Podcasts about East Asia

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has fired the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Oleksandr Syrsky. That follows days of protests at his sacking of the defence minister. Our correspondent analyses the fallout. America's murder rate is falling, so why are cops killing more people? And a shift in the Japanese taboo on living in homes where people have died.Guests and host:Shashank Joshi, defence editorDaniel Knowles, US Midwest correspondentMoeka Iida, East Asia reporterRosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: Fedorov, Syrsky, Zelensky, UkrainePolice killings, gun crime, murderJapan, haunted houses, jiko bukkenListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has fired the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Oleksandr Syrsky. That follows days of protests at his sacking of the defence minister. Our correspondent analyses the fallout. America's murder rate is falling, so why are cops killing more people? And a shift in the Japanese taboo on living in homes where people have died.Guests and host:Shashank Joshi, defence editorDaniel Knowles, US Midwest correspondentMoeka Iida, East Asia reporterRosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: Fedorov, Syrsky, Zelensky, UkrainePolice killings, gun crime, murderJapan, haunted houses, jiko bukkenListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Tales of 1927" is a rich anthology featuring a diverse selection of folktales, fables, and legends drawn from twenty different books published in that year, showcasing stories from Europe, the Americas, Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. This collection not only offers a glimpse into the storytelling traditions of various cultures but also highlights timeless themes of adventure, morality, and the human experience that continue to resonate today. The tales, many of which are suitable for young readers, invite listeners to explore the wisdom and creativity of past generations, making them a valuable source of inspiration and reflection.

For the first time, China's coast guard is asserting sovereignty over waters beyond the First Island Chain and out in the open Pacific, far to the east of Taiwan. To justify it, a hastily assembled group of Chinese academics has suddenly declared that the Philippines' northernmost (and very much inhabited) Batanes island province actually belongs to China.Is this a dangerous new escalation or just another day in East Asia's highly contested maritime gray zone?This week, co-hosts Ray Powell and Jim Carouso flip the script and put a reporter in the guest chair: Brad Lendon, CNN's Senior News Desk Reporter for Global Military Affairs, who's covered China's maritime rise for over a decade and authored the June 25 story that sparked this conversation, “‘Salami slicing': How China is trying to increase control in the Pacific”Brad makes the case that this "salami slicing" is nothing new. Beijing has spent years applying steady, below-the-threshold pressure using white-hulled coast guard ships rather than navy gray-hulls. But now those ships are radio-challenging commercial vessels east of Taiwan, mapping the seabed and settling in for what looks like a permanent presence outside the First Island Chain.In this episode:Why coast guard "law enforcement" ships are a more insidious tool for asserting sovereignty than warshipsWhat China's radio challenges to commercial ships could be rehearsing, and Ray's "boa constrictor" warning about a soft quarantine of Taiwan already beginningHow the out-of-nowhere Batanes claim fits Beijing's long-game strategyWhether the Japan-Philippine maritime delimitation talks were a real trigger or just a convenient pretextWhat it all means for the U.S. defense strategy built around the First Island Chain, and whether it's the right tool for a non-military threatBrad's unforgettable story from the bridge of a Canadian frigate threading the Taiwan Strait at midnightA sharp, practitioner-level look at how the map of the Western Pacific is being quietly redrawn one slice at a time.Subscribe for your weekly Indo-Pacific briefing.Follow Brad Lendon's reporting on CNN or on X, @BradLendonFollow us on X, @IndoPacPodcast, LinkedIn or FacebookFollow Ray Powell on X, @GordianKnotRay, or LinkedIn, or check out his maritime transparency work at SeaLightFollow Jim Carouso on LinkedInSponsored by BowerGroupAsia, a strategic advisory firm that specializes in the Indo-Pacific

This is the Art Life Faith Podcast, and I’m your host, Roger Lowther. I’m excited to announce to you that we just released a new book, Consolations of a Christian by Japanese writer Kanzo Uchimura. Written in 1893, it has never before been translated into English, which is surprising because this is the book that made Uchimura famous, instantly becoming a bestseller and launching his career as a writer. Here’s some backstory for this book. In 1890, the Emperor of Japan issued an Imperial Rescript on Education. Kanzo Uchimura was at that time a teacher in one of the top schools in the country, but he did not bow deeply enough to the Emperor’s signature on the document, for as a Christian, he saw this as a kind of idolatry. However, his fellow faculty members saw this as a huge sign of disrespect, and the press saw it as an act of treason. His name and face were plastered on newspapers across the country. He was fired from his job. His friends distanced themselves from him. He fell into deep poverty. And from all the stress, he got really, really sick, even to the point of death. While his wife was caring for him, she too got very sick, and then she died. This was especially crushing because they were newlyweds, having been married little more than a year. Uchimura hit rock bottom in his life, but rather than giving up, he cried out to God in ink, brush, and paper, capturing the minds and hearts of so many with his uniquely Japanese understanding of the Bible. And his book came out during a time when Christian books were mostly just translated Western authors. This book is fascinating for many reasons, but I can tell you from personal experience that I was greatly encouraged working on this project, and so I know it can be a great consolation and comfort to you as well, and anyone going through a difficult time in their life. Let me say a quick word about the translator. Chris Born is a longtime friend of our Grace City Church community here in Tokyo. First, he came for a year to work on his doctoral thesis on Uchimura, and during that time he and his family poured into the church community, helping with many of the ministries. Then he returned to the States, where he’s the Associate Professor of Japanese and Asian Studies at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. But he recently came back to Japan for post-doctoral research and to write a number of books including this one. Again, he and his family poured into the community, and even his oldest daughter worked with us as an intern, giving piano concerts, leading worship with her playing and singing, and helping out in so many ways. They go back to America this month, and we’re very sorry to see them go. They will be missed. Let me also say a word about the cover designer, created by the immensely talented Emma Grace von Fange, one of the interns who worked with us this summer. She did such a beautiful job getting inspiration from the text and making it appealing while also giving a sense of what we find inside. It’s a very attractive cover and really a work of art. I’m so grateful for her hard work on this project. Recently we had the launch day, and one of the church members threw a dinner party for the event. So I took a few minutes to sit down with a translator just before the party to invite all of you into the celebration. Here’s our conversation. Roger So today is the launch day of Consolations of a Christian by Kanzo Uchimura, translated by Christopher Born, who is sitting right next to me. Thank you so much for being with us tonight. Chris Thanks for having me, Roger. This is awesome. Roger Yeah, so we are meeting in a friend’s home downtown Tokyo. We’re going to have a launch party tonight. Some of us are already here preparing the food, and others are going to be arriving soon. You’re probably going to hear some doorbell ringing… Chris So pull up a chair and hang out with us. Roger I’m just so thankful that it’s finally out in the world as of today, July 13, 2026. Chris Wow. Unbelievable. Roger A lot of time has gone into this, hasn’t it? Chris Yes, from your own kind encouragement for me to follow through and get it done from about 10 years ago when I started it to bringing it to completion just now. It’s been quite a journey, but exciting to be part of it and also be working so closely with an amazing team. Really, you assembled a wonderful cover designer, and you’ve done so much of the editing. Roger She was great. Chris She was fantastic, and you put it together so quickly. I mean, you really have a lot of talent behind this project. You just made it pop and shine. I’m grateful. Roger I really like that about putting out books. It’s not just about the writer writing solo in a solitary room somewhere, but there are a lot of people who are part of the whole project and are excited for it when it comes out. Chris That’s right. It’s a big production team. Roger Yeah. So, how did you get into this project? Why did you translate this book? Chris So that’s a great story for me. I’ve been studying Uchimura since about 2009. When I was working at a seminary, and I was able to take courses while I was working there as like staff. I took a course called Christianity in East Asia because that was always interesting to me. And when I did my master’s in East Asian studies, we covered some tangential aspects about Christianity in the Meiji period and how it influenced social movements, how there was a big missions movement that helped grow women’s education and the YMCA, things like that, but we never focused on Japanese Christian thinkers. So this course was the first time I was exposed to an actual Japanese Christian thinker who not only originated a number of writings but also had his own theological perceptions from a Japanese perspective that he wanted to add to sort of global Christianity. And he really thought that if Japan learned about Jesus and became more Christian, it would be a light to the world. So I thought that was an interesting entryway. Roger Okay, so using Western years, when are we talking about? Chris Uchimura lived from 1861 to 1930. He became a Christian around 1873 when he went off to Sapporo Agricultural College, which is now University of Hokkaido, one of the larger state schools. And when he became a Christian, he realized monotheism was the answer to a lot of his problems because he had such a strong religiosity as a kid and would bow to every shrine and every temple. And as he got older as a student, he really still held on to those beliefs. But when monotheism was presented to him, he really didn’t want to become a Christian. He was sort of pressured into it, but he went along with it primarily because he said, well, there’s only one God I need to worship, then I don’t need to worry about all the other gods. So that I thought was interesting because Japanese are famously known for having 8 million gods or something like that. Roger Okay, so for those who don’t know their Japanese history, this is like the very beginnings of Protestant church planting in Japan. Chris Yes. Roger So he’s one of the first of modern Christians. Chris That’s right. Christianity was banned from about 1609 to 1872. In the interim, in 1859, there was some missions activity but it was kind of underground. Uchimura was a part of the early generation of the different bands. There’s the Sapporo Band and the Yokohama Band and the Kumamoto Band in Kyushu. So these were sort of early Christian groupings. Uchimura was from up north. But yeah, he was active in the 1890s when he came back to Japan. He had studied abroad in America in the 1880s and sort of grew. He was always good at English, but he went to, Amherst College and then went off to Hartford Seminary before realizing— Roger Near Boston. Chris Near Boston, yes. Northeast. In the book, you’ll see a lot of references to northeastern literature and sort of abolitionist thinkers. He loved them. Roger Yeah, actually that was fun for me because I grew up near Boston, so a lot of the things he’s mentioning only people in Boston know. Like Mount Monadnock, a mountain I climbed with my dad. Chris Does it look like Fuji? Roger Well, it stands on its own and it is kind of conical, but it’s really short. It’s not a very tall mountain at all. It’s more like a tall hill. Chris There you go. So even better comparison to how much more grandeur Fuji has, which he keeps referring to. But yeah, he loved the northeast. In his other book that was written in English called How I Became a Christian, or Diary of a Japanese Convert, he talks about his experiences in the northeast. Roger How can you explain why Uchimura is important? Why should we care? That was a long time ago. Chris As one of Japan's earliest modern Christians—I mean, his collected works are 40 volumes. He was an important thinker for the time period. Not only did he write in a Christian vernacular of the time, he attracted a number of future authors who would become aware of Christianity, at least in terms of their own understanding of the world. Even if they didn’t become Christians, they embraced a partially Christian worldview or romantic worldview. So from a literary perspective, which is what my main focus of my academic work was on how he’s an important literary figure, but I knew that he was an important Christian figure. And for Japanese theologians in general, anybody who’s going to seminary knows who Uchimura is and has read him. Now, the reason this book is important is everyone suffers, right? Everyone has a hard time. We get sick. Our wives get sick. People die. People we love are gone in an instant. We don’t know what tomorrow is going to look like. We can lose our job. We can get canceled because of the things we say and do. Even if we’re speaking the truth, we get punished for it. Roger Mm-hmm. Chris Uchimura suffered for telling the truth as he saw it, and he was willing to take that on and be that lightning rod in a society that was quickly becoming anti-Western and anti-Christian. And especially in the mid-1880s when he was still in America, there was a big turn toward emperor worship and connecting the state to religion in a very strong way, and in the 1890s when the Imperial Rescript on Education came out and later the 1891 Constitution, they really pointed to the emperor as the Confucian father of the nation that everyone must worship and obey. And Uchimura’s like, “Look, I respect the emperor as much as the next guy. He is my sovereign, but I’m not going to bow down and worship him in that way.” And as a result, that made him become persona non grata. That turned him into an anti-patriot to like the worst of the worst, the most disloyal of the disloyal, and of course in a Confucian samurai heritage worldview, that’s terrible. Disloyalty is the worst thing, right? So Uchimura suffered as a result of his own public intellectual beliefs, and then as a result, he lost everything, and part of losing everything meant he had to reinvent himself, and so he became an author as part of that process. Roger One of my favorite parts of the book is in the afterword where he’s talking about when he was writing the book and an American missionary, came in and said, so Mr. Uchimura, what are you working on? And he’s like, well, I’m writing this book. And he’s like, oh, what are you translating? He’s like, no, I’m not translating. I’m writing it, my own words. And the missionary was, was surprised and like, how can you be doing that? I mean, because Christianity came from the West, what right do you have as a Japanese to write? That was the attitude of the time. Chris Yeah, it was a very culturally bound enterprise, reproducing Western culture, civilizing the world, so to speak. And many Westerners didn’t think Japan was civilized. They had no idea how civilized it was. Roger Yeah. And you were explaining to me earlier how he was trying to figure out what it means to be Japanese and be Christian because there wasn’t— Chris It’s an identity issue. Roger There wasn’t any literature at that time. They were only looking at translated Western literature. And so he was kind of delving into this to try to figure it out, right? Chris That’s right. When he did become a Christian, the amount of stuff they had at Hokkaido University or Sapporo Agricultural College was so small. The amount of things they had to work with were so small. They were just some tracts, a few— they had a Western Bible, they had some parts of the Bible translated that was still in process, and they had things from many different denominations, so they didn’t know what was what and which one to ally with. And he became a Christian through the Methodists, but in Sapporo you had a Methodist church and an Episcopal church, and he wanted to work with both, and sort of create an independent Japanese church in Sapporo, but there was really no way to do that. They had to make it up themselves. And when the Western missionaries who they borrowed money from got wind of this, they were like, “You have to give us all our money back because you’re not part of us anymore.” So they scrimped and saved and did everything they could to pay it back. So there is this sense that independence, Japanese theology from a Japanese perspective became his life’s work. Roger So Uchimura is part of the birth of the church in Japan. So to me, as a missionary here, it’s especiallyinteresting. This is the first time ever that this book is in English. Chris That’s right. Roger I mean, it was published in 1893. Chris Yes. Roger And it’s incredibly important to missionaries today, and yet there’s never been an English version. And you translated it from classical Japanese. Chris That’s right. Roger So it’s really difficult Japanese. Chris It’s really difficult. It’s a long process of learning to be able to parse all that out. There is a modern translation now, but the original I thought was best to go from and take it from Uchimura’s own words. Roger It uses a lot of characters that aren’t used anymore. You showed me your manuscript, which is a work of art, by the way, all your notes around all of his, all the earlier published version, but like, I don’t even know what to call that. I mean, just various characters that are… Chris Yeah, kyujitai. Most Japanese don’t read it. I was talking to some students earlier today at a campus here, just kind of explaining that this book’s coming out and what it’s about, and I think maybe one or two knew who Uchimura was, and they knew about this fukeijiken or this incident of disloyalty to the emperor, or lesè-majesté as they call it, but they said they’d never read him, and when I mentioned it’s all written in this kind of really classical style Japanese, they’re like, “Yeah, we don’t really read that.” Yeah, I imagine not. He’s still unknown, so we can also help people understand that you can get a modern Japanese translation too, but I think Americans especially who want to know more about Japan at that time and about sort of authentic Japanese Christians and just from the perspective of a very sensitive soul who loves God and is searching for answers to his pain. Roger Right, that’s what I love about this book. He’s not afraid to basically be cry out to God, Why are you allowing these things things? And trying to search for the answers as a Japanese person, not trying to look for pat answers, but asking in his context, really what’s going on, how can I apply to it? And it’s just so interesting? Chris Right? Because one of the most important questions any human being will ever ask is, who is Jesus Christ and why does he matter? Roger Right. Chris And Uchimura knew who he was and why he mattered, but in the midst of this sort of dark doldrums of the soul why Jesus really mattered wasn’t just a nice, you know, it’ll all be okay someday, and just being a Christian makes everything all right. No, it’s like, Lord, you are my God, and I’m imploring you to give me an answer and give me strength and understanding to get through this situation. Roger Okay, so now you touched on this briefly. It’s called Consolations of a Christian. Why is this book important to people who may have little interest in Japan? Chris Sure, well, it certainly is full of what we call classical allusions to both Japanese literature, nature, history, and culture that are written for a Japanese audience. So he wasn’t writing it for us. So as a foreigner looking in on that, we can get a glimpse on the conversation which Uchimura is having with his own people about Christianity. Roger And with himself. Chris And of course with himself, and with God, and all the other little demonic voices that are harassing him. Roger You know, one of the things I thought was really interesting about the book, you’ve mentioned to me in conversation just how there’s a number of places where he lists scripture verses, but he doesn’t print it out. Chris That’s right. Roger And you said it was your idea that perhaps it was because he was wanting people to open the Bible for the first time. Most of the people who read this book were not Christians. Chris That’s right. Roger Because he wanted people who didn’t know anything about Christianity, very few did at that time, to read this and become interested in the God of the Bible. And he really makes that clear at the end of the book, right? Especially on the last two pages. “We looked at different answers throughout this book, but it’s clear the Bible is going to offer these answers that you really are searching for. God has those answers. Don’t stop until you find those answers.” That kind of thing. Chris That’s right. All of his literature points back to that. He doesn’t waver on that one bit. And in fact, he devoted his life to becoming a journalist for a while. He wrote for the Yorozu Choho for about 5 years, which was kind of like a New York Post or a LA Times kind of magazine, a little bit sensationalist but very political. He was the English language editor of that for a number of years until he decided to quit that and start his own work, which was called Seisho no Kenkyu (the Study of the Bible). And it was a magazine that he put out, which was all his own reading, parsing, interpreting the Bible and applying it to daily life. Roger To the general public, right? Not only to churches or Christians, but to everybody? Chris A lot of people were reading this even if they weren’t Christian. They were curious. Consolations of a Christian was a bestseller. And then as a result, he became hired as a journalist, then those copies of Yorozu Joho were also circulating, and then Seishun no Kinkyu as well. So, he really did use the words that he wrote as a way of reaching people in an evangelical way and pushing them to look at the Bible. That’s what all his life was about. Roger Well, this book was very meaningful for me. The fact that he, in the lowest point in his life, that he would turn to writing, crying to God, and trying to bring the nation along with him to cry out to God. He didn’t fall into despair, but he gave that anguish to God. Chris Yes. Roger And that's just such an important message for all of humanity. Chris Yes. Roger You know, anywhere in the world, we all suffer. Chris That’s right. Roger And the fact that he writes a whole book addressing that and trying to help us turn to God through that is so important. Chris Yeah, because the Bible says God draws near to those who are suffering, and we suffer with Christ. But Christ was there with him in that suffering. In that moment, he knew it, but he had to put that anguish towards and use it for something. And that’s what’s really cool. He never wasted the experiences he had. He says it’s not my autobiography, but it’s a record of an authentic person who’s trying to struggle with being Christian. I think that’s gorgeous. Roger So I hope many of you who are listening to this will download this book, either buy the paperback, buy the hardcover, buy the ebook, go get the Kindle. It’s such a blessing that you’ve done this. Thank you so much. Chris Thank you so much for working with me and giving me the opportunity. Roger Yeah, so I guess we better get this party started. Chris Let’s enjoy this gathering around this table in many ways similar to what Uchimura would have done. Roger All right, so thank you for talking with us now. Chris Thank you. Thanks so much. Roger You’ve been listening to the Art Life Faith Podcast. You can pick up a copy of Consolations of a Christian by Kanzo Uchimura wherever you buy your books online. As we say in Japan, “Ja, mata ne!” We’ll see you next time. BUY “CONSOLATIONS OF A CHRISTIAN”

Recorded on 16 July 2026 for ICMDA Webinars.Peter Saunders chairs a webinar with Dr Hedwin KadriantoStudies suggest that up to 87% of human trafficking victims interact with a healthcare professional—including dentists—while they are being actively trafficked. As a dentist, you may encounter these patients in your practice presenting with dental pain, oral trauma, sexually transmitted infections, or other oral health concerns.This webinar will equip you to identify and respond to potential trafficking victims, recognise trauma triggers in the dental setting, and implement a trauma-informed approach to dental care.Hedwin is an Indonesian dentist with postgraduate study in Oral Medicine. He was born again in 2007, and since then has been involved in local and national student ministry through IFES and CMDF Indonesia. He is married to Ruth, a cardiologist, and they have two sons.In October 2016, he was appointed as an AEO for ICMDA's South East Asia student and junior graduate ministry; this was expanded to cover the Oceania region in 2020 and the East Asia region in 2022.His areas of interest are in the field of dentistry for people with HIV (including promoting equality of dental treatment access), anti-human trafficking, medical missions networking, advocacy and politics.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠To listen live to future ICMDA webinars visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Despite decades of rapid Chinese growth, it's over the past year that European politicians have begun to talk of facing what's been dubbed the ‘China Shock 2.0' — as surging Chinese exports and the impact of higher technology Chinese growth increasingly affect the heartlands of European industry — particularly German car and machinery manufacturing. Germany's industrial output has fallen around 10% since 2022, and the country is estimated to be shedding some 10,000 industrial jobs every month; Volkswagen has just outlined up to 100,000 possible job cuts. Much of the blame has been placed on Chinese overcapacity, and what Europe sees as unfair subsidies and an overvalued Chinese yuan. And amid fears that job losses could further boost the rise of the far right in European politics, there have been calls for new import restrictions and higher tariffs on Chinese imports to Europe. The European Union and China have just begun three months of trade talks in an attempt to find a solution — but will Europe dare to take tough action in the face of China's stranglehold on sectors like rare earths and legacy chips — and is China prepared to compromise? Joerg Wuttke of the consultancy DGA Albright Stonebridge Group, for many years president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, and former Vice President for China at the German chemicals giant BASF, discusses the roots of the crisis and the chances of finding a solution.Image © European Union, 2025 / CC BY 4.0For information about the SOAS China Institute Corporate Membership scheme, please contact SCI director Steve Tsang: steve.tsang@soas.ac.uk________________________________________The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the speakers and are not necessarily those of the SOAS China Institute.________________________________________SOAS China Institute (SCI)SCI BlogSCI on XSCI on LinkedInSCI on FacebookSCI on Instagram________________________________________Music credit: Sappheiros / CC BY 3.0

This lecture was recorded by Dr Di Wang on the 8th of June 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, LondonDr Di Wang is an art historian and curator. Her work focuses on art and culture of East Asia from the late-nineteenth century to the present.Following her doctorate at the University of Oxford, she has taught as a departmental lecturer and research associate at the Department of History of Art at Oxford. Her first book project reveals the surprising entanglement of medicine, science, and revolutionary politics in the genesis of a socially engaged modern art and visual culture in China, offering the first inter-disciplinary history on how science and medicine shaped the contours of avant-garde thinking in China during the modern period.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/nude-chinaGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Send us Fan MailDermatologist Dr. Muneeb Shah returns to Skin Anarchy to break down what actually works in skincare, how GLP-1 medications affect the skin, the truth about trending ingredients, and how to spot credible science communication online. Below are the biggest questions answered in this episode.Why did Dr. Muneeb Shah start his own skincare brand, Remedy?After years of educating patients one at a time in clinic and then millions online, Dr. Shah saw a gap between how dermatologists actually treat skin and how most products are formulated. Remedy was built to combine multiple ingredients backed by evidence into single formulas, control ingredient sourcing, and remove emerging allergens as the science evolves. He frames it as the natural next chapter of his work: "Content was a hill at one point, and this is my new hill... building a brand that really becomes a legacy brand."Why do so many skincare products feel identical?Because many of them are. Dr. Shah explains that contract manufacturers offer white label stock formulas, so any brand with capital and distribution can put its label on an existing product and launch it. "It's not hard to launch products if you have the capital and the distribution network to support it," he says. "It's hard to launch good products." When an ingredient trends, brands rush to license the same stock formula, which is why the market floods with nearly identical products around every viral ingredient. Remedy's policy is to never use white label formulas and to start from a patient need rather than a trend.Which skincare ingredients are actually backed by science?According to Dr. Shah, the strongest evidence still sits with the tried and true ingredients: retinoids like retinol and tretinoin, alpha hydroxy acids like glycolic acid, select peptides but not all of them, ceramides for the skin barrier, niacinamide, and azelaic acid. His formulation philosophy anchors everything around these proven actives first, with marketing layered on only afterward, never the reverse. "The products have to be really great products that people will use forever, and they have to use ingredients that truly have the efficacy studies on them."Is PDRN worth the hype?Dr. Shah does not dismiss PDRN, noting it has real traction in East Asia, where dermatologists champion it, particularly in injectable form. "I'm not saying that doesn't have validity or evidence. Time will tell if this is something that stands the test of time." His caution is about how trends work: brands slap labels on stock PDRN formulas to ride the moment, and an ingredient trending is not the same as an ingredient being proven.What does "next generation biomimetic surfactant technology" actually mean?Usually nothing. Dr. Shah points out that "they're using the same surfactants everybody's got in their formulas... no one's inventing new surfactant technologies." Terms like this are marketing language designed to make a formula seem more advanced or worth a higher price, and even sophisticated consumers fall for it because there is not enough public knowledge about what these formula components actually do.What do GLP-1 medications like Ozempic do to your skin?Rapid weight loss from GLP-1 medications can outpace the skin's ability to retract, leading to crepiness, laxity, and undulations where fat volume was lost beneath otherwise healthy skin. Dr. Shah notes dermatologists saw similar effects with gastric bypass, but it was rare enough that it never needed a name. That is no longer the case: "Now that it's 12 percent of the population, we have to really contend with this."What skincare should you use while on a GLP-1?Dr. Shah recommends topicals that support collagen throughout the weight loss period: a retinoid such as retinol or tretinoin, an alpha hydroxy acid like glycolic acid to stimulate collagen production, and peptides with collagen evidence such as Matrixyl. "Anything that's gonna support your collagen and elasticity, maybe even like a copper peptide due to the elasticity element of the skin." These support the epidermis and dermis, but he is clear that topicals alone cannot compensate for significant fat and muscle volume loss underneath.Can loose skin from GLP-1 weight loss be fixed?Sometimes it resolves on its own if weight loss is gradual, but Dr. Shah notes many patients are started on doses that are too high. "When you lose 30 pounds in a month, there's really no skin treatment that can account for that loss of weight to make your skin snap back." For skin that does not recover, professional options include lasers, deeper chemical peels, and in some cases filler around bony structures to restore support. Slower weight loss gives the skin the best chance to keep up.Why does nutrition matter so much on a GLP-1?Because appetite drops sharply, patients risk falling short on protein and essential nutrients during a period of significant muscle and fat loss. "Anyone that's on a GLP really needs to optimize their nutrition while they're on it," Dr. Shah says, "because you're eating less, but what you're eating really then matters." He argues nutrition is a layer dermatologists need to be discussing with every GLP-1 patient, ideally in collaboration with nutritionists, gastroenterologists, and weight loss specialists rather than working in silos.Do GLP-1s cause immune reactions?"A lot of people actually develop antibodies to GLPs... your body recognizes it's a foreign invader and tries to neutralize it," Dr. Shah explains, which can produce injection site reactions, fevers, muscle aches, or symptoms that feel like the flu after injecting. This immunologic layer is rarely discussed, and he draws a parallel to PD-1 inhibitors in oncology, where he and Dr. Maxfield published an early case report of a patient developing type 1 diabetes from the immune system attacking the pancreas, a side effect now well documented in the literature.Are chemical sunscreens safe?Dr. Shah personally wears chemical sunscreens and prefers how they look on his skin, but he refuses to speak in absolutes in either direction. The data shows chemical filters absorb into the body more than previously thought, and no one yet knows whether that matters. At the same time, no study has shown actual harm in people, which is why they remain on the market. "To absolutely say these are completely safe and nothing bad will ever happen to you, that's a dangerous absolute to live in, in my mind."Is longevity just antiaging rebranded?Largely, yes, in Dr. Shah's view: "Longevity is really just similar to antiaging and to bodybuilding in the sense that it's a more extreme form of maximizing your health." He compares it to how looksmaxxing extended bodybuilding culture to the face, the same pursuit taken further. What has changed is access. Anyone can now watch a billionaire biohacker's routine on YouTube and order peptides from a telehealth site, which is exactly what makes this moment both exciting and precarious.Are injectable peptides from telehealth sites regulated?Not in the way most consumers assume. "I'm excited about the technology that's coming out as a scientist," Dr. Shah says. "As a doctor, I'm nervous about the access and lack of regulation." He predicts a regulatory correction, whether imposed by government or by the industry itself, after enough people experience negative consequences from unvetted peptides and unregulated med spas. He expects consumers will eventually start asking where products come from, seeking FDA approved options, and vetting the credentials of anyone treating them.What is the danger of telehealth prescribing without integrated care?Dr. Shah gives the example of someone with hair loss who researches online, requests minoxidil, finasteride, or spironolactone through a telehealth platform, and receives it at their door. "Turns out they have thyroid disease. No one asked the question... this element of integrated medicine is being completely removed." As telemedicine grows, conditions get treated at the surface while underlying diagnoses are missed entirely.How do you know which skincare experts to trust online?Dr. Shah's rule: be wary of anyone who speaks in absolutes. "When you speak in absolutes, most of the time you're gonna be wrong because there's not enough information out there." On polarizing topics like parabens, fragrance, or chemical sunscreens, both the "completely safe" and "completely toxic" camps overstate what the evidence supports. Trustworthy communicators caveat their claims, resist being first to react before information is complete, and publicly correct themselves when new data proves them wrong. He cites the erosion of trust in medicine during COVID as the cost of premature certainty.Listen to the full episode with Dr. Muneeb Shah on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.Shop Remedy SkinDon't forget to subscribe to Skin Anarchy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred platform.Reach out to us through email with any questions.Sign up for our newsletter!Shop all our episodes and products mentioned through our ShopMy Shelf!Support the show

What if AI could help older adults stay healthy and independent—without replacing the human care they still need? In this conversation, Karen Eggleston, PhD. discusses Stanford Health AI Week and shares insights from health systems across East Asia, including how AI is being used to support aging in place. We explore the importance of ethical guardrails, evidence-based evaluation, and designing care pathways that connect AI predictions to real next steps—especially in rural and underserved communities.

What does church really look like—and how do new disciples discover that they are the church? In this short episode, Aila Tasse shares why disciple making must move beyond decisions to developing communities that live out the functions of church together. Rather than bringing people to church, the goal is to see people become church. In this episode: Why becoming church is a slow but essential discipleship journey. The role of leaders as community builders from the very beginning. Helping new believers learn to care for one another, break bread, fellowship, and reach people of peace. The importance of being faithful, patient, and trusting God to multiply through a few committed disciples. A reminder that every culture will ultimately express church in ways that fit its local context. An example from international student ministry Leaders in the room reflect on the challenge facing many international students who return home after coming to faith while studying overseas. Rather than simply helping students connect into churches while abroad, they also need to discover a reproducible expression of church that they can take back to their home nations. Some ministries estimate that 50–80% of Chinese students who come to faith while studying overseas struggle to continue following Jesus after returning home.* Further reading on returnee student ministry The resources below come from ministries with a more traditional approach to discipleship and integration into existing churches. While they are not written from a Disciple Making Movement (DMM) perspective, they offer valuable insights into the challenges faced by Chinese international students returning home. Thriving Turtles (Australia) – Australian perspective and practical preparation for Chinese returnees.https://www.thrivingturtles.org/ OMF International – “Preparing Diaspora Converts for their Return to East Asia” (Dr Stuart Bullington)https://omf.org/preparing-diaspora-converts-for-their-return-to-east-asia/ ChinaSource – “Returnee Ministry at Home and Abroad” (Lydia S.)https://www.chinasource.org/articles/returnee-ministry-at-home-and-abroad

Escalating military tensions between the US and Iran have renewed concerns over energy prices, while volatility in AI-linked technology stocks, particularly in East Asia continues to rise. S&P Dow Jones follows MSCI in potentially downgrading the Indonesia market to ‘frontier’ status, while traders remain alert for Japan’s yen intervention. In this episode of Market Focus Weekly, JP Morgan Asset Management’s Raisah Rasid unpacks the market moves for the week – revealing the direction of travel for oil prices, how the AI story is evolving, and why South Korea’s tech sell off is not an exit signal. Highlights: 01:24  Oil unlikely to return to pre Iran war levels soon 04:33 AI story is not broken, but evolving 06:37 Reducing concentration risk in tech heavy markets 10:11 Active stock selection crucial in Indonesia market 13:35 Yen intervention provides short-term relief --- Send us your questions, thoughts, story ideas, and feedback to btpodcasts@sph.com.sg. --- Hosted by: Claressa Monteiro (claremb@sph.com.sg) Written by: Nicole Teo With Raisah Rasid, global market strategist, JP Morgan Asset Management Edited by: Nicole Teo & Claressa Monteiro Produced by: Nicole Teo & Chai Pei Chieh A podcast by BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media --- Follow Market Focus Weekly podcasts every Friday: Channel: bt.sg/btmktfocus Amazon: bt.sg/mfam Apple Podcasts: bt.sg/mfap Spotify: bt.sg/mfsp YouTube Music: bt.sg/mfyt Website: bt.sg/mktfocus Do note: This podcast is meant to provide general information only. SPH Media accepts no liability for loss arising from any reliance on the podcast or use of third party’s products and services. Please consult professional advisors for independent advice. Discover more BT podcast series: BT Money Hacks at: bt.sg/btmoneyhacks BT Correspondents at: bt.sg/btcobt BT Podcasts at: bt.sg/podcasts BT Lens On: bt.sg/btlensonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China is a complete and complex system with its own history, internal logic, and implicit rules that influence every business decision taken inside its borders. In this episode we connect leadership, policy, infrastructure, and culture to the practical question of how to operate in and with China in 2026.Over six months, Leonardo Marra combined deep reading with interviews from eight professionals who work inside the Chinese context every day, including coaches, market advisers, joint venture managers, recruiters, and marketers. Their answers sit alongside narrative sections that trace how China moved from Mao's planned economy to today's mix of Party control, industrial capacity, and technological ambition.Chapters in this episodeLeaders: from Mao to Xi – How leadership choices still influence business today.FDI and Special Economic Zones – From export factories to “in China, for China”.The Five Year Plan – Reading the Fifteenth Plan as a strategy signal.The Dragon's Roads: BRI – Belt and Road projects, opportunities, and risks.China and the United States – Tariffs, export controls, and tech ecosystems.China's new growth model – Dual circulation, new productive forces, and slower growth.Operating in and with China – Three ways to work with China: manufacture, source, or sell.--------If you work with Asia or in Asia and want to understand it properly, you are in the right place. Business culture, and intercultural stories. ⁠Join the “Asia With Leonardo” newsletter⁠.-------⁠"Asia with Leonardo library"⁠, if you want even deeper content. Structured, evergreen deep-dives for professionals working in or with Asia. Country-based briefings on modern history, business culture, and key companies, with audio and concise PDF summaries.--------Guests:Gabor Holch – Intercultural leadership coach, founder of East West Leadership, and author of Dragon Suit: The Golden Age of Expatriate Executives in China. More than two decades coaching senior leaders in China and East Asia on how to adapt their leadership style without losing themselves.Pearl Lai – Sales strategy and GTM adviser for multinationals entering or scaling in China, designing localised sales processes, channel playbooks, and training programmes, with a focus on turning global strategy into local execution.Ivo Ganchev – International relations scholar in Beijing, Assistant Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University and Director of Corporate Education. Completed a PhD in Comparative Politics in Chinese and works with executives on how China's political system thinks about strategy.Manfred Huschka – Founder. Advising Western companies that work with Chinese manufacturers on supplier selection, quality expectations, and cross‑cultural project management.Manuel Murrenhoff – MD of a Wuxi joint venture between Swiss group Bühler and Canadian company Premier Tech, with previous leadership roles in Vietnam, Nigeria, Kenya, and China, bringing a comparative view on industrial capabilities and risk.Miriam Wickertsheim – German recruiter and general manager in China, 17+ years connecting international companies with talent, creator of the “China Perspectives” channel, and close observer of how the talent market has evolved.Olivia Plotnick – Founder of Wai Social, a Shanghai‑based social media agency helping international brands on WeChat, Xiaohongshu, and Douyin, combining client work with a 60‑day trip through 30+ cities focused on retail and youth culture.Richard Loomans – Intercultural management consultant from the Netherlands, with over twenty years in international trade and risk, now focusing on power distance, collectivism, and communication style, and how these dimensions affect cooperation with Chinese partners.This episode is designed for managers and executives who prefer to base their China decisions on context and evidence rather than short summaries, and who want to hear from people dealing with China's realities on a daily basis.

The Iranian regime hopes the massive crowds gathered for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral will demonstrate its strength. Our correspondent says they could also reveal its weakness. Why Japan wants to change its divorce laws and custody arrangements. And the first part of our week-long road trip down America's iconic Route 66. Guests and host:Nicolas Pelham, Middle East correspondentMoeka Iida, East Asia correspondentJon Fasman, senior culture correspondentRosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: Ayatollah, Khamenei, Iran, Supreme LeaderJapan, divorce, custodyRoute 66, Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Iranian regime hopes the massive crowds gathered for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral will demonstrate its strength. Our correspondent says they could also reveal its weakness. Why Japan wants to change its divorce laws and custody arrangements. And the first part of our week-long road trip down America's iconic Route 66. Guests and host:Nicolas Pelham, Middle East correspondentMoeka Iida, East Asia correspondentJon Fasman, senior culture correspondentRosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: Ayatollah, Khamenei, Iran, Supreme LeaderJapan, divorce, custodyRoute 66, Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"For years, I felt that there was no connection with my hands and the sound. My perception of conducting at the time was that everything needs to be free and relaxed, no tension - and no tension when you sing. There has to be tension when you sing and conduct, because if there's no tension in the body, you're basically bones and skin on the ground. It's a matter of where the tension is. Is it good tension? Is it bad tension? There's an idea of feeling a sense of weight in the gesture, in the breath."Dr. Gary Seighman is a Professor, Director of Choral Activities, and Chair of the Music Department at Trinity University. Under his leadership, Trinity's choirs have earned numerous accolades, including invited performances at state and national conferences, tours across the United States and abroad, unique artistic collaborations, and commercial recordings. A charismatic and passionate artist, Seighman is highly sought after as a clinician, guest conductor, and speaker. He received the 2023 Innovative Concert Programming Award from the Texas Choral Directors Association and, more recently, the Guy H. Ranson Memorial Award for excellence in teaching, research, and service from the Carlos Alvarez School of Arts and Humanities. He is honored to conduct the 2025–2026 Texas Private School All-State Choir.Since 2015, he has conducted in East Asia six times, including leading the Peking University Summer Opera Program, offering graduate masterclasses in Taiwan, and participating in engagements in Japan. In 2019, he was artist-in-residence at University College Dublin, with additional work in London, Cambridge, and Liverpool. He served as chorusmaster at the Classical Music Festival in Vienna (2018) and led the TU Chamber Singers on a 2024 tour of the U.K. and France, featuring a live-broadcast evensong from Winchester Cathedral. His Carnegie Hall conducting debut came in 2022, followed by returns in 2023 and 2025 to conduct the National Honor Choir.In 2021–2022, Seighman served as a TU Public Humanities Faculty Fellow. He has authored over a dozen publications in book chapters and peer-reviewed journals, released a published conducting  masterclass video with Forward Motion, and presented more than thirty sessions at conferences nationwide. Always eager to explore new artistic and creative outlets, Seighman has been signed as a model and actor with Avant Agency since 2018, appearing in print, online, on billboards, and in radio and television. His new book The Choir Playbook: Tools for the Imaginative Conductor is available from GIA Publications. In his spare time, he coaches soccer, softball, and baseball for his children, Gabrielle and Justin.To get in touch with Gary, you can find him on Instagram (@gary_seighman) or Facebook (@gary.seighman) or email him at gseighma@trinity.edu.Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

Russia is a Near Eastern country now subordinated to East Asia. But Stephen Kotkin argues that historically it has prospered most when tied closely to Europe.Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/where-is-russias-place-in-the-world/.Image: Map of Russia, 1562. Credit: Alamy

Audio Transcript Everyone, it is so good to be with you all. My name is Zeke Wetstein, and I've been here at Red Village for going on about seven years now. So my wife and I, we weren't married then, but started coming to Red Village in our first years of college at uw. And now Cassie, who's over there, and I are both on staff with InterVarsity at UW Madison, and we work with college students to help them to encounter Jesus and to learn what it means to follow Jesus with their whole lives in college and for the rest of their lives. So we help lots of Bible studies, lots of evangelism to take place on campus, but, like, right now, we're in the thick of summer, so all the college students are home. It's kind of hard to believe that we're already almost through with June. So happy late Father's Day to all the fathers in the room. I actually got to celebrate my first Father's Day last week, so baby Howie is over there now. I have celebrated Father's Day for my father before, don't worry, but it's my first time as a father. It's a joy to get to preach to you all this week and bring you the word. But first, I have a story for you. The Qing Dynasty ruled China beginning in the 1600s. And although it was still an empire by the 1800s, it was a shadow of what it once was. With the massive population growth, increased government corruption, famine, poverty, and many other woes, the once shining empire was beginning to crack. The west helped to further break down that empire. Western Europe wanted tea, silk and porcelain, but China yet had no need for any Western goods. So Britain found themselves pouring silver into China to get the things that they desired, but with nothing being bought from them in return. And any economist you could probably ask will about this too, could tell you that this economic plan is not going to work long term. So the British solution was to grow opium in British controlled India, smuggle it into China, and then have a naturally recurring demand through the opioid addiction that would ensue among the Chinese population. Now the British had a reliable means of regaining their silver in trade. The British would smuggle in opium, get paid, and then use that money to buy tea and silk and porcelain, the things that they wanted. China, however, saw the way that this influx of opium was socially destructive, draining the economy and corrupting their population. However, the Qing Dynasty tried to put a stop to the opium being brought in by the British. The British responded in full force, bringing in their navy to force the Qing Dynasty to sign a treaty putting the British in control of trade and of Hong Kong. Hudson Taylor was born in England in 1832, and although born into a Christian family, it is only when he turned 17 that he came back to faith and decided to follow Jesus with his life. He also felt God's call to go to China as a missionary. However, he wanted not only to bring the Gospel to the people of China, but to serve them as well. So he spent the next few years training to be a doctor. And so it was in 1853 that Hudson Taylor journeyed into China, and we must remember his context. He traveled to a country that received him as a foreigner, someone who was part of this opium crisis, part of the wars brought against them, part of the forced trade deals. He came into China being seen as a Westerner who had only selfish intentions and desired nothing good for China or for her people. He was also walking into a missionary culture that showed very little interest, care, or respect for Chinese culture. But this is how he engaged. For the first six years in China, he, like all the rest of the missionaries, dressed like Western Europeans and stayed only in the coastal cities. It was during this time that he fell into extreme loneliness and hardship. Hudson Taylor continued to use his skills as a doctor to help the people of China, but found his witness to be not bearing much fruit and felt totally isolated by the language and cultural barriers. In his deep loneliness, lack of missional fruit, and social ostracization by the Chinese people, he began to reflect on how he and the other missionaries had been engaging, or rather not engaging, with Chinese culture, and how the inland parts of China, which contained the majority of the population, were almost totally unreached by the Gospel. As he continued to struggle, he also became sick and eventually had to travel back to England in 1859, in the midst of the Second Opium War that was wreaking havoc on China. So we're going to leave our our story of Hudson Taylor and the Qing Dynasty here. For the moment, we're leaving him. He's a passionate follower of God who saw a people in need who were being oppressed by his own people. But his efforts to help them resulted in little fruit and in him being beaten down and worn out. So over the course of this summer, we have been studying the life of Moses. A few weeks ago, Aaron opened our series by showing us the end of Moses life. Aaron helped us to see who Moses would become. Moses as the leader of all of the people of Israel, leading them out of Egypt through the wilderness, helping to deliver God's law to them and bring them to the promised land. Wes then brought us the story of Moses birth. So we backed it up to the beginning. He helped to preach the story of God's hand in Moses early life. How God used faithful women to save Moses and bring him up in Pharaoh's own household. Will then gave us a double header. Preaching on Moses fleeing and then encountering God with the burning bush. So for those of you who are very familiar with the Prince of Egypt, this is all taking place after Moses races through the streets of Egypt on a chariot. As a teenager we didn't cover that passage in our sermon series. So Will helped us to see how Moses murdered an Egyptian in an effort to try and help his people, the Hebrews and then in fear ran away into the wilderness. God then met him through the burning bush, revealed himself to Moses and told Moses that he was chosen by God to be sent to to free the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. Then two weeks ago we had Rob Fisher Premium Mitch is kind of like Rob Fisher, but with more stories and less ads. And he preached on God's equipping of Moses. He helped us to see every time Moses was nervous or anxious or had a reason he couldn't go, wasn't the guy God helped to prepare him and send him. Then the passage right before this one, which we didn't actually get to cover last week. So chapter four 18 through 31 is all about Moses return and this commissioning by God on Moses. So as we're leading into our passage today, what's going on is God is sending Moses back into Egypt. God is sending Moses to be the person to free his people from slavery and to bring them into the promised land. Right before our passage, Moses speaks to the elders of the people of Israel and shares the words and the signs that God gave to him to prove to his people that I am is bringing his people out of Egypt. And the people, the elders of Israel became excited and were on board with this escape plan. Very excited for what God is going to bring through Moses. So our full ark as we're leading into our passage, Moses birth and redemption. Then we see his fall and his fleeing from Egypt. We see his appointing by God, his equipping by God and then finally his commissioning as he is sent back into Egypt. Alright, so our passage for today is Exodus chapter 5. We'll be going through the entire chapter. You can follow along with me in your Bibles. Exodus 5:1 23. Afterward, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. But Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go. Then they said, the God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword. But the king of Egypt said to them, moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens. And Pharaoh said, behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens. The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as in the past. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past, you shall impose on them. You shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, let us go and offer sacrifices to our God. Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words. So the taskmasters and the foreman of the people went out and said to the people, thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least. So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters were urgent, saying, complete your work, your daily task each day as when there was straw. And the foreman of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday as in the past? Then the four men of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, make bricks. And behold, your servants are beaten. But the fault is in your own people. But. But he said, you are idle. You are idle. That is why you say, let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks. The foreman of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, you shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task. Each day they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them as they came out from Pharaoh. And they said to them, the Lord look on you and judge. Because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hand to kill us. Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me for? Since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people. And you have not delivered your people at all. Please pray with me. Jesus, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this story in the life of Moses. Please help give me words to speak. Please help give us hearts to receive the truth that you have for us in this passage. Jesus, we just pray that you would help us to be transformed by this word and to be encouraged as we are sent into the world from here. Jesus name. Amen. All right, so you can keep your Bibles open and follow along in the text as we work through this story today. So in our first two verses we see Moses and Aaron's first petition and then Pharaoh's response. There isn't much to their petition, but they do begin by proclaiming that it is the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent Moses. This isn't just the desires of men, but the desires of God. And the other main thing to note is Moses doesn't ask. His words, or rather what the Lord sends him to say, are a command to Pharaoh. Moses comes before one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful ruler in the world and demands that he let his slaves go free to worship the one true God. And I think it can be easy to overlook the courage of Moses here. This is great things faithfulness on his part. Pharaoh, however, looks at these two Hebrews and doesn't see or acknowledge that they come with the authority of God to command him. Instead, Pharaoh sees two pathetic men who belong to the race he has oppressed and enslaved. He mocks the Lord, shows none of the respect, honor or obedience due his name, and refuses to agree to the demand of the Lord that Moses brought before him. He treats the command of the Lord given to him as a request that he denies. Then in verse three, we see Moses reiterate their ask, but with a warning. And interestingly, Moses chooses to warn not of the judgment that God promised to bring upon Egypt. If Pharaoh refuses to listen, but warns of God's judgment on the Hebrews. And Pharaoh responds to this in full force. He first reprimands Moses and Aaron for taking the people away from their work. Probably referring to the way that Moses helped to rally the people with the words and signs God gave him. Then he doubles down. Not only does he send them back to their work, which seems to be brick making, but he makes their burden in enslavement worse, requiring them to find their own straw to make bricks, essentially doubling the work while requiring the same amount of output. You shall by no means reduce the number of bricks required in the past. Pharaoh then clarifies himself. He says that the reason that he is making the burden of the Hebrews heavier is because they are idle. Essentially, Pharaoh is saying that his slaves still have enough spirit in them to desire freedom. They still have enough spirit in them to desire to worship the Lord. And Pharaoh wants to crush that remaining spirit with his increased burden. And so what we see in the next few verses is probably exactly what Pharaoh hoped to accomplish among the people of Israel. First, the taskmasters, who are the Egyptian slave drivers, and the foreman, who are the Hebrews set to manage the other Hebrews. They proclaim Pharaoh's degree to the people. I will not give you straw. Go and get your straw yourselves, wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least. And so the people scattered, trying to accomplish their impossible task. Though the taskmasters urged, the Hebrew slaves were unable to complete this impossible task. And so the Israelite foremen were beaten and questioned about their failure. So the foreman then went to complain to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh helped to complete his plot to crush the Israelite hope for freedom. He puts the blame of their increased burden on the request of Moses and Aaron. So it's over the course of these first 19 verses that Pharaoh in his shrewdness has taken the excited and faithful worship filled Israelites who are yearning for freedom. And he makes them turn against the very people who God has used to promise to bring them that freedom. Pharaoh has successfully broken the Israelites and pitted them against Moses. Then in verses 20 and 21, the angry people of Israel confront Moses and Aaron. And in some ways they try to call down God's judgment on Moses for what has happened to the Israelites. They show their anger and most of all they show that they don't think this was part of God's will. They're condemning the actions of Moses and Aaron that they took to try and free the Israelites. And Moses doesn't respond to the complaints of the people against him, or at least not in what we see. But he turns to God and like Adam in the garden, he blames God for everything that has happened. He questions why he has been sent and accuses God for not fulfilling his promises. God why have you done evil to this people? Why did you make their burdens worse? Why did you send me on this stupid quest to do scary things just to make everyone hate me? God, you said you would free your people, but all you've done is make everything worse. If I knew you were just going to make my life and everybody else's life miserable, I never would have come. And that's where our passage ends for this week. It feels like kind of a strange way to end the story, and it's not a very happy ending. In fact, really, we're only looking at a partial story. We get to see the beginning and the conflict, but no real resolution. We begin our passage in a tough spot. We see an enslaved nation, but there's hope. But we're ending with a harshly enslaved nation with crushed spirits, internal turmoil and rejection, and anger towards God. Now, as those of you in the aforementioned group who have watched the Prince of Egypt know, things do turn around and they do eventually get out of Egypt. We will even begin to see this happen next week in Exodus chapter 6, where God responds to Moses statement and questioning of God. But for today, I want to spend some time to look at this partial narrative and see what we can learn from it. It's kind of this question of like, what if? What if this is where the story ended? What if God isn't going to keep his promises and now everything is just worse? So Marvel, the superhero movie making machine, released a show a few years ago called what if? Where they took stories of some of the favorite characters and put a what if twist on them, like what if Black Panther became Star Lord? Or what if basically everybody turned into zombies? It allowed them to explore the impacts of extreme possibilities and decisions on the Marvel Universe. And I think that it's a helpful way for us to examine this story arc in Exodus. Not what if Moses became a zombie? Or what if Moses became Captain Jerusalem? But what if this was the end of the story? What if this was more of how the story of our faith went? Just like how we see pieces of our story from today. In Hudson Taylor's life, we see pieces in another story. 2000 Years ago, Jesus was sent to an oppressed people. He came down to Earth being born in the likeness of men to a virgin name Mary. He was sent to a people oppressed by sin and by death to mankind. And he lived a perfect life. He began his ministry and he preached to the people. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news. To the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And the people responded with excitement, or at least many of them did. They followed him by the thousands, watching him perform miracles, cast out demons, heal the sick and crippled. They listened to him teach, and they watched him as he lived out his ministry for three years. But then the unimaginable happened. The tension and the threats against him reached a climax. And one of the men closest to him betrayed him. Another of his closest followers denied him three times. And he was handed over by the leaders of the very religion he claimed to be God of to pagans so they could murder him under false accusations. And so this Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to a cross, the worst, most humiliating form of capital punishment possible. And the accusation hurled against him. That sums up the question being asked by so many. Someone called out against him. He saved others. Let him save himself. If he is the Christ of God, his chosen one, if he really is the Son of God, he will save himself. If God is really at work in this man, if he is the Son of God, he surely won't die like this. But he did. Jesus died on the cross and was buried in the tomb. I'm sure Peter, James and John and the others were asking the same question Moses did in our passage today. Why have you allowed things to go this way? Why did you choose us and ask us to leave everything behind if it's just for things to end up like this? You came and you proclaimed freedom for all people who believe. But now you're dead and no one is free. And so here lies the greatest what if of the Christian faith, probably the greatest what if in all of history. What if that was the end of the story of Jesus? Well, then everything else, everything our lives as Christians are built on, is meaningless. We are wasting our lives following a man who couldn't even save himself. But that's not the case, for Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. He is alive. His plan wasn't to save himself from dying on the cross, but to die on the cross so we all could be saved from our slavery to sin and death. And he proved he had the authority to free us by not staying dead and by rising from the dead three days later. And this is such good news. As Christians, we believe in a God who keeps his promises, who has the power and authority to do everything that he says he will. Our God has Power over every other ruler, nation, spiritual power or false God. He demonstrated that in the story of Moses through the ten plagues he brought against Egypt, bringing about the freedom of Israel. He showed that by bringing them to the promised land. He showed that by David's rule as king, defeating all his enemies. He showed that by bringing the exiles back to Jerusalem in Ezra and Nehemiah. And most of all, he showed that in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. So that leaves us with the question that I hope everyone here who doesn't yet follow Jesus with their whole life will deeply consider. What if all of this is true? What if Jesus really is who he says he is? What if you say yes to following Jesus? Now get back to our passage. So what if Moses let the story end here in Exodus 5? What if he refused to believe that God was a God who fulfilled his promises and has power and authority over even the Pharaoh of Egypt, someone who considered himself to be a son of the gods? Well then Moses would not be the person God would use to set his people free. God would still accomplish his accomplish his plans and purposes how he wills. And if Moses let his story end in Exodus 5:23 where we left off today, his story might be over, but God's story would not have been. Even if Moses doesn't believe God is in control and has power and authority over all things, it is still true. We don't ever need to ask what if God doesn't answer his promises? Or what if God doesn't fulfill his plans and accomplish his purposes? Because we know he will and we know he does. We see that in Jesus and we see that all throughout the Bible. Moses continues to wrestle with this throughout his whole life and leadership. He continues to question God when things go wrong and to doubt. But he also grows in his trust and faithfulness. And every time he stops and asks what if of God, he still continues to choose to follow God. Aaron preached on the end of Moses life a few weeks ago and we know that although there were many bumps along the road, Moses story ended with him walking with God. Despite all the what ifs along along the way, in the end he is counted among the righteous. So let's loop back to our first story. Hudson Taylor we left him in a rough spot. Ministry was hard. Most of the nation of China was unreached by the Gospel. He wasn't accepted by the people of China and is now back in England recovering from severe illness. He probably asked the question, what if I don't go back? What if this is the end of my story. When he was 17, he strongly felt sent by God to the people of China. But now that reality is setting in, the what ifs feel a lot bigger and more tempting to give into. But he didn't. Well, in England, Taylor translated the New Testament into Chinese and founded cim, the China Inland Mission. An organization dedicated to recruiting missionaries to live like locals, travel inland and witness to unreached peoples in China. He then returned and in all the difficulty continued to trust in God. He wasn't trusting that God would make his life great or that he would have a comfortable and healthy life, but trusting that as a Christian he was sent by God to make disciples of all nations and that this is Jesus way of life and it is the best life. Taylor's wife died and he suffered many other hardships. But in each what if moment he pressed into his ministry. CIM continued to grow and reach more and more of the lost in the China. Proclaiming the gospel everywhere and seeing lives be transformed. CIM and Hudson faced much more persecution, the deaths of many missionaries and much opposition. And still the gospel went forth. In each moment of doubt, Hudson Taylor continued to say yes to Jesus invitation to be a witness to the lost. The way Hudson Taylor responded to the what ifs led to thousands of people becoming Christians in China. It led to the unreached peoples of inland China receiving the gospel. It led to missionaries living among the people they were witnessing to and the founding of an organization that completely changed the spiritual climate of China. CIM is now known as omf Overseas Missionary Fellowship and Organization. Organization that still exists today to bring the gospel to unreached peoples in all of East Asia. So what if Hudson Taylor had let his story end in England in 1859? Well, large parts of China would have been unreached with the gospel. God could still have used someone else. But Hudson's meant yes. Hudson saying yes in that what if meant that he got to be the one used by God to accomplish his purposes for that time in China. So it's great that Moses and Taylor were both faithful in their what if moments. But what does that look like for us anytime we find ourselves in a spot considering if some aspect of following Jesus is worth it. We are in a little what if moment and those add up that might be with areas of holiness. Gossiping with others because it's fun, everyone else is doing it. It helps you to engage and fit in with your friends. Really in that moment we're saying what if Jesus call to gossip isn't what's best? Or what if Jesus call to not be drunk or sexually pure or to love those who hate us isn't the best way to live, especially in a place like Madison. It's pretty easy to hate those we disagree with in today's culture. I think one of the ways that I wrestle with this a lot is with money. Cassie and I try to give generously, but it is so easy for me to not think about the money that God has given to us and how it could be used. We have the things that we give to and we put those things first. But I can easily become entitled to the rest of my money and not take a step back to think how I could use it for his kingdom. Instead of make some part of my house nicer or buy something I've been wanting for a while, I need to step back and ask what if God's desire for me to use my money for his kingdom is the better way to live and then decide if I'm actually going to live that out and figure out what that means. In times past when we have done this well, it's meant giving money we saved for a vacation to something better, or giving away cars that would have been nice to have or to sell, or using date money to take a friend we were trying to share Jesus with to a sports game. We still fail at this a lot and I often catch myself not believing that Jesus way is best and wanting to use the rest of my money for me. Another huge one for all of us is with our call to share the gospel. Hudson Taylor took this very seriously. So should we? It's really easy for me to let date nights with my wife or house projects or comfort or just my busyness in general get in the way of this one. What if Jesus didn't really mean for all of us to share the gospel? Or what if it's not going to do anything anyway? None of my friends or neighbors will ever believe they're too far gone. Jesus calls each and every one of us who call ourselves Christians to be ambassadors of his gospel to the people around us, and we need to actually live that out. When we seriously try to live out the full call of a Christian, we will be faced with difficulties and lots of what ifs. If you use your money missionally for God's kingdom, you will have less money to spend on yourself and you might find yourself asking what if this isn't better? If you really are trying to witness to your neighbors and the people around you, you might be in awkward situations. You might get anxious, you'll probably have people dislike you, and you'll definitely have less time to spend doing whatever you want to do. You'll definitely have less time to spend doing whatever you want to do if you're using it to love your neighbour well. And you'll probably ask, what if this isn't the best way to live? That's what Moses asked. Why did you ever send me? What if trying to go to Pharaoh isn't the best thing for your people? What if obeying you and speaking before Pharaoh wasn't a good decision? One thing that I can assure you, God's plan for Israel was far better than for them to remain in slavery. Jesus way is better. God keeps all his promises and as creator of all things, he has designed not only us, but the best way of life. And we should be faithful in those what ifs to follow him, even when we don't understand or experience it in a way that makes sense to us. So Moses was stuck in a what if at the end of our chapter. The Israelites are stuck in a what if at the end of our chapter. And then we'll resolve that next week. But for all of us, I have only one application point as we consider where we might be falling short in our what ifs in not living life fully in the truth that Jesus way of life is the best way and the only good way. So I want you to actually write down this question and in your car, on your way home or after church or at some point later today, I want you to discuss this question with your spouse or a Christian friend. Where am I not trusting that Jesus plan is best? Where am I not trusting that Jesus plan is best? And as you discuss that, I want you to decide like what are those what ifs that you're living in right now? And then decide on something to actually do about it. Over the next few weeks, we will get to see what Moses does. We'll get to see how Moses responds in these what ifs. Let us all as Red Village, trust Jesus and follow him in all of our what ifs Also. Please pray with me, dear Jesus, Heavenly Father, we thank you that you keep all your promises. God, we thank you that you have power and authority over all people, all rulers, all spiritual powers. Jesus, we thank you that we can trust you that you will fulfill all of your promises. We can trust you that your way of life is the best way. Jesus, please help us in our what ifs. Please help us as we're doubting that your way is the best way to press in. Lord, in our conversations, help to reveal the ways that we aren't trusting you and your plan for our lives. Help us to follow you more, to trust you more, and to live our lives more conformed to Jesus. Jesus, please bless these conversations and give us wisdom in how we should live. We thank you for your word and we thank you that we get to gather here this morning. Pray all these things, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen. The post Making Bricks Without Straw – Exodus 5: 1-23 appeared first on Red Village Church.

In 2012, China debuted its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, a refurbished Soviet-era ship from Ukraine. The debut of the Liaoning was largely thanks to a longtime pressure campaign by Liu Huaqing, the onetime leader of the People's Liberation Army Navy and the man responsible for transforming China's naval strategy. (China now has three carriers, and is building a fourth). When Liu began his career, China saw its military victories as coming primarily via land warfare; Liu, over decades, forced China to take naval combat seriously. Xiaobing Li writes about Liu's life in his book China's Mahan: Admiral Liu Huaqing and the Rise of the Modern Chinese Navy (Naval Institute Press, 2026), from his early career in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War and finishing with his long push to start China's aircraft carrier program. Xiaobing Li, professor of history and Don Betz Endowed Chair in International Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, is the author of The Dragon in the Jungle, Attack at Chosin, Building Ho's Army, History of Taiwan, and The Cold War in East Asia. He is the executive editor of the Chinese Historical Review. Li served in the PLA in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In 2012, China debuted its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, a refurbished Soviet-era ship from Ukraine. The debut of the Liaoning was largely thanks to a longtime pressure campaign by Liu Huaqing, the onetime leader of the People's Liberation Army Navy and the man responsible for transforming China's naval strategy. (China now has three carriers, and is building a fourth). When Liu began his career, China saw its military victories as coming primarily via land warfare; Liu, over decades, forced China to take naval combat seriously. Xiaobing Li writes about Liu's life in his book China's Mahan: Admiral Liu Huaqing and the Rise of the Modern Chinese Navy (Naval Institute Press, 2026), from his early career in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War and finishing with his long push to start China's aircraft carrier program. Xiaobing Li, professor of history and Don Betz Endowed Chair in International Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, is the author of The Dragon in the Jungle, Attack at Chosin, Building Ho's Army, History of Taiwan, and The Cold War in East Asia. He is the executive editor of the Chinese Historical Review. Li served in the PLA in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

In 2012, China debuted its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, a refurbished Soviet-era ship from Ukraine. The debut of the Liaoning was largely thanks to a longtime pressure campaign by Liu Huaqing, the onetime leader of the People's Liberation Army Navy and the man responsible for transforming China's naval strategy. (China now has three carriers, and is building a fourth). When Liu began his career, China saw its military victories as coming primarily via land warfare; Liu, over decades, forced China to take naval combat seriously. Xiaobing Li writes about Liu's life in his book China's Mahan: Admiral Liu Huaqing and the Rise of the Modern Chinese Navy (Naval Institute Press, 2026), from his early career in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War and finishing with his long push to start China's aircraft carrier program. Xiaobing Li, professor of history and Don Betz Endowed Chair in International Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, is the author of The Dragon in the Jungle, Attack at Chosin, Building Ho's Army, History of Taiwan, and The Cold War in East Asia. He is the executive editor of the Chinese Historical Review. Li served in the PLA in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

In 2012, China debuted its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, a refurbished Soviet-era ship from Ukraine. The debut of the Liaoning was largely thanks to a longtime pressure campaign by Liu Huaqing, the onetime leader of the People's Liberation Army Navy and the man responsible for transforming China's naval strategy. (China now has three carriers, and is building a fourth). When Liu began his career, China saw its military victories as coming primarily via land warfare; Liu, over decades, forced China to take naval combat seriously. Xiaobing Li writes about Liu's life in his book China's Mahan: Admiral Liu Huaqing and the Rise of the Modern Chinese Navy (Naval Institute Press, 2026), from his early career in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War and finishing with his long push to start China's aircraft carrier program. Xiaobing Li, professor of history and Don Betz Endowed Chair in International Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, is the author of The Dragon in the Jungle, Attack at Chosin, Building Ho's Army, History of Taiwan, and The Cold War in East Asia. He is the executive editor of the Chinese Historical Review. Li served in the PLA in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

In 2012, China debuted its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, a refurbished Soviet-era ship from Ukraine. The debut of the Liaoning was largely thanks to a longtime pressure campaign by Liu Huaqing, the onetime leader of the People's Liberation Army Navy and the man responsible for transforming China's naval strategy. (China now has three carriers, and is building a fourth). When Liu began his career, China saw its military victories as coming primarily via land warfare; Liu, over decades, forced China to take naval combat seriously. Xiaobing Li writes about Liu's life in his book China's Mahan: Admiral Liu Huaqing and the Rise of the Modern Chinese Navy (Naval Institute Press, 2026), from his early career in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War and finishing with his long push to start China's aircraft carrier program. Xiaobing Li, professor of history and Don Betz Endowed Chair in International Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, is the author of The Dragon in the Jungle, Attack at Chosin, Building Ho's Army, History of Taiwan, and The Cold War in East Asia. He is the executive editor of the Chinese Historical Review. Li served in the PLA in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies

In 2012, China debuted its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, a refurbished Soviet-era ship from Ukraine. The debut of the Liaoning was largely thanks to a longtime pressure campaign by Liu Huaqing, the onetime leader of the People's Liberation Army Navy and the man responsible for transforming China's naval strategy. (China now has three carriers, and is building a fourth). When Liu began his career, China saw its military victories as coming primarily via land warfare; Liu, over decades, forced China to take naval combat seriously. Xiaobing Li writes about Liu's life in his book China's Mahan: Admiral Liu Huaqing and the Rise of the Modern Chinese Navy (Naval Institute Press, 2026), from his early career in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War and finishing with his long push to start China's aircraft carrier program. Xiaobing Li, professor of history and Don Betz Endowed Chair in International Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, is the author of The Dragon in the Jungle, Attack at Chosin, Building Ho's Army, History of Taiwan, and The Cold War in East Asia. He is the executive editor of the Chinese Historical Review. Li served in the PLA in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-review

Our correspondent joins an embed in Lebanon, where Israel claims that Hizbullah's continued strength justifies its campaign. If Israel's goals diverge from America's, how does this affect peace talks over the Iran conflict? The impact of the oncoming “Godzilla" El Niño. And why Japan's popular princess will never take the throne.Guests and host:Anshel Pfeffer, Israel correspondentCatherine Brahic, environment editorMoeka Iida, East Asia correspondentRosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: Lebanon, Hizbullah, IDF, Majdal ZounEl Niño, climate change, famineJapan, Naruhito, Aiko, Princess ToshiListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our correspondent joins an embed in Lebanon, where Israel claims that Hizbullah's continued strength justifies its campaign. If Israel's goals diverge from America's, how does this affect peace talks over the Iran conflict? The impact of the oncoming “Godzilla El Niño”. And why Japan's popular princess will never take the throne.Guests and host:Anshel Pfeffer, Israel correspondentCatherine Brahic, environment editorMoeka Iida, East Asia correspondentRosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: Lebanon, Hizbullah, IDF, Majdal ZounEl Niño, climate change, famineJapan, Naruhito, Aiko, Princess ToshiListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (Australian Centre on China in the World, 2025) explores four transformative decades of photography in Taiwan, tracing its evolution amid the island's emergence from Japanese colonialism and integration into Nationalist China, largely under martial law (1949–87). Through a dozen richly illustrated essays and interviews, the book bridges the gap between vigorous Chinese-language scholarship on photography in Taiwan and its limited representation in English. Essays on photographers in the 1950s–60s, including Long Chin-San (Lang Jingshan) (1892-1995), Deng Nan-Guang (1907-1971), Chang Chao-Tang (1943-2024), Liu An-Ming (1928-2022), Hwang Pai-Chi (b. 1931), Hsu Yuan-Fu (1932-2018) and Tsai Hui-Feng (1928-2005), reveal photography's pivotal role in documenting ‘local' culture and shaping cultural identity, while challenging ideas of ‘amateur' and ‘realist' practices and recognising the importance of transnational connections. Meanwhile, essays on Hsu Jen-Shiu (b.1946), Lin Bo-Liang (b. 1952), Kao Chung-Li (b. 1958), Lien Hui-Ling (b. 1961) and Hou Tsung-Hui (b. 1960), along with interviews sharing the firsthand experiences of Liu Chen-Hsiang (b.1963), Lulu Shur-tzy Hou (1962-2023) and Yao Jui-Chung (b.1969), highlight the experience of photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan, as both witness and agent of social transformation, addressing issues such as environmental protection, mental health and gender politics, as well as being a crucial vehicle for the transdisciplinary nature of contemporary art, theatre, cinema and performance in Taiwan at that time. Chen Shuxia is a historian and curator of Chinese art. Her research concerns art collectives, diasporic artistic practice, and reciprocal relations between people and objects. Her most recent books include Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (2025), Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature (2024) and A Home for Photography Learning: the Friday Salon, 1977-1980 (2024). Her most recent curated exhibitions include “Merchants of Haymarket: the Making of Sydney's Chinatown” (2026), “The trace is not a presence…” (2025), “Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature” (2024). Chen is the inaugural curator of the Chau Chak Wing Museum's China Gallery, and a Senior lecturer in the Master's degree programme in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Olivier Krischer is a historian and curator of art from East Asia and the Asian Australian diaspora, whose research concerns modern and contemporary transcultural art, photography and intermedia practices. His curatorial projects include “Assembly” (2023), featuring eight Hong Kong-born artists, “Wayfaring: Photography in 1970s-80s Taiwan” (2021) and “Between: Picturing 1950-1960s Taiwan” (2016). His publications include John Young: The History Projects (2025), Zhang Peili: From Painting to Video (2019) and Asia through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation Across Borders (with F. Nakamura and M. Perkins, 2013). Krischer is currently a lecturer and program convenor for the Master's degree programe in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Li-Ping Chen is a visiting scholar in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include literary translingualism, diaspora, and nativism in Sinophone, inter-Asian, and transpacific contexts. Li-Ping's NBN episodes on Taiwan Studies are supported by the Chun and Jane Chiu Family Foundation Taiwan Studies Program at Oregon State University. Relevant Links: Open Access for Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan 1950s−1980s Wayfaring 找路: Photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan Exhibition Webpage Wayfaring Exhibition Pamphlet Wayfaring Exhibition Video Tour | Part 1 — Overview “Between: Picturing 1950s-60s Taiwan / 間：臺灣五六十年代面影” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (Australian Centre on China in the World, 2025) explores four transformative decades of photography in Taiwan, tracing its evolution amid the island's emergence from Japanese colonialism and integration into Nationalist China, largely under martial law (1949–87). Through a dozen richly illustrated essays and interviews, the book bridges the gap between vigorous Chinese-language scholarship on photography in Taiwan and its limited representation in English. Essays on photographers in the 1950s–60s, including Long Chin-San (Lang Jingshan) (1892-1995), Deng Nan-Guang (1907-1971), Chang Chao-Tang (1943-2024), Liu An-Ming (1928-2022), Hwang Pai-Chi (b. 1931), Hsu Yuan-Fu (1932-2018) and Tsai Hui-Feng (1928-2005), reveal photography's pivotal role in documenting ‘local' culture and shaping cultural identity, while challenging ideas of ‘amateur' and ‘realist' practices and recognising the importance of transnational connections. Meanwhile, essays on Hsu Jen-Shiu (b.1946), Lin Bo-Liang (b. 1952), Kao Chung-Li (b. 1958), Lien Hui-Ling (b. 1961) and Hou Tsung-Hui (b. 1960), along with interviews sharing the firsthand experiences of Liu Chen-Hsiang (b.1963), Lulu Shur-tzy Hou (1962-2023) and Yao Jui-Chung (b.1969), highlight the experience of photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan, as both witness and agent of social transformation, addressing issues such as environmental protection, mental health and gender politics, as well as being a crucial vehicle for the transdisciplinary nature of contemporary art, theatre, cinema and performance in Taiwan at that time. Chen Shuxia is a historian and curator of Chinese art. Her research concerns art collectives, diasporic artistic practice, and reciprocal relations between people and objects. Her most recent books include Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (2025), Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature (2024) and A Home for Photography Learning: the Friday Salon, 1977-1980 (2024). Her most recent curated exhibitions include “Merchants of Haymarket: the Making of Sydney's Chinatown” (2026), “The trace is not a presence…” (2025), “Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature” (2024). Chen is the inaugural curator of the Chau Chak Wing Museum's China Gallery, and a Senior lecturer in the Master's degree programme in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Olivier Krischer is a historian and curator of art from East Asia and the Asian Australian diaspora, whose research concerns modern and contemporary transcultural art, photography and intermedia practices. His curatorial projects include “Assembly” (2023), featuring eight Hong Kong-born artists, “Wayfaring: Photography in 1970s-80s Taiwan” (2021) and “Between: Picturing 1950-1960s Taiwan” (2016). His publications include John Young: The History Projects (2025), Zhang Peili: From Painting to Video (2019) and Asia through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation Across Borders (with F. Nakamura and M. Perkins, 2013). Krischer is currently a lecturer and program convenor for the Master's degree programe in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Li-Ping Chen is a visiting scholar in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include literary translingualism, diaspora, and nativism in Sinophone, inter-Asian, and transpacific contexts. Li-Ping's NBN episodes on Taiwan Studies are supported by the Chun and Jane Chiu Family Foundation Taiwan Studies Program at Oregon State University. Relevant Links: Open Access for Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan 1950s−1980s Wayfaring 找路: Photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan Exhibition Webpage Wayfaring Exhibition Pamphlet Wayfaring Exhibition Video Tour | Part 1 — Overview “Between: Picturing 1950s-60s Taiwan / 間：臺灣五六十年代面影” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (Australian Centre on China in the World, 2025) explores four transformative decades of photography in Taiwan, tracing its evolution amid the island's emergence from Japanese colonialism and integration into Nationalist China, largely under martial law (1949–87). Through a dozen richly illustrated essays and interviews, the book bridges the gap between vigorous Chinese-language scholarship on photography in Taiwan and its limited representation in English. Essays on photographers in the 1950s–60s, including Long Chin-San (Lang Jingshan) (1892-1995), Deng Nan-Guang (1907-1971), Chang Chao-Tang (1943-2024), Liu An-Ming (1928-2022), Hwang Pai-Chi (b. 1931), Hsu Yuan-Fu (1932-2018) and Tsai Hui-Feng (1928-2005), reveal photography's pivotal role in documenting ‘local' culture and shaping cultural identity, while challenging ideas of ‘amateur' and ‘realist' practices and recognising the importance of transnational connections. Meanwhile, essays on Hsu Jen-Shiu (b.1946), Lin Bo-Liang (b. 1952), Kao Chung-Li (b. 1958), Lien Hui-Ling (b. 1961) and Hou Tsung-Hui (b. 1960), along with interviews sharing the firsthand experiences of Liu Chen-Hsiang (b.1963), Lulu Shur-tzy Hou (1962-2023) and Yao Jui-Chung (b.1969), highlight the experience of photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan, as both witness and agent of social transformation, addressing issues such as environmental protection, mental health and gender politics, as well as being a crucial vehicle for the transdisciplinary nature of contemporary art, theatre, cinema and performance in Taiwan at that time. Chen Shuxia is a historian and curator of Chinese art. Her research concerns art collectives, diasporic artistic practice, and reciprocal relations between people and objects. Her most recent books include Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (2025), Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature (2024) and A Home for Photography Learning: the Friday Salon, 1977-1980 (2024). Her most recent curated exhibitions include “Merchants of Haymarket: the Making of Sydney's Chinatown” (2026), “The trace is not a presence…” (2025), “Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature” (2024). Chen is the inaugural curator of the Chau Chak Wing Museum's China Gallery, and a Senior lecturer in the Master's degree programme in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Olivier Krischer is a historian and curator of art from East Asia and the Asian Australian diaspora, whose research concerns modern and contemporary transcultural art, photography and intermedia practices. His curatorial projects include “Assembly” (2023), featuring eight Hong Kong-born artists, “Wayfaring: Photography in 1970s-80s Taiwan” (2021) and “Between: Picturing 1950-1960s Taiwan” (2016). His publications include John Young: The History Projects (2025), Zhang Peili: From Painting to Video (2019) and Asia through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation Across Borders (with F. Nakamura and M. Perkins, 2013). Krischer is currently a lecturer and program convenor for the Master's degree programe in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Li-Ping Chen is a visiting scholar in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include literary translingualism, diaspora, and nativism in Sinophone, inter-Asian, and transpacific contexts. Li-Ping's NBN episodes on Taiwan Studies are supported by the Chun and Jane Chiu Family Foundation Taiwan Studies Program at Oregon State University. Relevant Links: Open Access for Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan 1950s−1980s Wayfaring 找路: Photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan Exhibition Webpage Wayfaring Exhibition Pamphlet Wayfaring Exhibition Video Tour | Part 1 — Overview “Between: Picturing 1950s-60s Taiwan / 間：臺灣五六十年代面影” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

Award winning rapper and filmmaker, Ice Cube, is also the CEO and co-founder of the BIG3, which aims to become the first publicly traded sports league through a SPAC merger. He talks about the "star power" backing the league and the "uphill battle" it has overcome since the pandemic. Ice Cube has his sights set on the world for growth, naming regions like East Asia and Australia as places to expand BIG3's reach in basketball and beyond.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (Australian Centre on China in the World, 2025) explores four transformative decades of photography in Taiwan, tracing its evolution amid the island's emergence from Japanese colonialism and integration into Nationalist China, largely under martial law (1949–87). Through a dozen richly illustrated essays and interviews, the book bridges the gap between vigorous Chinese-language scholarship on photography in Taiwan and its limited representation in English. Essays on photographers in the 1950s–60s, including Long Chin-San (Lang Jingshan) (1892-1995), Deng Nan-Guang (1907-1971), Chang Chao-Tang (1943-2024), Liu An-Ming (1928-2022), Hwang Pai-Chi (b. 1931), Hsu Yuan-Fu (1932-2018) and Tsai Hui-Feng (1928-2005), reveal photography's pivotal role in documenting ‘local' culture and shaping cultural identity, while challenging ideas of ‘amateur' and ‘realist' practices and recognising the importance of transnational connections. Meanwhile, essays on Hsu Jen-Shiu (b.1946), Lin Bo-Liang (b. 1952), Kao Chung-Li (b. 1958), Lien Hui-Ling (b. 1961) and Hou Tsung-Hui (b. 1960), along with interviews sharing the firsthand experiences of Liu Chen-Hsiang (b.1963), Lulu Shur-tzy Hou (1962-2023) and Yao Jui-Chung (b.1969), highlight the experience of photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan, as both witness and agent of social transformation, addressing issues such as environmental protection, mental health and gender politics, as well as being a crucial vehicle for the transdisciplinary nature of contemporary art, theatre, cinema and performance in Taiwan at that time. Chen Shuxia is a historian and curator of Chinese art. Her research concerns art collectives, diasporic artistic practice, and reciprocal relations between people and objects. Her most recent books include Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (2025), Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature (2024) and A Home for Photography Learning: the Friday Salon, 1977-1980 (2024). Her most recent curated exhibitions include “Merchants of Haymarket: the Making of Sydney's Chinatown” (2026), “The trace is not a presence…” (2025), “Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature” (2024). Chen is the inaugural curator of the Chau Chak Wing Museum's China Gallery, and a Senior lecturer in the Master's degree programme in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Olivier Krischer is a historian and curator of art from East Asia and the Asian Australian diaspora, whose research concerns modern and contemporary transcultural art, photography and intermedia practices. His curatorial projects include “Assembly” (2023), featuring eight Hong Kong-born artists, “Wayfaring: Photography in 1970s-80s Taiwan” (2021) and “Between: Picturing 1950-1960s Taiwan” (2016). His publications include John Young: The History Projects (2025), Zhang Peili: From Painting to Video (2019) and Asia through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation Across Borders (with F. Nakamura and M. Perkins, 2013). Krischer is currently a lecturer and program convenor for the Master's degree programe in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Li-Ping Chen is a visiting scholar in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include literary translingualism, diaspora, and nativism in Sinophone, inter-Asian, and transpacific contexts. Li-Ping's NBN episodes on Taiwan Studies are supported by the Chun and Jane Chiu Family Foundation Taiwan Studies Program at Oregon State University. Relevant Links: Open Access for Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan 1950s−1980s Wayfaring 找路: Photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan Exhibition Webpage Wayfaring Exhibition Pamphlet Wayfaring Exhibition Video Tour | Part 1 — Overview “Between: Picturing 1950s-60s Taiwan / 間：臺灣五六十年代面影” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/art

Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (Australian Centre on China in the World, 2025) explores four transformative decades of photography in Taiwan, tracing its evolution amid the island's emergence from Japanese colonialism and integration into Nationalist China, largely under martial law (1949–87). Through a dozen richly illustrated essays and interviews, the book bridges the gap between vigorous Chinese-language scholarship on photography in Taiwan and its limited representation in English. Essays on photographers in the 1950s–60s, including Long Chin-San (Lang Jingshan) (1892-1995), Deng Nan-Guang (1907-1971), Chang Chao-Tang (1943-2024), Liu An-Ming (1928-2022), Hwang Pai-Chi (b. 1931), Hsu Yuan-Fu (1932-2018) and Tsai Hui-Feng (1928-2005), reveal photography's pivotal role in documenting ‘local' culture and shaping cultural identity, while challenging ideas of ‘amateur' and ‘realist' practices and recognising the importance of transnational connections. Meanwhile, essays on Hsu Jen-Shiu (b.1946), Lin Bo-Liang (b. 1952), Kao Chung-Li (b. 1958), Lien Hui-Ling (b. 1961) and Hou Tsung-Hui (b. 1960), along with interviews sharing the firsthand experiences of Liu Chen-Hsiang (b.1963), Lulu Shur-tzy Hou (1962-2023) and Yao Jui-Chung (b.1969), highlight the experience of photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan, as both witness and agent of social transformation, addressing issues such as environmental protection, mental health and gender politics, as well as being a crucial vehicle for the transdisciplinary nature of contemporary art, theatre, cinema and performance in Taiwan at that time. Chen Shuxia is a historian and curator of Chinese art. Her research concerns art collectives, diasporic artistic practice, and reciprocal relations between people and objects. Her most recent books include Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan, 1950s–1980s (2025), Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature (2024) and A Home for Photography Learning: the Friday Salon, 1977-1980 (2024). Her most recent curated exhibitions include “Merchants of Haymarket: the Making of Sydney's Chinatown” (2026), “The trace is not a presence…” (2025), “Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature” (2024). Chen is the inaugural curator of the Chau Chak Wing Museum's China Gallery, and a Senior lecturer in the Master's degree programme in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Olivier Krischer is a historian and curator of art from East Asia and the Asian Australian diaspora, whose research concerns modern and contemporary transcultural art, photography and intermedia practices. His curatorial projects include “Assembly” (2023), featuring eight Hong Kong-born artists, “Wayfaring: Photography in 1970s-80s Taiwan” (2021) and “Between: Picturing 1950-1960s Taiwan” (2016). His publications include John Young: The History Projects (2025), Zhang Peili: From Painting to Video (2019) and Asia through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation Across Borders (with F. Nakamura and M. Perkins, 2013). Krischer is currently a lecturer and program convenor for the Master's degree programe in Curating and Cultural Leadership, at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design. Li-Ping Chen is a visiting scholar in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include literary translingualism, diaspora, and nativism in Sinophone, inter-Asian, and transpacific contexts. Li-Ping's NBN episodes on Taiwan Studies are supported by the Chun and Jane Chiu Family Foundation Taiwan Studies Program at Oregon State University. Relevant Links: Open Access for Wayfaring: Photography in Taiwan 1950s−1980s Wayfaring 找路: Photography in 1970s–80s Taiwan Exhibition Webpage Wayfaring Exhibition Pamphlet Wayfaring Exhibition Video Tour | Part 1 — Overview “Between: Picturing 1950s-60s Taiwan / 間：臺灣五六十年代面影” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/photography

A version of this essay was published by firstpost at https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/from-indo-pacific-to-pacific-delhi-must-prepare-for-strategic-loneliness-14024528.htmlI refer, of course, to the (in)famous newspaper headline which said, “Ford to City: Drop Dead” in 1975 when then-POTUS Gerald Ford refused to bail out New York City during a financial crisis.It appears to be the same sentiment now with POTUS Trump regarding India. The end of India's fond hopes of a strategic alliance came not with a bang, but with a whimper: the Pentagon announcement, right in the middle of the G7 conclave in France, that the US has reverted its Indo-Pacific Command to the “Pacific Command”, which had been the name before Trump changed it in 2018.What this means is clear: the US has turned its back on the Indian Ocean, on India, and on the vaunted “strategic partnership” that Indian policymakers had long assumed would be a corollary of that presumed bedrock of Indo-US relations: the mutual need to contain a rampaging China.Coming on top of the remarkable cavalierness about the murders of three Indian merchant-navy sailors, and numerous other slights, we see a pattern of indifference at best, or disdain at worst. The US is signalling that they don't need India. India, in other words, has no leverage. I am not amazed, to be honest: I wrote in 2023 that in an era of relative decline, it made sense for the US to downgrade its aspirations from sole hyperpower to first among equals: that is, a “G2 condominium” with China. This is, in principle, the same as the Vatican-brokered Treaty of Torsedillas in 1494 that divided the world into Portuguese and a Spanish spheres of influence. Interestingly, that didn't end up well for either party, but we shall let that pass. Let us connect the dots: there is a ‘Donroe Doctrine' whereby the US is asserting its hegemony in the Americas, its sphere of influence. Trump has ejected China from Venezuela, and is in the process of kicking them out of the Panama Canal zone; although the Pacific-to-Atlantic railway project in the Brazilian rainforest, and its terminus, the deep-water Port Chancay in Peru, remain.The disastrous Trump foray into Iran was predicated on denying China easy access to that country's hydrocarbons. But the MoU after 100+ days of war suggests that the US has received a bloody nose, and is withdrawing, retired hurt. The shrinking of ambitions away from the Indian Ocean as in the reversion to the ‘Pacific Command' suggests that the US is ceding the continent, including West Asia, to China.America-watchers have noticed this strange attitude to Asia before. Evan A. Feigenbaum, a former advisor to US Secretaries of State, wrote about this in 2011:For Washington, the problem is at once intellectual, strategic, and bureaucratic. Intellectually, the United States still has three separate foreign policies in Asia—one for East Asia, another for South Asia, and a third for Central Asia (which it scarcely regards as a part of Asia at all). As Asia reintegrates, then, the United States is too often stuck in an outdated mode of thinking ...Asia is being reborn, and remade. Yet, the United States is badly prepared for this momentous rebirth, which is at once stitching Asia back together and making the United States less relevant in each of Asia's constituent parts. Asians are, in various ways, passing America by, restoring ancient ties and repairing long-broken strategic and economic links.Well, this is also the end of the “pivot to Asia”, even though it was probably half-hearted at the best of times. Then-POTUS Obama started using the term in 2011, but was himself guilty of ‘awarding' “South Asia” to Chinese overlordship on a visit to that country. Now that the US is dumping its European allies, it should not be surprising, in view of the ‘Fortress America' tone of the National Security Strategy of 2025, that India is also being thrown under the bus.A US official, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said this bluntly in Delhi at the Raisina Dialog 2026: India should understand that we're not going to make the same mistakes with India that we made with China 20 years ago in terms of saying oh you know we're going to let you develop all these markets and then the next thing we know you're beating us in a lot of commercial things.Landau is right from a short-term US perspective. The US blundered, presumably taken in by Chinese propaganda, and allowed itself to be stripped of its industrial prowess. They have learned a lesson: squash potential competitors when you can. This is a back-handed compliment: it suggests that the US is aware that India can be a challenger, and make the G2 a G3. India is literally the only power that's large enough to make it to Great Power status: Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, etc. have too many problems.No incumbent power wants an insurgent power to challenge its hegemony. The so-called “Thucydides Trap” predicts that chances are that they will go to war: a kinetic war or an economic war or both. India is simultaneously facing Thucydides Traps from both the US and China, those G2 buddies. I wrote about this as an “Abhimanyu Syndrome” for India: splendid isolation. I hasten to add that though Abhimanyu died, his side did win convincingly.So it's time for India to be pragmatic, and develop its own self-reliance, both in military power and economic/trade power. The existing G2 are looking for vassals, not allies. The equation between them is also interesting. It is clear that the US is in gentle relative decline; but it does have deep resources, and can survive as a continent sized economy, even if it turns its back on the rest of the world, as it has done several times in its 250-year history. But Trump did kowtow to Xi on his May trip to China: he looked like a supplicant paying tribute to the emperor.China, if you look at its 3000-year-long history, is volatile and unstable. A pattern repeats, again and again: there are periods of prosperity and power under a strong imperial center, followed by collapse and utter chaos. An unwinding of the Chinese empire, much like the implosion of the Soviet empire, is probably only a matter of time.If you look at Indian history, the nation was mostly stable, though its prosperity invited invaders. As far back as 3000 years ago, India was the center of a lucrative Indian Ocean trade, based on Pax Indica in the region. With a deep water navy, a massive manufacturing push, and self-reliance, India can regain its past glory. Military power breeds respect from others. Economic power makes others want to trade.1100 words, 18 Jun 2026AI-generated slideshow courtesy notebookLM.google.com: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib has a wide-ranging conversation, again, with Dan Hess, the man behind the More Births account on social media. An engineer with a large family in the DC area, Hess' essays on topics like Israelis' high birth rate have gained the attention of X. He has an account that has come from a few hundred followers to more than 45,000 in less than 4 years. His tweets have been boosted by Elon. Today Razib and Hess start the conversation talking about East Asia, and its massive fertility crisis. Hess makes the case against urban density, observing how low fertility is in some of these Asian cities in particular. Razib also brings up economic and cultural creativity, as he and Hess ruminate on the consequences of reduced dynamism due to an aging population. Hess also argues that we cannot rely on evolution to fix our demographic imbalances; the source nations of immigrants are experiencing demographic collapse as well.

Geopolitics has dominated this year's G7 political meeting in Evian, France. Donald Trump offered scant detail on the Iran peace deal but leaders promised to boost support for Ukraine. Though prostitution in Japan has a long history, recent scandals have drawn it into the spotlight. And Britain's Country Life magazine has a winning formula: ignore the news. Guests and host:Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chiefMoeka Iida, East Asia reporterCatherine Nixey, Britain correspondentRosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: G7, Donald Trump, Iran, UkraineProstitution, Japan, sex workCountry Life, publishing, BritainListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Geopolitics has dominated this year's G7 political meeting in Evian, France. Donald Trump offered scant detail on the Iran peace deal but leaders promised to boost support for Ukraine. Though prostitution in Japan has a long history, recent scandals have drawn it into the spotlight. And Britain's Country Life magazine has a winning formula: ignore the news. Guests and host:Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chiefMoeka Iida, East Asia reporterCatherine Nixey, Britain correspondentRosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: G7, Donald Trump, Iran, UkraineProstitution, Japan, sex workCountry Life, publishing, BritainListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Islam is spreading across East Asia — and the rise of Muslims in China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea could reshape the future of the Muslim world. As China becomes a global superpower and the West declines in influence, Muslim immigrants, converts, and native East Asian Muslims may become one of the most important religious communities in a Chinese-dominated world order.In this episode of The Ansari Podcast, we sit down with Imam Abdullah Cheng, a Taiwanese Muslim imam and computer scientist from a convert background, to explore the future of Islam in China, Taiwan, Japan, and East Asia. We discuss the history of Islam in China, the difference between Uyghur Muslims and Hui Muslims, Hui Muslim cuisine and culture, Islam in Taiwan, dawah in China, Korea, and Japan, and why more East Asians are becoming interested in Islam.We also explore the rise of Islam in Japan, Japan's masculinity crisis, declining birthrates, loneliness, mental health, marriage collapse, and how Islam offers answers to young men and women searching for meaning. From anime and Eastern storytelling to Islamic dawah, Muslim identity, Chinese atheism, communism, and the treatment of Muslims in China, this conversation reveals why East Asia may become one of the most important frontiers for Islam in the 21st century.JOIN OUR WEBSITE MEMBERSHIP! @ https://ansaripodcast.com*The Debt Clinic*: https://www.mydebtclinic.com/ansari*Provision Capital:* https://www.provisioncapital.com00:00 What is Life Like For Muslims in Taiwan?05:02 The History of Islam in China08:20 Ad09:51 The Difference Between Uyghur and Hui Muslims12:42 Hui Muslim Cuisine and Culture21:35 The Future of Islam in China32:37 Muslims Becoming the Irish of China34:44 How Dawah is Done in China, Korea, and Japan37:24 Rise of Islam in Japan39:56 The Masculinity and Mental Health Crisis in Japan48:57 Why is Islam Rising Quickly in Japan vs Taiwan51:32 How Muslims Could Use The Power of Anime01:03:00 Ad01:03:30 What is Actually Happening to Muslims in China?01:09:54 Chinese Atheist Communists Worse than Western Powers?01:16:18 Final Thoughts#China #Japan #muslim #podcast #chinesemuslim #japanesemuslim #chinesefood #japaneseculture #islam #dawah *Listen on All Audio Platforms:* https://tr.ee/JeX-ILYSyj*Follow The Ansari Podcast**Instagram:* https://instagram.com/ansaripodcast*TikTok:* https://tiktok.com/@theansaripodcast*Twitter/X:* https://twitter.com/ansaripodcast

Tell me your favorite episode for the 6th anniversary show! For thousands of years, Korea has stood at the crossroads of East Asia, shaped by powerful neighbors but never defined by them.  It has been home to ancient kingdoms, Buddhist temples, Confucian scholars, devastating invasions, colonial rule, war, division, and one of the most remarkable economic and cultural transformations in modern history.  Despite everything, they find themselves in the 21st century, independent but divided.  Learn more about the history of Korea on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Saily Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code everythingeverywhere at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/everythingeverywhere ButcherBox Get your choice between chicken breast or top sirloin for a year OR ground beef for life, PLUS $20 off when you go to ButcherBox.com/everything Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Save 50% on Unlimited premium wireless plans starting at $15/month at MintMobile.com/EED TrueWerk Get 15% off your first order at truewerk.com with code everything DripDrop Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code everything for 20% off your first order! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Ds7Rx7jvPJ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From BrahMos exports to semiconductor cooperation, India and countries to its east are recalibrating ties as geopolitical shifts create a need for trusted regional partners.----more----https://theprint.in/diplomacy/india-east-asia-move-beyond-trade-rivalry-towards-strategic-alignment-as-us-china-contest-escalates/2959683/

An interview with Lee Jae Myung, South Korea's president, a year into his role. Though he has stabilised a turbulent polity and overseen a stock market rally, the path ahead may be bumpy. Can India's cockroach party become a powerful political movement? And celebrating the creator of “Persepolis”, Marjane Satrapi. Watch extended clips from Insider hereGuests and host:Noah Sneider, East Asia bureau chiefTom Sasse, South Asia bureau chiefAnn Wroe, obituaries editorRosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, North KoreaCockroach party, Narendra Modi, Gen-Z protestsMarjane Satrapi, Iran, PersepolisListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An interview with Lee Jae Myung, South Korea's president, a year into his role. Though he has stabilised a turbulent polity and overseen a stock market rally, the path ahead may be bumpy. Can India's cockroach party become a powerful political movement? And celebrating the creator of “Persepolis”, Marjane Satrapi. Watch extended clips from Insider hereGuests and host:Noah Sneider, East Asia bureau chiefTom Sasse, South Asia bureau chiefAnn Wroe, obituaries editorRosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, North KoreaCockroach party, Narendra Modi, Gen-Z protestsMarjane Satrapi, Iran, PersepolisListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: After a weekend that raised fears of a broader Middle East war, Israel and Iran are once again observing a ceasefire. We examine what changed, why both sides appear reluctant to escalate further, and what the latest developments may reveal about ongoing diplomatic efforts behind the scenes. Chinese leader Xi Jinping is heading to Pyongyang for his first visit in years. We explain why Beijing is renewing its focus on North Korea and what the trip says about China's evolving strategic priorities in East Asia. Russian authorities in occupied Crimea are tightening fuel restrictions after a series of Ukrainian strikes disrupted supply lines. We look at how Kyiv is increasingly turning the peninsula into a logistical liability for Moscow. With the World Cup just days away, intelligence and security agencies are preparing for what could be the most complex sporting event ever staged. We examine the threats officials are monitoring and the unprecedented security measures now being deployed. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief StopBox: Get firearm security redesigned and save 10% off @StopBoxUSA with code PDB10 at https://stopboxusa.com/PDB10 #stopboxpod Blocktrust: Move your retirement into the next generation of assets, go to https://mikebakercrypto.com now to claim your $2,500 Bitcoin bonus. Pocket Hose-Ballistic: Text PDB to 64000 for your 2 free gifts with the purchase of any Pocket Hose Ballistic hose. By Texting 64000, you agree to receive recurring automated marketing messages from Pocket Hose. Message frequency varies and data rates may apply. Text STOP at any time to opt out. Text HELP for additional Information. No purchase required. Terms apply, available at PocketHose.com/terms Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As you probably learned if you listened to part 1 of our celebration of rice, It's one of the most important ingredients in plant-based cooking and food culture worldwide. It feeds billions, it travels continents, it carries centuries of culinary tradition and most of us at home cook it very blandly or in just one way, when there are countless ways. In this episode of More Plants, we explore how different cultures cook, celebrate, and build flavor with rice. From Jollof rice in West Africa, to risotto in Italy, biryani in South Asia, congee in East Asia, and pilaf in the Middle East, I'll share a bit more about how rice can be transformed with just a few simple changes in the way we cook it. You'll also learn: • Why rice is a foundation ingredient in so many plant-based meals • How techniques like toasting, simmering in broth, or layering ingredients create depth • How simple shifts in rice cooking can elevate everyday dishes • Tips to explore rice varieties and flavors from around the world If you want to explore new rice dishes and deepen flavors in your cooking, this episode is for you. For all the links mentioned in today's episode, click here or visit brownble.com/blog

God of War Returns, and Wolverine is set for September. But so is every other game apparently. So while we all wait for GTA VI, we can now also wait even longer for Fable. Steam may have been hiding in plain sight as a villain all along, we now look to Lord Gaben for guidance. Spider-Noir is more Groucho than Cagney, but it might work in its favor. And Call of Duty is bringing us to East Asia.

Rep. Michael Baumgartner, who represents Washington's 5th Congressional District, joins the show from Singapore at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue. What was the tone and significance of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's speech? How are the Asian economies fairing in lieu of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz? And what is the future of the American-led order in East Asia? 03:07 - Tone of the Shangri-La Dialogue 05:30 - Asia and the Strait of Hormuz 09:35 - The UAE's Distance from Iran 11:47 - America's Role in Asian Security 13:06 - Asia's Reaction to Trump's China Summit 15:25 - The Diversity of Asia 16:54 - Pete Hegseth's Speech 19:07 - The CCP's Control of China 20:59 - Korean and Japanese Views on China 24:07 - Drones and Autonomous Warfare 24:50 - Vietnam's Reinvention 28:07 - Singapore-U.S. Relations 30:21 - Paused Arms Sales 34:00 - Iran and Electoral Politics Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny speaks with Anusar Farooqui about the finer points of the emerging multipolar world. They discuss the idea of Iran as a great power, spheres of influence, China and the future of East Asia, the role of India and the European Union in global politics, and more. Follow Anusar's work at ⁠Policy Tensor⁠. Read Danny's piece that they debated, ⁠“Power Without Ideology.”⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A decision was made to flood the Western world with people from foreign countries who have incompatible attitudes, cultures, and behavior. Concepts such as the Kalergi Plan have been floating around for decades, but now the theoretical has become the actual. Sub-Saharan Africa will see the largest population growth over the next 25 years, as some countries are set to almost double their populations. East Asia is facing the opposite problem, as the population rates of Japan, China, and South Korea are among the lowest in the world. Population rates and average IQ are linked together, but mention that in the U.K. on social media, and the authorities will show up at the door with handcuffs.---Video Channels - Rumble | YouTube | BrighteonActivist Post - Newsletter Sign UpAudiobooks - Hypocrazy | The Octopus of Global Controlwww.Macroaggressions.ioMerch StoreLink TreeSupport Our SponsorsReplace Your Mortgage: www.WipeOutYourMortgageNow.comGround Luxe Grounding MatsC60 Power | Promo Code: MACROChemical Free Body | Promo Code: MACROWise Wolf Gold & SilverLegalShield: www.DontGetPushedAround.comEMP Shield | Promo Code: MACROChristian Yordanov's Health ProgramAbove PhoneVan ManThe Dollar VigilanteNesa's Hemp | Promo Code: MACROAugason Farms

Jeremy Yellen's The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: When Total Empire Met Total War (Cornell University Press, 2019) is a challenging transnational exploration of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Japan's ambitious, confused, and much maligned attempt to create a new bloc order in East and Southeast Asia during World War II. Yellen's book is welcome both as the first book-length treatment of the Sphere in English and for also being innovative in both approach and analysis. The book is divided into two parts, each addressing one of the “two Pacific Wars,” as Yellen puts it: a “war of empires” and “an anticolonial war… for independence.” The first half of the book treats the Japanese “high policy” of the Sphere. Here, Yellen not only provides—through the Coprosperity Sphere—a provocative new reading of the Tripartite Pact and the imbrication of Japan's regional and global geopolitical strategies, but also outlines an important timeline of how Japanese conceptualizations of the Sphere evolved with the changing economic, political, and military expediencies of the Pacific War. Though ideas about the Sphere as a regional order of hierarchical solidarity with Japan at its apex, a “grand strategy of opportunism” rooted in the “sphere-of-influence diplomacy” and “cooperative imperialism” of Japan's bombastic and enigmatic foreign minister, Matsuoka Yōsuke, Yellen shows that plans for the Sphere only became specific and concrete when Japan's war situation descended into increasing desperation from 1942 on. The second half of the book shifts gears to examine responses to the Sphere in the Philippines and Burma. Yellen shows that for local nationalist elites like Burma's first prime minister Ba Maw, whether Japanese rhetoric about the creation of more-or-less liberal international order within the Sphere for the top-echelon nations like Burma and the Philippines was genuine or self-serving, “even sham independence brought opportunity.” By focusing on these pragmatic nationalists (“patriotic collaborators”) Yellen contributes to a growing body of literature on empire that refuses to be pigeonholed by binaries of virtuous resistance and traitorous collaboration. This podcast was recorded as a lecture/dialogue for a live audience at Nagoya University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Japan is an island nation in East Asia known for its rich traditions and modern technology. For centuries, Japan developed unique customs such as samurai culture, tea ceremonies, and beautiful temples. Today, it is also famous for innovation, cities like Tokyo, and popular arts like anime and video games. Japan blends ancient history with modern life, creating a culture that respects the past while looking toward the future.

Ralph welcomes back Adolph Reed, Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Mount Holyoke College to discuss the latest Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act. Then, Ralph and our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, talk about what ordinary citizens can do to pressure their reps to impeach Donald Trump.Adolph Reed is Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Mount Holyoke College. His most recent books are The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives, No Politics but Class Politics (co-authored with Walter Benn Michaels), and Black Studies, Cultural Politics, and the Evasion of Inequality: The Farce this Time (co-authored with Kenneth W. Warren).I think the issues are a lot more complex than they seem to be or than seems to be the way that they are represented in the debate [over the Voting Rights Act]…To cut straight to the political case, I think there's a distinction between the Act's guarantee that black citizens and others (where pertinent) who live in areas where there's been a history of suppression of the right to vote have the support of the federal government to make certain that Black voters have the ability to vote for and to elect candidates of their choosing. Which is not the same thing as a right of Black individuals to be elected to office. And I think that's one of the confusions that characterizes, frankly, both sides of the debate at this point. And I think that's definitely something that needs to be clarified.Adolph ReedSome of my friends and I have been talking about this, and have been bouncing this idea back and forth since, frankly, even before the court handed down the [Louisiana v Callais] decision. In thinking about developments in black politics across the board, the idea that all that Black voters are supposed to get out of politics is the representation of people who look like them and share in the same racial identification has also fueled backward turns. Like how all of a sudden the biggest issue in Black American politics supposedly had become the racial wealth gap, which boils down to a complaint that rich Black people aren't as rich as rich white people are. So, yeah, shaking up or reshuffling the deck for how we might begin to try to determine the stakes of Black Americans' engagement in national politics is something that needs to happen. No matter what brings it about.Adolph ReedBruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.My website is www.lawofficesofbrucefein.com and my email address is Bruce@feinpoints.com. And I'll respond and give you guidance as to how you can help be part of this effort to impeach and remove by far the most dangerous President in the history of the United States. And he's most dangerous to the world as well.Bruce FeinNews 5/8/26* Our top story this week comes to us from the Bulwark, which reports that dissatisfaction with Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin is reaching a fever pitch. Martin has faced criticism over the course of his tenure for reneging on his promise to release an autopsy on the 2024 presidential campaign and for his decidedly lackluster fundraising efforts. The DNC has reportedly “spent more money than it has raised” and “has more debt than cash on hand,” while the Republican National Committee enjoys a “roughly seven-to-one money advantage.” According to this report, high-level DNC members are now privately discussing ousting Martin, only tabling these discussions “after members failed to identify an alternative candidate willing to step into the role.” Martin's failures have even led Democrats to openly wonder “whether the 178-year-old committee should even exist anymore.” Martin was elected DNC Chair last year, beating out Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler, who helped rebuild the party and raise tremendous amounts of money in that critical swing state.* Speaking of money in politics, this week POLITICO released a damning report on End Citizens United, the good-government focused 501(c)(4) that has in past years been a “fundraising behemoth” but has now faded nearly into complete irrelevancy. The issues highlighted in this piece will be familiar to many who have worked in this world. Despite raising $14.8 million, the group's PAC arm is burning through the money more quickly than it can raise it, having just $324,000 on hand at the end of March. What are they spending the money on? According to POLITICO, about $650,000 has gone to candidates and party groups and about the same amount has been bundled. Meanwhile, payments to fundraising firms have eaten up an astonishing $5.3 million. This is just another case of Democratic Party aligned consulting firms run amok and growing fat off of small dollar donations.* Another disappointing story comes to us from the Teamsters. According to Bloomberg, the union has forfeited a hard-won union foothold – the first ever unionized Chipotle – following three years of battling the company and failing to secure a contract. A Teamsters local president said in an email to the National Labor Relations Board that the union “officially withdraws and disclaims interest” at the Lansing, Michigan location. Legally speaking, this means the company will no longer be “required to recognize or negotiate with the union.” The employees of this location voted to unionize in 2022 by a margin of 11-to-3. Chipotle corporate has been decried for seeking to bust this union, with Biden NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo accusing them of employing illegal anti-union tactics like “withholding raises from the store's staff and telling workers that the union was keeping their pay frozen…[and punishing] a pro-union employee to discourage activism.” However, it was the Teamsters themselves who ultimately gave up, paving the way for the demise of the workers' heroic stand against corporate power. As the saying goes, with friends like these.* In more positive political news, during the Washington DC mayoral debate last week, the Washington Post reports democratic socialist mayoral hopeful Janeese Lewis George seemed to endorse the idea of opening municipal grocery stores in DC food deserts, including the impoverished and majority Black Wards 7 and 8. Asked about this topic, Councilmember Lewis George committed to bringing at least one more grocery store to Ward 7 and at least two more to Ward 8, noting that she would seek to shore up investor confidence with public dollars. If private options do not materialize however, she vowed that “we will work towards” a publicly-owned store. Municipally-owned grocery stores were a much publicized part of the Zohran Mamdani campaign platform and, if Lewis George is elected, his success or failure in carrying out that pledge is sure to impact her decision making on this issue.* Meanwhile, in media news, the New York Times reports Lupa Systems – the private holding company representing the interests of James Murdoch, son of conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch – is “in talks to acquire major parts of Vox Media.” Vox, founded in the 2010s by journalists Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, and Melissa Bell, now owns major media properties including New York magazine, the Verge, Eater and a podcast network featuring Kara Swisher and others. Murdoch, through Lupa, owns a “majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, the parent company of the Tribeca Film Festival.” Additionally, the Times notes that Quadrivium, the foundation founded by Mr. Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, has financial interests in “The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom focused on gender and politics, and The Bulwark, a so-called ‘Never Trump' digital media company.” James Murdoch, along with his sister Elisabeth, are seen as far more liberal than the Murdoch patriarch and his other son, Lachlan, who together successfully ousted the other family members from control of the family trust in a recent legal battle.* Turning to international news, yet another deadlocked presidential election in Peru is looming. A new Ipsos poll, taken near the end of April, shows an exact 50-50 split between the two candidates in the runoff: the left-wing member of Congress Roberto Sánchez and Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori. This election was always going to be close – Peruvian politics have been deadlocked for years, resulting in ultra-narrow presidential victories frequently followed by impeachments. Fujimori has been a runoff candidate in every presidential election going back to 2011, losing each by extremely narrow margins. Most recently, she lost to Pedro Castillo by a margin of 50.13% to 49.87% in 2021. Castillo however was thwarted by, and ultimately ousted by, the Congress. The runoff will be held on June 7th.* In India, the Left suffered catastrophic defeats in this week's state elections, Al Jazeera reports. The state of Kerala – “the first in the world to have a democratically elected communist government” and “the last state in India where communists were in power” – will now be led by the United Democratic Front, a coalition headed by the Congress party, which won over 100 out of 140 seats. The Left bloc will likely capture around 35 seats. Beyond Kerala however, the Left has seen setbacks throughout the country, with no state now being ruled by the Left for the first time since 1977 and the national parliamentary Left bloc declining from 62 in the 2004 election to just eight seats today. Different factors are cited for the general decline of the Left in India, including an inability to adapt Marxist analysis to non class-related issues in the country, such as caste and gender, as well as the decline of industrial trade unions and a general trend towards Right-wing Hindu nationalism. Hopefully, the Left will take this electoral rout as an opportunity to rebuild itself into a viable force for 21st century Indian politics.* Turning to East Asia, the Financial Times reports North Korea has subtly revised its constitution to drop references to reunification of the two Koreas. Specifically, the new text reads “the territory of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea includes the territory bordering the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation to the north and the Republic of Korea to the south, and the territorial sea and airspace established on it”. In acknowledging the existence of the Republic of Korea, more commonly known as South Korea, experts see a move away from the long-held North Korean contention that the peninsula is a single country illegally partitioned. The revision was “disclosed by an academic at a press conference hosted by the South Korean Ministry of Unification on Wednesday.” Though this article notes that “North Korea has not made any comment on the revised constitution and the source of the text revealed by the unification ministry was not disclosed,” it highlights that Kim Jong-un has increasingly moved in this direction in recent years, renaming Tongil (“reunification”) metro station in Pyongyang and dismantling an Arch of Reunification monument.* Our last two stories have to do with the People's Republic of China. First, Reuters reports China's Commerce Ministry has issued an injunction to “block U.S. ​sanctions imposed on five Chinese refiners accused ‌of buying Iranian oil.” Hengli Petrochemical, one of the five small “teapot” refineries primarily located in China's Shandong province, was slapped with sanctions last month, when the Trump administration accused the company of purchasing billions ​of dollars in Iranian oil. The other four have been sanctioned since last year. However, the Ministry now argues that the sanctions violate “international law and ‌the ⁠basic norms of international relations,” and with the injunction in place, “the United States cannot recognize, ​implement, or comply ​with the ⁠sanctions imposed on the aforementioned five Chinese companies.” This is perhaps the most significant challenge to the American-led international sanctions regime in decades and whatever reaction issues from the U.S. will surely inform other states on just how far they can go in flouting such sanctions.* Finally, in a stunning legal decision, Fortune reports Chinese courts have ruled that “companies cannot terminate employees just to replace them with artificial intelligence systems.” The case in question hinged on whether a tech firm in eastern China had acted illegally when firing one of its workers, a “quality assurance professional…identified only as Zhou” after he “refused to take a demotion” and a 40% pay cut, when his job was automated by AI. The court found that the termination did not meet established standards, such as business downsizing or operational difficulties, and the court separately stated that “Companies cannot unilaterally lay off employees or cut salaries due to technological progress.” This stunning legal victory for workers in the face of challenges by technology is bittersweet – heartening in that it's happening at all, yet at the same time depressing because it is almost impossible to imagine an equivalent worker protection regime being implemented in the United States.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe