Podcasts about Chinese

*Timestamps are approximate* TIME TOPIC 0:00 Podcast intro with Dave & Chuck "The Freak"0:01 - - - AD MARKER - - -0:01 EMAIL: Another Chuck lookalike on Grinder0:03 EMAIL: A.I. created chocolate Chuck baby0:15 EMAIL: Told girl on Tinder that she had good knockers0:16 Power failure on roller coaster, people had to walk down the stairs from the top0:20 Girl and her boyfriend got into huge fight over taking $15 out of his pants0:24 NEWS0:24 Woman opened her car door, stepped out and fell down manhole, died0:29 New video of UPS plane crash from last year0:33 Severe weather around the country0:36 Bus driver was brake checking with students on board0:42 Hikers rescued after they were attacked by bees0:45 Legal battle over a winning lotto ticket0:52 Video of goose chasing a lazy puppy0:56 - - - AD MARKER - - -0:56 Dave's behind the scenes drama yesterday1:05 CELEBRITY DIRT1:05 NBA and NHL playoffs update1:07 Rasher Rice has to spend some time in jail for violating parole1:08 A future Super Bowl is scheduled for Nashville1:10 Influencer and her father charged in plot to kill a boy band1:14 How much Kim Kardashian wants in compensation for kidnapping her1:17 The couple who hosted GMA's exes ended up getting together1:20 Kathy Lee Gifford has listed her Connecticut estate for $100M1:25 Criticism of new Star Wars movie1:26 Billy Idol biopic is unauthorized, Billy wants it stopped1:29 Steven Tyler looking more like a lady than ever1:30 People bought front row seats for Harry Styles can't see stage because of the 10' walkways1:32 Aqua is calling it quits after 30 years1:37 - - - AD MARKER - - -1:36 PERVERT OF THE DAY1:36 A landlord is accused of having sex in tenant's home1:51 Guy busted recording inside of a women's locker room at the gym1:57 Guy grabbed a woman's chest and thigh on flight1:58 Man on drugs found dancing in the road, holding a rare turtle2:00 Guy showed up drunk to pick up his buddy who was arrested for DUI2:02 Old guy confronted children who were stealing stuff from his yard, kids pulled a gun on him2:09 The most desired male body types (is "dad-bod" still in?)2:18 DOUCHEBAG OF THE DAY2:18 Rideshare driver used A.I. pics to falsely accuse customers of leaving a mess in the car2:24 - - - AD MARKER - - -2:24 School administrator on trial, accused of not doing enough to prevent a school shooting2:28 Woman says that a guy has been harassing her for years after one Marketplace listing2:36 Someone SWATTED the gaming grandma2:41 Woman says that the Amazon chat bot tried to turn her daughter against her2:36 B. FAT BITCH ALERT2:36 Heart Attack Grill going out of business in Vegas because the city has turned more to fine dining2:53 - - - AD MARKER - - -2:53 NEWS2:53 WHAT'S UP WITH THE ASIANS?2:53 A California town mayor turned out to be a Chinese spy2:58 Woman shot and car jacked while shopping at Old Navy3:04 - - - AD MARKER - - -3:04 Wealthy guy was hiking with son, fell from cliff, son now suspect of murder3:09 People making money on valuable stuff that kids are leaving behind in their dorms3:11 10-year-old found wedding ring and returned it to the owner3:18 - - - AD MARKER - - -3:18 IDIOT CRIMINAL OF THE DAY3:18 Guy had to be rescued after getting trapped in a wall during a burglary END OF SHOWSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Justice Department is preparing to announce criminal charges against a former Cuban president. Chinese leader Xi Jinping praised his Russian counterpart and jabbed President Donald Trump during a meeting in China today. US gas prices are expected to rise over the holiday weekend. Senate Republicans are scrambling after Trump endorses in a tight Texas Senate primary runoff. Plus, a former Atlanta mayor is one step closer to potentially becoming the nation's first Black woman governor.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

– Happy Memorial Day – A WARM DHU welcome to Kevin Warsh – good luck fella, you are going to need it sir. – The new transient inflation. – Another BOARD? These guys like to make exclusive clubs… PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts! Click HERE for Show Notes and Links DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar. Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter Warm-Up - Happy Memorial Day - A WARM DHU welcome to Kevin Warsh - good luck fella, you are going to need it - The new transient inflation - Another BOARD? These guys like to make exclusive clubs... Markets - Starting to come in a bit..... - Yield curve steepening - potential for a hike over cuts - YIELDS! - Fuels running low - we have the list OH MY... - The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield has surged to around 5.14%, putting it at its highest level since the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis - Bets are pricing in the increasingly possibility of it reaching 5.5% to 6%, which would mark the highest levels since late 1999 - 30-Year mortgage near 6.35% (average) - DOWN from 6.91% at start of 2026 30-Year Yield Bored of Boards - The Board of Peace - remember that one? That was established in 2025 with 15+ countries that pitched in $1 billion for permanent seat - Indefinitely chaired by President Trump, the governing board is a mix of U.S. officials and prominent American businessmen. - So much for the peace part of that.... - Now we hear about the Board of Investment ---The US and China are discussing a mechanism for fast-tracking some Chinese investment deals and a reduction in tariffs on non-critical goods. - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned a "Board of Investment" that will be responsible for investment in non-sensitive areas. - The idea of the "Board of Investment" is to have a mechanism that could allow deals that wouldn't need to be referred to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. - In other words - working outside of the established channels that primary function is to determine whether these transactions pose risks to U.S. national security. IRAN - On and off as usual - Cancelled a scheduled bombing? - President Trump speaking with reporters says he will know "soon" if U.S. needs to give Iran another big hit; says Gulf states are helping with negotiations; says Iran keeps agreeing to things and changing their mind; says Iran has 2-3 days to make a deal - This is the parental attempt to manupluate a child - I am going to count to THREE.... 1-2-3-4-5-6 China Trip - Chinese President Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday that the U.S. and China “will have clashes and even conflicts” if the long-standing issue of Taiwan's independence is mishandled. - Speaking just ahead of Trump, Xi noted the global attention on the meeting, and said a major question for the two countries was whether they could avoid the “Thucydides Trap,” according to an official English translation of his remarks broadcast by CCTV. - The Thucydides Trap refers to how tensions historically between a rising and ruling power have often resulted in a war. Some Observations - Veggie Prices are off the charts --- Cauliflower $9, Carrots $6 small bag (not organic) - - Favorite produce store noticed things going bad.... Realized that people are not buying stuff PPI Inflation - HOTTTTTTTT - Headline MoM: +1.4% - YoY: +6.0% - Core PPI (ex food & energy): about +1.0% MoM - Energy was a big part, but services also saw a large move - Highest monthly increase since march 2022 --- In reaction bonds are selling off - highest on 10 and 30 year since March 2024 (10 YR Broke above 4.65) Outbreak - An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization - 80 deaths were attributed to the disease. - Outbreak does not meet pandemic criteria, WHO says - Eight laboratory-confirmed cases and 246 suspected cases - At least six Americans in the DRC have been exposed to the Ebola virus, with three exposures deemed high risk WHAT? - One of the highest margin foods, pizza and pasta - Domino's Pizza, is among the pizza giants whose franchisees have filed for bankruptcy - Papa Johns: We have identified approximately 300 underperforming restaurants across North America that are not meeting brand expectations or lack a clear path to sustainable financial improvement, as well as locations where we can effectively transfer sales to a nearby restaurant - Pizza Hut, which also hasn't filed for bankruptcy (YET) , won't be left out of closings as the company's parent Yum! Brands in February said that it would close 250 underperforming locations as part of its Hut Forward plan in the first half of 2026. - PZZA down 65% over the past 5 years - The Papa John's board formally ousted founder and former CEO John "Papa" John" Schnatter in a series of steps culminating in July 2018 and March 2019 BONDS - Yields Spiking - U.S. Treasury yields spiked on Friday following a week of messy inflation data and as traders looked to price interest rate policy under new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. - The yield on the 30-year bond jumped nearly 11 basis points to yield 5.121%, the highest since May 22, 2025, and nearing the highest since October 2023. - Japanese long-term bond yields have surged to multi-decade highs, with the 10-year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) hitting 2.8%—its highest level since October 1996 M&A Utilities - U.S. power companies NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy announced a plan to merge on Monday in a $66.8 billion deal that ?will form one of the world's largest electric utilities during an expansion of energy-intensive data centers to support artificial intelligence. - The all-stock transaction, which is pending ?regulatory approvals, is one of the largest-ever energy mergers. - Industry consolidation - -- This year, AES Corp agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners and Swedish ?private-equity firm EQT AB for $33.4 billion. ---- That followed Constellation Energy's $16 billion deal with Calpine and Blackstone's $11.5 billion deal for TXNM Energy last year. SOYBEANS - Trump's visit to China yielded little in the way of anything - The United States expects China to sign up to buy "double-digit billions" worth of U.S. farm goods following a summit between Presidents Donald ?Trump and Xi Jinping in Beijing, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on ?Friday. - Greer noted the 25 million metric ton per year soybean deal agreed last October and said the U.S. also expects to "see an agreement for double-digit billion purchases of ags over the next three years per year ?coming out of this visit." - Soybeans and other commodity prices moved higher on Monday as the news was disseminated. CHYNA Deals? - Looks like Boeing got an order of 200 more planes from China. ---- The problem is that was much less that was expected -- Boeing was down on the news. - Some murmurs about China buying more energy (oil, gas) from US - - - There was also something said about President Xi asking about the US intentions of Taiwan Bessent - Transitory - Even with recent inflation news universally bad, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expects price pressures to ease soon, just in time for new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh to take over. -- Why are we listening to this crew? They have been wrong about everything - but say it with such confidence. - WAIT FOR IT...... - “I firmly believe that nothing is more transient than a supply shock, and we can, we can look through that, because before the Iranian conflict began, core inflation was coming down. - He noted that he sees substantial disinflation ahead ----- IF there is substantial disinflation that would be bad news as the economy will be slowing precipitously - could be problematic - so it is not clear what he is so excited about Earnings - NVDA is going to be position earnings Wednesday after the close - So far Semiconductor companies and storage companies have been saying that the orders keep flowing in and -  Wall Street analysts project EPS of $1.78 on revenue of $79.2 billion, representing a year-over-year revenue increase of roughly 80%. Open AI - Musk - R0und 1- Musk looses on what looks to be a technicality - Perhaps jurors were miffed that he skipped closing arguments and went to China instead (to be the the Trump Posse) - Naturally he is already discussing appeal Even more Create Financing - Google (GOOG/GOOGL) and Blackstone (BX) are drawing significant investor attention following the announcement of TPU Cloud, a new U.S.-based joint venture designed to commercialize GOOG's Tensor Processing Unit infrastructure at greater scale. - The partnership underscores the accelerating arms race in AI infrastructure, while also highlighting how hyperscalers are increasingly turning to alternative financing structures to fund the enormous capital requirements tied to next-generation AI compute expansion. Fuel Shortages - In case anyone thought otherwise - the Straight is till closed. Fuel Running Low - India: Severe LPG (cooking gas) shortages, rationing in many areas - Pakistan & Bangladesh: Critical LPG and diesel shortages - Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia): Jet fuel & diesel shortages, flight cuts - South Korea & Taiwan: Tight jet fuel and refined product stocks - Europe (especially UK): Jet fuel critically low, risk of flight cancellations - Africa (South Africa, Nigeria, parts of East Africa): Jet fuel and import shortages - CUBA - OUT Cooking Fuel (LPG) Shortages - India: Severe shortages, long queues, rationing - Pakistan: Critical LPG shortage, heavy rationing - Bangladesh: Major shortages, price spikes - Nepal & Sri Lanka: Supply cuts, half-filled cylinders common - Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, etc.): Tight supplies and high prices - Africa: Sharp price increases, reduced affordability - Europe/US: Mostly higher prices, no major physical shortages Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? Announcing the THE CLOSEST TO THE PIN for SALESFORCE (CRM)   Winners will be getting great stuff like the new "OFFICIAL" DHUnplugged Shirt!     FED AND CRYPTO LIMERICKS   See this week's stock picks HERE Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter

Victoria Lai has lived several careers in one lifetime: presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, entrepreneur, and now business advisor and nonprofit COO. But her biggest pivot came when she nurtured her passion for making ice cream on nights and weekends while working a serious government job. In this extra sweet episode, Victoria walks us through how a $25 Craigslist ice cream maker and a promise to herself led to Ice Cream Jubilee, the award-winning DC-area business celebrated by Food & Wine, the Washington Post, and Thrillist, and what it felt like to eventually sell the business she'd spent nearly a decade building. She also opens up about her family's Chinese immigrant history and how it shaped both her flavors and her sense of purpose, and why she considers her latest pivot back to mission-driven work the most fitting chapter yet. Chapters: 00:00.160 Welcome to She Pivots 00:28.360 Guest Introduction: Victoria Lai 01:58.160 Childhood Memories and Family Influences 06:57.320 The Path to Law School and Government Work 10:58.576 Finding Inspiration in New York City 13:02.754 The Birth of Ice Cream Jubilee 26:36.392 Taking the Leap: From Government to Ice Cream 32:46.677 "Ice cream-preneurship" 36:07.043 Achieving Success and Letting Go 39:02.320 A New Chapter: Coaching and Personal Growth 44:18.680 Closing Thoughts and Gratitude 44:40.626 Podcast Credits You can keep up with Ice Cream Jubilee at their website, www.icecreamjubilee.com Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a pivot story, leave us a rating (it really helps!), and share this episode with a woman in your life who you think needs a little inspiration. She Pivots is a podcast created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight influential women voices, share stories of bold career moves, and inspire women with interviews about career reinvention and how personal pivots can redefine professional success. Join our Substack community! Subscribe here for exclusive content and to connect with other pivoters: shepivots.substack.com Learn more about the inspiring women in our pivoter community by following us on instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast, and check out our website shepivotspod.com for resources and updates. She Pivots is proud to be an iheart podcast.Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been a couple years since we've done a full-fledged wedding episode, and we're now much more experienced wedding-attenders than before! Today we chat about how our mindset of attending weddings has changed over the past few years, discuss our favorite parts of the wedding, and dissect small things we do to be a supportive guest at a wedding!Support the showFollow us on social media @eatyourcrustpod

DESCRIPTION Tara dives into a massive political and geopolitical showdown as President Trump threatens Iran with military action while continuing negotiations critics say resemble the Obama-era nuclear deal. Plus, a fiery interview with congressional challenger Robert E. Lee targeting Congressman William Timmons, MAGA infighting over Epstein transparency, and growing outrage over the Luigi Mangione case in New York. EPISODE SUMMARY Today's episode covers escalating tensions with Iran as Vice President JD Vance confirms the United States is “locked and loaded” if negotiations fail. Tara questions whether the administration is showing weakness by threatening force while continuing diplomacy despite repeated Iranian aggression and reports of Chinese weapons support. The show also features an interview with congressional candidate Robert E. Lee, who announces his Republican primary challenge against Congressman William Timmons in South Carolina's 4th District. The discussion centers on America First politics, foreign policy disagreements inside MAGA, the Epstein files controversy, and divisions within the Republican base. Later, Tara breaks down the latest developments in the Luigi Mangione murder case and argues the left is attempting to rehabilitate political violence by weakening prosecution efforts. KEY TALKING POINTS JD Vance says Trump is prepared to strike Iran if necessary Trump claims military action against Iran was “an hour away” Tara questions whether ongoing negotiations embolden Tehran Allegations emerge that China continues rearming Iran Debate intensifies over America First foreign policy Robert E. Lee launches challenge against Congressman William Timmons Epstein files controversy creates fractures inside MAGA Luigi Mangione case sparks accusations of political favoritism in New York courts FEATURED QUOTES “We are not going to have a deal that allows the Iranians to have a nuclear weapon.” “Trump promises almost daily to blow Iran away and then doesn't.” “You can't negotiate with that, and they've proved it.” “The alternative is much worse — a nuclear armed Iran.” “They will make sure their hero walks free.” SEO KEYWORDS Trump Iran deal, JD Vance Iran, William Timmons challenger, Robert E Lee Congress, Epstein files controversy, Luigi Mangione case, China arming Iran, America First movement, MAGA civil war, conservative talk radio, South Carolina politics, Iran nuclear threat

Shirley Chung is the Beijing-born chef who went from Silicon Valley to working in kitchens for Thomas Keller, Guy Savoy, and José Andrés—then found national fame as a two-time Top Chef finalist and became the “Dumpling Queen of Los Angeles.” In 2024, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 tongue cancer. She refused surgery, closed her restaurant, moved to Chicago for treatment, and came out on the other side: in remission, with a $100,000 competition win under her belt and a new Chinese restaurant in Dallas, Night Rooster. We've always admired Shirley's work, on and off camera, and this conversation covers her incredible career and her singular voice in the restaurant world. Subscribe to This Is TASTE: ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Norman gives his ninth talk on the “Awakening  of Faith in the Mahayana” at the 2026 Villa Maria del Mar Sesshin – Talk 1 referencing the book “The Awakening of Faith: Attributed to Asvaghosa.”  Asvaghosha's text, translated into Chinese in 500 AD, was written as a comprehensive summary of the essentials of Mahayana Buddhism. We study it as deep background on the principles that animate Suzuki Roshi's teaching in his book “Becoming Yourself.” Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you. https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/edz.assets/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Awakening-of-Faith-in-the-Mahayana-Talk-9-Sesshin-Villa-Maria-del-Mar-Talk-1.mp3

U.S. clothing brand Everlane is reportedly being sold to the Chinese company Shein, which has faced controversy over its business practices. Puck Fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman, who first reported the deal, discusses what to know and the potential impact on consumers.   "CBS Mornings" exclusively announced that Athlos winners will earn equity in the league at this year's event. This is in addition to competing for the largest prize pool in league history at more than $2.1 million across seven events. Athlos' founder Alexis Ohanian explains how it will work, how it can change professional sports and why it's important to him.   Americans spend billions every year on skin care products, but experts say using too many products could hurt your skin. Dr. Rachel Nazarian explains how to protect what's known as your skin barrier and why it's important.   Actor Beanie Feldstein talks about the theme of her debut children's book, which focuses on the power of friendship. She also discusses becoming a parent soon and starring in a new film with Robert De Niro.   Author Bruce Feiler witnessed or took part in a wide range of rituals as he traveled to 16 countries on six continents over three years. He says rituals can cure the loneliness epidemic and joins "CBS Mornings" to explain how. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yukon Metals CEO Jim Coates joins Ian Wagner in Frankfurt to discuss the company's expanding Yukon and northern B.C. exploration portfolio. Coates outlines the newly acquired KLM project, which extends the company's copper-gold porphyry thesis south toward the Golden Triangle, alongside active work at Birch and AZ. He also discusses Yukon Metals' tungsten portfolio, which has gained relevance amid supply shortages, Chinese export restrictions, and rising defense demand. The company trades on the CSE under YMC and OTCQB under YMMCF.

- Stellantis and JLR Look to Join Forces - Stellantis and Dongfeng Form EU Joint Venture - Tesla Ramps China FSD Hiring - All Chinese Brands Have U.S. Ambitions - Toyota and Lexus PHEV Owners Plug In - Volvo Joins In-Car AI Trend - VW Brands Leverage Common EV Platform - Kia Launches Bigger Seltos Globally - Mercedes Unveils Insane AMG EV

Joe's Premium Subscription: www.standardgrain.comGrain Markets and Other Stuff Links —Apple PodcastsSpotifyTikTokYouTubeFutures and options trading involves risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone.Grain and soybean futures surged Monday after a White House fact sheet revealed China committed to purchasing $17 billion in US agricultural products annually for the next three years — though key details and formal Chinese confirmation are still pending. Corn, soybeans, and wheat all rallied sharply as funds bought aggressively across the board.US winter wheat conditions continued to slide, with good-excellent ratings hitting their lowest level since 1996. The top five HRW-producing states are averaging just 9.6% good-to-excellent and 62.6% poor-to-very-poor, with the USDA pegging the HRW crop at 515 million bushels—down 36% from last year. Corn and soybean planting are both running ahead of average, and the forecast favors additional Corn Belt rainfall over the next five days.Brazil's inflation outlook is worsening, now projected at 4.5% by year-end—well above the central bank's 3% target—largely driven by higher oil prices tied to the Iran conflict. Brazilian farmers continue to face steep borrowing costs, with private loan rates exceeding 17%.US corn export inspections dipped last week but remain strong on the season. Soybean inspections were up 115% year-over-year, with China accounting for roughly 42% of the week's total. Wheat shipments fell below expectations.President Trump delayed a planned strike on Iran following requests from Persian Gulf allies, though WTI crude still settled up ~3% at $108.66/barrel. The administration extended a sanctions waiver on Russian oil sales for another 30 days amid ongoing pressure heading into the midterms.

By the end of the 1880s, Dunbar was one of the most respected and influential members of Portland's business community, and a member of the Arlington Club. But all was not well with him. It's not clear what happened to push Dunbar over the edge into industrial-scale criminal enterprise. It may have been the death of his wife. It may also have been the influence of Nat Blum, a flamboyant cigar-store owner who was a junior partner in Merchants Steamship Co. Or maybe he was criminally inclined all along, believing on a philosophical level that the U.S. government had no right to tell him what he could and could not do with his steamships. Or, maybe he just hated waste. After all, nobody in Portland was buying shiploads of Chinese goods; each time one of his steamships left Portland, loaded with grain bound for buyers in China, it had to sail back home in ballast. Not only was the return trip wasted, but Dunbar had to pay draymen to load and unload the ballast rocks that would keep the ship stable and safe. We can imagine him thinking about this: What cargo could I bring from China to Portland, on the return voyages, after bringing wheat from Portland to China? And we can imagine him realizing that there were two cargoes that would be extremely lucrative for him: People, and opium. (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/22-12.blum-dunbar-opium-smugglers-616.html)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defends before a Senate subcommittee the newly-created $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund designed to compensate people unfairly targeted by the federal government. Democrats on the committee call it President Donald Trump's slush fund; President Trump endorses in the Texas U.S. Senate Republican primary runoff Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn; President Trump tells reporters he was an hour away from ordering more military strikes on Iran when the request came from Mideast allies to give diplomacy another chance; President brings the media out to see the White House ballroom construction site, as Senate Democrats pledge to force Republicans to vote on whether they support a proposed $1 billion in taxpayer money for security upgrades included in a bill scheduled for floor debate this week; Centers for Disease Control & Prevention gives an update on the U.S. response to the deadly Ebola outbreak in Africa; Justice Department says Chinese executives and shipping container companies have been indicted on charges they restricted the supply of shipping containers during the COVID-19 pandemic to raise prices; Congressional Black Caucus Members celebrate that a college sports compensation bill has been pulled from the House floor schedule this week. CBC says it opposes the bill because it would "benefit major athletic institutions that continue to remain silent while Black voting rights and Black political power are being systematically dismantled across the South.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's your favorite hobby – music, travel, or something else? In this episode of Takeaway Chinese, you'll discover some of the trendiest hobbies among young people in China right now! Join us to learn useful expressions, fun cultural insights, and everyday vocabulary! On the show: Niu Honglin & Steve. (02:22) Describe your hobbies in Chinese. (12:36) What are some trending hobbies in China?

Welcome to The China Code, where every two weeks we break down a trending Chinese internet buzzword. Today's phrase: 祛魅 （qū mèi） – stripping away the "filter" and seeing the truth underneath. Have you ever finally gotten something you deeply wanted – only to realize it felt… more ordinary than you imagined? In China, more and more young people are using the word 祛魅 to describe that moment when the filter comes off and reality comes into focus. Let's talk about why people are "demystifying" the modern dream, and what happens when we stop chasing the fantasy and start seeing things as they really are. CONTACT THE TEAM We'd love to hear your feedback or suggestions for future buzzwords! Email: crilearnchinese@gmail.com Facebook: @crilearnchinese TikTok: @takeaway.chinese

On today's Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Nigel Inkster, a former director of operations and intelligence at Britain's Secret Intelligence Service who is now a senior adviser for Cyber Security and China at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to review President Trump's summit meeting with Xi Jinping last week and what to expect from the Chinese leader's meeting with Vladimir Putin this week in Beijing; the implications of Trump executing his “grand bargain” that trades Taiwan for stability in the Indo-Pacific; whether Washington's mixed messages and depleted arsenal increases the prospect of conflict; the lessons Beijing has taken from US actions in Venezuela and Iran; how Beijing is capitalizing on the Washington's focused efforts to shatter the rules-based order created in the wake of World War II to prevent another global conflict; the dissolution of that rules-based order and whether Beijing has the will use its vast resources to enact a new order that supplants the United States; and the impact of AI on cybersecurity.

- Chinese Cars Infiltrate America Anyway - Chinese Robotaxis Dodge U.S. Tech Bans - Xpeng Robotaxis Ditch Lidar For Cameras - WeRide Plans Massive Robotaxi Fleet - Will Robotaxis Cripple Car Sales? - Carvana Rattles Stellantis Dealers - U.S. Fees Fleece EV and Hybrid Drivers - Renault Launches Niagara Hybrid Truck - Geely Buys Radar Pickup Brand - Risky Auto Loans Spark Alarm

Last time we spoke about the New Fourth Army Incident. Across the Second Sino-Japanese War, the CCP entered after the setbacks of the 1930s, seeking to become a national leader in resistance while remaining cautious toward the Nationalist government. The 1936 Xi'an Incident reshaped politics, and by August 1937 KMT–CCP agreements defined a working arrangement: the CCP acknowledged KMT leadership and integrated its forces, while still pursuing political space and autonomy. As the war progressed, the CCP focused on defining its relationship with the KMT and keeping operational independence during cooperation. Mao Zedong managed this alliance by promoting a united front against Japan, yet protecting CCP revolutionary goals and internal control. The establishment of the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army marked this military reorganization. Throughout, the CCP feared that KMT collaboration with Japan could enable a peace settlement that would undermine communist legitimacy and restrict the party's future authority thereafter.   #202 The One Hundred Regiment Offensive Phase One Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Simultaneously with the friction between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Japanese were also working to take control of—and extract value from—most of the territory they had nominally conquered. Treating these two processes separately—"friction" on the one hand and "consolidation" on the other—does violence to the real difficulty of the CCP's dilemma: the Party often had to confront both problems at the same time. At certain moments, the CCP was effectively forced to wage a two-front struggle. Even so, if the worst of the KMT–CCP friction had already eased by 1941, the most serious and painful challenges posed by Japanese consolidation were still ahead. To recover anything close to reality, the two timelines have to be read together and placed on top of one another. The Japanese understood that consolidation could not be postponed, because much of the land behind the furthest reaches of their army was still only weakly under their actual control. In some places, order could be restored by relatively direct methods: rebuilding local administration and policy authority; repairing transportation and communications; enrolling Chinese personnel—usually, as it turned out, people of dubious reliability—as police or militia under puppet regimes; registering the local population; and requiring identity cards. In true old-style Chinese fashion, collective security practices were used widely. One form was the familiar bao-jia system, in one variant or another. Another was the so-called "railway-cherishing village": a village would be assigned a nearby stretch of track, and if residents failed to "cherish" it, they were held collectively responsible. Yet early Japanese weakness in northern China is vividly illustrated by an incident in the summer of 1938. Three young foreigners—vacationing from teaching in Peiping (Beijing)—were curious about events and about what people were doing. They loaded their bicycles on a southbound train, got off at Baoding, and rode west until they ran into Eighth Route Army detachments. In the early period of the war, commanders generally wanted to rely on more mobile forms of warfare. Mao, however, insisted on a strategy of de-escalation and dispersion: breaking the 8RA and New Fourth Army into small units as nuclei for combat, recruitment, political work, and base-area construction. Under this approach, few engagements could be truly dramatic in scale, and most were constrained by the need to survive. Each skirmish had to be carefully planned. The CCP would use local intelligence and the element of surprise so that a detachment could strike and withdraw before its limited ammunition ran out or before enemy reinforcements arrived. Small Japanese patrols and puppet units could be ambushed not only to seize weapons and other material, but also to inflict casualties. Active collaborators, or Japanese-sponsored administrative personnel, could be assassinated. Above all, Communist action aimed to disrupt transportation: mining roads; cutting down telegraph poles, stealing wire, and cutting rail lines; sabotaging rolling stock; and, at times, carrying off steel rails so that primitive arsenals could be supplied. Attempting derailments was also part of the effort. Destroying a bridge or a locomotive counted as a major achievement. Both the Communists and the Japanese understood that these tactics did not decisively shift the overall strategic balance. Still, they worked at other levels. For the Japanese, the result was a constant series of small wounds—painful, bleeding, and potentially infectious. Few areas in the countryside felt truly safe. Japanese field commanders documented growing frustration as they tried to eliminate resistance, restore administration, collect taxes, and prepare for more systematic and effective economic exploitation of conquered territory. Guerrilla warfare against the Japanese cannot be judged only in conventional battle terms—numbers of engagements, casualties, or territory occupied. It had to be evaluated politically and psychologically as well, exactly as Mao repeatedly emphasized. Since the CCP's wartime legitimacy depended on its patriotic claims, enough fighting had to be carried out to maintain credibility. Moreover, military success mattered for mobilizing the "basic masses," persuading wavering people to keep an open mind, and neutralizing opposition. As the logic put it, it was not that people always chose the side that was winning, but that few would ever join a side they believed was losing. One experienced cadre described the effect this way: Among the guerrilla units… there is a saying that "victory decides everything." No matter how hard it has been to recruit troops, supply the army, raise the masses' anti-Japanese fervor or win over the masses' sympathy, after a victory in battle the masses fall all over themselves to send us flour, steamed bread, meat, and vegetables. The masses' pessimistic and defeatist psychology is broken down, and many new guerrilla soldiers swarm in. But once the Japanese began to demand a heavy price for every engagement—whether the Communists won or not—this attitude began to change. In North and Central China, the Japanese earliest pacification sweeps created comparatively little trouble for the CCP. At first, the Japanese made few distinctions among Chinese forces. They simply tried to mop up or disperse them without regard to character. Over time, however, they realized that these sweeps actually made it easier for the CCP to expand. By the second half of 1939, Japanese methods became more discriminating. Chinese non-Communist forces would step aside while the Japanese hunted specifically for the 8RA, the N4A, and their local affiliates. The Japanese also made more direct appeals to non-Communist forces. According to Japanese army statistics, during the eighteen months from mid-1939 to late 1940, around 70,000 men from more or less regular Nationalist units in North China alone went over to the Japanese. The Japanese also reached informal "understandings" with several regional commanders whose forces together might have totaled as many as 300,000 men. This, of course, corresponded to what the CCP denounced as "crooked-line patriotism"—the "crooked-line" collaboration that preserved certain units so they could be used in future anti-Communist operations. When pacification efforts were intensified from late 1939 and throughout 1940, differences also appeared in the strategies Japanese armies used in North versus Central China. In North China, the approach relied heavily on military means, with political tactics limited largely to recruiting collaborators. In Central China, Japanese authorities did not hesitate to use military force, but they also attempted to supplement it with more comprehensive political and economic solutions by setting up tightly controlled "model peace zones." Although both approaches ultimately failed, they created enormous difficulties for Chinese Communists—until, in 1943, the Japanese were forced to ease off because the Pacific War against the United States became too burdensome. Careful reading of detailed intra-party documents suggests that repression also demobilized peasant support and terrorized populations into apathy, grudging acquiescence, or even active collaboration with the Japanese. In a locality already reduced from consolidated base status to guerrilla status, capacity and will were often too weak to administer complex reforms in systematic fashion. In other words, passive survival—defensive survival—was at least as important as what lay behind the heroic public images the Party projected. Systematic pacification in North China in late 1939 and 1940 radiated outward. It moved from areas held more or less firmly by the Japanese and their puppets into guerrilla and contested zones. The ultimate objective was to crush resistance or render it ineffective. The method was first to sweep the area clear of anti-Japanese elements, and then to establish a chain of interconnected strongpoints that could quickly reinforce one another. After that, puppet government would be expanded so it could take increasing responsibility for civil administration and "pacification maintenance," while Japanese forces repeated the initial steps further outward into contested territory. Violence was used selectively against individuals, groups, or villages accused of acts of resistance. This selective violence aimed to deter active participation in CCP-led programs, deprive Communist forces of a population willing to shelter them, and persuade informers to come forward. That was, at least, the theory of the strategy. In practice, the basic framework of the strategy depended on the main transport lines. Railways and roads—if properly fortified and protected—could separate resistance forces from one another and deny them one of their most effective weapons: mobility. These "cage" tactics (chiyu-lung, "jiu-lung") made it possible to enlarge pacified areas by "nibbling" outward, "as a silkworm feeds on mulberry leaves" (ts'an-shih). At the same time, the approach aimed to exploit North China's economy more effectively. To this end, the Japanese worked to improve and extend both railway and road networks. When the war began, in Shanxi the Cheng-Tai (Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan) and Tong-Pu (Datong–Tongguan) lines were metre-gauge, incompatible with the standard-gauge lines elsewhere in China—part of Yan Xishan's design to prevent deeper penetration into his province. By the end of 1939, the Japanese used forced labor to convert both lines to standard gauge. One benefit was the easier transportation of high-quality anthracite coal from the Qingxing mines (on the Cheng-Tai line) to industrial users in North China and Manchukuo. Of the newly constructed roads and railway lines, the most important was the Te-Shih line—from Dezhou in northeastern Shandong to Shijiazhuang. Construction began in June 1940 and finished in November, connecting the Tianjin–Pukou, Beiping–Hankou, and Cheng-Tai lines. This made it easier to move troops and transport raw cotton. Once the Te–Shih link was completed, the Japanese had direct connections between the point of their furthest advance at the elbow of the Yellow River and all major cities of North China, and beyond to Manchukuo. Communist sources began to speak of a "transportation war," noting with concern the moats and ditches, the blockhouses, and the frequent patrols protecting the lines. Both militarily and economically, these measures weighed heavily on forces led by the Communists in North China and on the populations under their control—especially the plains of central and eastern Hebei. One indicator of effectiveness was the rapid decline in "acts of sabotage" against North China railways in 1939 and the first half of 1940. A cadre in Jin-Cha-Ji reported in mid-1940: "The enemy has adopted a blockhouse policy, like that of the Jiangxi Soviet. They are spread like a constellation. In central Hebei alone, there are about 500, separated by one to three miles." Normal trading patterns were disrupted as Japanese or puppet occupiers took over administrative and commercial centers, and peasants found themselves caught between regulations imposed by the Communists on one side and those enforced by the other side. Finally, landlords, moneylenders, loafers, bandits—everyone who felt damaged by the new order inside base areas—could use pacification programs to try to recover influence or simply take revenge. Some became informers. After 8RA and local units were driven away, they could kill remaining cadres or activists and settle scores with the peasants who had supported them. Until the "first anti-Communist upsurge" was defeated, local elites and other disaffected elements might also seek support from Nationalists. It was even possible for an armed band to operate for several months inside consolidated regions of the CCP base, killing cadres as it went. Peng Dehuai later recalled this period in a way that underscored how pressure translated into wavering and collapse. Under the enemy's brutal pressure, in some districts the masses even hesitated or capitulated. From March to July 1940, large areas of the North China base were reduced to guerrilla regions. Before the "Cage-bursting battle",, they controlled only two county seats: Pingxun in the Taihang mountains and Pien-kuan in northwest Shanxi. Masses who previously had one set of obligations now had two—one toward the anti-Japanese regime and one toward the puppet regime. The situation in North China had not yet become a full crisis, but it was certainly serious. Action was needed to regain initiative. On 22 July 1940, Zhu De, Commander-in-Chief of the Eighth Route Army, Peng Dehuai Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and Zuo Quan Deputy Chief of Staff jointly issued the Preliminary Battle Order, laying out the strategic goals for the coming operation. The order stated: "To respond to the enemy's 'prison cage policy,' obstruct its advance toward Xi'an, create favorable conditions in the North China theater, and strike at the national resistance initiative, we have decided to take advantage of the concealment provided by tall summer millet and the rainy season to carry out a large-scale sabotage operation on the Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan railway (Zheng–Tai Line)." It required the participation of at least 22 regiments from the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, the 129th Division, and the 120th Division. The main objective was to "completely destroy key points along the Zheng–Tai Line" and to "cut the railway for a prolonged period." On 8 August, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army issued the Operational Battle Order, further clarifying how forces would be deployed. The Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region was assigned to attack the eastern section of the Zheng–Tai Railway (from Niangzi Pass to Shijiazhuang). The 129th Division was assigned the western section (from Niangzi Pass to Yuci). The 120th Division was tasked with targeting the northern segment of the Tongpu Railway and the Fen–Li Highway. The order also required all troops to begin combat operations on 20 August, and emphasized that "the success of the campaign should be assessed primarily by the extent of damage inflicted on the Zheng–Tai Line." The operation was prepared under strict secrecy. Various elements of the Eighth Route Army conducted thorough preparations before the campaign. Reconnaissance teams, hidden and protected with the help of local villagers, penetrated deep into areas near the Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan railway to carefully map Japanese strongholds, enemy troop dispositions, and local terrain. At the same time, both military and civilian communities mobilized to stockpile grain, ammunition, and tools needed for railway sabotage; blacksmiths were organized to manufacture crowbars, pickaxes, and other essential equipment. Specialized military training covered demolition methods and techniques for dismantling railways, including tactics such as heating and bending steel rails. Civilian mobilization played a crucial role: militia and support teams took on tasks such as transport, medical aid, and coordination with military units. In Central Shanxi alone, more than 10,000 militia members were mobilized. The Eighth Route Army headquarters repeatedly stressed the need for operational confidentiality, stating: "Before the battle begins, the plan must remain strictly classified; until preparations are completed, the campaign objective may be disclosed only to brigade-level commanders." With the cover of dense summer millet, troops secretly assembled within their designated operational areas. Before the battle, the Japanese North China Area Army estimated the strength of the communist regular forces at about 88,000 men in December 1939. Two years later, they revised the estimate to 140,000. On the eve of the battle, communist forces had grown to between 200,000 and 400,000 men, organized in 105 regiments. By 1940, the growth had become so significant that Zhu De ordered a coordinated offensive by most of the communist regular units—46 regiments from the 115th Division, 47 from the 129th, and 22 from the 120th—against Japanese-held cities and the railway lines that connected them. According to the Communist Party's official statement, the battle began on 20 August.  On August 20, 1940, the rain didn't stop the campaign—it changed the battlefield. It slowed movement, blurred distance, and turned rivers and muddy roads into obstacles that could just as easily trap your own men as your enemy's. Along the districts bordering the Zhengtai Railway, the Eighth Route Army still moved, slipping through valleys and river crossings, bypassing Japanese posts, and positioning forces on both sides of the line as night settled in. By dark, the plan became a coordinated strike meant to hit the enemy before they could properly react. Across the entire Zhengtai Railway, attacks went out with timing designed to disorient Japanese defenders—so that their "first realization" arrived only after the railway itself was already being attacked and the window to respond effectively had slipped away.   A key portion of that strike fell to the right column of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, centered on the 5th and 19th Regiments, with the mission of sabotaging the Niangziguan to Luanliu section. At 20:00 on August 20, part of the 5th Regiment infiltrated Niangziguan Village for the first time, overwhelmed the puppet troops stationed there, and seized the village by dawn. After that opening cut, the main force moved in to cover the engineers, destroy enemy fortifications, and blow up the Guandong Railway Bridge. When the sabotage was done, they withdrew from Niangziguan on their own initiative, leaving the enemy to deal with the destruction rather than being pulled into a long, grinding engagement.   That same night, at Mohe Beach along the Zhengtai line, another action unfolded. The 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the 5th Regiment attacked the station and was immediately met with a counterattack by Japanese forces. By dawn on August 21, the company withdrew—an adjustment, not defeat—and then attacked again the same night after crossing the Mian River. This time the enemy retreated into barracks to resist more stubbornly, with nearly 1,000 Japanese troops holding Mohe Beach. Heavy rain had swollen the river and made foot crossing nearly impossible, but the attackers seized the village west of the station and held it. On August 22 afternoon, more than 400 Japanese troops counterattacked; the main force of the 5th Regiment hit from the north bank of the Mian River in a fire assault, killing more than 50 before withdrawing the 1st Company out of the fighting. The 19th Regiment, meanwhile, took Jucheng and Irrang stations, tightening the pressure on the railway corridor.   On August 23, 1940, the 5th Regiment recaptured Niangziguan and blew up the stone bridge east of the village, destroying the railway segment between Chengjialongdi and Mohetan. That night the 19th Regiment stormed Yirang Station and blew up the water tower and the railway, ensuring the disruption would not be temporary. From August 24 to 27, bridges near Yanhui—stone and wooden—were destroyed again and again. Under that continuous pressure, beginning on August 25, Japanese transportation along the Niangziguan to Luanliu section of the Zhengtai Road was cut off completely. Strongholds were left to fight more or less alone, unable to coordinate or move supplies the way they normally would.   While the right column worked the railway, other forces hit the system from different angles. The Central Column of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region—comprised of the 2nd, 3rd, and 16th Regiments—took responsibility for sabotaging the Zhengtai Road segment from Niangziguan to Weishui and for striking the Jingxing Coal Mine area. On the night of August 20, the 3rd Regiment launched coordinated attacks on the Gangtou old mine and the Dongwangshe new mine of Jingxing, and with miners assisting, the 1st Battalion quickly stormed the new mine and annihilated part of the enemy garrison. The rest withdrew into bunkers, resisting as best they could. By the afternoon of the next day, the entire enemy force had been wiped out. Afterward, major buildings in the mining area were destroyed and most materials were removed so that the mine could not resume production for more than six months. The 3rd Regiment also captured Jiazhuang, reinforcing the idea that sabotage here meant disabling not just lines of movement, but also the flow of resources.   Elsewhere, Japanese positions were disrupted in smaller, targeted strikes that still added up. After the Japanese stronghold at Nanzheng destroyed the railway between Nanzheng and Weishui, the 2nd Regiment took the eastern end fortress of the Faluling Railway Bridge, covered the engineers as they blew up a section of the bridge, and briefly occupied Caizhuang. The 2nd Battalion of the 16th Regiment attacked Beiyu on the night of August 20, annihilating most defenders, and on August 21 it covered the engineers to destroy the Beiyu Stone Bridge. Other units struck Didu and annihilated most defenders in Nanyu. By August 24, the Central Column had learned that more than 1,000 Japanese troops were stationed in Jingxing County, with additional reinforcements moving toward Nanyu and Didu. Their response was practical: detachments were assigned to watch and harass along the railway while the main force gathered in mobile positions—waiting for the next opening rather than charging blindly into concentrated strength.   Meanwhile, the left column of the Jin-Cha-Ji effort—from the 2nd Regiment of the Jizhong Garrison Brigade, the Military Region Special Service Regiment, and the Pingjinghuo Detachment—focused on sabotage from Weishui to Shijiazhuang. On the night of August 20, the Pingjinghuo Detachment attacked Yanfeng and blew up the railway. The Special Service Regiment moved with massed efforts as they destroyed power lines and highways from Yanfeng to Weizhou. On the night of August 22, the Special Service Regiment attacked Shang'an Station. On August 23, the 2nd Regiment stormed Touquan Station, captured two fortresses, then withdrew from the railway line; from August 25 to 27, they destroyed the highway connecting Pingshan, Huolu, Weishui, and Yanfeng.   While the main blow was falling along the Zhengtai Railway, the 129th Division was assigned raids on the western section. That area included the Japanese Independent Mixed Brigade No. 4 headquarters, a coal mine base at Yangquan, and support from Independent Mixed Brigade No. 9 from Yuci. These raids weren't only about destruction—they were meant to disorient, to create confusion over where the main pressure truly was. After the general offensive began at 20:00 on August 20, five companies of the 16th Regiment attacked Lujiazhuang Station and captured bunkers. Two guerrilla-operating companies in Yuci worked with engineers to destroy bridges between Lujiazhuang and Duanting. The 38th Regiment surprised Shanghu and Heshangzu stations, while the 25th Regiment captured Mashou Station and pushed Japanese troops toward Shouyang. The division's right-wing sabotage unit—28th and 30th Regiments of the newly formed 10th Brigade—took on sabotage on the Yangquan–Shouyang section, splitting routes on the night of August 20 to attack stations like Langyu, Zhangjing, Qinquan, and then striking additional positions with the 30th Regiment. Across that window, stations and strongholds such as Sangzhang, Yanzigou, Langyu, and Qinquan were taken, iron bridges were destroyed, and additional stations including Potou, Xinzhuang, Saiyu, Tielugou, Xiaozhuang, and Zhangzhuang were seized or disrupted.   As the western sabotage deepened, Japanese response hardened—but the ability to coordinate weakened. With the Zhengtai line sabotaged, the western section came under the 129th Division's control except for a few places such as Shouyang. Fierce assaults forced Japanese forces to lose contact with each other within days. Strongholds were attacked, besieged, and then annihilated as communication and coordination broke down. The 129th Division mobilized local people to destroy railway facilities, stations, and installations using demolition, burning, and flooding, moving materials so the railway and related infrastructure were effectively erased rather than merely damaged.   To cover these operations, the division occupied Shinaoshan with the 14th Regiment of the general reserve. Starting the morning of August 21, Japanese forces concentrated in Yangquan and attacked Shinaoshan daily. Enemy strength reportedly rose from more than 200 to more than 600, supported by bombing and strafing and the release of poison. The 14th Regiment held out until August 25, repelling repeated attacks, and by August 26 additional pressure came again as reinforcements increased. After six days and nights—and the annihilation of more than 400 enemy soldiers—the 14th Regiment withdrew from the main peak of Shinaoshan, continuing to contain the Japanese with smaller detachments while the main force shifted to another mission.   The first phase of sabotage had succeeded, but the campaign did not allow complacency. The Japanese strengthened their presence along the railway and launched frequent counterattacks, and Japanese divisions in southern Shanxi—including the 36th, 37th, and 41st—prepared to reinforce from the north. On August 26, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters issued instructions for a second phase: continue breaking through the road, concentrate superior forces, and annihilate Japanese units smaller than a battalion that were attacking or reinforcing. In line with that guidance, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region ordered the Jin-You Column to keep breaking through the road on August 27 for one or two days, while the 129th Division alternated daily in breaking through. Under sustained pressure, the western section of the Zhengtai Road was basically destroyed; transportation was effectively cut off except for a few towns such as Shouyang and Yangquan.   On September 2, orders were issued to conclude the Zhengtai Campaign starting from the 3rd and shift forces according to the second-step plan. As the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region launched the Mengbei Campaign, the 129th Division shifted toward attacking invading Japanese forces, while other tasks—such as attacking the He-Liao Highway and recovering cities of He and Liao—were left for later. Beginning September 2, the Military Region deployed the 2nd, 5th, 16th, and 19th Regiments toward areas north of Meng County and Shouyang to recapture enemy strongholds. With the railway sabotaged, the Japanese main force north of Meng County shifted south to reinforce, weakening garrisons and spreading panic among the strongholds. As fierce offensives intensified, garrison troops began to waver. By the afternoon of September 5, Japanese troops at Xiashe, supported by troops from Shangshe, retreated to Shangshe and fled toward Meng County overnight. That night, the 19th Regiment arrived near Shangshe and, together with the Special Service Battalion of the 2nd Military Sub-district, pursued. The 1st Battalion of the 19th Regiment advanced into Shenquan and Putian to cut off the retreat route. By 9:00 AM on September 6 the enemy was surrounded in Xingdao Village, and after five hours of intense fighting most forces were annihilated. Survivors fled east to Luolizhang Mountain, only to be surrounded again by the 19th, 5th, and 16th Regiments. By the night of September 9, most Japanese forces had been wiped out, though more than 40 men broke through in dense fog and escaped into Meng County.   The siege continued through bitter episodes involving attacks and withdrawals under poison, with both sides paying heavily for every moment of progress. Eventually, on September 11, Japanese troops in Xiyan escaped back to Meng County, helped by more than 200 Japanese already present there. Meanwhile, the Japanese attempted to counter the pressure: on September 4 they sent more than 2,000 troops to reinforce Meng County and began a counterattack. On September 10, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region ordered the 19th and 5th Regiments to remain east and north of Meng County to coordinate with the 129th and 120th Divisions, while the rest prepared for new missions.   As fighting intensified around Zhengtai and Meng County, a parallel pressure campaign unfolded. To contain Eighth Route Army sabotage along Zhengtai, the Japanese assembled battalions from Independent Mixed 4th and 9th Brigades to strike the 129th Division. In response, the 120th Division began large-scale sabotage against the Tongpu Railway and major highways in northwestern Shanxi starting 20:00 on August 20. They captured enemy strongholds along rail and road lines, striking major bases such as Kangjiahui on the Xinjing Highway, where more than 50 Japanese and puppet troops were stationed, and also attacking other areas like Shishen, Lizhen, and Jingle. Ambushes were set to annihilate reinforcements arriving from different directions, and at 00:30 on August 21 the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Regiment attacked Kangjiahui and annihilated the defenders by dawn. Reinforcements arriving in cars were destroyed, and subsequent actions continued to expand the disruption.   Over more than 180 battles in northwestern Shanxi, the 120th Division annihilated more than 800 Japanese and puppet troops and captured or destroyed stations and strongholds including Kangjiahui, Yangfangkou, Pingshe, and Longquan. By disrupting the Tongpu Railway and transportation along the Xinjing, Taifen, and Fenli highways, they tied down Japanese forces and made it harder to reinforce Zhengtai. In practical terms, this meant the first phase of the Hundred Regiments Offensive—lasting about three weeks—ended on September 10 with major railway lines and motor roads attacked repeatedly. Roadbeds, bridges, switching yards, and installations were hit heavily; at the Qingxing coal mines, facilities were destroyed and production was halted for nearly a year.   By the end of that first phase, the campaign's logic had become clearer: once the Japanese leaned more heavily on a "cage-and-strongpoint" defense system, the same transport network that had supported their defense became less secure. When rail and road were repeatedly disrupted, strongpoints became more vulnerable—especially if Japanese units pulled out nearby detachments to respond to sabotage. So the campaign shifted from breaking transportation to attacking blockhouses and other strongpoints in contested areas, aiming to force Japanese forces back into well-defended garrisons and leave the countryside again contested by Communist forces. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. From 20 August 1940, under secrecy and rain, units of the 8th Route Army infiltrated stations, captured villages, destroyed bridges, power lines, roads, mines, and stations across multiple columns. By early September the Zhengtai and related Tongpu transport routes were repeatedly severed, forcing Japanese troops to fight isolated strongpoints and hindering reinforcement. 

Michael Uhlarik joins us again to talk about the state of the motorcycle industry, how the Chinese brands are going to fit, and fills us in on what really happened at Damon Motorcycles. But first, we talk about what's been happening in the garage, how we lost an old friend, and why you should go ride the Lost Sierra. With Liza, Neal, Scottie and Bagel. www.motorcyclesandmisfits.com motorcyclesandmisfits@gmail.com www.patreon.com/motorcyclesandmisfits www.zazzle.com/store/recyclegarage www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wKZSP0J9FBGB79169ciew womenridersworldrelay.com/ motorcyclesandmisfits.com/shop Join our Discord at discord.gg/hpRZcucHCT

Will Revak, co-founder of Orawellness, talks with J about the oral microbiome and dental self-empowerment. They discuss common dental issues, periodontal disease myths, hidden lies in toothpaste labels, crystal nature of teeth, decay and enamel loss, choosing a dentist, statistics and outcomes, fluoride vs hydroxyapatite, mindful brushing, naturally sourced xylitol, the importance of saliva, navigating scams, Bass method, Chinese hygiene arts, tongue scrappers, and becoming an effective steward of your oral microbiome.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM. Say thank you - buy J a coffee. Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Howie Kurtz on President Trump's high-stakes summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping, the administration's defensive stance on China trade agreements, and former vice president Kamala Harris' controversial trial balloon regarding expanding the Supreme Court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After President Trump's meeting with President Xi in Beijing, U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue, who was in the room with both leaders, discusses the trade agreements between nations and America's stance on Taiwan. The largest low-cost air carrier on the European continent RyanAir says it's well hedged amid a global jet fuel crunch, but CEO Michael O'Leary warns that other airlines may face pricing challenges through the end of the summer. Plus, there's a run on Swatch watches, and Berkshire Hathaway's 13F is out, offering a peek at Greg Abel's first decisions as CEO.    David Perdue - 16:28 Michael O'Leary - 33:33   In this episode: Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk Andrew Ross Sorkin, @andrewrsorkin Katie Kramer, @Kramer_Katie Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Monday, May 18, 2026, broadcast of The Tara Show delivers an intense four-hour blend of national security crises, domestic political battles, and cultural commentary. The program dominates the airwaves with explosive exposes on China, revealing the intense wartime security protocols surrounding President Trump's recent trip to Beijing, a harrowing physical standoff with Chinese officials, and damning intelligence leaks showing that China funded Democratic agendas, used a "floating armory" to bypass agreements not to arm Iran, and even provided the real-time satellite data Iran used to strike U.S. military bases. On the domestic front, host Tara Servatius repeatedly takes aim at the political left, dismantling Democratic outcries over conservative redistricting maps as hypocritical "Jim Crow 2.0" and "cheating" lies, slamming the party for backing a Maine Senate candidate with a Nazi tattoo, and demanding that the DOJ immediately dismiss all remaining cases against Trump. Woven throughout the heavy political coverage are lighter and local updates, including a deep dive into dating standards and a study on whether people marry someone smarter than themselves, a cautionary look at automated AI technology destroying industries in the UK while gaining self-writing capabilities, the high-profile appointment of Dr. Brennan Traxler as South Carolina's new Health Director, a legal update on why Alex Murdaugh could face the death penalty, and an urgent public safety warning regarding credible mountain lion sightings in Taylors.

Hour 1 of the Monday, May 18, 2026, broadcast of The Tara Show delivers a sharp mix of high-stakes geopolitical drama and lighthearted relationship dynamics. The hour kicks off with an intense analysis of President Donald Trump's return from China, exposing a terrified and paranoid White House team that operated under extreme, wartime-level security protocols to counter Beijing's espionage threats. Building on this tension, the second segment reveals how close Trump's inner circle came to being arrested on Chinese soil following a fierce standoff with local security, while the hosts advance the theory that China and the Democratic Party operate as ideological allies aimed at weakening nationalist policies. Shifting gears to social commentary, the third segment explores a provocative new study asking listeners if they married someone smarter than themselves, examining how intelligence disparities impact modern marriages. Finally, the hour closes by breaking down dating standards, highlighting a statistic showing that 45% of women insist they need a mate who matches their own intellectual level to maintain a successful partnership.

super soldier 10th - China said they are not going to arm Iran; Floating armory 11th - Alex Murdaugh could face the death penalty; David Pascoe 12th - Mountain Lion sightings in the Taylors area --Hour 3 of the Monday, May 18, 2026, broadcast of The Tara Show delivers a compelling mix of national political hypocrisy, high-seas global deception, and urgent local updates. The hour begins by calling out the Democratic establishment's ideological double standards, highlighting their continued support for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner—a self-described "Antifa super soldier" who previously sported a Nazi SS-Totenkopf tattoo. Shifting to international security, the second segment exposes a massive geopolitical double game: despite Beijing's public promises not to arm Iran, a Chinese-operated "floating armory" ship was seized near the Strait of Hormuz, proving China is still actively funneling weapons to the Iranian regime. Turning to South Carolina's legal landscape, the third segment features an intense breakdown by prosecutor David Pascoe regarding new state maneuvers that could see convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh facing the death penalty. Finally, the show hits close to home for Upstate residents, closing the hour with an urgent warning and safety overview following multiple credible mountain lion sightings in the Taylors area.

In Hour 1, Segment 1 of the May 18, 2026, broadcast of The Tara Show, hosts Tara and Lee break down the staggering dichotomy of President Donald Trump's high-stakes diplomatic return from China. While the public heard glowing praise for Xi Jinping and grand promises of hundred-billion-dollar trade deals, the segment exposes a terrified and deeply paranoid White House team operating under extreme, wartime-level security behind the scenes. The hosts detail how Trump's inner circle treated Beijing as a full-scale espionage threat, forcing staffers to utilize burner phones, completely discard any materials handed out by Chinese officials, and execute thorough surveillance sweeps of Air Force One. The show analyzes whether this alarming contrast represents a brilliant geopolitical chess match over oil and global leverage—particularly involving ongoing tensions with Iran and Taiwan—or a dangerous, vulnerable trap that has left America's core leadership rattled

In Hour 1, Segment 2 of the May 18, 2026, broadcast of The Tara Show, hosts Tara and Lee shift their focus to the extreme legal vulnerabilities faced by Donald Trump's team while on Chinese soil, arguing that members of the administration were so close to violating Beijing's strict national security laws that they theoretically could have been arrested. Following an intense physical standoff between the Secret Service and Chinese security officials, the segment unpacks the geopolitical trap laid by the Chinese Communist Party to compromise American leadership. Connecting this hostility to domestic politics, Tara asserts that China is actively working in tandem with the Democratic Party, painting a picture of an ideological alliance designed to weaken nationalist policies. By treating the American left and Beijing as aligned adversaries, the show concludes that the tight security restrictions and paranoia detailed in the prior segment were not overreactions, but necessary survival tactics against an adversarial regime that treats the Trump administration as a political target.

going to arm Iran; Floating armory summarizeIn Hour 3, Segment 2 of the May 18, 2026, broadcast of The Tara Show, host Tara Servatius exposes the immediate breakdown of diplomatic trust following the high-stakes U.S.–China summit. The segment centers on a massive contradiction in global optics: while Chinese President Xi Jinping personally assured Donald Trump that China would not provide military equipment to Iran, reality on the water tells a completely different story. Tara breaks down the major international incident where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) hijacked the Hui Chuan, a Chinese-operated "floating armory" stocked with weapons and ammunition near the Strait of Hormuz. The show highlights how this seizure exposes a coordinated, back-channel facade, arguing that China's public pledges of neutrality are a ruse to defuse American pressure while they continue to bankroll the Iranian regime through massive oil purchases and maritime security collusion. Ultimately, the segment warns listeners that the "floating armory" crisis proves Beijing is actively playing a double game, leaving the U.S. to face an emboldened, heavily armed Iranian threat in critical global shipping lanes despite any verbal agreements made in Beijing.

In Hour 4, Segment 2 of the May 18, 2026, broadcast of The Tara Show, host Tara Servatius breaks down an alarming intelligence leak revealing that China actively provided the satellite targeting data used by Iran to strike American military bases. The segment details how Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bypassed standard military limits by secretly acquiring control of the Chinese-built TEE-01B spy satellite. Tara highlights tracking logs showing that Chinese commercial ground stations funneled high-resolution, real-time coordinates to Iranian forces, allowing them to precisely coordinate drone and missile strikes against major U.S. installations, including the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia where several U.S. aircraft were damaged. The show frames this space-based collusion as definitive proof of a deadly, undeclared shadow war, warning listeners that Beijing's global satellite infrastructure is being actively weaponized to dismantle American military dominance across the Middle East.

China experts Tobita Chow and Jake Werner join PTO to talk about the recently concluded summit in Beijing between the United States and the People's Republic of China. We chatted about whether or not the relative thaw in relations (and the continuation of the tariff truce) is durable. We went on to talk about China's approach to Taiwan, and how realistic or otherwise the idea of a Chinese blockade or military assault on the island really are. And Jake and Toby explained what they see as potential crises on the horizon that might worsen relations between the two most powerful states in the global system.

The hipster barista and the Chinese-owned bar both shed light on the changing nature of Italian coffee culture.

Today's story: Prediction markets allow people to bet on elections, weather, wars, and other real-world events. Supporters say these markets reveal valuable information more quickly than polls or experts can. But recent scandals suggest that some users may be illegally profiting from military secrets, and even manipulating events themselves. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish.com/865Get the full story and learning resources: https://plainenglish.com/865--Plain English helps you improve your English:Learn about the world and improve your EnglishClear, natural English at a speed you can understandNew stories every weekLearn even more at PlainEnglish.comMentioned in this episode:Hard words? No problemNever be confused by difficult words in Plain English again! See translations of the hardest words and phrases from English to your language. Each episode transcript includes built-in translations into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Turkish. Sign up for a free 14-day trial at PlainEnglish.com

Our 245th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!Recorded on 05/13/2026Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie HarrisFeel free to email us your questions and feedback at andreyvkurenkov@gmail.com and/or hello@gladstone.aiRead out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/In this episode:OpenAI released new voice intelligence API features including GPT Realtime 2 (GPT-5-powered) plus realtime translation and Whisper transcription, emphasizing the latency–reasoning tradeoff, larger context, and new guardrails amid fraud risks.Thinking Machines previewed a low-latency, full‑duplex conversational system with a two-model architecture and custom inference stack, reporting strong interactivity benchmark results but without public access or third‑party validation yet.Anthropic pushed further into vertical products with Claude for Legal and deeper AWS availability, while ongoing ecosystem tension grows as platform model providers compete with application-layer companies.Safety, policy, and research updates included OpenAI's self-harm trusted contact feature, Anthropic work on reducing agent misalignment by training ethical “why” reasoning, OpenAI's investigation of accidental chain-of-thought grading in RL, and Meta horizon eval updates showing benchmarking limits for long task horizons.Timestamps:(00:00:10) Intro / Banter(00:01:35) Response to listener comments(00:03:27) Sponsor Break Tools & Apps(00:06:27) OpenAI launches new voice intelligence features in its API | TechCrunch(00:15:52) Thinking Machines drops a new, highly responsive model designed for humanlike interactions in real time - SiliconANGLE(00:27:49) Claude For Legal Launches, May Reshape the Legal Tech World – Artificial Lawyer(00:40:27) Threads tests a Meta AI integration that works similarly to Grok | TechCrunch(00:43:08) Google brings agentic AI and vibe-coded widgets to Android | TechCrunch(00:45:33) Google updates AI search to include quotes from Reddit and other sources | TechCrunch Applications & Business(00:47:38) Sam Altman was winning on the stand, but it might not be enough | The Verge(00:55:04) Nvidia C.E.O. Jensen Huang Hitches Ride With Trump to China After Last-Minute Invite - The New York Times(00:58:40) AWS expands Anthropic partnership with Claude Platform launch(01:01:13) Chinese grey market sells Claude API access at 90% off by using stolen credentials, model substitution, and harvesting users' prompts and outputs for resale as AI training data — 'transfer stations' operate through proxy networks that harvest user data(01:06:43) DeepMind Spinout Isomorphic Labs Raises $2.1 Billion to Design Drugs With AI - BloombergProjects & Open Source(01:09:04) Petri: Anthropic Hands Its Alignment Toolbox to Meridian Labs with 3.0 Update(01:12:25) Daybreak': OpenAI's Answer to Anthropic's Project Glasswing Has ArrivedPolicy & Safety(01:14:04) Teaching Claude why(01:21:45) Import AI 455: Automating AI Research(01:28:31) ChatGPT's New Safety Feature Could Alert 'Trusted Contact' to Risk of Self-Harm - CNET(01:30:09) Investigating the consequences of accidentally grading CoT during RL(01:34:46) Natural Language Autoencoders criticism(01:39:15) Review of the "Risks from automated R&D" section in the Anthropic Risk Report (February 2026)Synthetic Media & Art(01:43:39) George Clooney, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep back new ‘Human Consent Standard' for AI licensing | The VergeResearch & Advancements(01:45:10) METR says Claude Mythos is testing the limits of AI evaluation – Startup FortuneSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Cerebras just had one of the biggest tech IPO debuts in years. The AI chip company listed at $185, opened at $350, and closed up 68% at $311 — giving it a roughly $95 billion valuation and making it the largest U.S. tech IPO since Uber. The AI hardware window is officially open, and the market is now treating non-NVIDIA AI infrastructure as a real public-market category. Anthropic is now sitting at the center of the AI compute economy. After locking in massive infrastructure deals with Google, AWS, and SpaceX-linked compute, the company is also expanding Claude access, rate limits, and deployment through partnerships like its new $200 million Gates Foundation deal across global health, education, and agriculture. The model lab is no longer just competing on chatbot quality — it is becoming an infrastructure-scale AI institution. Cisco shocked the market with a major AI infrastructure guide. Revenue hit $15.84 billion, AI infrastructure orders were lifted from $5 billion to $9 billion for fiscal 2026, and the stock jumped 15%. The same day, Cisco cut 4,000 jobs to fund the pivot. The AI capex boom is no longer just NVIDIA — it is spreading into networking, optics, security, and the second layer of the infrastructure stack. The Trump-Xi Beijing summit ended without a formal AI deal. The U.S. cleared major Chinese companies including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, JD, and Lenovo to buy up to 75,000 NVIDIA H200 chips each, but Beijing paused the orders almost immediately. AI infrastructure is no longer just a company-level decision — it is now a geopolitical bargaining chip. Google disclosed the first confirmed AI-built zero-day exploit used in the wild. The attack targeted a two-factor authentication flow in a widely used open-source system administration tool, and Google says the planned mass exploitation event was stopped before it scaled. The cybersecurity impact of AI is no longer theoretical — AI is now accelerating both offense and defense. Inflation came in hot again. April CPI rose 0.6% month over month, the Fed held rates at 3.50%–3.75%, and markets are now pricing a higher chance of a rate hike than a cut. And yet the S&P 500 still closed above 7,500, while the Nasdaq and Dow also hit major levels. The AI trade is overpowering the macro signal — for now. Runner-up: VoltaGrid raised $1 billion from Blackstone and Halliburton at a $10 billion-plus valuation to build behind-the-meter power systems for AI data centers. Power, not just chips, is becoming one of the biggest constraints in the AI boom. Runner-up: Amazon is reportedly preparing another 14,000 corporate layoffs, which would bring 2026 reductions to roughly 30,000 jobs if confirmed. The AI labor reduction cycle is widening across Big Tech. Runner-up: A former Google engineer was convicted of stealing TPU trade secrets after transferring more than 500 confidential files tied to Google's AI chip architecture and software stack. It is one of the clearest legal templates yet for AI-era intellectual property enforcement. Ricker and Bon #431If you want a prize, send us a DM: http://instagram.com/rickerandbonhttps://www.tiktok.com/@rickerandbonhttps://www.youtube.com/@rickerandbon

On today's Look Ahead program, sponsored by HII, Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the drop in European defense stock prices on investor perceptions that the Ukraine war is ending, mitigating the need for European military modernization, despite the ongoing war and the continuing threat posed by Russia; US defense budget outlook as Senate and House conduct hearings as lawmakers plot a third reconciliation package to bolster spending; bipartisan skepticism about the cost of the Iran war and future impact on operations and maintenance in the wake of the conflict; a look at the Defense Autonomous Working Group fund; President Trump shifts on Taiwan in the wake of summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing during which the Chinese leader made clear his focus on absorbing the island democracy and the US leader sees an opportunity to realize his “grand bargain” between the world's leading economies and military powers; and a look at the week ahead in Washington and beyond.

Welcome to 听故事说中文, the podcast where stories come alive to help you improve your Chinese language proficiency and cultural competency. Today, we're talking about something so many of us can relate to: tossing and turning in the middle of the night. We'll follow the story of Chen Mo. On paper, she has the perfect life—a high-level corporate job, a happy family, and a beautiful home. Even her bosses constantly praise her. Yet, sleep completely evades her. After ruling out all the usual suspects like grief, job insecurity, or family drama, a breakthrough with a therapist reveals a hidden culprit. It turns out, her biggest stressor isn't her actual workload, but her own relentless perfectionism and the exhausting, self-imposed pressure to be flawless. Let's dive into her story, explore this modern dilemma, and learn some great vocabulary along the way! ************************************************************ Support Our Podcast If our podcast brings value to your life and you'd like to help us continue creating great content, consider becoming a patron for as little as $7 a month. As a patron, you will enjoy: ✨ Ad-free episodes for an uninterrupted listening experience.

This week I'm sharing the fourth and final installment from the day-long conference convened by the Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs (ACF) at Johns Hopkins SAIS on April 3rd in Washington — “The China Debate We're Not Having: Politics, Technology, and the Road Ahead.” The first three episodes featured Jessica Chen Weiss's opening remarks and the panels on what China wants, what the United States wants, and tech rivalry and competing visions of the future. This final installment is a fireside conversation between Henry Farrell and Alondra Nelson, followed by Jessica's closing remarks.Once again, my deep thanks to Jessica Chen Weiss, ACF's inaugural faculty director, for organizing this terrific conference and for so generously letting me share this audio with Sinica listeners.Henry Farrell, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute Professor of International Affairs at SAIS, sits down with Alondra Nelson — Harold F. Linder Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study and former Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy — for what turns out to be the day's most generative reframing of the AI race. Henry begins by asking how it is that ideas once confined to 1980s science fiction — the singularity, AGI, brains-in-vats — have come to anchor mainstream American AI policy discourse. Alondra traces the genealogy back to the “Californian ideology” and the long history of outré thinking in Silicon Valley, but her real point is that something has shifted: U.S. negative sentiment around AI has been climbing and plateauing high since 2022, even as adoption has spread — the opposite of the usual technology-acceptance curve, and the opposite of what's happening in China, Nigeria, or Brazil.From there the conversation opens up into what I found to be its richest vein: the contrast between a Cartesian, disembodied American conception of AI — “we're working on the brains,” as Sam Altman put it when OpenAI shut down its robotics team in 2022 — and a more embodied approach that integrates the cognitive and the physical, which is part of what's powered China's advances in advanced manufacturing and robotics. Alondra is sharp on the costs of the brain-in-a-vat framing: it treats AI as a state of exception in which existing laws and institutions somehow don't apply, and it lets us float aspirational claims (”AI will cure cancer”) that elide all the clunky institutional stewardship actually required to get from aspiration to outcome.She also offers an incisive reading of the Trump administration's AI policy — which, she argues, is misleadingly described as “deregulatory.” Between export controls, the golden share in Intel, immigration restrictions on STEM talent, and the administration's tight stewardship of who wins and who loses in the AI ecosystem, this is industrial policy by another name — and a narrowing of democratic input over decisions of enormous infrastructural consequence.The conversation closes with Henry asking what a small-d democratic successor administration ought to do, and Alondra's answer is bracingly practical: get rid of the state of exception, take the material supply chain of AI seriously (data centers, electricity, critical minerals, communities), let state-level policy generate evidence about what works, and aim for high-watermark aspirations — North Stars, in the spirit of the AI Bill of Rights — rather than pretending the technology itself will deliver our values.Jessica then offers her closing remarks, thanking the panelists, previewing the ACF Insights Series, and putting out the call for new junior fellows at the Institute.Participants:Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study; former Director, White House Office of Science and Technology PolicyHenry Farrell, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute Professor of International Affairs, Johns Hopkins SAISClosing remarks: Jessica Chen Weiss, David M. Lampton Professor of China Studies and Inaugural Faculty Director, ACFSee 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 chat with Ali Wyne, Senior Research and Advocacy Adviser for U.S.-China at the International Crisis Group, just hours after President Trump's plane left Chinese airspace at the end of a three-day state visit to Beijing. We dig into the new framework Xi Jinping put on the table — what Beijing is calling 中美建设性战略稳定关系, a "constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability" — and ask whether it's a genuine doctrine of mutual restraint or a rhetorical tripwire that future American moves can be characterized as having violated. Ali and I work through Foreign Minister Wang Yi's morning-after media briefing, including his striking claim that the U.S. side now "does not accept" Taiwan independence — a notable shift from the standard American formulation. We talk about what Trump actually said on Taiwan in his Air Force One press gaggle, the gap between Trump's account of Xi's private remarks on Iran and what Beijing is willing to say publicly, and whether AI can serve as a durable basis for cooperation coming out of the summit. We also turn to the American domestic side: the bind Democrats find themselves in trying to critique Trump's China engagement without out-hawking him, the generational data showing a striking gap in American attitudes toward China that transcends partisan division, and the question of when that shift in mass opinion actually starts to bite on policy.Full podcast page with timestamps and links forthcoming! Just wanted to get this out quickly.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jon Herold and Chris Paul open on election night with the Kentucky Massie primary consuming the entire MAGA Twitter ecosystem. Jon walks through Trump's blistering True Social posts calling Massie the worst Republican congressman in history and threatening Lauren Boebert's seat, while both hosts make the principled case that the allegation op being run against Massie uses the exact same playbook as Kavanaugh and Stormy Daniels, and the community is failing its own standards. Chris Paul lays out his theory that Trump's endorsements in an era of fake elections are narrative disruption tools, not predictions of winners. From there the show gets philosophical, with Chris delivering his extended metaphor about systematic reality inversion and what it means to be the person correctly calling heads and tails when everyone around you has been conditioned backwards for life. Trump's "I don't think about American finances" Iran doubledown with Brett Baier gets a principled defense. The Twitter algorithm transparency post, the social incentive structure driving the entire influencer class, and Trump's comments on 500,000 Chinese students and the American university system all get their turns. The show closes on the CNN article about the Trump Hantavirus official who runs a YouTube show called Erection Connection.

President Trump returns from his high-stakes talks with Beijing and says that Chinese leader Xi Jinping offered to help negotiate an end to the Iranian conflict and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. China is the biggest buyer of oil and gas that passes through the strategic waterway. Meanwhile, Iranian news agencies claim a few Chinese commercial ships were being allowed through the strait. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Justin Fulcher, former senior advisor to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who says the meeting was a first step in bettering relations with China, and the only way to move forward is with more open dialogue between the two countries. Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Turns out “fútbol is life” wasn't just a line for this “Ted Lasso” star. A commencement speaker gave graduates more than words of wisdom. We'll tell you how mountain gorillas rebounded from the brink of extinction. A new children's book honors the Chinese immigrant behind America's Famous Bing cherry. Plus, meet the man traveling the world without ever stepping on a plane. Sign up for the CNN 5 Good Things newsletter here.    Host/Producer: Krista Bo Polanco  Producer: Eryn Mathewson   Senior Producer: Felicia Patinkin  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Orville Schell may be the United States' greatest chronicler and observer of several decades of U.S.-Chinese relations. Foreign Affairs was extremely lucky to have him in Beijing this week for the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. It was not the first time Schell has had a front-row seat at a meeting of U.S. and Chinese leaders. Editor Dan Kurtz-Phelan spoke to him on Friday, May 15, about how he read the interactions between Xi and Trump, what they did—and did not—say about the hardest and most dangerous issues in the U.S.-Chinese relationship, and how this could mark an inflection point for the two countries. You can find sources, transcripts, and more episodes of The Foreign Affairs Interview at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/foreign-affairs-interview.

May 16, 2026; 7am: President Trump is back in Washington following his two day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The visit was heavy on pageantry and flattery but appears to have accomplished little in terms of policy, with no resolution on key issues like trade, the war in Iran, or Taiwan. Lara Seligman, National Security Reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and Jennifer Welch, Former National Security Director for China and Taiwan, join “The Weekend” to discuss. For more, follow us on social media: Bluesky: @theweekendmsnow.bsky.social Instagram: @theweekendmsnow TikTok: @theweekendmsnow To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Seth takes a closer look at Chinese social media users openly mocking Trump during his high-stakes summit with President Xi Jinping.Then, Nick Kroll talks about going to the Netflix Is a Joke Festival, shows off his navigation app impressions and shares the raccoon story that inspired him to write his show, "Mating Season."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Meet my friends, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton! If you love Verdict, the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show might also be in your audio wheelhouse. Politics, news analysis, and some pop culture and comedy thrown in too. Here’s a sample episode recapping four takeaways. Give the guys a listen and then follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Nation States with Yates An extended interview with national security expert Steve Yates, who has a new podcast "Nation States with Yates" that just debuted in the Clay and Buck podcast network this week. The discussion centers on the Trump administration’s ongoing China summit, U.S.–China diplomatic strategy, and broader geopolitical competition, with Yates emphasizing that negotiations with China involve dealing not just with a leader but with the broader Chinese Communist Party system. The conversation highlights the challenges of achieving meaningful long-term change, suggesting that while transactional wins—such as increased Chinese purchases of U.S. goods or limited cooperation on issues like Iran—are possible, deeper strategic shifts are unlikely in the near term. A key topic throughout Hour 2 is the potential for a China–Taiwan conflict, one of the most critical global security concerns. Yates argues that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is unlikely in the near term due to military complexity and regional deterrence but acknowledges that China could pursue alternative strategies such as blockades or pressure tactics. The hosts underscore the enormous stakes involved, noting that Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductor manufacturing and microchip production makes it essential to the global economy, particularly in sectors like artificial intelligence, defense, and consumer technology. The discussion also explores global supply chains and economic security, with a focus on how long it would take the United States and its allies to achieve semiconductor independence. Yates explains that while progress is being made through international partnerships and new initiatives to secure supply chains, full independence would take years and require cooperation among advanced economies. This reinforces a central theme of the hour: economic resilience and technological competition are now central pillars of national security. Clay's Pitch to Trump Clay and Buck discuss domestic politics and future Democratic Party strategy, previewing upcoming remarks from Kamala Harris on major institutional changes. Clay suggests President Trump lowers gas prices or else could be in trouble come the midterms. Strategic in De-Coupling from China Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania joins the show to provide insights into both the China trip and the U.S. political and economic landscape. McCormick emphasizes that China remains a long-term strategic competitor seeking to challenge U.S. global leadership, even as diplomatic engagement continues. He highlights key issues including trade negotiations, energy exports, rare earth dependency, and the importance of maintaining American competitiveness in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. The interview shifts into a detailed discussion of U.S. energy policy and economic growth, particularly in Pennsylvania as a critical swing state. McCormick outlines how natural gas production, energy infrastructure projects, and data center expansion are driving job creation and investment, positioning the state as a key player in the national economy. He underscores that energy independence and infrastructure development are central to economic strength, especially in the context of global instability affecting oil and gas markets. A major policy focus in this segment is McCormick’s proposed Unlock American Energy and Jobs Act, which aims to streamline federal permitting for energy projects. He argues that excessive regulation and long approval timelines—sometimes stretching for years—are blocking investment and slowing economic growth. The proposed reforms are framed as a way to accelerate infrastructure development, unlock private capital, and expand domestic energy production, aligning with broader themes of regulatory reform and economic competitiveness. Kamala's Bad Brainstorm Clay argues strongly that Kamala Harris could emerge as the Democratic nominee, sparking a debate with Buck over whether Harris or California Governor Gavin Newsom is better positioned. The discussion centers on Democratic primary dynamics, voter coalitions, and identity-based political strategy, with Clay emphasizing the importance of core voting blocs in determining primary outcomes. A centerpiece of Hour 3 is the reaction to Kamala Harris’s recent public comments outlining a range of controversial or ambitious proposals. These include expanding the Supreme Court, granting statehood to Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, eliminating the Electoral College, and restructuring congressional representation through multi-member districts. The hosts frame these ideas as part of a broader institutional reform agenda, arguing that such proposals could fundamentally reshape the structure of American government. They also suggest that these positions indicate the Democratic Party has not moderated its policy direction and could pursue sweeping changes if it regains control of Congress and the White House. Make sure you never miss a second of the show by subscribing to the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show podcast wherever you get your podcasts! ihr.fm/3InlkL8 For the latest updates from Clay and Buck: https://www.clayandbuck.com/ Connect with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on Social Media: X - https://x.com/clayandbuck FB - https://www.facebook.com/ClayandBuck/ IG - https://www.instagram.com/clayandbuck/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck Rumble - https://rumble.com/c/ClayandBuck TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clayandbuck YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump is in China, and Chinese leaders are talking about...ancient Greece? Blake explains the "Thucydides Trap" and why China considers it so important in its negotiations with President Trump. Rep. Chip Roy talks about the struggle to arrest the Islamization of Texas. Ryan James Girdusky analyzes Trump's desire to acquire Venezuela as a state and the current House odds as weak state Republicans back off on taking as many seats as they can. Rich Baris stops in. Watch every episode ad-free on members.charliekirk.com! Get new merch at charliekirkstore.com!Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former national security official Rush Doshi says President Trump's 2025 sky-high tariffs on Chinese goods sparked a clash in which China prevailed. Doshi spoke with Dave Davies about  the current state of U.S.-China relations and President Trump's meeting with President Xi in Beijing. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The U.K. banned multiple people from entering the country and attending the “Unite the Kingdom” rally this weekend, and one of those banned, Dutch political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek, joins to discuss her ban and what she intended to say if she had been allowed to attend. Glenn and Eva also discuss the crippling tax that Dutch farmers are forced to pay. Is President Trump kissing up to China? Glenn breaks down what he believes is happening with Trump's latest interactions with the Chinese government. Glenn discusses the recent whistleblower who testified that Anthony Fauci influenced the way the government handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Glenn lays out the limitations that all government agencies must abide by. Host of “Dedicated” and author of “The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel” Douglas Brunt joins to discuss who Emanuel Nobel is and his influence on the world. Former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss joins to discuss the dangers of the deep state within the U.K. government and why it needs to be dismantled. Glenn and Liz also discuss the biggest threat to global freedom, as multiple countries fall to leftist policies.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday's Mark Levin Show, people are fleeing blue states, which are depopulating, while red states are gaining population through domestic migration. In NYC, Mamdani is actively trying to force out the Jewish community, then the Christian community and capitalists, in order to transform the city into a Marxist Islamist one, regardless of resulting poverty or debt. Both Marxism and Islamism are incompatible with Americanism, rooted in Judeo-Christian and Enlightenment values of live-and-let-live, as they demand destruction or compliance. We need urgent legal strategies on immigration to combat anti-Semitism, and a full-scale movement starting in places like NYC. Also, the Washington Post reports on a confidential Pentagon assessment, which was a leak, and it highlights shifts favoring China in military, economic, and diplomatic spheres. This leak is diabolical and this article is Chinese propaganda. But understand – China is our enemy. Later, the Iranian regime needs to be destroyed now to prevent future nuclear weapons. We need to arm the people of Iran and get an absolute victory against the regime.  Afterward, the New York Times is attacking President Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defense system, which aims to protect the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii from nuclear attack using multiple defensive layers. A purely defensive system is essential against threats from Iran, terrorists, and potential nuclear suicide bombers, yet Democrats prioritize other spending such as health care for illegal aliens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices