosperity and Planet: Climate and Energy Policy For All'. For the best part of 20 years Thom has worked across diplomacy, global affairs and climate policy - from playing a key role in securing the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015 and helping to establish the High Ambition Coalition of progressive nations. He's worked as chief of staff to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his role of Australian Ambassador to the US, forged a backchannel for US–China climate talks during his time at the Asia Society in New York, to go with being a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.Why did I want to chat to Thom? Well let me read you snippets of the recommendations for his book.Firstly, Kevin Rudd, “‘Thom Woodroofe is a rare talent. In Power, Prosperity & Planet, Woodroofe draws on his deep policy expertise, tempered by political insights from the front lines of the climate and energy debates raging around the globe. The result is a tour-de-force – a practical and informed white paper for all Australians, policymakers and citizens alike, who care about the future of their country and their planet.”Secondly, Malcolm Turnbull “Climate deniers obfuscate with ideology and idiocy, but as this book shows meeting the climate challenge requires engineering and economics and a practical blueprint that empowers all of us.”And last but certainly not least, Christiana Figueres, the architect of the Paris Agreement - “The Paris Agreement provides the global foundation, but it is up to every country now to walk the walk through the kinds of ideas contained in this book.”I really enjoyed this conversation with Thom, and we get through a considerable amount, which represents the breadth and depth of his experiences and knowledge. From his first job out of uni working with the Marshall Islands and advising on their global climate advocacy and diplomacy, to the COP process and part of the remarkable story he had a literal front row seat at in 2015, to his observations and insights from Europe, the UK, US and China that place Australia's decarbonisation efforts in a broader context, to the pragmatic policy opportunities to drive further emissions reductions as quickly as possible. What I found valuable though speaking with Thom and reading his book is the necessity to ground all of this work and these conversations in what they mean for the average person - and as we've seen over the weekend with One Nation winning a lower house seat in parliament - being able to reach and communicate with disillusioned and disempowered people in every part of this country remains the number one challenge in driving the energy transition and broader climate policies. Thom's work and this chat dives into both of our own reservations and uncertainties on how to best do this, but the necessity to do so.Support the organisations contributing to a healthier, safer and more just future. Reposit Power - get $500 off your solar battery install, plus seven years no electricity bill.Planet Protein - tasty, convenient, plant-based, high protein food for all occasions. Ep.116Send me a messageThanks for listening. Follow Finding Nature on Instagram

On tending to our interdependence, living life fully, and dying with attention and equanimity. 0:00 — Introduction  1:34 — Overview of Ann's Book "Traveling in Bardo" 3:55 — Personal Reflections on Grandmother's Funeral 7:20 — The Role of Practice in Embracing Impermanence 16:15 — Living with Attention and Interdependence 34:57 — Authenticity and True Nature 42:09 — Conclusion and Final Thoughts Ann Tashi Slater writes for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Paris Review, and Granta, among others, and is a contributing editor at Tricycle. She presents and teaches workshops at Princeton, Columbia, Oxford, Asia Society, and The American University of Paris, and was a regular speaker at NYC's Rubin Museum of Art during the museum's 20-year run. Ann's new book, Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World was released by Balance/Hachette in September, 2025. TRAVELING IN BARDO explores how we can find meaning and happiness in a world where change is the only certainty. Interweaving explorations of "bardo" between-states in relation to marriage and friendship, parents and children, and work and creativity with stories of her Tibetan ancestors and Buddhist teachings on the fleeting nature of existence, Slater illuminates what the teachings have to tell us in our contemporary lives. She relays vital wisdom from Tibetan culture, giving us a bold, new framework to navigate moments of change and live life fully. With a foreword by Dani Shapiro, the book has been praised by Elizabeth Gilbert, Melissa Febos, Sharon Salzberg, and Julia Alvarez, among others, and has been selected as a "Must-Read" by the Next Big Idea Club, co-curated by Malcolm Gladwell. In the midst of this shifting landscape, Slater invites us to embrace impermanence in a powerful way, rooted in ancient wisdom. During over forty years of writing and speaking about her Tibetan-American heritage and the relevance of Buddhism in Western society, Slater has come to see how Tibetan bardo views on impermanence can transform the way we live. A luminous guide to navigating transition and impermanence, it offers us the opportunity to find happiness in an impermanent world.

The Legalists and Confucians still run the show in today's China, argues a scholar of classical Chinese thought — but the Mohists and Daoists still have a voice in the debate.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to info@chinabooksreview.com.

Comments/ideas: ACFpod@outlook.comChina has emerged as the global clean tech leader through a national mandate for ecological progress and massive investments in solar, wind, and battery technology. Policy expert Christine Loh joins the show to explore China's transition away from coal and Hong Kong's ambitious push for carbon neutrality by 2050. Listeners will gain vital insights into the future of green finance, including sourcing "deep green" materials like green steel and using climate science for insurance risk assessment. This episode provides an essential guide to the technical innovations and building retrofitting projects currently transforming the climate business landscape in Asia.ABOUT CHRISTINE: Professor Christine Loh, SBS, JP, OBE, Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite, is Chief Development Strategist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She served as Under Secretary for the Environment in the HKSAR Government, Special Consultant on the mainland's ecological civilisation policy, and was twice a Member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. She founded and led the think tank Civic Exchange and has long been active in public policy, establishing multiple non‑profit organisations in environment, equal opportunity, arts, culture and human rights. She sits on the boards of New Forests and Towngas Smart Energy, was Asia Society's Scholar in Residence (2023-2025), and serves on several advisory and steering bodies. A lawyer by training and former commodities trader, she has taught in the US and published widely. She holds honorary doctorates from the University of Hull and the University of Exeter.HOST, PRODUCTION, ARTWORK: Joseph Jacobelli  |  MUSIC: Ep76 onward excerpts from Vivaldi's La Follia, played by Luca Jacobelli.

Misogyny and patriarchy are a later misreading of The Analects, argues the author of a new translation of the Confucian classic.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to info@chinabooksreview.com.

Educational leadership is a tough challenge at the best of times, with many pressures from all sides. But particularly now, with so much shifting, high levels of uncertainty, and polarising issues at play, it's arguably an even rougher sea to navigate. In such a context, my guest this week has done an amazing job of gathering vital insights from 67 amazing education leaders around the world, herself included, to bring some collective wisdom to bear on the subject. Jennifer D. Klein is an author and former head of school with extensive international experience and over 30 years in education--including 19 in the classroom. She is a product of experiential project-based education herself, and she lives and breathes the student-centred pedagogies used to educate her. She became a teacher during graduate school in 1990, quickly finding the intersection between her love of writing and her fascination with educational transformation and its potential impact on social change. She spent nineteen years in the classroom, including several years in Costa Rica and eleven in all-girls education, before leaving the classroom to support educators' professional learning in public, private, and international schools. Motivated by her belief that all children deserve a meaningful, relevant education like the one she experienced herself, and that giving them such an education will catalyze positive change in their communities and beyond, Jennifer strives to inspire educators to shift their practices in schools worldwide.Jennifer has a broad background in global education and global partnership development, student-centered curricular strategies, diversity and inclusivity work, authentic assessment, and experiential, inquiry-driven learning. She has facilitated workshops in English and Spanish on four continents, providing the strategies for high-quality, globally connected project-based learning in all cultural and socioeconomic contexts, with an emphasis on amplifying student voice and shifting school culture to support such practices. She is committed to intersecting global student-centered learning with culturally responsive and anti-racist teaching practices, and her experience includes deep work with schools seeking to address equity, take on brave conversations, build healthier community, and improve identity politics on campus. Jennifer's first book, The Global Education Guidebook: Humanizing K–12 Classrooms Worldwide Through Equitable Partnerships, was published in 2017, and her second book, The Landscape Model of Learning: Designing Student-Centered Experiences for Cognitive and Cultural Inclusion, was released in 2022. Her third book, Taming the Turbulence in Educational Leadership: Doing Right by Learners without Losing your Job, to be released in September, 2025, is based on interviews with 67 educational leaders around the world who are facing resistance to practices they know are good for learners. Jennifer's experiences as a head of school in Colombia provide a through line as she explores the strategies leaders are using to manage resistance.Jennifer has worked with organizations such as the Buck Institute for Education, the Center for Global Education at the Asia Society, The Institute for International Education, Fulbright Japan, What School Could Be, the Centre for Global Education, TakingITGlobal, and the World Leadership School. Most recently, she served as Head of School at Gimnasio Los Caobos (Bogotá, Colombia) for three years, where she was able to put her educational thinking into practice with profound impact on the quality of student learning and their growth as agents of change.Links:Jennifer's website: https://www.principledlearning.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdeborahklein/

In this special "On This Planet" episode, Ophira Edut of The AstroTwins talks to our longtime friend NEDA, a seasoned entertainment executive, former music manager for bands including Bon Jovi and Motley Crue, cultural diplomat and creator of the documentary "Nobody's Enemy: Youth Culture in Iran" (2006). An Iranian American currently residing in Istanbul, Neda's work has consistently bridged East and West through the power of media, music, and storytelling. In "Middle Eastern Misfits," Ophi and Neda discuss:

Buddhist sutras tell of a distant future, where the teachings of the Buddha we know have been entirely forgotten. This future city, ruled by a benevolent, wise king, is a utopia, where people want for nothing and live for over 80,000 years. But even this paradise is still in need of a teaching, that nothing lasts forever.This is the world of the future Buddha Maitreya, also known as Metteyya, the Buddha of loving kindness. Exploring Buddhist texts like the Descending Birth of Maitreya Sutra, the Lion's Roar of Maitreya Sutra, and the Gandavyuha Sutra, we find timeless wisdom, a warning against false prophets, and a dramatic vision of the infinite potential of loving kindness.Mythos & Logos are two ancient words that can be roughly translated as “Story & Meaning.”Support the channel by subscribing, liking, and commenting to join the conversation!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/mythosandlogos00:00 Introduction00:10 Bodhisattva Maitreya, Indian Museum, Kolkata00:26 Gameplay from Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red01:08 Leaves from a Gandavyuha Manuscript, Asia Society, New York, Rockefeller Collection01:28 The Future Age01:39 Buddhas of the Three Generation by Ding Guanpeng02:11 Buddha Teaching the Ramaga Sutra 佛說羅摩伽經 by Shengjian 聖堅02:34 Leaves from a Gandavyuha Manuscript, Asia Society, New York, Rockefeller Collection03:20 Minimundus Klagenfurt, Borobudur Tempel Magelang, Detail, Schubbay, Creative Commons03:43 Mucailnda Protects the Buddha from the Rain, at Wat Olak Madu, Kedah, Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand, Creative Commons03:56 Universal Monarch, Phanigiri, Telangana, Anandajoti Bhikkhu, Creative Commons04:22 Clothed statues of the Buddha in the ruined Khmer Hindu temple of Wat Phou, Champasak, Laos, Basile Morin, Creative Commons04:43 Maitreya, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney05:26 Miniature Votive Stupa, Cleveland Museum of Art05:38 The Buddha Amitabha with the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, The Asian Museum, San Francisco06:08 The Lion's Roar06:46 Maitreya Buddha Triad, Gyeongju Art Museum07:22 Hungry Ghosts Scroll, Kyoto National Museum08:30 Maitreya's Tower08:52 The Mong Xuanzang, Tokyo National Museum09:06 The Eighteen Arhats Traversing the Sea, The Museum of Chinese Art and Ethnography, Parma09:50 The Transmission of the Teachings of the Gelugpa Sect, The Asian Art Museum, San Francisco10:00 Seven Leaves from a Manuscript of the Gandavyuha Sutra, Cleveland Museum of Art10:16 View of Borobudur, Indonesia, Anandajoti Bhikkhu, Creative Commons10:24 Maitreya, Museum of Oriental Art, Torino10:41 Maitreya Makes a Gift of a Throne, Borobudur, Anandajoti Bhikkhu, Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand, Creative Commons10:52 Maitreya Makes a Gift of a Woman, Borobudur, Anandajoti Bhikkhu, Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand, Creative Commons10:58 Stone Buddhas of Yonghwasa Temple, Cheongju, Cheongju Early Printing Museum11:11 Sudhana's Pilgrimage to Fifty Five Spiritual Teachers as Described in the Flower Garland Sutra, Nara National Museum11:19 Conclusion: Nothing Lasts Forever. Loving Kindness Now.12:12 Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh at a retreat in The Doon School, Dehradun, India, HumfCauseway, Creative Commons12:19 Deer Park Monastery, Purple Lantana by Meditation Hall, Anissa Wood, Creative Commons12:25 Thích Nhất Hạnh, Day of Mindfulness, October 199314:17 OutroAll works of art are public domain unless stated otherwise. Ambiment- The Ambient by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

The Hoover Institution's Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region held a public session on Resilient Realists: How Taiwan Navigates Its Future in a Turbulent World on March 2, 2026 from 1:00-2:30 PM PT. Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical competition between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) has rapidly intensified, and the global order has faced growing strains. Through it all, Taiwan has remained remarkably resilient. In the face of relentless diplomatic, economic, and military pressure from Beijing, Taiwan's leaders have leveraged the island's critical role in global technology supply chains, its reputation as a robust liberal democracy, and its strategic position in the Indo-Pacific to deepen engagement with key world powers. As many Americans question core assumptions of the post-Cold War global order, the PRC's military power continues to grow, and the world stands on the cusp of a technological revolution in artificial intelligence, can Taiwan continue to navigate so deftly through turbulent geopolitical waters? To address these topics, the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region at the Hoover Institution held a fireside chat featuring Dr. Hung-mao Tien, President of the Institute for National Policy Research (INPR) in Taipei and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Dr. Tien joined in conversation by Adm. (Ret.) James O. Ellis, the Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow, and Dr. Larry Diamond, the William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.   ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Dr. Hung-mao Tien is the President and Chairman of the Institute for National Policy Research in Taipei, and board member of several foundations and business corporations in Taiwan. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). From 2000-2002, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as the chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, the semi-official body in Taiwan responsible for direct exchanges and dialogue with the People's Republic of China, Representative (ambassador) to the United Kingdom, and presidential advisor to former President Lee Teng-hui. He has also served in an advisory capacity to Harvard University's Asia Center, The Asia Society in New York, and the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.  Dr. Tien has taught in universities in both the US and Taiwan as professor of political science.  His numerous publications in English (author, editor and co-editor) include: Government and Politics in Kuomintang China 1927-37 (Stanford University Press); The Great Transition: Social and Political Change in the Republic of China (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press); and Democratization in Taiwan, Implications for China (St. Anthony's Series, Oxford University), Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies, Themes and Perspectives (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press), China Under Jiang Zemin (Rienner), and The Security Environment in the Asia-Pacific (M.E. Sharpe). He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Larry Diamond is the William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, the Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and a Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. He is also professor by courtesy of political science and sociology at Stanford, where he lectures and teaches courses on democracy (including an online course on EdX). At Hoover, he co-leads the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and participates in the Program on the US, China, and the World. At FSI, he is among the core faculty of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, which he directed for six and a half years. He leads FSI's Israel Studies Program and is a member of the Program on Arab Reform and Development. He also co-leads the Global Digital Policy Incubator, based at FSI's Cyber Policy Center. He served for thirty-two years as founding coeditor of the Journal of Democracy. Diamond's research focuses on global trends affecting freedom and democracy and on US and international policies to defend and advance democracy. His book Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency (2019; paperback ed. 2020) analyzes the challenges confronting liberal democracy in the United States and around the world and offers an agenda for strengthening and defending democracy at home and abroad. His other books include In Search of Democracy (2016), The Spirit of Democracy (2008), Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (1999), Promoting Democracy in the 1990s (1995), and Class, Ethnicity, and Democracy in Nigeria (1989). He has edited or coedited more than fifty books, including China's Influence and American Interests (2019, with Orville Schell), Silicon Triangle: The United States, Taiwan, China, and Global Semiconductor Security (2023, with James O. Ellis Jr. and Orville Schell), and The Troubling State of India's Democracy (2024, with Šumit Ganguly and Dinsha Mistree). Admiral James O. Ellis Jr. is Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he oversees both the Global Policy and Strategy Initiative and the George P. Shultz Energy Policy Working Group. He retired from a 39-year career with the US Navy in 2004. He has also served in the private and nonprofit sectors in areas of energy and nuclear security. A 1969 graduate of the US Naval Academy, Ellis was designated a naval aviator in 1971. His service as a navy fighter pilot included tours with two carrier-based fighter squadrons and assignment as commanding officer of an F/A-18 strike fighter squadron. In 1991, he assumed command of the USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. After selection to rear admiral, in 1996, he served as a carrier battle group commander, leading contingency response operations in the Taiwan Strait. His shore assignments included numerous senior military staff tours. Senior command positions included commander in chief, US Naval Forces, Europe, and commander in chief, Allied Forces, Southern Europe, during a time of historic NATO expansion. He led US and NATO forces in combat and humanitarian operations during the 1999 Kosovo crisis. Ellis's final assignment in the navy was as commander of the US Strategic Command during a time of challenge and change. In this role, he was responsible for the global command and control of US strategic and space forces, reporting directly to the secretary of defense.

The bilingual comedian talks us through the traditional “xiangsheng” form of Chinese comic repartee, and explains whether Beijing can take a joke.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to info@chinabooksreview.com.

This week on Sinica, I speak with Ryan Hass, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings and one of the most clear-eyed analysts of the U.S.-China relationship working today. Ryan was director for China at the NSC during the Obama Administration.As Donald Trump moves through his second year in office, the bilateral relationship has defied easy characterization. The once-dominant language of great power competition has receded, China hawks have been sidelined, and Trump's personalistic approach—marked by praise for Xi Jinping and a willingness to bracket ideological disputes—represents a sharp departure from recent Washington orthodoxy.Ryan has just published an essay laying out three plausible pathways for the relationship under Trump: a soft landing, a hard split, or what he considers most likely—a period of uneasy calm in which both sides seek stability not out of trust, but out of mutual constraint. We discuss Trump's apparent strategy, the vibe shift in American attitudes, Beijing's choice between managing Trump versus managing uncertainty, the critical importance of Xi's planned April visit, and whether we're headed toward genuine stabilization or just buying time before the next collision.5:24 – Trump's approach: respect for Xi, military deterrence, and the rare earths constraint8:03 – The vibe shift and Trump's “reptilian feel” for American exhaustion with confrontation10:52 – Three scenarios: soft landing, hard split, or uneasy calm through mutual constraint16:30 – Beijing's bet: managing Trump versus managing whoever comes next26:46 – Economic interdependence and why decoupling is like “separating egg whites from a scrambled egg”37:12 – The April visit as a critical test: pageantry, protests, and what both sides are watching for42:18 – Taiwan as the most dangerous variable and where theory meets practice46:58 – Lack of institutional guardrails and the risks of Trump's personalistic foreign policyPaying it forward:Audrye Wong (USC)Recommendations:Ryan: The Conscience of the Party: Hu Yaobang, China's Communist Reformer by Robert SuettingerKaiser: The Last Cavalier (Le Chevalier de Sainte-Hermine) by Alexandre Dumas; Asia Society conversation with Lizzi Lee, Bert Hoffmann, and Gerard DiPippo on rebalancing China's economy; Trivium China Podcast with Andrew Polk, Joe Peissel, Danny McMahon, and Cory Combs on capital expenditure headwindsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Islam has been part of China's religious and cultural fabric for over a millennium, yet often it is seen as a foreign element. The author of a new study explains just how wrong that is.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to info@chinabooksreview.com.

Horror writing has an unsavory reputation in China, but comes with a long history and is full of biting social commentary. The translator of a recent collection explains what lurks beneath.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to info@chinabooksreview.com.

Tales of trickery were popular in the late Ming dynasty. The translators of a new collection explain how they still resonate today.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to info@chinabooksreview.com.

Feeling stuck in the unsettling space between who you were and who you're becoming? If you're navigating midlife transitions—whether it's empty nest, perimenopause, aging parents, or shifting identity—this episode of Pleasure in the Pause offers a transformative perspective on living consciously through change.Host Gabriela Espinosa sits down with Ann Tashi Slater to explore the Buddhist concept of "bardo"—the in-between state—as a powerful model for midlife transformation. If you've been resisting change, clinging to what was, or feeling overwhelmed by uncertainty, this conversation reveals how accepting impermanence can actually open the door to deeper peace, creativity, and joy. Discover practical daily practices for meeting life's transitions with awareness instead of resistance, and learn how to live fully awake in the great in-between of midlife.Are you ready to awaken your sensuality and feel more empowered in your body? Access the FREE Pleasure Upgrade Bundle at https://www.pleasureinthepause.com/gift.Ann Tashi Slater is the author of Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World. She contributes to The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Paris Review, Oprah Daily, Guernica, Granta, and many others. Her speaking engagements include Princeton, Columbia, Oxford, the American University of Paris, and Asia Society. Highlights from our discussion include:Bardo as a midlife model: The Buddhist concept of bardo—the in-between state—perfectly describes midlife when we're no longer who we were but not yet who we're becoming.Acceptance unlocks action: True acceptance doesn't mean giving up—it allows meaningful action. We must acknowledge reality before we can move forward through any transition.Resistance causes suffering: It's not change itself that threatens us, but our resistance to it. Clinging to what was creates additional suffering on top of natural grief.Practice noticing transitions: Build comfort with impermanence by observing daily beginnings and endings—the start and end of each day, changing seasons, how you've evolved over time.This week, notice one beginning and one ending in your day. Then ask yourself: If things could be exactly as I wanted, what would my life look like? Remember—wanting to be happy isn't selfish, it's human.If you're seeking to reclaim your pleasure and vitality, join Gabriella at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.pleasureinthepause.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for this enlightening journey into the heart of female pleasure and empowerment.CONNECT WITH ANN TASHI SLATER:Traveling In BardoWebsiteCONNECT WITH GABRIELLA ESPINOSA:InstagramLinkedInWork with Gabriella! Go to https://www.gabriellaespinosa.com/ to book a call.Full episodes on YouTube. The information shared on Pleasure in the Pause is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making any decisions about your health or treatment. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or Pleasure in the Pause.

Colonized by the Dutch, Qing China and Japan, the island of Taiwan has a complicated past and a tense present. We invited the author of a new primer to lay it out for us.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to editor[at]chinabooksreview.com.

China sits at the heart of Indonesia's energy paradox — driving the country's ambitious shift toward renewables while remaining deeply entrenched in its coal economy. Chinese financing and technology are accelerating Indonesia's clean energy buildout, from nickel refining to electric vehicles and solar manufacturing. Yet the same Chinese firms are also behind large swathes of Indonesia's coal infrastructure, including off-grid plants that power the smelters fueling its industrial boom. Kevin Zongzhe Li, an affiliated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis, explored this paradox in a recent report that also details how Jakarta is carefully positioning itself among the major powers to facilitate the transition to more sustainable energy supplies. SHOW NOTES: The Asia Society Policy Institute: Indonesia's Energy Transition: Exercising Strategic Agency in Partnership with China by Kevin Zongzhe Li JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH & SPANISH:  French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine Spanish: www.chinalasamericas.com | @ChinaAmericas JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Chinese exports are booming—but ties with the U.S. are collapsing. Across Asia, from Beijing to Manila, Washington's shifting strategy under Trump is reshaping alliances and testing security guarantees that have underpinned the region for decades. Eric speaks with James Crabtree, a distinguished visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Asia Society, about how Asia's leaders are adapting to a world in flux: China's mix of confidence and anxiety amid its own economic slowdown How Trump's erratic policy is breaking apart the anti-China coalition Growing doubts in Tokyo, Seoul, and Manila about U.S. security guarantees Taiwan's precarious position and fears of being left alone Vietnam's balancing act between U.S. tariffs and China's dominance Why India is quietly building backup plans with Europe JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Tibetans inside China have found various ways to push back against Beijing and voice their dissatisfaction. A lesser-known form of subtle resistance is the art of “zurza,” or satirical repartee.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire, a digital business platform that also publishes The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to editor[at]chinabooksreview.com.

Raghu Markus and Ann Tashi Slater dive into The Tibetan Book of the Dead, bardo states, and how embracing death and impermanence can help us live with greater presence and purpose.Pick up a copy of Ann's September 2025 book, Traveling in BardoThis week on Mindrolling, Raghu and Ann discuss:The Tibetan Book of the Dead and how it can help us in modern Western cultureBardo states: the in-between, liminal spaces between death and rebirth, birth and death.How we regularly experience metaphorical death through the impermanence of relationships, identities, and momentsAccepting the reality of death and impermanence to avoid struggle and sufferingFinding grace in life-lessons and why Ram Dass initially thought his guru gave him the strokeAnn's Tibetan lineage and strong connection to her grandmother Ensuring that we are living in alignment with the things we care most about Why reflecting on death while alive can lead to more conscious, intentional livingMaintaining traditions as a way to accept reality, process grief, and find meaning in lossRecognizing our interdependence and having compassion for other peopleCheck out the film The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Way of Life, narrated by Leonard CohenAbout Ann Tashi Slater:Ann Tashi Slater has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Paris Review, Tin House, Guernica, AGNI, Granta, and many others. Her work has been featured in Lit Hub and included in The Best American Essays. In her Darjeeling Journal column for Catapult, she writes about her Tibetan family history and bardo, and she blogged for HuffPost about similar topics. She presents and teaches workshops at Princeton, Columbia, Oxford, Asia Society, and The American University of Paris, among others, and was a regular speaker at NYC's Rubin Museum of Art during the museum's 20-year run. You can learn more about Ann and sign up for her newsletter at http://www.anntashislater.com. “The really fundamental lesson of the bardo teachings is that awareness of impermanence allows us to actually, counterintuitively, find the happiness that we're looking for. When we struggle against it, we make ourselves miserable because there's nothing we can do to change it. Things end.” – Ann Tashi SlaterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From Covid as a bioweapon to Chinese soldiers infiltrating America, Alexander Boyd discusses the right-wing conspiracy theories that lead our ranking of bestselling China books.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire, a digital business platform that also publishes The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to editor[at]chinabooksreview.com.

In 2023, Dan Kurtz-Phelan spoke with the historians Stephen Kotkin and Orville Schell about what drives Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and how they are (and are not) like Mao and Stalin.  Xi and Putin loom over geopolitics in a way that few leaders have in decades. Not even Mao and Stalin drove global events the way Xi and Putin do today. Who they are, how they view the world, and what they want are some of the most important and pressing questions in foreign policy and international affairs.  Kotkin and Schell are two of the best scholars to explore these issues. Kotkin is the author of seminal scholarship on Russia, the Soviet Union, and global history, including an acclaimed three-volume biography of Stalin. He is a senior fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Schell is the Arthur Ross director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society. He is the author of 15 books, ten of them about China. He is also a former professor and dean at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. 

The author and former media mogul explains why he chose fiction as the best way to capture Shanghai's go-go years in his new novel.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire, a digital business platform that also publishes The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to editor[at]chinabooksreview.com.

Today's episode is an entry in our regular Rep Report series, where we survey the best and most interesting offerings at repertory theaters in New York City. This month and next, the rep calendar is particularly packed with gems, so Film Comment Editor Devika Girish invited filmmaker, critic, and archivist Gina Telaroli, film scholar Benjamin Crais, and Film Comment's Assistant Editor Michael Blair to spotlight some of the unmissable series on view right now or on the horizon.  The group discussed a program at Anthology Film Archives dedicated to unusual stories about immigration, which features Kidlat Tahimik's 1970s classic Perfumed Nightmare (5:56); a series at the Asia Society that pairs films from India's Parallel, or arthouse, cinema movement with classics of Bollywood (16:39); and upcoming retrospectives and screenings of the works of Luc Moullet at Film at Lincoln Center and Anthology (32:00). They also reflected on the state of repertory moviegoing in New York more broadly—including the admittedly enviable problem of too many things going on at the same time as well as what it means to see works made defiantly outside of institutional structures at august institutions.

★★歡迎點此寫電子小紙條給主持人，分享您對節目的感想。京劇武生與生角兼修的實力派青年演員，同時是興傳奇劇場的靈魂人物──朱柏澄，於2025年初獲選亞洲文化基金會（Asian Cultural Council）資助，展開為期半年的赴美藝術交流計畫。在東西方文化交會的現場，他以深厚的傳統功底與當代創作視野，展現台灣京劇的嶄新風貌。柏澄親臨《打開戲箱說故事》，分享此次美國巡演與交流經驗：從紐約梨園社春季文化節「中英雙語」介紹京劇基本功與經典橋段，到洛杉磯、舊金山的文化講座，他如何以一字馬、踢腿等高難度動作征服國際觀眾？透過「當代傳奇劇場國際總監雷碧琦」牽線與當地文化單位合作，於西岸多場講座中，深入分享當代傳奇劇場作品《凱撒》的創作脈絡，並將京劇帶入美國校園，引發熱烈回響。語言與文化的差異，是挑戰也是機會。他如何在「全英語」講座中突破表演形式的隔閡，讓台下的外國參與者驚呼連連、「叫好」不斷？又如何透過社群媒體與短影音，讓遠在台灣的粉絲們也能對於這場跨國對話產生即時共感呢？這趟「出遠門」的旅途中，他不只是京劇的傳承者，更成為文化的橋樑。現在，就讓我們跟隨他訪美的藝術行腳，翻開戲箱，娓娓道來讓世界聽見來自台灣的動人故事與傳統之聲——京劇（Jīngju）的點滴歷程。紐約，中央車站。原先預計搭車至大都會藝術博物館的柏澄，因天候影響錯過了預定的班次列車。農曆新年活動在Asia Society推出一系列的節目，包含有舞獅、武術及朱柏澄的京劇演出，一起歡慶蛇年的到來！2025年1月8日，亞洲文化基金會（Asian Cultural Council）受獎人於紐約洛克菲勒大廈的見面會。朱柏澄完成了第一場在美國的正式演出，並與凌珂老師同個化妝間，學習到不少凌珂老師對藝術、京劇和人生的觀念。在曼哈頓一路步行，轉換不同扮相與紐約融合，朱柏澄穿著行頭，無論是在小攤販或地鐵都造成了人群圍觀！於紐約大學，和Nancy教授、錢熠老師一起在課堂上分享創作思路與藝術，傳達「戲曲人文」的概念，同時淺談科技對藝術家的影響。於喬治華盛頓大學的示範講座，談台灣的傳統京劇發展，從顧正秋來台、軍中劇團到當代傳奇劇場板橋放送所的成立。2025年6月2日，朱柏澄於個人社群媒體紀實寫下：「目前看了60個表演、去了42個劇場、完成6場演講1個工作坊、參與了一檔演出，認識好多朋友，見到好多很棒的藝術家……。」究竟這趟遠行透過國際見聞激發出哪些新觀點呢？

Send us a textOn the night his new Netflix special Full Volume hits screens, global comedy icon Vir Das sits down with South Asian Trailblazers Host Simi Shah for an unforgettable podcast live-recorded at the ‪Asia Society of New York.  WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE.

Coming up on this episode of Flirtations, we're joined by Israa Nasir, a psychotherapist, speaker, mental health advocate, creator of the digital platform Well Guide, and author of the brilliant new book Toxic Productivity, here today to have a conversation with us about what it means to feel enough in a world that constantly tells us otherwise. Inside the episode, we're exploring how hustle culture and the need to always be doing something not only impacts our careers, but also how we love and date.  We'll talk about the sometimes invisible pressure to check every box and make things work, and we'll look at how comparison, perfectionism, and rushing intimacy can keep us stuck in dating loops that leave us anxious - and yet wanting more. Israa shares insights on how family and cultural expectations shape our relationships, and how we can honor our roots while still choosing ourselves.  We also get into vulnerability vs. oversharing, why external validation isn't the enemy, and how curiosity, not criticism, is the key to dating with more clarity and self-compassion. So if you've ever felt like dating was just another performance, like you're behind in this unspoken race to be partnered, or like your "enoughness" is waiting to be confirmed by someone else, this one is for you! Let's do the Flirties, and meet Israa! Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Flirtations on your favorite podcast platform, and share this episode to spread BFE - big flirt energy, all over the world! Enjoying the show and want to support my work? Buy the Flirt Coach a coffee! About our guest:  Israa Nasir is a psychotherapist, keynote speaker, and author of Toxic Productivity: Reclaim Your Time and Energy in a World That Always Demands More. She is the founder of @well.guide, a digital mental health platform with a community of over 350,000, where she shares evidence-based insights on emotional wellbeing, burnout, and the psychology of achievement in a culture that often demands constant output. Israa has been a featured speaker at global stages including SXSW, the Mental Health America National Conference, and the Asia Society, and has led workplace wellbeing initiatives at companies such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Bloomberg. She has also delivered talks and workshops at Yale University and other leading academic institutions. Her work has been featured in Time, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and Axios. About your host:  Benjamin is a flirt and dating coach sharing his love of flirting and BFE - big flirt energy - with the world! A lifelong introvert and socially anxious member of society, Benjamin now helps singles and daters alike flirt with more confidence, clarity, and fun! As the flirt is all about connection, Benjamin helps the flirt community (the Flirties!) date from a place that allows the value of connection in all forms - platonic, romantic, and with the self - to take center stage. Ultimately, this practice of connection helps flirters and daters alike create stronger relationships, transcend limiting beliefs, and develop an unwavering love for the self. His work has been featured in Fortune, NBC News, The Huffington Post, and Yoga Journal. You can connect with Benjamin on Instagram, TikTok, stream the Flirtations Flirtcast everywhere you listen to podcasts (like right here!), and find out more about working together 1:1 here.

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Karen Elliott House is a senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Elliott House retired in 2006 as publisher of The Wall Street Journal, senior vice president of Dow Jones & Company, and a member of the company's executive committee.  She is a broadly experienced business executive with particular expertise and experience in international affairs stemming from a distinguished career as a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and editor. She is author of On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines—and Future, published in September 2012 by Knopf. During a 32-year career with Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, Elliott House also served as foreign editor, diplomatic correspondent, and energy correspondent based in Washington D.C.  Her journalism awards include a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for coverage of the Middle East (1984), two Overseas Press Club awards for coverage of the Middle East and of Islam and the Edwin M. Hood award for Excellence in Diplomatic Reporting for a series on Saudi Arabia (1982). In both her news and business roles, she traveled widely over many years and interviewed world leaders including Saddam Hussein, Lee Kwan Yew,  Zhu Rongji, Vladimir Putin, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Natanyahu, Saudi King Abdullah, Hosni Mubarak, Margaret Thatcher, Richard Nixon, Helmut Kohl, George H.W. Bush, the late King Hussein and Yasser Arafat. She  has appeared frequently on television over the past three decades as an executive of the Wall Street Journal and as an expert on international relations. Elliott House has served and continues to serve on multiple non-profit boards including the Rand Corp., where she is chairman of the board, the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Asia Society, the German-American Council, and Boston University.  She also is a member of the advisory board of the College of Communication at the University of Texas. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin where in 1996 she was the recipient of the University's “Distinguished Alumnus” award.  She studied and taught at Harvard University's Institute of Politics and she holds honorary degrees from Pepperdine University (2013), Boston University (2003) and Lafayette College (1992).  She also is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The New Yorker writer discusses his new history of the Chinese in America, and immigrant identity from the Chinese Exclusion Act to Trump.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire, a digital business platform that also publishes The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to editor[at]chinabooksreview.com.

“Let me tell you about the very rich”, Scott Fitzgerald once said. “They are different from you and me”. One way they are different, the New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos reports, is that they own yachts - very very big, expensive yachts. In The Haves and The Have-Yachts, Osnos' dispatches about today's ultrarich, he takes us on board these boats to reveal the obscenity of our new gilded age. From Mark Zuckerberg's obsession with Augustus Caesar to the thin-skinned grievances of figures like Marc Andreessen and Elon Musk, Osnos explores how the personal quirks and anxieties of just 19 American plutocrats - the 0.00001% - are now reshaping our entire society. He argues we're living in an era of "flamboyant oligarchy," where billionaires openly flaunt their wealth. Citing the extraordinary tableau of tech moguls lining up in homage to Trump at his inauguration, Osnos describes our age as "the complete and total fusion of politics and plutocracy in the United States." five key takeaways1. We're Living in an Era of "Flamboyant Oligarchy" Unlike past wealthy elites who stayed hidden ("a whale that never surfaces doesn't get harpooned"), today's billionaires openly compete for attention and flaunt their wealth, fundamentally changing the relationship between extreme wealth and public life.2. Just 19 People Could Control 18% of America's Wealth The 0.00001% - currently 19 Americans - control 1.8% of national wealth today. If current trends continue, this could reach 18% within 40 years, representing an unprecedented concentration of economic power in human history.3. Personal Quirks Have Massive Social Consequences Billionaires' individual obsessions and blind spots shape society at scale - from Facebook being blue because Zuckerberg is colorblind, to his Augustus Caesar fixation influencing how he thinks about power and empire-building.4. The Complete Fusion of Politics and Plutocracy Trump's inauguration, featuring tech moguls "lined up in homage," represents the total merger of political and economic power in America - what Osnos calls a "sultanistic oligarchy" where billionaires have elevated Trump to rule on their behalf.5. Billionaires Are Surprisingly Thin-Skinned and Aggrieved Despite their wealth, figures like Musk and Andreessen are easily offended and resentful about public criticism, leading them not to retreat but to actively seek control over politics and media to reshape the narrative in their favor. BiographyEvan Lionel Richard Osnos (born December 24, 1976) is an American journalist and author who has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2008, specializing in politics and foreign affairs coverage in the United States and China. Osnos continues to be one of America's most prominent foreign correspondents and political journalists, known for his deep reporting and narrative storytelling that bridges international and domestic affairs.Current PositionsOsnos is currently a staff writer at The New Yorker, a CNN contributor, and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, based in Washington D.C.Early Life and EducationOsnos was born in London when his parents, Susan (née Sherer) Osnos and Peter L.W. Osnos, were visiting from Moscow, where his father was assigned as a correspondent for The Washington Post. He graduated with high honors from Harvard University with a Bachelor's Degree. Career HighlightsEarly Career: In 2002, he was assigned to the Middle East, where he covered the Iraq War and reported from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, and elsewhere. In 2005, he became the China correspondent. Chicago Tribune: Prior to The New Yorker, he worked as the Beijing bureau chief of the Chicago Tribune, where he contributed to a series that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. The New Yorker: Osnos joined The New Yorker in September 2008 and served as the magazine's China correspondent until 2013, maintaining a regular blog called "Letter from China" and writing articles about China's young neoconservatives, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, and the Wenzhou train crash. Major Publications* "Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China" (2014): Won the 2014 National Book Award for nonfiction and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. * "Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now" (2020): Published in October 2020, based on lengthy interviews with Biden and revealing conversations with more than a hundred others, including President Barack Obama. * "Wildland: The Making of America's Fury" (2021): Published in September 2021, about profound cultural and political changes occurring between September 11, 2001, and January 6, 2021. The book was a New York Times bestseller. * "The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich" (2025): His latest book, published in June 2025, exploring American oligarchy and the culture of excess. Awards and RecognitionOsnos has received the Asia Society's Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia, the Livingston Award for Young Journalists, and a Mirror Award for profile-writing. He received two awards from the Overseas Press Club and the Osborn Elliott Prize for excellence in journalism from the Asia Society. Personal LifeHe has been married to Sarabeth Berman since July 9, 2011. He lives with his wife and children near Washington, This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

We talked to the translator of a novel that helped launch #MeToo in Taiwan, about why both the movement and the book are having a second wind.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire, a digital business platform that also publishes The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to editor[at]chinabooksreview.com.

Nearly a quarter of global maritime trade goes through the South China Sea. In recent years, it’s become the site of clashes between Chinese coast guard ships and Philippine vessels as Beijing tries to exert its claim to virtually the entire sea despite international law. John Yang speaks with Andrew Chubb, Asia Society fellow and senior lecturer at Lancaster University, for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Ep. 322: Inney Prakash on Cannes 2025: Miroirs No. 3, Alpha, Magellan, Days and Nights in the Forest, The Girls, Homebound Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. I'm back at the Cannes Film Festival to talk about the highlights with another all-star cast of guests. This episode I sat down with Inney Prakash, a curator of film programs at Asia Society in New York and the founder and director of Prismatic Ground. We spoke about several films at the festival: Miroirs No. 3 (directed by Christian Petzold), Alpha (Julia Ducournau), Magellan (Lav Diaz), Homebound (Neeraj Ghaywan). Plus: two outstanding Cannes Classics selections—Satyajit Ray's Days and Nights in the Forest (introduced by Wes Anderson and attended by Sharmila Tagore), and Sumitra Peries' Gehenu Lamai (The Girls). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Nearly a quarter of global maritime trade goes through the South China Sea. In recent years, it’s become the site of clashes between Chinese coast guard ships and Philippine vessels as Beijing tries to exert its claim to virtually the entire sea despite international law. John Yang speaks with Andrew Chubb, Asia Society fellow and senior lecturer at Lancaster University, for more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

What can Mao Zedong teach us about Donald Trump? To find out, ChinaTalk interviewed the legendary sinologist Orville Schell, who visited China during the Cultural Revolution and is currently at the Asia Society. We discuss… Mao Zedong's psychology and political style, Similarities and differences between Mao and Trump, How Mao-era traumas reverberate in modern China, including how the Cultural Revolution has influenced the Xi family, How Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution, and which of their tactics could be useful in modern America, What civil society can do to defend democracy over the next four years. Co-hosting is Alexander Boyd, associate editor at China Books Review and former ChinaTalk intern. Read Orville's article, "Trump's Cultural Revolution," here. Read the Asia Society piece on religion and political power here. Orville's crazy Asia Society event, From Pontius Pilate to Chairman Mao: Religion and Politics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opw9vqpPBqQ&ab_channel=AsiaSociety Book recommendations: Joseph Torigian - The Party's Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping Perry Link - The Anaconda in the Chandelier - ⁠excerpt⁠ from ChinaFile William Shirer - The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Victor Klemperer - I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941 Outro music: Bach's Partita No. 1 for Solo Violin in B Minor, BWV 1002: VIII. Double, Gidon Kremer https://open.spotify.com/track/3x1Rdpgy6QGSlW9tItHYdm?si=20fa2051dc5d4f91 Aria from J.S. Bach Cantata 'Schwingt freudig euch empor' https://open.spotify.com/track/5pIy4Gll1YywqKX25EbbOb?si=520327db35f54201 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can Mao Zedong teach us about Donald Trump? To find out, ChinaTalk interviewed the legendary sinologist Orville Schell, who visited China during the Cultural Revolution and is currently at the Asia Society. We discuss… Mao Zedong's psychology and political style, Similarities and differences between Mao and Trump, How Mao-era traumas reverberate in modern China, including how the Cultural Revolution has influenced the Xi family, How Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution, and which of their tactics could be useful in modern America, What civil society can do to defend democracy over the next four years. Co-hosting is Alexander Boyd, associate editor at China Books Review and former ChinaTalk intern. Read Orville's article, "Trump's Cultural Revolution," here. Read the Asia Society piece on religion and political power here. Orville's crazy Asia Society event, From Pontius Pilate to Chairman Mao: Religion and Politics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opw9vqpPBqQ&ab_channel=AsiaSociety Book recommendations: Joseph Torigian - The Party's Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping Perry Link - The Anaconda in the Chandelier - ⁠excerpt⁠ from ChinaFile William Shirer - The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Victor Klemperer - I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941 Outro music: Bach's Partita No. 1 for Solo Violin in B Minor, BWV 1002: VIII. Double, Gidon Kremer https://open.spotify.com/track/3x1Rdpgy6QGSlW9tItHYdm?si=20fa2051dc5d4f91 Aria from J.S. Bach Cantata 'Schwingt freudig euch empor' https://open.spotify.com/track/5pIy4Gll1YywqKX25EbbOb?si=520327db35f54201 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The writer and China watcher talks us through her microhistory of Mao's last decade in power, and its relevance to Trump's MAGA movement.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire, a digital business platform that also publishes The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to editor[at]chinabooksreview.com.

On this week's Look Ahead Podcast, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian discuss the $150 billion House Armed Services Committee's reconciliation package that will be deliberated this week that prioritizes ships, missile defense and autonomous systems; implications of tariffs across the defense industrial base; takeaways from earnings reports last week; outlook for combat aircraft programs like the B-21 Spirit bomber as well as F-35 Lightning II and the Navy's FA-XX future fighters; takeaways from the joint event by the Washington International Trade Association and the Asia Society; and a look at the week ahead.

In our third episode on beliefs and ideologies, we explore China’s newfound enthusiasm for psychiatry. Counselling was only registered as a profession in 2001 yet has seen a massive boom under Xi Jinping. The psy-boom is such that even party branch meetings are doing mindfulness exercises, and practitioners are trying to indigenise counselling practices. There’s plenty to work on; the 2022 China Mental Health Survey found seven percent of the population were suffering from depression, half of them schoolchildren. To explore what’s drawing China to the couch, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Yiying Xiong, a counsellor and associate professor at John Hopkins University, Barclay Bram, an audio journalist at the Economist and fellow at the Asia Society, and medical anthropologist Hsuan-Ying Huang, from Taiwan’s National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. Image: c/- Wikimedia Commons, Sigmund Freud's Couch, London, 2004. Episode transcripts are available at: https://ciw.anu.edu.au/podcasts/little-red-podcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The author of "The Six" tells us about the Chinese survivors of the Titanic, and how they were met with racist scorn on arrival in America after the disaster.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire, a digital business platform that also publishes The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to editor[at]chinabooksreview.com.

The memoirist and novelist talks us through her grandmother and mother's stories, as well as her own, and discusses how the status of women has changed in China through the decades.The China Books Podcast is a companion of China Books Review, a project of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations and The Wire, a digital business platform that also publishes The Wire China. For any queries or comments, please write to editor[at]chinabooksreview.com.

Semiconductors, EVs, AI, TSMC, BYD, DeepSeek... In a time when trade, technology, and global power dynamics are more interconnected and in flux than ever before, we turn to an expert on all those things on this episode: John Lee, a leading voice on high-tech industries in China and the region, and on how they impact foreign relations. John is the 2025 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzerland, which means he'll be around frequently this year to explore key global challenges, geopolitics, and the impact of technological advances on it all. He has also been named a Fellow at Asia Society's Center for China Analysis. The TOY Senior Fellowship is made possible through the generous support of Max and Monique Burger and the "Thinking of Yves" Family, Hong Kong. This episode is from Asia Society Switzerland's STATE OF ASIA podcast, bringing you exclusive, engaging conversations with leading minds on issues that shape Asia and affect us all. More info and other episodes: https://asiasociety.org/switzerland/podcast-state-asia.

The U.S.-China relationship is at a critical inflection point as Donald Trump tries to reset ties with his counterpart Xi Jinping. The U.S. President has repeatedly said he wants to negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement that would, in his view, lead to a dramatic de-escalation of tensions. Unsurprisingly, China Hawks, many in his own government, are skeptical that Trump will get what he wants from Xi. Regardless, reverberations from the U.S.-China conflict are felt far beyond the borders of these two countries, particularly in Africa, Asia, and across the Global South. Veteran journalist Jane Perlez joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the new season of her popular podcast, "Faceoff: The U.S. vs. China" and the key trends policymakers everywhere should focus on. SHOW NOTES: Listen to Faceoff: U.S. vs. China on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque  Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

Happy Chinese New Year! This week, while I'm decompressing from 10 days in the Alps, my friends at the Asia Society of Switzerland have graciously offered to let me share a podcast recorded just after the U.S. presidential election in November at their annual State of Asia event. "The State of China" features three terrific guests: Wang Qing (王卿), the host of the popular Chinese podcast "The Weirdo" (不合时宜), Zichen Wang of the Center for China and Globalization, and Adam Tooze, one of the truly great public intellectuals of our time. It's all skillfully moderated by the South China Morning Post's Europe editor, Finbarr Bermingham, and it covers a lot of ground. I'll be back next week in conversation with my dear friend Jeremy Goldkorn, and we'll be asking (and answering) the big question — Are we in the middle of a narrative shift on China?May the Year of the Snake be prosperous and full of happiness and success for all you Sinica listeners!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, I'm joined by Lizzi Lee, fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute and by my lights one of the most astute, well-informed people writing on China in the English-speaking world today. She has fascinating perspectives on China's preparations for the Trump administration, on China's reluctance to roll out large-scale cash stimulus, and Xi Jinping's challenges. Don't miss this one! (I will update the show notes and publish the transcript early next week — thanks for your patience!)3:39 – Lizzi's argument from her op-ed, “Counting the Hawks in the Trump 2.0 Administration is Pointless”: the importance of which country will be able to get its act together 10:25 – U.S.-China competition as a long game, from China's perspective14:22 – How China views the current state of division in American politics19:00 – The main risks and opportunities for China presented by Trump's return, including opportunities in the geopolitical realm with the Europeans 28:09 – The state of China's domestic economy33:28 – Counterarguments to critiques of China's cautious deployment of stimulus, and where Lizzi stands on the issue 43:46 – Lizzi's thoughts on deflation in the Chinese economy 49:30 – The idea of accepting short-term pain for long-term gain in economic recovery 53:59 – Xi Jinping's vision for China's economy 58:46 – How Xi Jinping's ideological language can be challenging for officials and markets 1:03:57 – How China's political calendar has hindered execution of policy 1:06:42 – What Lizzi thinks the Chinese leadership should prioritize nowPaying it Forward: Lizzi recommends the work of Barclay Bram, especially his series on Chinese youth at the Asia Society here.Recommendations:Lizzi: Grazia Ting Deng's book Chinese Espresso: Contested Race and Convivial Space in Contemporary ItalyKaiser: More historical fiction by Robert Harris, including An Officer and a Spy and Munich.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tensions between China and the Philippines over territorial disputes in the South China Sea flared anew in December after another confrontation at sea. Soon after two vessels collided near the contested Scarborough Shoal, representatives from both sides took to the airwaves to blame the other for the latest incident. Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Philippines counterpart Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. have made it clear they will not concede even a single inch of territory they claim rightfully belongs to their countries. Don McLain Gill, a Manila-based lecturer at De La Salle University, joins Eric to discuss why the situation going into the new year will remain very tense. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social FOLLOW CGSP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC: Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine Arabic: عربي: www.alsin-alsharqalawsat.com | @SinSharqAwsat JOIN US ON PATREON! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth