Podcast appearances and mentions of leta hong fincher

This week the NüVoices podcasting team is thrilled to share a special crossover podcast episode from Jane Perlez' Face-Off: The U.S. vs China, on "Feminist Rebels". This is the fifth episode in the podcast's second season, focusing on the feminist wave in Greater China and where we stand now. The NüVoices podcast interview with Jane aired on February 13, 2025 and can be found here: https://nuvoices.com/2025/02/13/nuvoices-podcast-117-career-in-foreign-correspondence-with-jane-perlez/. Thank you to hosts Jane Perlez, Rana Mitter, and special thanks to Maggie Taylor for letting us cross-post this episode. Enjoy the episode and we'll be back in April.(Description below courtesy of Face-Off. Episode was originally aired on March 11, 2025.)China's leader, Mao Zedong famously said that “Women hold up half the sky.” But these days it doesn't feel that way in China. Unfair marriage rules, difficulties getting a divorce, barriers to owning property and many more restrictions are challenging women to speak out, and act. We'll hear about the Chinese “leftover women” who are veering from the traditional path and about the Chinese feminists of today.Guest:  Leta Hong Fincher, author, Leftover Women. Recommended Books: Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China by Leta Hong FincherTiananmen Square by Lai WenSound design, original score, mixing and mastering by Rowhome Productions. Rowhome's Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome's Executive Producer.

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Leta Hong Fincher joins us to discuss the legal and social status of women in China. Dr. Fincher, who has written widely on gender issues in the PRC, reviews the history of Chinese marriage and divorce policies with an eye towards China's contemporary feminist movements. She speaks to how the privatization of housing in the 1990s led to widening gender income gaps and the way women are increasingly discriminated against in the workplace. She highlights, amidst China's ongoing demographic struggles, the plight of so-called “leftover women,” or sheng nu, who are faced with growing government and societal pressure to marry and start families. Dr. Fincher concludes by discussing the future of feminism in China, emphasizing the resilience and popularity of feminist movements despite the challenges they have faced. Dr. Leta Hong Fincher is a journalist and research associate at Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute. A sociologist by trade, she focuses on feminist issues in China and has published two books on this subject – Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (2018) and Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (2014, with a recently-published 10-year edition). Dr. Fincher is fluent in Mandarin and was the first American to receive a PhD in sociology from Beijing's Tsinghua University. 

Il 2023 è stato i +1,45°C più caldo rispetto al periodo pre-industriale, dice il nuovo report dell'Organizzazione meteorologica mondiale. Ed è stato record di caldo anche per gli oceani. Espérance Hakuzwimana, scrittrice, ci racconta di “Tradire il grande fratello”, il saggio di Leta Hong Fincher su come la Cina usi la tecnologia per provare a reprimere le attiviste femministe – non sempre con successo. Scrivici a podcast@lifegate.it oppure trovi tutte le notizie sul sito www.lifegate.it 

Amy is joined by journalist Dr. Leta Hong Fincher to discuss her book, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, as well as recent changes in Chinese gender relations, and the courageous women defying their state in search of a more equitable future.Dr. Leta Hong Fincher has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Dissent Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Harper's Bazaar and others. As a long-time TV and radio journalist based in China, she won the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award, the Cowan Award for Humanitarian Reporting and other journalism honors for her reporting. The 10th anniversary edition of Leta's first book, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (2023), was named one of the best books of 2023 by China Books Review. Leta's second book, Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China, was named one of the best books of the year by Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Foreign Policy Interrupted, Bitch Media and Autostraddle; it was also a New York Times “New and Noteworthy” pick. The New York Public Library named Betraying Big Brother one of its “essential reads on feminism” in 2020. The original edition of her book Leftover Women was named one of the top 5 China books of the year by the Asia Society's ChinaFile and one of the best Asian books of the year by Asia House. It was on the New York Times list of recommended books on China in 2018 and on Book Riot's list of 21 recommended Chinese history books in 2021.Leta is the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University's Department of Sociology in Beijing. She graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations and won a Harvard Foundation award for contribution to race relations. She was awarded a Shaw fellowship and Walter Shorenstein fellowship for her master's degree in East Asian Studies from Stanford University. She is currently a Research Associate at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University.

When Leta Hong Fincher's book “Leftover Women” was first published ten years ago, it was considered a seminal work on Chinese feminism. The book outlines the structural discrimination, wholly reinforced by the government, used to demonize educated women in their late twenties and early thirties who remain unmarried. A decade later, and with Xi's continual reinforcement of patriarchal ideals and traditional family structures, the book is more pertinent than ever. This week on the podcast, host Jessie Lau speaks with Leta about why the book is still as relevant today and what has changed (for better and for worse) since the book was first published. Leta shares the book's origin story and how she started researching ‘leftover women' in the first place while pursuing a PhD at Tsinghua University. Jessie and Leta also discuss whether women in China are still facing the same immense pressure to settle down, get married, and have a family. Lastly, Leta outlines how she went about rewriting this latest edition and what topics she felt were important to include in the new preface. 

A funny thing happened at the height of China's economic boom, as more and more Chinese women were getting college degrees, good jobs, and promising careers. The government launched a propaganda campaign, urging women to get married young, before they became "yellowed pearls".  Leta Hong-Fincher captured that phenomenon in her book Leftover Women (2014). A decade later, with a new updated edition of Leftover Women just out, Leta joins the China Books podcast to talk about why China's Communist Party leaders are still so focused on micro-managing the personal lives of women. President Xi Jinping himself made an explicit appeal at China's National Women's Congress in November 2023, calling on China's women to stay home and have babies. The draconian one-child policy, enforced from 1979 to 2016, had led to a plummeting birthrate, a contracting workforce and an aging population. Now the government is urging women to marry early and have three children. But many of China's women -- about one in five now have college degrees -- seem none  too keen on giving up on dreams to have a career, and perhaps more independence than they would in a marriage. China's fertility rate continues to plummet, and is now about half the replacement rate. The number of marriage licenses granted per year in China has dropped for nine straight years, and is now half of what it was a decade ago.  Faced with inequality of opportunity and of protection under the law when it comes to marriage, property rights, and domestic abuse, women in China are engaged demographic revolution voting with their feet, with potentially profound implications for China's economic and political future.Leta Hong Fincher is the author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (2023, 10th Anniversary Edition) and Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (2018). She is the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University's Department of Sociology in Beijing and is currently a Research Associate at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University.The China Books podcast is hosted and produced by Mary Kay Magistad, a former award-winning China correspondent for NPR and PRI/BBC's The World, now deputy director of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. This podcast is a companion of the China Books Review, which offers incisive essays, interviews, and reviews on all things China books-related. Co-publishers are Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations, headed by Orville Schell, and The Wire China, co-founded by David Barboza, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times China correspondent. The Review's editor is Alec Ash, who can be reached at editor@chinabooksreview.com.

Robin explores China's new plans for women with her special guest, Leta Hong Fincher, author of Leftover Women. And Robin's commentary on the Israel-Gaza war.

There are more than 8 billion humans on Earth, according to the United Nations. And for decades, China has had more people than any other country. But now, China's population is declining. As soon as this year, it could lose its place as the most populous nation in the world. National Geographic photographer Justin Jin shares what he observed in this pivotal moment for China; he captured scenes where many young women are choosing not to have children, and instead are spending their money on doggie daycare and on karaoke nights with friends and male escorts. As we head into Women's History Month, we'll explore why Chinese women are taking a different path, despite the government campaigns pushing them to get married and have children. For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard Want more? See Justin Jin's photos—and other scenes from a world with 8 billion people—in the April issue of National Geographic. Earth's growing population belies vastly different types of demographic change taking shape around the globe. Here's why demographers don't agree on what will happen next. Also explore: Follow Justin on Instagram @Justin.Jin. Learn about Chinese propaganda targeting women—and how more women are pushing back—in Leta Hong Fincher's books Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China and Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Our Body Politic re-airs a timely episode from November 2021. Host Farai Chideya talks with author and China expert Leta Hong Fincher about how feminists face up to the country's authoritarian regime and the similarities with gender-equality struggles in the U.S. Sixto Cancel, CEO of the non-profit Think of Us, shares his experience in the foster care system and what their organization is doing to reform it. Chef Kia Damon explains why she prefers the term “food apartheid.” On Sippin' the Political Tea, Farai dives into the details of saving for retirement as Black women with Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post and Gwen McKinney of the media platform Unerased: Black Women Speak.

Last year Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai made sexual assault allegations against a former Chinese party leader and then went missing for weeks. Leta Hong Fincher, the author of "Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China," joins us. And, journalist Karen Cheung talks about "The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir." She reflects on growing up in Hong Kong following the handover from Britain in 1997 and covering the turmoil following protests against the Chinese government in 2014 and 2019.

Dr. Peter Singer from the World Health Organization talks COVID messaging and mask mandates; Tom Nichols debates what an anti-Trump, pro-democracy coalition should look like between liberals and conservatives; and Leta Hong Fincher discusses China, human rights, and missing tennis star Peng Shuai.

Host Farai Chideya talks with author and China expert Leta Hong Fincher about how feminists face up to the country's authoritarian regime, and the similarities with gender-equality struggles in the U.S. Sixto Cancel of the non-profit Think of Us shares his experience in the foster care system, and what the organization is doing to reform it. Chef Kia Damon explains why she prefers the term “food apartheid.”  On Sippin' the Political Tea, Farai and two guests dive into the details of saving for retirement as Black women—that's with Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post, and Gwen McKinney of the platform Unerased: Black Women Speak.EPISODE RUNDOWN0:14 Leta Hong Fincher on the feminists pushing against authoritarianism in China12:43 Sixto Cancel on his work to reform the U.S. foster care system23:13 Chef Kia Damon feeds the people in Brooklyn31:07 Sippin' the Political Tea: communications specialist Gwen McKinney and the Washington Post's Michelle Singletary get real about protecting your finances as you get older

Last week, LGBTQ student groups in China woke up to find their social media accounts abruptly shut down. It came after several feminist activists had similar shutdowns back in April.When Chinese activist Li Maizi saw another feminist being attacked online by nationalist trolls, she felt that she had to respond. After posting, she found her Weibo account shut down.Li is used to these attempts to silencer her. Six years ago, she and four other women were detained for more than a month for planning a protest against sexual harassment. They became known around the world as the “Feminist Five.”“What I can do is just watch a lot of people say you are trying to incite the state or trying to divide our country, which is really absurd,” she said. “So, I could still see what other people [posted insulting] me, but I couldn't make any comments.”Related: Reflections on the 100-year anniversary of China's Communist PartyFeminist activist Liang Xiaowen is based in the US. After internet trolls complained to Weibo about her account, the company shut it down and accused her of posting "discriminatory" content. “They just outright decided that what I was doing was illegal. I didn't even have an opportunity to speak for myself."Liang Xiaowen, Chinese feminist activist“They just outright decided that what I was doing was illegal,” she said. “I didn't even have an opportunity to speak for myself. It's not fair at all because I don't understand at all what [I posted] that is illegal. That is discriminatory.” Liang is a lawyer, so she reacted as any lawyer might — she sued Weibo, China's second-largest social media platform. She said that under China's new civil code, the courts should have seven business days to accept her case, but it's now been three months and she hasn't heard anything. “I can accept if I lose a case or if I win a case,” she said. “But I don't think it's fair, that the court is not even dealing with my case.”Related: TV show turns parents' anxiety over college exams in China into entertainment Gender equality was seen as important in the early days of China, author Leta Hong Fincher said. Her book “Betraying Big Brother” documents the feminist movement in the country.“The history of the Communist Party in China is actually very feminist,” she said. "So the People's Republic of China was founded on the principle of gender equality, which is enshrined in the constitution.” Hong Fincher said that these days, the feminist and LGBTQ rights movements have broad appeal among young people in China for a different reason.“It's fundamentally about young people's desire to live the kind of life they want to lead,” she said. "For most people, it's not about politics. It's about individual freedom. And so, that's a lot trickier for the Chinese government to handle.” Young people want to choose their own relationships and whether or not to have children. Just last month, the government changed the birth policy to allow couples to have three children.  But Chinese women's response was less than lukewarm.  Related: Many couples say they can't afford China's new three children policy“Feminism is perceived as such a threat by the Chinese government, because it's not just an ideology, it actually is affecting their birth rates."Leta Hong Fincher, author, "Betraying Big Brother"“Feminism is perceived as such a threat by the Chinese government,” she said, “because it's not just an ideology, it actually is affecting their birth rates. The government sees it as contributing to the larger problem of the aging of the population, and the shrinking of the workforce.” Hong Fincher said the recent attacks on feminist and LGBTQ activist social media accounts are tied in with a fear of foreign influence. Li Maizi and the rest of the Feminist Five were accused of being controlled by “hostile foreign forces” in 2015. Last month, Li Maizi said she attended a feminist cartooning workshop, but police interrogated the owner of the shop where it was held. “Once we finished the workshop,” she said, “we destroyed all the posters and meeting materials. So, we tear them up and we drop them into different dustbins. That is a fact, if you want to do something [like this] it's very risky. And you don't know if the police will take those as evidence to try to convict someone.” As for the LGBTQ student groups whose accounts have just been deleted, they are still figuring out what to do next. A woman who used to run activities for her university's LGBTQ group text-messaged The World about their reaction. She asked not to use her name or her voice for fear of getting in trouble with her school: “It's a real shame, we don't know if there's any legal action we can take. We didn't expect this to happen, so we didn't have a backup of all our content. The most important thing we need to do right now is recover past articles and then post [them] on a new account."LGBTQ student group leader, anonymous“It's a real shame, we don't know if there's any legal action we can take. We didn't expect this to happen, so we didn't have a backup of all our content. The most important thing we need to do right now is recover past articles and then post [them] on a new account," she wrote.  She said they will apply to their school administration to start their club again in the fall, but she worries it will be banned. All student clubs at public universities must be approved by the school administration and must get approval each year. Related: A new film explores the stories of 6 men from China who survived the Titanic sinking Prominent feminist and founder of Feminist Voices Lu Pin says the situation is grim, but that activists are not giving up. “As long as they are not treated equally by society,” she said, “feminists will help its followers who will never give up that determination, not because we ourselves are strong but because we have a very broad community.”And she says she believes that will withstand the crackdown. 

Last week, LGBTQ student groups in China woke up to find their social media accounts abruptly shut down. It came after several feminist activists had similar shutdowns back in April.When Chinese activist Li Maizi saw another feminist being attacked online by nationalist trolls, she felt that she had to respond. After posting, she found her Weibo account shut down.Li is used to these attempts to silencer her. Six years ago, she and four other women were detained for more than a month for planning a protest against sexual harassment. They became known around the world as the “Feminist Five.”“What I can do is just watch a lot of people say you are trying to incite the state or trying to divide our country, which is really absurd,” she said. “So, I could still see what other people [posted insulting] me, but I couldn't make any comments.”Related: Reflections on the 100-year anniversary of China's Communist PartyFeminist activist Liang Xiaowen is based in the US. After internet trolls complained to Weibo about her account, the company shut it down and accused her of posting "discriminatory" content. “They just outright decided that what I was doing was illegal. I didn't even have an opportunity to speak for myself."Liang Xiaowen, Chinese feminist activist“They just outright decided that what I was doing was illegal,” she said. “I didn't even have an opportunity to speak for myself. It's not fair at all because I don't understand at all what [I posted] that is illegal. That is discriminatory.” Liang is a lawyer, so she reacted as any lawyer might — she sued Weibo, China's second-largest social media platform. She said that under China's new civil code, the courts should have seven business days to accept her case, but it's now been three months and she hasn't heard anything. “I can accept if I lose a case or if I win a case,” she said. “But I don't think it's fair, that the court is not even dealing with my case.”Related: TV show turns parents' anxiety over college exams in China into entertainment Gender equality was seen as important in the early days of China, author Leta Hong Fincher said. Her book “Betraying Big Brother” documents the feminist movement in the country.“The history of the Communist Party in China is actually very feminist,” she said. "So the People's Republic of China was founded on the principle of gender equality, which is enshrined in the constitution.” Hong Fincher said that these days, the feminist and LGBTQ rights movements have broad appeal among young people in China for a different reason.“It's fundamentally about young people's desire to live the kind of life they want to lead,” she said. "For most people, it's not about politics. It's about individual freedom. And so, that's a lot trickier for the Chinese government to handle.” Young people want to choose their own relationships and whether or not to have children. Just last month, the government changed the birth policy to allow couples to have three children.  But Chinese women's response was less than lukewarm.  Related: Many couples say they can't afford China's new three children policy“Feminism is perceived as such a threat by the Chinese government, because it's not just an ideology, it actually is affecting their birth rates."Leta Hong Fincher, author, "Betraying Big Brother"“Feminism is perceived as such a threat by the Chinese government,” she said, “because it's not just an ideology, it actually is affecting their birth rates. The government sees it as contributing to the larger problem of the aging of the population, and the shrinking of the workforce.” Hong Fincher said the recent attacks on feminist and LGBTQ activist social media accounts are tied in with a fear of foreign influence. Li Maizi and the rest of the Feminist Five were accused of being controlled by “hostile foreign forces” in 2015. Last month, Li Maizi said she attended a feminist cartooning workshop, but police interrogated the owner of the shop where it was held. “Once we finished the workshop,” she said, “we destroyed all the posters and meeting materials. So, we tear them up and we drop them into different dustbins. That is a fact, if you want to do something [like this] it's very risky. And you don't know if the police will take those as evidence to try to convict someone.” As for the LGBTQ student groups whose accounts have just been deleted, they are still figuring out what to do next. A woman who used to run activities for her university's LGBTQ group text-messaged The World about their reaction. She asked not to use her name or her voice for fear of getting in trouble with her school: “It's a real shame, we don't know if there's any legal action we can take. We didn't expect this to happen, so we didn't have a backup of all our content. The most important thing we need to do right now is recover past articles and then post [them] on a new account."LGBTQ student group leader, anonymous“It's a real shame, we don't know if there's any legal action we can take. We didn't expect this to happen, so we didn't have a backup of all our content. The most important thing we need to do right now is recover past articles and then post [them] on a new account," she wrote.  She said they will apply to their school administration to start their club again in the fall, but she worries it will be banned. All student clubs at public universities must be approved by the school administration and must get approval each year. Related: A new film explores the stories of 6 men from China who survived the Titanic sinking Prominent feminist and founder of Feminist Voices Lu Pin says the situation is grim, but that activists are not giving up. “As long as they are not treated equally by society,” she said, “feminists will help its followers who will never give up that determination, not because we ourselves are strong but because we have a very broad community.”And she says she believes that will withstand the crackdown. 

Anastasia Kapetas is joined by John Schaus, Senior Fellow of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They explore the concept of asymmetric power and deterrence, how it is used by different actors and how the US and its allies should respond. In May this year, the Chinese government announced the three-child policy, an initiative designed to help increase birth rates in China. Daria Impiombato is joined by Leta Hong Fincher, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University and author of ‘Betraying Big Brother: the feminist awakening in China'. They discuss the three-child policy, as well as coercive family planning policies in Xinjiang and feminism in China. We are delighted to share an extract of a recent interview with Major General Cheryl Pearce for ASPI's Women in Defence and Security Network. Major General Pearce, who was most recently Force Commander of the UN Forces in Cyprus, speaks to Lisa Sharland about leadership challenge during Covid-19 and advice for emerging female leaders based on her experiences working in the ADF and in a multi-national force. The full interview is available to watch here: https://bit.ly/2SY6YLE ASPI WDSN Interview with Major General Cheryl Pearce: https://bit.ly/2SY6YLE Guests (in order of appearance): Anastasia Kapetas: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/anastasia-kapetas John Schaus: https://www.csis.org/people/john-schaus Daria Impiombato: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/daria-impiombato Leta Hong Fincher: http://ealac.columbia.edu/leta-hong-fincher/ Lisa Sharland: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/lisa-sharland Major General Cheryl Pearce: @CherylAPearce (Twitter) Music by Unicorn Heads via the YouTube Audio Library. Image by Wokandapix via Pixabay (pixabay.com)

Topics: Trump's legal troubles; Red States are lethal; Covid's birthday; Derek Chauvin faces a third-degree murder charge;  Guests With Time Stamps: (1:45​) The News With Jim Earl, Emmy and Peabody award winning comedy writer and Jon Ross, comedian and gentleman farmer (56:32)​ Grace Jackson and Henry Hakamaki talk with Leta Hong-Fincher author of "Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China" (1:37:06​) Dan Frankenberger's Community Billboard (1:42:10​) Mike Rowe, Emmy award winning comedy writer and author of the new book “It’s A Funny Thing: How The Professional Comedy Writing Business Made Me Fat and Bald” (2:01:23​) Professor Ben Burgis, columnist Jacobin, host of "Give Them An Argument" and author of the new book “Canceling Comedians While the World Burns” (2:37:59​) David takes your calls (2:59:01​) Dr. Philip Herschenfeld, psychiatrist, and Ethan, comic/actor (3:28:00​) Burt Ross, columnist Malibu Times (3:58:49​) The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United For Separation of Church and State (5:01:58​) The Professors and Mary Anne: Professor Jonathan Bick, Professor Ian Faloona, Professor Adnan Husain and Professor Mary Anne Cummings (6:02:22​) Professor Harvey J. Kaye, author of "FDR On Democracy" and Alan Minsky, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America (6:33:09​) Rick Overton, Emmy Award winning actor, writer and comedian (6:56:41​) Emil Guillermo, host of The PETA Podcast

In this "Reflections" episode,Teri and Michael reflect back on two years and 100 episodes of en(gender)ed--a feminist podcast, a domestic violence and domestic abuse podcast, and a gender-based violence podcast.  We look back on what we've learned, what questions remain, and how we'd like to get there. During our conversation, Michael and I touched upon the following resources in our conversation: Leta Hong Fincher article on "How China's Authoritarianism Rise is Fueled By Sexism" Our interview with Jess Hill about her book, See What You Made Me Do and intimate partner violence as personal terrorism Our #SurvivorStories episode with Kathy Picard Why Black Women (and women in general) are still an afterthought in police violence A Timeline of Events that Led to the 2020 'Fed Up'-rising Hasan Minhaj Patriot Act story on Amazon The 'shadow' pandemic of violence against women and girls Our interview with former prosecutor, Nazir Afzal, on targeting sexism and misogyny as a way to prevent gender-based violence The high rates of domestic violence among law enforcement The influence of "rape culture" on policing and their responses to sexual assaults The Netflix series, Unbelievable, which depicts rape culture through the eyes of victims Missing and murdered Indigenous women Missing black women and girls --- Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast! Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium. Join our feminist community of survivors, advocates and allies! Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable. Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

Can a groundswell of feminist activism threaten an authoritarian patriarchal regime? Author, Leta Hong Fincher looks at this question through the study of women in China. In Betraying Big Brother, Fincher examines the current feminist movement in China. Following the "feminist five," the reader is exposed to the history of the changing roles of women in the country, as well as the current activist movement fueled first through connections built online through the movement to the streets of cities in China. Our discussion covers the book, thoughts on racism during the COVID-19 pandemic (at the beginning stages here in the U.S.) as well as the role of government in women's lives. Host Lisa Schweitzer is joined by Olivia Olson, David Sloane, and Aubrey Hicks for this episode! For more information, check out the showpage.

This week’s revolutionary is Leta Hong Fincher. Leta is a journalist and scholar, focused on studying and reporting on the feminist movements inside China. She recently wrote Betraying Big Brother, which is about China’s resilient feminist movement. Throughout our conversation, Leta explains how China has emerged as the most powerful and influential authoritarian regime in the world. She explains the population control policy, which aims to “sculpt” the general population—or, in other words, a law that incites a slow, insidious ethnic cleansing. Leta also shares about how feminism is intertwined with all revolutions throughout Chinese history. Some Questions I Ask: Do you consider yourself more like a journalist or academic? (1:11)What do you think about the evolution of how mass media treats sexual harassment pieces? (13:35)What can we learn from the feminist movements in China? (44:14)How can people find your work? (1:07:23)In This Episode, You Will Learn: About Leta’s background. (4:14)How Leta became disillusioned with how American mass media covers women’s issues. (7:22)How far China’s influence reaches around the globe. (24:20)How China’s population planning policy aims to increase the “population quality.” (33:17)How the Chinese government changed its policy to limit births by ethnic minorities. (42:18)How male communists throughout Chinese history welcomed feminists into revolutions. (1:02:38)Resources: Leta Hong Fincher’s WebsiteBetraying Big Brother by Leta Hong FincherCatch and Kill by Ronan FarrowThe Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan FarrowLeftover Women by Leta Hong Fincher See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Does your favorite conspiracy come with evidence and theory of governance, or is it just a meme? Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, authors of A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy argue that the new conspiracism, while having the feel of classic conspiracy theories, have none of the search for meaning. The authors articulate the rise of this new kind of conspiracy thinking and the ramifications for democratic institutions and our collective understanding of the world. Host Lisa Schweitzer is joined by Olivia Olson, Jeff Jenkins, and Aubrey Hicks to discuss this new book about the current political moment. Follow us on Twitter: @drschweitzer @AubreyHi @jaj7d @BedrosianCenter Read along with us! Next month we’re reading Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China by Leta Hong Fincher. Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Or email us at bedrosian.bookclub@usc.edu. Check out the showpage for links to some of the things we talk about.

On this episode of en(gender)ed, our guest is Jonathan Custodio, a recent Lehman college graduate, a New Yorker, and a journalist focused on bringing awareness to community issues around racial and cultural identify and disenfranchisement.  Jonathan joins us today to talk about the ways in which masculinity in culture and the media have shaped him--his ideas, his behaviors, and his relationships-- and how listening to the en(gender)ed podcast has informed his subsequent changes and thoughts about how gender and identity is constructed. During our conversation, Jonathan and I referenced the following resources and topics: The TV show, The Wire Our interview with Richie Reseda and teaching feminism to reduce recidivism How the brain matures at age 25 and what happens then Masculinity and its men's attitudes towards seeking mental health help ACEs or Adverse Childhood Experiences The concept of "microaggressions" Our interview with author, Leta Hong Fincher, on Chinese feminists and her books, Leftover Women and Betraying Big Brother Our interview with Taté Walker on using storytelling and art to create social change around Indigenous rights (We apologize that our guest misgendered Taté by referring to them as a 'she' instead of 'they') Our interview with Indian feminist activist, Bimla Vishwapremi Teri's use of the #ConnectTheDots hashtag to bring awareness of the ways in which gender-based violence and/or oppression is rendered invisible in the media  --- Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast! Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium. Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable. Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, the Chinese government arrested five feminist activists and jailed them for thirty-seven days. The Feminist Five became international symbols, with Hillary Clinton speaking out on their behalf and activists inundating social media with #FreetheFive messages. Journalist and scholar Leta Hong Fincher sees the Five as heralds of a much larger feminist movement of civil rights lawyers, labor activists, performance artists, and online advocates prompting an unprecedented awakening among China’s educated, urban women. Hong Fincher arrived at Town Hall to share perspectives from her book Betraying Big Brother, describing how the Communist regime has suppressed the history of its own feminist struggles—and revealing how such a popular, broad-based movement poses the greatest challenge to China’s authoritarian regime today. Through interviews with the Feminist Five and other leading Chinese activists, Hong Fincher illuminated both the difficulties they face and their “joy of betraying Big Brother,” as one of the Feminist Five wrote of the defiance she felt during her detention. Listen as Hong Fincher traced the rise of a new feminist consciousness now finding expression through #MeToo, and explored how the movement against patriarchy could reconfigure China and the world. Leta Hong Fincher is a journalist and scholar who has written for the New York Times, The Washington Post, Guardian, Ms. Magazine, the BBC and CNN. She is the author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China. Presented by Town Hall Seattle as part of the 2019 Homecoming Festival. Recorded live in the Forum on September 22, 2019. 

For Lily, a professional 32-year-old woman living in Shanghai, navigating the divide between the expectations of her family deep in rural China and her own desires for her future has never been easy. As an unmarried woman who long ago left her hometown, she faces mounting pressure from her family and community to find a partner and settle down. On this week’s episode of Strangers in China, Lily shares her struggles with rootlessness and a search for belonging, and the revelations she has had about the world beyond China that have helped shape who she is today — though often in direct opposition to traditional cultural norms. Acknowledgments The creators of Strangers in China would like to thank Ryan Thorpe and the Shanghai Writers Workshop and Anthony Tao of SupChina. This episode and this series is dedicated to Clay’s grandmother Joyce, who passed away as this podcast was being conceived.Music credits:“Analytical Skeletons,” “What Are You Doing Tomorrow?,” “Shhia Bhat,” “Advil’s Lament,” and “Gifts” by csus; Terri Skillz; “Sorrow” by Sappheiros; “I Like You” by Dovi; “MARIGOLD” by Evan Schaeffer Music Studios.Works consulted:Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, by Leta Hong Fincher

In this "Reflections" episode,Teri and Michael reflect back on episodes on the gender and international feminism - Episode 53: Seth Shelden on his work for Nobel Peace Prize winner ICAN and disarmament, Episode 54: Damien Mander on the Akashinga or “the Brave Ones”–an all female anti-poaching unit, and Episode 55: Leta Hong Fincher on Chinese feminists and their importance to #MeToo and international women's rights. Teri and Michael co-host the en(gender)ed reflections episodes which serve to help curate a series of past episodes, usually around a specific theme.  We hope these episodes help listeners coming in at that point of the podcast identify particular episodes and themes that they may want to explore. During our reflection, we talked about these additional resources: Mass shooting in Philadelphia with six officers shot Statistics behind gun deaths in the United States, 60% of which is accounted for by suicide in 2017 The United Nations Study on Global Homicides:  Gender-Related Killings of Women & Girls  --- Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast! Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium. Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable. Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

Last week, we spoke to Leta Hong Fincher about the evolving feminist movement in China, and how women could be the greatest threat to continued rule by the Chinese Communist Party. For our outtake this week, we look into one program that influenced women and families in China for nearly two generations: the one child policy.

On this episode of en(gender)ed, our guest is Leta Hong Fincher, journalist, scholar and author of the books, Leftover Women and Betraying Big Brother.  Through these books, Leta chronicles the ways in which China's post economic reforms of the 1990s led to a state drive to incentivize marriage and its subsequent awakening of China's urban, educated women.  We speak with Leta about the struggles the Feminist Five and other leading Chinese activists have faced in “betraying Big Brother” and why and how the rise of a Chinese feminist consciousness is important to other feminist movements, from #MeToo to workers rights to leveraging the power of women's anger to building solidarity across borders.   During our conversation, Leta and I referenced the following resources: The Feminist Five The University of Hong Kong's study of censorship on WeChat The Kim Lee divorce case--"American Woman Gives Domestic Abuse a Face, A Voice, in China" How China's Anti-Domestic Violence Law is failing survivors Adrienne Maree Brown's Pleasure Activism the need in resistance movements and joy as a form of resistance --- Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast! Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium. Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable. Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

When Mao Zedong declared in 1968 that “women hold up half the sky,” many were taken aback. No one expected such a progressive stance from the Communist founder of the People's Republic. Today, however, rather than seeing women as a key driver of economic advancement, China’s leaders have been cracking down on the feminist movement. Leta Hong Fincher, a scholar on women in China, explains why.

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, five activists were arrested in China for handing out stickers about sexual harassment. They were jailed for 37 days. These young feminist activists bring a message of resistance to the traditional role of wife and mother, posing a threat to the Communist Party's vision of family as foundation of political stability. Journalist and scholar Leta Hong Fincher spoke with Fauziah Ibrahim in an electric session on why feminism poses the greatest threat to China’s authoritarian regime today. Watch this talk on Youtube

Leta is a best-selling author, journalist, and scholar. Fluent in Mandarin, she is the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University’s Department of Sociology. Leta has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Guardian, Ms. magazine, the BBC, CNN, and many others. She received the Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism in 2002 for her China reporting. She is also the author of two best-selling, critically acclaimed books: Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (2018) and Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (2014). Identified by The Telegraph as an "awesome woman to follow on Twitter," Leta was named a Mellon Visiting Assistant Professor at Columbia University and recently moved to New York.

Leta is a best-selling author, journalist, and scholar. Fluent in Mandarin, she is the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University’s Department of Sociology. Leta has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Guardian, Ms. magazine, the BBC, CNN, and many others. She received the Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism in 2002 for her China reporting. She is also the author of two best-selling, critically acclaimed books: Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (2018) and Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (2014). Identified by The Telegraph as an "awesome woman to follow on Twitter," Leta was named a Mellon Visiting Assistant Professor at Columbia University and recently moved to New York.

On the eve of International Women's Day in 2015, five activists were detained by the police in China for their plans to distribute anti-sexual harassment stickers. Although such detainments usually last 24 hours, these women were detained 37 days, the legal limit for detention without bringing charges. Dubbed the Feminist Five, news of the women spread rapidly through social media. The author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, Leta Hong Fincher, uses the stories of these women to explore a much larger issue—that the subjugation of women is a key component of the authoritarian state. Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (Verso, 2018) examines censorship and social media; the trauma of detention and its aftermath; the history of feminism in China; the feminist fight against sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence; and, ultimately, the remarkable ways that feminist thinking spreads under the circumstances. Laurie Dickmeyer is an Assistant Professor of History at Angelo State University, where she teaches courses in Asian and US history. Her research concerns nineteenth century US-China relations. She can be reached at laurie.dickmeyer@angelo.edu and on Twitter (@LDickmeyer). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, five activists were detained by the police in China for their plans to distribute anti-sexual harassment stickers. Although such detainments usually last 24 hours, these women were detained 37 days, the legal limit for detention without bringing charges. Dubbed the Feminist Five, news of the women spread rapidly through social media. The author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, Leta Hong Fincher, uses the stories of these women to explore a much larger issue—that the subjugation of women is a key component of the authoritarian state. Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (Verso, 2018) examines censorship and social media; the trauma of detention and its aftermath; the history of feminism in China; the feminist fight against sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence; and, ultimately, the remarkable ways that feminist thinking spreads under the circumstances. Laurie Dickmeyer is an Assistant Professor of History at Angelo State University, where she teaches courses in Asian and US history. Her research concerns nineteenth century US-China relations. She can be reached at laurie.dickmeyer@angelo.edu and on Twitter (@LDickmeyer). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, five activists were detained by the police in China for their plans to distribute anti-sexual harassment stickers. Although such detainments usually last 24 hours, these women were detained 37 days, the legal limit for detention without bringing charges. Dubbed the Feminist Five, news of the women spread rapidly through social media. The author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, Leta Hong Fincher, uses the stories of these women to explore a much larger issue—that the subjugation of women is a key component of the authoritarian state. Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (Verso, 2018) examines censorship and social media; the trauma of detention and its aftermath; the history of feminism in China; the feminist fight against sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence; and, ultimately, the remarkable ways that feminist thinking spreads under the circumstances. Laurie Dickmeyer is an Assistant Professor of History at Angelo State University, where she teaches courses in Asian and US history. Her research concerns nineteenth century US-China relations. She can be reached at laurie.dickmeyer@angelo.edu and on Twitter (@LDickmeyer). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, five activists were detained by the police in China for their plans to distribute anti-sexual harassment stickers. Although such detainments usually last 24 hours, these women were detained 37 days, the legal limit for detention without bringing charges. Dubbed the Feminist... Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, five activists were detained by the police in China for their plans to distribute anti-sexual harassment stickers. Although such detainments usually last 24 hours, these women were detained 37 days, the legal limit for detention without bringing charges. Dubbed the Feminist Five, news of the women spread rapidly through social media. The author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, Leta Hong Fincher, uses the stories of these women to explore a much larger issue—that the subjugation of women is a key component of the authoritarian state. Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (Verso, 2018) examines censorship and social media; the trauma of detention and its aftermath; the history of feminism in China; the feminist fight against sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence; and, ultimately, the remarkable ways that feminist thinking spreads under the circumstances. Laurie Dickmeyer is an Assistant Professor of History at Angelo State University, where she teaches courses in Asian and US history. Her research concerns nineteenth century US-China relations. She can be reached at laurie.dickmeyer@angelo.edu and on Twitter (@LDickmeyer). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, five activists were detained by the police in China for their plans to distribute anti-sexual harassment stickers. Although such detainments usually last 24 hours, these women were detained 37 days, the legal limit for detention without bringing charges. Dubbed the Feminist Five, news of the women spread rapidly through social media. The author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, Leta Hong Fincher, uses the stories of these women to explore a much larger issue—that the subjugation of women is a key component of the authoritarian state. Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (Verso, 2018) examines censorship and social media; the trauma of detention and its aftermath; the history of feminism in China; the feminist fight against sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence; and, ultimately, the remarkable ways that feminist thinking spreads under the circumstances. Laurie Dickmeyer is an Assistant Professor of History at Angelo State University, where she teaches courses in Asian and US history. Her research concerns nineteenth century US-China relations. She can be reached at laurie.dickmeyer@angelo.edu and on Twitter (@LDickmeyer). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, five activists were detained by the police in China for their plans to distribute anti-sexual harassment stickers. Although such detainments usually last 24 hours, these women were detained 37 days, the legal limit for detention without bringing charges. Dubbed the Feminist Five, news of the women spread rapidly through social media. The author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, Leta Hong Fincher, uses the stories of these women to explore a much larger issue—that the subjugation of women is a key component of the authoritarian state. Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (Verso, 2018) examines censorship and social media; the trauma of detention and its aftermath; the history of feminism in China; the feminist fight against sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence; and, ultimately, the remarkable ways that feminist thinking spreads under the circumstances. Laurie Dickmeyer is an Assistant Professor of History at Angelo State University, where she teaches courses in Asian and US history. Her research concerns nineteenth century US-China relations. She can be reached at laurie.dickmeyer@angelo.edu and on Twitter (@LDickmeyer). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  Katherine, Nisa & Yi discuss some recent releases all about 'Women'.  We wanted to mark International Women’s Day: More Powerful Together (2019’s motto) in this Podcast by reviewing three women focused titles. What follows was a robust female focused discussion that sheds light on the current state of women’s lives in the world today and the progress we still need to make to achieve equality .   Some of the books mentioned in this Podcast include: Germaine: the Life of Germaine Greer by Elizabeth Kleinhenz, 2018 Betraying Big Brother: Feminist Awakening in China by Leta Hong Fincher, 2018 The Women's Atlas  by Joni Seager, 2018  

Journalist and scholar Leta Hong Fincher discusses the rising gender inequality in China, the widespread concept of 'Leftover Women', and her new book, 'Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China.' Fluent in Mandarin, Leta is the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University's Department of Sociology in Beijing.

New York-based journalist and scholar Leta Hong Fincher joined Amy in the studio to talk about rising gender inequality in China, the concept of 'Leftover Women', and her new book, Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China. Renowned American historian of the Holocaust Emeritus Professor Christopher R. Browning, came in to talk about his lifes work and his most seminal contribution, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. Amy and Christopherdiscuss the ordinary men from the social democratic leaning city of Hamburg who were drafted into the Reserve Police Battalion 101, and how and why the majority of them participated in the mass killings of about 83,000 Jews in Eastern Europe during World War II. Plus Ben Eltham from New Matilda discussed the latest in federal politics.

Robin on national emergencies, Cardinal McCarrick, "embryo adoption," and why the North Pole is moving, plus Part 3 of "Women’s Suffrage(s)." Guest: Leta Hong Fincher on her book Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China.

China is becoming a more unequal place for women, in 2018 slipping for a fifth consecutive year in the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap index. Chairman Mao may have proclaimed that women can hold up half the sky, but the Communist party under Xi Jinping holds a far narrower view of female roles, cracking down on feminist activists and backing traditional values. The impact is economic too, with research showing that being born female in China has a bigger impact on your earnings than any other variable, including family wealth. This month, Louisa and Graeme are joined by two experts on the origins of China's gender divide, Leta Hong Fincher, who's just published a book called Betraying Big Brother and economist Jane Golley from the Australian National University.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Chinese government sees the women's movement as a threat so it's a huge triumph that feminism is on the rise there, says academic Leta Hong Fincher. Her latest book is Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China.

We Interview the Author and Academic Leta Hong Fincher on her Latest Book- "Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China" We discuss China's Leadership, Global Patriarchy, how class and feminism intersect and how Feminist activists are asserting themselves in China.

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, the Chinese government arrested five feminist activists and jailed them for 37 days. The Feminist Five became a global cause célèbre, with Hillary Clinton speaking out on their behalf, and activists inundating social media with #FreetheFive messages. But the Feminist Five are only symbols of a much larger feminist movement of university students, civil rights lawyers, labor activists, performance artists and online warriors that is prompting an unprecedented awakening among China’s urban, educated women. Journalist and scholar Leta Hong Fincher argues that the popular, broad-based movement poses a unique threat to China’s authoritarian regime today. Leta has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Dissent Magazine, Ms. Magazine, BBC, CNN and others. She is the recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi award for television feature reporting. Fluent in Mandarin, Leta is the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University’s Department of Sociology in Beijing. She has a master’s degree from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree with high honors from Harvard University. She has often been quoted by news organizations such as BBC, CNN, Washington Post, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, TIME and The Economist on the subject of women and feminism in China. Named by the Telegraph as an “awesome woman to follow on Twitter,” Leta was a Mellon Visiting Assistant Professor at Columbia University and recently moved to New York. The "Harvard on China" podcast is hosted and produced by James Evans at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University.

In the seventh episode of the NüVoices podcast, co-hosts Sophie Lu and Joanna Chiu interview author, journalist, activist, and NüVoices Collective editorial board member Lijia Zhang. But first, a reminder that the New York launch of the NüVoices Collective is happening this Thursday, November 1, at an event in Brooklyn, featuring Leta Hong Fincher, Rebecca Karl, and Lu Pin. Also, a important reminder that the deadline for submissions for the NüVoices Collective print anthology is coming up, December 1. See our website for more submission details! Lijia Zhang was a factory worker who made parts for rockets before she sought freedom through literature. She taught herself English, became a leader of factory workers during the 1989 protests in Nanjing, and eventually became an award-winning journalist and author. Her works include the memoir Socialism Is Great! and a collection of oral histories called China Remembers. Her most recent novel, Lotus, tells the story of a young migrant who turned to prostitution; the story was inspired by Lijia's grandmother’s deathbed revelation of being sold to a brothel. As Lijia describes it, Lotus is “not a Chinese pretty woman.” Writing in English, Lijia has found creative freedom and uses her strong literary voice to tell stories of China’s “little people” (小人物 xiǎorénwù) — those of the disadvantaged class who live on the margins of society. She seeks to bring to light many social inequalities while also telling the stories of Chinese people with humanity. You can learn more about her work in an upcoming episode of the BBC World Book Club podcast. She is currently researching a new book about China’s left-behind children. For books and self-care recommendations, Lijia loves Sketches From a Hunter’s Album, by Russian author Ivan Turgenev, and living a well-balanced life. Joanna suggests another great book about political activism in China, The Phoenix Years: Art, Resistance, and the Making of Modern China, by Madeleine O’Dea, and sleeping more. Finally, Sophie recommends CIRCE, a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey from the perspective of the witch Circe, and going to a great drag bingo.

Today we explore the feminist movement in China. My guest is Leta Hong Fincher, an award-winning journalist and scholar. Leta argues that the jailing of the Feminist Five in 2015 was a turning point for the movement. Leta Hong Fincher recently published the book, Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China, published by Verso (2018). www.freshedpodcast.com/fincher twitter:@freshedpodcast email: info@freshedpodcast.com

China's fledgling feminist movement has laid the foundations for a #MeToo moment. In the wake of the infamous one-child policy, author Hong Fincher has documented the development of women's rights, and activism. She joins Katrina Hamlin to explain why their work worries Beijing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the fifth episode of the NüVoices podcast, Alice Xin Liu and Sophie Lu are joined by screenwriter Joan Xu. But first, Joanna Chiu announces the launch of the revamped NüVoices website, as well as online magazine NüStories, and the New York launch of the NüVoices Collective, in an event featuring Leta Hong Fincher, Rebecca Karl, and Lü Pin, moderated by Joanna, on November 1. Joan Xu is a budding screenwriter based in Beijing, working most recently on a forthcoming web series The Circle 御姐的星途. She frequently works in the action-adventure genre on China-Hollywood co-productions. Joan holds a BA in government and economics from Harvard College and an MA in cultural anthropology from the University of Chicago, and will be hosting events for the Harvard alumni community in Beijing. For recommendations and self-care, Alice recommends Why We Love by Helen Fisher, and leaving the house; Joan recommends Daring Greatly by Brené Brown, as well as “KinderCoach”; and Sophie recommends getting friends together for a brunch whilst rallying your best and worst qualities. The book Joan references in the podcast is A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini.

Leta Hong Fincher is the author of the book Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China and the upcoming book Betraying Big Brother: The Rise of China's Feminist Resistance, and a regular commentator on the state of feminism and gender discrimination in China today. She joins Jeremy and Kaiser to discuss sexism and sexual harassment in China and why, she says, the government is complicit. Explosive cases of sexual harassment and abuse have grabbed headlines for months in the U.S., as countless men in media, entertainment, and politics have been accused of gross sexual misbehavior. Most of the accused who are not politicians have faced serious consequences, as a majority of America rallies around the #MeToo campaign, raising awareness of the severity of the problem. In China, Leta says, the situation is entirely different. Sexist behavior is rampant in Chinese workplaces, but the government is intolerant of social media campaigns like #MeToo. Feminism is treated as a sensitive subject by censors and by the state-controlled press, which is unwilling to publish allegations that could be socially destabilizing. And though some women have broken through in business despite extraordinary sexism, representation by women at the top of China’s government is not even token.   Recommendations: Jeremy: A Japanese Mirror: Heroes and Villains of Japanese Culture, by Ian Buruma. Leta: The blog Women and Gender in China, and the twitter account @halfthesky49, run by University of Nottingham scholar Séagh Kehoe. Kaiser: The China Channel from the L.A. Review of Books.

The life and times of Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui 郭文贵 reads much like an epic play, so it is fitting that we have included with this podcast a dramatis personæ to explain the many characters in Guo’s story. Scroll to the bottom, below the recommendations, to follow along with them in order of appearance. New York Times journalists Mike Forsythe and Alexandra Stevenson have spent over a dozen hours with the turbulent tycoon at the New York City penthouse overlooking Central Park where he resides in exile, listening to his stories and carefully investigating his most scandalous claims. Mike has for years been a leading reporter on the intersection of money and power in elite Chinese politics, first at Bloomberg and then at the Times. Alex, as a reporter at the Financial Times and now the New York Times, has focused on covering hedge funds, emerging markets, and the world of finance. Are Guo’s myriad corruption allegations, which go as high as China’s anti-corruption chief, Wang Qishan 王岐山, credible? Is even Guo’s own life history verifiable? Who is he really, and why is he on this quest to unveil the shadowy world of Chinese elite politics? Mike and Alex don’t have all the answers, but they are two of the best people in the world to shed light on what is profound and what is puffery in Guo’s version of events. Recommendations: Jeremy: The Skeptics Society, a website that publishes articles to debunk pseudoscientific, health-related, and religious myths. Alex: Janesville: An American Story, by Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post. It tells how a town in Wisconsin had the General Motors plant leave in 2008, despite Obama’s promise that jobs would stay there. Mike: Betraying Big Brother, an upcoming book by his wife, Leta Hong Fincher, explains what happened to the Feminist Five and what their stories say about the rise of feminism and the control of women in China. Leta’s last book, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, published in 2014, was on a similar subject. Kaiser: Beasts of No Nation, a Netflix special by Cary Fukunaga based on the book of the same title by Uzodinma Iweala. The story follows the life of a child soldier in an unnamed West African country.   Dramatis personæ: To read more on Guo Wengui himself, see our narrative explainer and a compilation of more recent news on Guo from SupChina and beyond. In order of mention in the podcast: Yue Qingzhi 岳庆芝, Guo Wengui’s wife, lives in New York, according to Guo. Yet she has not been seen in public nor by Mike and Alex, even though they have spent entire days at Guo’s penthouse.  Wang Qishan 王岐山, the leader of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). Li Keqiang 李克强, the current premier of China’s State Council, formerly a Party secretary in Henan Province where Guo claims to have met him. Wu Yi 吴仪 served in top ministerial positions negotiating trade and managing public health in the early 21st century. Guo claims to have developed a relationship with her back in Henan. Wu Guanzheng 吴官正 served as secretary for CCDI from 2002 to 2007. Ma Jian 马建, the now-jailed close associate of Guo who served as vice minister of State Security from 2006 to 2015. Liu Zhihua 刘志华, the former vice mayor of Beijing who was dismissed in 2006. Liu received a suspended death sentence for taking bribes of over 6 million yuan ($885,000) in October 2008. He Guoqiang 贺国强, the predecessor to Wang Qishan as secretary of the CCDI. Guo alleges that his son He Jintao 贺锦涛 had a financial stake in Founder Securities at the time Guo tried to muscle his way into the company (the Times has confirmed this). HNA Group, formerly Hainan Airlines, a politically connected business conglomerate that burst onto the public scene in 2016, scooping up foreign companies left and right. Hu Shuli 胡舒立, the editor-in-chief of business news and investigative outlet Caixin (disclosure: Caixin partners with SupChina on the Business Brief podcast). Li You 李友, Guo’s former business partner. In 2016, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and fined 750 million yuan ($110 million) for insider trading.   Yao Mingshan 姚明珊, the wife of Wang Qishan. Meng Jianzhu 孟建柱, the current secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which controls the police and security services.   Xiao Jianhua 肖建华, another billionaire tycoon who had experience dealing at the top levels of the Chinese government. Xiao was apparently abducted by Chinese authorities in Hong Kong in late January 2017 and has not been seen in public since then. Zhang Yue 张越, a former provincial Party secretary in Hebei Province. Meng Huiqing 孟会青, a now-jailed former CCDI official. Fu Zhenghua 傅政华, the deputy minister of Public Security. Yao Qing 姚庆, grandson of revolutionary and former vice premier Yao Yilin 姚依林, and nephew-in-law of Wang Qishan. Guo’s two children, his son, Mileson Kwok 郭强 (Guo’s English name is Miles!), and his daughter, Guo Mei 郭美, whom Guo claims went to New York University with Ma Jian’s daughter. A “dissident-minder from Guobao” (Ministry of Public Security 国保 guó bǎo), identified later in the podcast as Sun Lijun 孙立军, one of two people Guo claims to have met with in Washington, D.C., in late May 2017. Amanda Bennett, the director of Voice of America (VOA), which aired an interview with Guo on April 19 that Guo and some VOA journalists complained was cut short.

In this episode, award winning journalist Leta Hong Fincher drops by to discuss her new book, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China. The Society Pages’ Anne Kaduk asks her to explain the reasons behind increasing marginalization of women in China, both in state policy and public discourse. Download Office Hours #101  

The Asian Pacific Studies Institute at Duke University hosted Leta Hong Fincher to speak about her new book, "Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequalities in China". Hong Fincher recently completed her Ph.D. in Sociology at Tsinghua University. Hong Fincher tweets from @letahong.

  To be single and 27+ in China is to be declared "leftover." On this episode, Leta Hong-Fincher, the author of "Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China," discusses a destructive new government campaign that's stripping Chinese women of their ambition – and choking the economy.

Chinese women & the resurgence of gender inequality. Laurie Taylor talks to Leta Hong Fincher, about 'Leftover Women', her study of the pressures facing Modern Chinese women who are often locked out of social equality, property rights, and legal protection from domestic abuse. Also, 'smokestack nostalgia' - the meaning of post-industrial imagery. Tim Stangleman, Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, questions the continuing desire to reflect back and find value in our industrial past. Producer: Jayne Egerton.