Podcasts about Zhou

The most effective way to reduce visceral fat is a combination of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and resistance training, though regular moderate-intensity cardio or aerobic exercise also helps, according to current research.In this episode of the “NASM CPT Podcast,” host Rick Richey unpacks the scientific evidence on exercise strategies for reducing visceral fat, addressing frequent confusion over whether HIIT or continuous moderate-intensity exercise is better. Citing several systematic reviews and meta-analyses, Rick explains that while some studies show no clear advantage between HIIT and steady-state cardio, many find that interval training, especially when extended beyond 12 weeks, provides superior reductions in visceral fat, particularly for individuals with overweight or obesity. He also highlights that progressive, combined training—mixing vigorous-intensity cardio with moderate or low-intensity resistance training—can further support visceral fat loss, which is particularly beneficial for at-risk groups such as older adults and postmenopausal women. Listeners will learn how to apply these research-backed exercise protocols for themselves or their clients, how to track progress, and why gradual progression is key, especially for those new to higher intensity workouts. This presentation also offers practical coaching insights on how to encourage clients to embrace challenging new routines. Chapters: 00:00 What is the most effective way to reduce visceral fat? 01:10 What is visceral fat and why does it matter for health? 02:26 How did a client respond to advice about losing visceral fat? 03:20 What exercise strategies can help reduce visceral fat? 05:22 Does high-intensity interval training work better than continuous cardio for visceral fat? 06:52 What does the research say about HIIT versus moderate-intensity exercise? 08:29 Are long-duration HIIT sessions more effective for fat loss? 09:18 Does exercise help reduce visceral fat in teens and young adults? 10:26 How does exercise dose relate to visceral fat loss? 12:29 Does combining resistance and aerobic training give better results for visceral fat? 13:56 How can trainers help hesitant clients start higher intensity workouts? 15:54 What extra benefits come with high-intensity training compared to moderate exercise? 16:41 Should you choose HIIT, resistance training, or regular cardio to help most people reduce visceral fat? Show References:Kramer, A. M., Martins, J. B., de Oliveira, P. C., Lehnen, A. M., & Waclawovsky, G. (2023). High-intensity interval training is not superior to continuous aerobic training in reducing body fat: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Journal of exercise science and fitness, 21(4), 385–394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesf.2023.09.002  Poon, E. T., Li, H. Y., Little, J. P., Wong, S. H., & Ho, R. S. (2024). Efficacy of Interval Training in Improving Body Composition and Adiposity in Apparently Healthy Adults: An Umbrella Review with Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 54(11), 2817–2840. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-024-02070-9 Wang, R., Zhang, X., Ren, H., Zhou, H., Yuan, Y., Chai, Y., & Hou, X. (2022). Effects of different exercise types on visceral fat in young individuals with obesity aged 6-24 years old: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in physiology, 13, 987804. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.987804  Chang, Y., Wang, L., Wang, H., & Zhan, E. (2026). Unveiling the perfect workout: exercise modalities and dosages to combat visceral adipose tissue in individuals with overweight and obesity - a systematic review with pairwise, network, and dose-response meta-analyses. Nutrition & metabolism, 23(1), 75. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12986-026-01129-w  Lin, X., Li, G., Xie, J., & Wang, S. (2026). Effects of concurrent training on fat mass and its distribution in individuals with overweight or obesity: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and exploratory regression analysis. BMC public health, 26(1), 1403. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-26869-5 If you like what you just consumed, leave us a 5-star review, and share this episode with a friend to help grow our NASM health and wellness community! The content shared in this podcast is solely for educational and entertainment purposes. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek out the guidance of your healthcare provider or other qualified professional. Any opinions expressed by guests and hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of NASM. Introducing NASM One, the membership for trainers and coaches. For just $35/mo., get unlimited access to over 300 continuing education courses, 50% off additional certifications and specializations, EDGE Trainer Pro all-in-one coaching app to grow your business, unlimited exam attempts and select waived fees. Stay on top of your game and ahead of the curve as a fitness professional with NASM One. Click here to learn more. https://bit.ly/4ddsgrm

The Warring States Period is one of the most important times in China's history. It marked the end of one dynasty–the Zhou–and the beginning of a new imperial era, under the Qin. It's an era that historian Andrew Seth Meyer describes as one of the most important revolutions in world history: The fall of the old aristocratic order, the birth of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism, and the creation of the imperial system that would shape China for over two thousand years.Andrew has put together one of the first English comprehensive histories of the Warring States period in his new book To Rule All Under Heaven: A History of Classical China from Confucius to the First Emperor (Oxford UP, 2026)Andrew Seth Meyer is Professor of History at Brooklyn College and the author of The Dao of the Military: Liu An's Art of War and co-author of The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of To Rule All Under Heaven. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Warring States Period is one of the most important times in China's history. It marked the end of one dynasty–the Zhou–and the beginning of a new imperial era, under the Qin. It's an era that historian Andrew Seth Meyer describes as one of the most important revolutions in world history: The fall of the old aristocratic order, the birth of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism, and the creation of the imperial system that would shape China for over two thousand years.Andrew has put together one of the first English comprehensive histories of the Warring States period in his new book To Rule All Under Heaven: A History of Classical China from Confucius to the First Emperor (Oxford UP, 2026)Andrew Seth Meyer is Professor of History at Brooklyn College and the author of The Dao of the Military: Liu An's Art of War and co-author of The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of To Rule All Under Heaven. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In dieser Folge dreht sich alles um den Doubleheader mit Monza und Madrid, da es letzte Woche keine neue Folge gab. Wir besprechen alle wichtigen Highlights beider Rennwochenenden sowie unsere Eindrücke zur neuen Strecke von Madrid. Zudem gibt es natürlich unsere Awards. Wir sind auch auf Instagram erreichbar: https://www.instagram.com/formulanerdpodcast Wir freuen uns über Kritik, Ideen und weitere Anregungen, um unser kleines Projekt für euch immer Besser zu machen. Viel Spaß wünschen Marc und Manu. E-Mail: formulanerdpodcast@web.de   Dieser Podcast wird vermarktet von der Podcastbude.www.podcastbu.de - Full-Service-Podcast-Agentur - Konzeption, Produktion, Vermarktung, Distribution und Hosting.Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen?Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich.Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten. kostenlos-hosten.de ist ein Produkt der Podcastbude.

In dieser Folge dreht sich alles um den Doubleheader mit Monza und Madrid, da es letzte Woche keine neue Folge gab. Wir besprechen alle wichtigen Highlights beider Rennwochenenden sowie unsere Eindrücke zur neuen Strecke von Madrid. Zudem gibt es natürlich unsere Awards. Wir sind auch auf Instagram erreichbar: https://www.instagram.com/formulanerdpodcast Wir freuen uns über Kritik, Ideen und weitere Anregungen, um unser kleines Projekt für euch immer Besser zu machen. Viel Spaß wünschen Marc und Manu. E-Mail: formulanerdpodcast@web.de   Dieser Podcast wird vermarktet von der Podcastbude.www.podcastbu.de - Full-Service-Podcast-Agentur - Konzeption, Produktion, Vermarktung, Distribution und Hosting.Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen?Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich.Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten. kostenlos-hosten.de ist ein Produkt der Podcastbude.

HONOR's robot phone and Magic V6 show how the smartphone maker is pushing foldables, AI, and mobile content creation into new territory. Fred Zhou, CEO of HONOR South Africa, and Lionel Chen, Product Marketing Manager at HONOR South Africa, discuss the company's rapid local growth and the technology behind its latest devices. They unpack the newly launched HONOR Magic V6, including its ultra-thin foldable design, 6,660mAh battery, fast charging, flagship processor, improved hinge, and productivity features. Zhou also explains why booming AI infrastructure demand is placing pressure on global memory supply and contributing to rising smartphone prices. The conversation then turns to HONOR's robot phone, which combines AI with a built-in multi-axis gimbal camera designed for content creators. Chen explains how HONOR's partnership with ARRI brings professional cinema colour science, LUTs, and video capabilities to the device, which is also expected to reach South Africa in future. 0:00 Intro 1:06 HONOR's growth in South Africa 4:30 HONOR Magic V6 unveiled 8:18 Why smartphones are getting more expensive 14:40 Inside the Magic V6 design 19:08 HONOR's new tablets and laptops 21:23 The HONOR robot phone and ARRI partnership Follow MyBroadband: X - https://twitter.com/mybroadband Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mybroadband Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mybroadband/ Website - https://mybroadband.co.za/news/ #HONOR #MagicV6 #Smartphones

Big Little Things: exploring the silent struggles of love, family secrets, and revealing the emotional power of unspoken truths. The post “Big Little Things”, interview with director Michelle Zhou appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Big Little Things: exploring the silent struggles of love, family secrets, and revealing the emotional power of unspoken truths. The post “Big Little Things”, interview with director Michelle Zhou appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Big Little Things: exploring the silent struggles of love, family secrets, and revealing the emotional power of unspoken truths. The post “Big Little Things”, interview with director Michelle Zhou appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Big Little Things: exploring the silent struggles of love, family secrets, and revealing the emotional power of unspoken truths. The post “Big Little Things”, interview with director Michelle Zhou appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Big Little Things: exploring the silent struggles of love, family secrets, and revealing the emotional power of unspoken truths. The post “Big Little Things”, interview with director Michelle Zhou appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

Big Little Things: exploring the silent struggles of love, family secrets, and revealing the emotional power of unspoken truths. The post “Big Little Things”, interview with director Michelle Zhou appeared first on Fred Film Radio.

On Episode #185 of the Shout Out Fight Podcast, I sit down with Dan Zhou of Westside Muay Thai in Ottawa, just days before one of the biggest fights of his career.On September 13th, Dan steps into the ring at the Canadian War Museum as part of the massive Thailand vs. Canada Challenge, with a WMC title on the line vs American opponent Koi Carney.I've had the pleasure of commentating Dan for several years, and it's been awesome watching him develop into a proper professional fighter. That made this conversation especially cool because I've seen many of the highs, challenges and milestones that have helped shape the fighter he is today.Dan talks about his upcoming opponent, someone he's been aware of and impressed by for years. He always had a feeling their paths would eventually cross — and now, with a WMC title at stake, they finally will!We also get into Dan's love for both K-1 and Muay Thai. He loves the footwork, combinations and boxing of K-1, but right now his focus is simple: bigger fights, better opponents and continuing to improve. For Dan, Muay Thai is a journey, not a destination — a philosophy that seems to carry over into his life as well. Keep learning, keep improving and go with the flow.We talk about fights where Dan has overcome personal milestones, the mental preparation behind those moments, and the other side of fighting — those nights where absolutely nothing seems to go right and overcoming catastrophe during a fight. Of course, we finish with Dan's Top 3 favourite fighters, his Shout Out, and plenty more along the way. Dan Zhou is genuinely one of the good guys in Canadian Muay Thai, and it's been a pleasure watching his journey up to this point.Now it's time for another huge chapter.September 13th. Canada vs. Thailand. WMC gold on the line.Good luck, Dan. Let's keep that belt on Canadian soil.

Die Runde der letzten 32 gab sich gestern bei den English Open in Brentwood die Ehre. Spannung ist weiterhin ordentlich gegeben, erneut gab es viele Decider. Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson und Mark Williams waren es unter anderem, die sich in Entscheidungsframes durchsetzen konnten. Siege für Trump, Zhou und Ding gab es auch noch. Noah und Chris fassen die gestrigen Matches des ersten Home Nations Series Turnier zusammen. Dieser Podcast wird vermarktet von der Podcastbude.www.podcastbu.de - Full-Service-Podcast-Agentur - Konzeption, Produktion, Vermarktung, Distribution und Hosting.Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen?Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich.Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten. kostenlos-hosten.de ist ein Produkt der Podcastbude.

AI may own the headlines, but it's far from the only technology reshaping work. Drawing on emerging tech insights from Gartner, Stanford, and Deloitte, this episode explores the technologies flying under the radar, from robotics and digital twins to quantum, wearables, and biotechnology, and what leaders need to know about their impact on people, teams, and the future of work. In this episode: Emi Baressi, Tom Bradshaw, Nic Krueger, Lee Crowson, Kate Morales, PhD, LindaAnn Rogers    I/O Career Accelerator Course: https://www.seboc.com/job Visit us https://www.seboc.com/ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/sebocLI Join an open-mic event: https://www.seboc.com/events   References:   Aziz, F., Qazi, A. and Li, H. (2026), “Digital twin technology and operations management efficiency in construction: the roles of information transparency, collaboration and digital readiness”, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print.  https://doi.org/10.1108/JEIM-04-2026-0719  Crawford, K., Posada, J., Okueso, Y.E., Higgins, E., Lachin, L. and Hamidi, F. (2026), “Inquiry into accessibility service possibilities for blind and low-vision university students through co-designing a 3D-printed tactile campus map”, Journal of Enabling Technologies, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1108/JET-11-2024-0076  Eriksson, K.M., Olsson, A.K. and Carlsson, L. (2024), “Beyond lean production practices and Industry 4.0 technologies toward the human-centric Industry 5.0”, Technological Sustainability, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 286–308. https://doi.org/10.1108/TECHS-11-2023-0049  JLL (n.d.), “JLL taps into the power of neuroscience to shape the future of work”, JLL. https://www.jll.com/en-us/newsroom/jll-taps-into-the-power-of-neuroscience-to-shape-the-future-of-work  Kawala-Sterniuk, A., Browarska, N., Al-Bakri, A., Pelc, M., Zygarlicki, J., Sidikova, M., Martinek, R. and Gorzelanczyk, E.J. (2021), “Summary of over fifty years with brain-computer interfaces—A review”, Brain Sciences, Vol. 11 No. 1, Article 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11010043  Kies, A., De Keyser, A., Jaramillo, S., Li, J., Tang, Y. and Ud Din, I. (2025), “Wired for work: brain-computer interfaces' impact on frontline employees' well-being”, Journal of Service Management, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-03-2024-0098  Li, L., Xu, Y., Zhan, Y., Pan, M., Lo, C.K.Y. and Zhou, H. (2026), “The impact of digital twin innovation on firm operational performance: a knowledge-based perspective”, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 46 No. 9, pp. 1454–1476. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-07-2025-0681  Tathavadekar, V.P. and Mahankale, N.R. (2026), “Brain–computer interface integration in corporate learning: bidirectional enhancement frameworks for neurologically-augmented knowledge workers”, Strategic HR Review, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 89–92. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-06-2026-218  Valencia-Arias A, Velasquez Salas S, Cardona-Acevedo S, Rua Hernandez JC, Ramírez-Ramírez DM, Benjumea-Arias ML (2026), "Technology-driven workplace transformation: changes, challenges, and opportunities". Management & Sustainability: An Arab Review, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/MSAR-08-2025-0295  Wei, X., Tan, W. and Tian, R. (2026), “The double-edged sword effects of STARA use on employee performance and well-being: a meta-analysis based on job demands-resources (JD-R) model”, Information Technology & People, Vol. 39 No. 5, pp. 2312–2340.  https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-01-2025-0020 Reports  Deloitte  Deloitte. (2025, December 10). Tech trends 2026: As technology innovation and adoption accelerate, five trends reveal how successful organizations are moving from experimentation to impact. Deloitte Insights. https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/technology-management/tech-trends.html  Gartner  Stephan, C., Buytendijk, F., Searle, S., Alvarez, G., Li, B., & Chen, O. (2026, July 23). Hype cycle for emerging technologies, 2026. Gartner. https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/8163629  Stanford  Stanford Emerging Technology Review. (2026). The Stanford Emerging Technology Review 2026. Hoover Institution & Stanford School of Engineering, Stanford University. Stanford Emerging Technology Review 2026

Hay pacientes con daño cerebral que tienen fuerza, movilidad o equilibrio suficientes para hacer mucho más de lo que finalmente consiguen en su vida diaria. Y otros, aparentemente más afectados, terminan siendo mucho más independientes. ¿Qué explica esa discrepancia? En este episodio utilizamos el concepto pedagógico de "fenotipo premotor" para explorar todo lo que ocurre entre disponer de movimiento y conseguir convertirlo en una acción: selección, preparación, secuenciación, predicción, aprendizaje, automatización y transferencia. Hablamos de corteza premotora, complejo motor suplementario, sinergias, aprendizaje explícito e implícito, retención, generalización y de por qué a veces "da un paso largo” funciona mejor que “extiende la rodilla”. También revisamos estrategias clínicas y tecnologías que podrían ayudarnos cuando el verdadero problema no está simplemente en la fuerza o el tono. Porque en neurorrehabilitación no basta con conseguir más movimiento: necesitamos conseguir que ese movimiento se convierta en una acción útil, estable, transferible y autónoma. Referencias del episodio: 1. Antenucci, P., Moura, J., Bhatia, K. P., Rocchi, L., & Latorre, A. (2026). The Bereitschaftspotential in Voluntary Movement and Movement Disorders: Potential, Limitations and New Perspectives. Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, 187, 2111895. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2026.2111895 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42013765/). 2. Ariani, G., Shahbazi, M., & Diedrichsen, J. (2025). Cortical Areas for Planning Sequences before and during Movement. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 45(3), e1300242024. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1300-24.2024 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735648/). 3. Boyd, L., & Winstein, C. (2006). Explicit information interferes with implicit motor learning of both continuous and discrete movement tasks after stroke. Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPT, 30(2), 46–59. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.npt.0000282566.48050.9b (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16796767/). 4. Branscheidt, M., Hadjiosif, A. M., Anaya, M. A., Keller, J., Widmer, M., Runnalls, K. D., Luft, A. R., Bastian, A. J., Krakauer, J. W., & Celnik, P. A. (2025). Reinforcement Learning is Impaired in the Sub-acute Post-stroke Period. Neurorehabilitation and neural repair, 39(4), 297–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/15459683241304352 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39849897/). 5. Cattaneo, L., Nunes, S., Giampiccolo, D., Caro, V. D., Basaldella, F., Badari, A., Tagliaferri, M., Squintani, G., & Sala, F. (2025). Anatomical characterization of premotor-motor connectivity in humans by paired intraoperative direct cortical stimulation. NeuroImage, 324, 121621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121621 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41314273/). 6. Demeco, A., Marotta, N., Lentini, M. P., Fratto, C., Loiarro, G., Frizziero, A., Salerno, A., Cerasa, A., de Sire, A., & Ammendolia, A. (2026). Mental simulation practices in stroke rehabilitation reorganize brain connectivity: a systematic review. Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association, 35(9), 108719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2026.108719 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42537726/). 7. Denyer, R., Greenhouse, I., & Boyd, L. A. (2023). PMd and action preparation: bridging insights between TMS and single neuron research. Trends in cognitive sciences, 27(8), 759–772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2023.05.001 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37244800/). 8. Fridman, E. A., Hanakawa, T., Chung, M., Hummel, F., Leiguarda, R. C., & Cohen, L. G. (2004). Reorganization of the human ipsilesional premotor cortex after stroke. Brain : a journal of neurology, 127(Pt 4), 747–758. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awh082 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14749291/). 9. Fried, I., Katz, A., McCarthy, G., Sass, K. J., Williamson, P., Spencer, S. S., & Spencer, D. D. (1991). Functional organization of human supplementary motor cortex studied by electrical stimulation. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 11(11), 3656–3666. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.11-11-03656.1991 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1941101/). 10. Fu, Y., Wang, W., Yan, Q., Song, J., Li, Y., Zhu, C., Chai, S. C., Subramaniam, P., Yao, L., & Singh, D. K. A. (2026). Comparative effects of transcranial direct and alternating current stimulation combined with cognitive-motor dual-task training on functional and cognitive recovery in stroke survivors. Frontiers in neurology, 17, 1720429. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2026.1720429 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41725712/). 11. Garcea, F. E., & Buxbaum, L. J. (2023). Mechanisms and neuroanatomy of response selection in tool and non-tool action tasks: Evidence from left-hemisphere stroke. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior, 167, 335–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2023.06.012 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10543550/). 12. Genkin, M., Shenoy, K. V., Chandrasekaran, C., & Engel, T. A. (2025). The dynamics and geometry of choice in the premotor cortex. Nature, 645(8079), 168–176. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09199-1 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40562938/). 13. Jahfari, S., Waldorp, L., van den Wildenberg, W. P., Scholte, H. S., Ridderinkhof, K. R., & Forstmann, B. U. (2011). Effective connectivity reveals important roles for both the hyperdirect (fronto-subthalamic) and the indirect (fronto-striatal-pallidal) fronto-basal ganglia pathways during response inhibition. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 31(18), 6891–6899. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5253-10.2011 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21543619/). 14. Kim, M. S., Park, H., Kwon, I., An, K. O., Kim, H., Park, G., Hyung, W., Im, C. H., & Shin, J. H. (2025). Efficacy of brain-computer interface training with motor imagery-contingent feedback in improving upper limb function and neuroplasticity among persons with chronic stroke: a double-blinded, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 22(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-024-01535-2 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39757218/). 15. Koyama, T., & Domen, K. (2017). Diffusion Tensor Fractional Anisotropy in the Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus Correlates with Functional Independence Measure Cognition Scores in Patients with Cerebral Infarction. Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association, 26(8), 1704–1711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2017.03.034 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28478977/). 16. Liepmann, H. (1900). Das Krankheitsbild der Apraxie (Motorische asymbolie): Auf Grund eines Falles von einseitiger Apraxie. Monatschrift für Psychiatrie und Neurologie, 8, 15-44 (https://www.mpi.nl/publications/item2354912/das-krankheitsbild-der-apraxie-motorische-asymbolie-auf-grund-eines-falles). 17. Meehan, S. K., Randhawa, B., Wessel, B., & Boyd, L. A. (2011). Implicit sequence-specific motor learning after subcortical stroke is associated with increased prefrontal brain activations: an fMRI study. Human brain mapping, 32(2), 290–303. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.21019 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20725908/). 18. Mihara, M., Hattori, N., Hatakenaka, M., Yagura, H., Kawano, T., Hino, T., & Miyai, I. (2013). Near-infrared spectroscopy-mediated neurofeedback enhances efficacy of motor imagery-based training in poststroke victims: a pilot study. Stroke, 44(4), 1091–1098. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.111.674507 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23404723/). 19. Mihara, M., Fujimoto, H., Hattori, N., Otomune, H., Kajiyama, Y., Konaka, K., Watanabe, Y., Hiramatsu, Y., Sunada, Y., Miyai, I., & Mochizuki, H. (2021). Effect of Neurofeedback Facilitation on Poststroke Gait and Balance Recovery: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Neurology, 96(21), e2587–e2598. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000011989 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33879597/). 20. Nachev, P., Kennard, C., & Husain, M. (2008). Functional role of the supplementary and pre-supplementary motor areas. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 9(11), 856–869. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2478 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18843271/). 21. Park, S. H., Yan, S., Dee, W., Reed, R., Roth, E. J., Rymer, W. Z., & Wu, M. (2022). Repeated adaptation and de-adaptation to the pelvis resistance force facilitate retention of motor learning in stroke survivors. Journal of neurophysiology, 127(6), 1642–1654. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00046.2022 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35583975/). 22. Paul, T., Cieslak, M., Hensel, L., Wiemer, V. M., Tscherpel, C., Grefkes, C., Grafton, S. T., Fink, G. R., & Volz, L. J. (2024). Corticospinal premotor fibers facilitate complex motor control after stroke. Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 11(9), 2439–2449. https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.52159 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39073030/). 23. Potgieser, A. R., de Jong, B. M., Wagemakers, M., Hoving, E. W., & Groen, R. J. (2014). Insights from the supplementary motor area syndrome in balancing movement initiation and inhibition. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8, 960. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00960 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4246659/). 24. Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., Zheng, B., Chen, S., Yu, H., Dai, L., Zhang, W., Huang, H., Su, X., Cao, M., & Chen, J. (2025). The effects of combining anodal transcranial direct current stimulation with robot-assisted gait training on lower limb motor function and the motor cortex regulation of stroke patients. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 22(1), 230. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-025-01731-8 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41163056/). 25. Zhang, Y. S., Li, Y. D., Ou, C. X., Bi, Z. T., Xiao, J. H., Zhang, J. M., Wei, J. X., Xu, J. W., & Huang, L. (2026). Comparative efficacy and mechanistic insights of non-invasive neuromodulation and motor rehabilitation on functional reorganization of the supplementary motor area in subacute stroke: a narrative review. Frontiers in physiology, 17, 1744260. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2026.1744260 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42005313/). 26. Zhou, Y., Li, X., Huang, W., Xie, H., Zheng, Y., Su, L., Xiang, H., Zhou, H., Jiang, W., & Dou, Z. (2026). Predicting activities of daily living at discharge in stroke patients using rehabilitation robot training-induced functional connectivity. Topics in stroke rehabilitation, 33(6), 618–629. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749357.2026.2612712 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41496182/).

We're still in ancient times, picking up from last episode, where we ended with the fall of the Shang. Part 2 will cover the rise of the Ji Clan and the founding of the Zhou Dynasty. We'll look at the Zhou up through the Spring and Autumn period and a little of the Warring States, up to about 300-400 BC. The rise of the Qin State will also be introduced. The Warring States period will continue on in Part 3, and I'll take that up to the milestone year of 221 BC. Here's a listing of all Chinese names mentioned in this episode: Wǔ Gēng 武庚, Jī Dàn 姬旦, Zhōu Wǔwáng 周武王, King Chéng 周成王, King Mù 周穆王, Zhōu King Xuān 周宣王, Zhōu Yōu Wáng 周幽王, Bāo Sì 褒姒, Zuǒ Qiūmíng 左丘明, King Píng 周平王, Duke Zhuāng of Zhèng 郑庄公, Duke Huán of Qí. 齐桓公, Guǎn Zhòng 管仲, Chóng'ěr 重耳 / Duke Wén of Jìn 晋文公, King Chéng of Chǔ 楚成王, Wú Tàibó 吴太伯 / Gōu Wú 勾吴, Zhou King Tài 周太王. Zhòngyōng 仲雍, Jìlì 季历, Shòumèng 寿梦王, Wǔ Zǐxū 伍子胥, Sūn Wǔ 孙武 / Sūnzǐ 孙子, King Hélǘ 阖闾, Duke Ai of Qin 秦哀公, King Gōujiàn 越勾践王, Fūchāi 越夫差王, Xī Shī 西施, Yíng Zhèng 嬴政, King Zhuāngxiāng 荘襄王 / Yíng Zǐchǔ 赢子楚, Duke Xiāng of Qín 秦襄公, Duke Wén of Qín 秦文公, Duke Mù of Qín 秦穆公, Shāng Yāng 商鞅, Duke Xiào of Qin 秦孝公, Qín King Huìwén 秦惠文王, Hán Fēizǐ 韩非子

We're still in ancient times, picking up from last episode, where we ended with the fall of the Shang. Part 2 will cover the rise of the Ji Clan and the founding of the Zhou Dynasty. We'll look at the Zhou up through the Spring and Autumn period and a little of the Warring States, up to about 300-400 BC. The rise of the Qin State will also be introduced. The Warring States period will continue on in Part 3, and I'll take that up to the milestone year of 221 BC. Here's a listing of all Chinese names mentioned in this episode: Wǔ Gēng 武庚, Jī Dàn 姬旦, Zhōu Wǔwáng 周武王, King Chéng 周成王, King Mù 周穆王, Zhōu King Xuān 周宣王, Zhōu Yōu Wáng 周幽王, Bāo Sì 褒姒, Zuǒ Qiūmíng 左丘明, King Píng 周平王, Duke Zhuāng of Zhèng 郑庄公, Duke Huán of Qí. 齐桓公, Guǎn Zhòng 管仲, Chóng'ěr 重耳 / Duke Wén of Jìn 晋文公, King Chéng of Chǔ 楚成王, Wú Tàibó 吴太伯 / Gōu Wú 勾吴, Zhou King Tài 周太王. Zhòngyōng 仲雍, Jìlì 季历, Shòumèng 寿梦王, Wǔ Zǐxū 伍子胥, Sūn Wǔ 孙武 / Sūnzǐ 孙子, King Hélǘ 阖闾, Duke Ai of Qin 秦哀公, King Gōujiàn 越勾践王, Fūchāi 越夫差王, Xī Shī 西施, Yíng Zhèng 嬴政, King Zhuāngxiāng 荘襄王 / Yíng Zǐchǔ 赢子楚, Duke Xiāng of Qín 秦襄公, Duke Wén of Qín 秦文公, Duke Mù of Qín 秦穆公, Shāng Yāng 商鞅, Duke Xiào of Qin 秦孝公, Qín King Huìwén 秦惠文王, Hán Fēizǐ 韩非子

Alle wissen, was Emotionen sind! Wirklich? Sind sie in unserem Körper oder unserem Kopf? Sind sie in uns angelegt oder sind sie Interpretationssache? Eine Folge Achtsam nur über Ursprung und Rolle von Gefühlen. **********An dieser Stelle findet ihr die Übung:37:58 - Geleitete Meditation, in der wir unsere Emotionen betrachten können**********Quellen aus der Folge:Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 10(1), 83. Tsai, J. L., Chen, D. S., Yang, A. M., Cachia, J. Y., Blevins, E., Ko, M., ... & Zhou, X. (2025). A meta-analytic review of cultural variation in affect valuation. Psychological Bulletin, 151(12), 1486. Quoidbach, J., Gruber, J., Mikolajczak, M., Kogan, A., Kotsou, I., & Norton, M. I. (2014). Emodiversity and the emotional ecosystem. Journal of experimental psychology: General, 143(6), 2057. Williams, M. & Penman, D. (2023). Das neue Achtsamkeitstraining. Die Botschaften von Gefühlen erkennen und entschärfen. Arkana. Barrett, L. F. (2023). Wie Gefühle entstehen: Eine neue Sicht auf unsere Emotionen| Mit einem Vorwort von Leon Windscheid. Rowohlt Verlag GmbH. **********Hörtipp:Hier geht's zu unserem Podcast "Facts und Feelings" - Wir gehen euren Gefühlen auf den Grund:**********Mehr zum Thema bei Deutschlandfunk Nova:Emotionen im Wandel: So haben sich Gefühle im Laufe der Geschichte verändertEmotionen: Gefühle lenken, statt sich von ihnen lenken zu lassenGefühle auf dem Prüfstand: Wenn Emotionen politisch werden**********Den Artikel zum Stück findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .**********Ihr habt Anregungen, Ideen, Themenwünsche? Dann schreibt uns gern unter achtsam@deutschlandfunknova.de

In dieser Folge dreht sich alles um "The Final Lap", dem letzten Rennen der Formel 1 in Zandvoort. Wir waren Live vor Ort und berichten über unsere Erfahrungen. Zudem gibt es natürlich unsere sportliche Analyse und die Awards. Wir sind auch auf Instagram erreichbar: https://www.instagram.com/formulanerdpodcast Wir freuen uns über Kritik, Ideen und weitere Anregungen, um unser kleines Projekt für euch immer Besser zu machen. Viel Spaß wünschen Marc und Manu. E-Mail: formulanerdpodcast@web.de   Dieser Podcast wird vermarktet von der Podcastbude.www.podcastbu.de - Full-Service-Podcast-Agentur - Konzeption, Produktion, Vermarktung, Distribution und Hosting.Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen?Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich.Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten. kostenlos-hosten.de ist ein Produkt der Podcastbude.

Academic Summary:A massive, population-based study out of Eastern China analyzed nearly 10,000 individuals to determine how daily tea consumption impacts liver cancer risk. Researchers discovered that drinking just one freshly brewed cup of tea per day—specifically green tea—significantly drops the overall odds of developing primary liver cancer. Astonishingly, this protective "shielding" effect was highly effective among high-risk groups, including regular alcohol consumers and those positive for Hepatitis B. The active polyphenols and catechins (like EGCG) in the tea appear to actively neutralize the severe oxidative stress and inflammation caused by alcohol, pathogens, and environmental toxins.#LiverHealth #GreenTeaBenefits #CancerPrevention #Biohacking #NutritionalScience #TheCatalyst #HarmonicNexus #Longevity #HealthOptimizationFormal Citation:Liu, X., Baecker, A., Wu, M., Zhou, J., Jin, Z., Mu, L., He, N., Rao, J., Lu, Q.-Y., Li, L., Zhao, J.-K., & Zhang, Z.-F. Tea Consumption and Liver Cancer: A Population-Based Case–Control Study in Eastern China. Nutrients. 2025; 17(16), 2647. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17162647Medical & Legal Disclaimer:Disclaimer: The information provided in this content is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or professional health advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, health routine, or medical treatment plan. This content is strictly non-monetized and produced for the advancement of public scientific literacy.Alchepharma,Ralph Turchiano,tea consumption and liver cancer,green tea liver benefits,EGCG cancer prevention,how to protect liver from alcohol,hepatitis b liver cancer prevention,green tea polyphenols,reverse liver damage naturally,liver health optimization,tea brewing temperature for health,catechins and antioxidants,best tea for your liver,natural liver detox,alcohol oxidative stress liver,EGCG anti-inflammatory,daily tea consumption benefits

How do you create fitness classes that members actively choose, talk about, and have a hard time replacing? For boutique fitness studio owners, stronger member retention and loyalty often start with something most studios leave largely to chance: how people actually experience and remember a class. In this episode, Fitcarma Experience Designer Shay Kostabi introduces The Two Moment Rule, our framework for intentionally shaping the two moments that can carry disproportionate weight in how members remember an experience: the emotional peak and the ending. We explore the psychology behind the peak-end rule and how it applies specifically to boutique fitness, group fitness class design, instructor training, music, coaching, emotional arc, and class structure. You'll learn why the hardest part of a workout isn't automatically the most memorable, how Convergence happens when movement, music, coaching, energy, and emotion work together toward the same emotional outcome, why constant intensity can actually cause members to disengage through what we call The Mad Max Effect, and why a class that simply stops is very different from an experience that ends with true Resolution. If the best parts of your class experience exist only inside the instincts of your strongest instructors, your brand doesn't own that experience yet. At Fitcarma, our Experience Design work draws from established research in psychology, behavioral science, flow, belonging, memory, and human performance, then translates those principles specifically into boutique fitness. We help studio owners turn those insights into a proprietary class experience that can be built into class architecture, coaching methodology, instructor training, observation standards, and a Playbook your entire team can use. Your members are going to remember these moments whether you plan for them or not. You might as well make them count. Want to build a more distinctive, memorable, and difficult-to-replace class experience for your studio? Book a Fit Call with us: https://fitcarma.com/northstar Research referenced Fredrickson, B. L., & Kahneman, D. (1993). "Duration Neglect in Retrospective Evaluations of Affective Episodes." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(1), 45–55. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.65.1.45 Alaybek, B., Dalal, R. S., Fyffe, S., Aitken, J. A., Zhou, Y., Qu, X., Roman, A., & Baines, J. I. (2022). "All's Well That Ends (and Peaks) Well? A Meta-Analysis of the Peak-End Rule and Duration Neglect." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 170, 104149. DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104149 Film referenced Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), directed by George Miller. Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Kennedy Miller Mitchell.

The Springs-and-Autumns period is a strange period in Chinese history. Coming after the decline of the Zhou, and before the famous Warring States Period, this period of Chinese history features a large number of small states with no powerful hegemon, no strong sense of the mandate of heaven, rules of chivalry that wouldn't seem out of place in medieval Europe, and roles passed down through lineage–and not awarded on the basis of merit. Historian Yuri Pines calls this period China's "aristocratic age” in his book titled, appropriately, China's Aristocratic Age: Politics and Power in the Springs-and-Autumns Period (Princeton UP, 2026). Yuri Pines is the Michael W. Lipson Chair in Chinese Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy, The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China, Zhou History Unearthed: The Bamboo Manuscript Xinian and Early Chinese Historiography, and other books. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of China's Aristocratic Age. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. 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

The Springs-and-Autumns period is a strange period in Chinese history. Coming after the decline of the Zhou, and before the famous Warring States Period, this period of Chinese history features a large number of small states with no powerful hegemon, no strong sense of the mandate of heaven, rules of chivalry that wouldn't seem out of place in medieval Europe, and roles passed down through lineage–and not awarded on the basis of merit. Historian Yuri Pines calls this period China's "aristocratic age” in his book titled, appropriately, China's Aristocratic Age: Politics and Power in the Springs-and-Autumns Period (Princeton UP, 2026). Yuri Pines is the Michael W. Lipson Chair in Chinese Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy, The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China, Zhou History Unearthed: The Bamboo Manuscript Xinian and Early Chinese Historiography, and other books. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of China's Aristocratic Age. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. 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

The Springs-and-Autumns period is a strange period in Chinese history. Coming after the decline of the Zhou, and before the famous Warring States Period, this period of Chinese history features a large number of small states with no powerful hegemon, no strong sense of the mandate of heaven, rules of chivalry that wouldn't seem out of place in medieval Europe, and roles passed down through lineage–and not awarded on the basis of merit. Historian Yuri Pines calls this period China's "aristocratic age” in his book titled, appropriately, China's Aristocratic Age: Politics and Power in the Springs-and-Autumns Period (Princeton UP, 2026). Yuri Pines is the Michael W. Lipson Chair in Chinese Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy, The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China, Zhou History Unearthed: The Bamboo Manuscript Xinian and Early Chinese Historiography, and other books. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of China's Aristocratic Age. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies

The Springs-and-Autumns period is a strange period in Chinese history. Coming after the decline of the Zhou, and before the famous Warring States Period, this period of Chinese history features a large number of small states with no powerful hegemon, no strong sense of the mandate of heaven, rules of chivalry that wouldn't seem out of place in medieval Europe, and roles passed down through lineage–and not awarded on the basis of merit. Historian Yuri Pines calls this period China's "aristocratic age” in his book titled, appropriately, China's Aristocratic Age: Politics and Power in the Springs-and-Autumns Period (Princeton UP, 2026). Yuri Pines is the Michael W. Lipson Chair in Chinese Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy, The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China, Zhou History Unearthed: The Bamboo Manuscript Xinian and Early Chinese Historiography, and other books. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of China's Aristocratic Age. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Springs-and-Autumns period is a strange period in Chinese history. Coming after the decline of the Zhou, and before the famous Warring States Period, this period of Chinese history features a large number of small states with no powerful hegemon, no strong sense of the mandate of heaven, rules of chivalry that wouldn't seem out of place in medieval Europe, and roles passed down through lineage–and not awarded on the basis of merit. Historian Yuri Pines calls this period China's "aristocratic age” in his book titled, appropriately, China's Aristocratic Age: Politics and Power in the Springs-and-Autumns Period (Princeton UP, 2026). Yuri Pines is the Michael W. Lipson Chair in Chinese Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy, The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China, Zhou History Unearthed: The Bamboo Manuscript Xinian and Early Chinese Historiography, and other books. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of China's Aristocratic Age. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon.Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-review Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if your lighting system could help control HVAC, improve comfort, and cut energy costs?In this episode, Stephen Zhou of MW Connect explores how Bluetooth NLC, smart thermostats, occupancy sensors, and open standards are turning lighting controls into the “eyes and ears” of smarter buildings.We dive into lighting + HVAC integration, why interoperability matters, new CO₂ and occupancy sensing technologies, and how AI could use building data to unlock even greater efficiency.The big takeaway: lighting is everywhere—and that makes it the perfect platform for the connected building of the future.

Zhou Zhang is gradually working through the days of the week: this crossword marked her Friday debut. The only days on which she has not published are Tuesday and Saturday, but we expect those in short order.We also expect, based on prior experience, great cluing, and Zhou Zhang certainly does not disappoint here — every clue pulled its weight, and the puzzle as a whole was fabulous. Deets inside.Based on a Fan Mail note (thanks, Los Angeles Fan!), we have a Fun Fact Friday™️ segment on mondegreens. For even more mondegreens, check out Dr. Barber's slightly retro but very funny list.Show note imagery: Jesse Tyler Ferguson, playing Truman Capote in the one-man show Tru.We love feedback! Send us a text...Contact Info:We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.Also, we're on FaceBook, so feel free to drop by there and strike up a conversation!

In conjunction with the seventh lunar month, Mr. Zhou’s Ghost Stories presents a special feature brought to you by the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre! Join us as we explore the traditions, customs and cultural significance of the seventh lunar month. 配合农历七月，《周公讲鬼》特别推出由新加坡华族文化中心带来的《周公讲鬼》之讲讲农历七月！ 一起来了解农历七月的文化与习俗！由新加坡See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last time we spoke about the ending of the Second Battle of Changsha. In late September and early October 1941, Chinese commander Chen Cheng planned an operation to retake Yichang, a strategic Yangtze River city whose control was essential for protecting the approach to Chongqing. Japanese forces were pulling back from Changsha, weakened by supply problems and casualties, which created an opportunity for Chen to intensify his campaign. Yichang had been captured by Japan in 1940, a defeat that Chen carried as a personal and political burden. He therefore moved to encircle the Japanese 13th Division inside Yichang and drive it to collapse. Although the Chinese held a clear manpower advantage—fourteen divisions against the encircled Japanese—progress was slowed by stubborn fighting from prepared, entrenched positions. The battle inside the city produced desperate close-quarters combat and heavy casualties, showing how the fate of Yichang and the wider defense of Chongqing were tightly linked.    #214 War hits the Pacific Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   The guns fell silent on October 9, 1941, as the Ninth War Zone's forces restored their pre-battle positions, marking the end of the Second Battle of Changsha. The balance sheet was grim on both sides, but it was China that bore the heavier cost. The Ninth Military Front suffered 70,672 killed, wounded, or missing. The concurrent Yichang offensive added a further 21,368 casualties to the Sixth Military Front, a force that outnumbered its Japanese opponents ten to one yet still failed to retake the city. By the time the dust settled, the Chinese army had lost nearly 100,000 men across both theatres. The Chinese command was frank, at least in private, about what had gone wrong. The Japanese had moved with a speed that recalled Blitzkrieg, advancing 130 kilometres in eleven days and withdrawing at twelve kilometres a day, catching the defenders perpetually off-balance. The 26th, 37th, 10th, and 74th Corps had been picked apart piecemeal rather than fighting in concert, the original plan to destroy the Japanese south of the Miluo River coming to nothing. Elite formations had paid a disproportionate price: the 74th Corps suffered 14,521 casualties, the 37th Corps 14,015, and the 58th Division alone lost 6,192 of its 11,907 men, nearly its entire fighting strength.   Yet none of this was the story the public would hear. On October 10th, China's National Day, radio stations announced the "Second Great Victory in Northern Hunan", the annihilation of over 40,000 enemy troops. Newspapers rushed out special editions. Congratulatory telegrams flooded in from government ministries and civic organizations. Senior officials seized on the moment: Sun Ke, Premier of the Executive Yuan, declared that the victory "laid the foundation for the counter-offensive and the recapture of Hankou and Guangzhou," while General Bai Chongxi called it "the pivotal moment for us to turn defeat into victory." Chiang Kai-shek, reading through the pages of triumphant commentary produced overnight by his propagandists, was reportedly impressed by their industry, if not convinced by their content. He had not wanted to call it a victory at all, but the political calculus was unavoidable: after four years of war, an exhausted nation needed the psychological sustenance that only "victory" could provide.   The gap between public performance and private reality was nowhere more visible than in the arrival of a twenty-two-member international press delegation on October 13th. Journalists from Britain, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Hong Kong, and major Chinese newspapers were flown to Changsha and carefully guided through selected battlefields, where they inspected mountains of war trophies and heard testimony from soldiers and civilians. They left satisfied, presenting their war souvenirs—swords, binoculars, Japanese military flags—to their audiences back home as proof of Chinese heroism and Japanese defeat. Both China and Japan were claiming victory simultaneously. The only conclusion the foreign press could draw was that one side was lying, and it was not the side that had shown them the evidence.   Chiang Kai-shek's real verdict came at the Third Nanyue Military Conference, held from October 16 to 21. His anger was withering. He condemned his generals for their obsession with defending sprawling outer perimeter lines while leaving city centres barely fortified, a mentality so rigid, he said, that the Japanese could announce the exact time of their advance and withdrawal in advance and still execute it on schedule without interference. "Generals, what a disgrace this is!" On the failure to capture prisoners, only 263 prisoners were claimed across the entire front, of whom only 16 names were actually published, he was almost incredulous: "We can definitely defeat the enemy, capture many enemy prisoners, and seize countless enemy weapons! Even if we cannot capture ten thousand prisoners, we should at least capture a thousand! If not a thousand, then at least a hundred! But now, you don't even have ten!" The conference handed down punishments to match the rhetoric. Liao Lingqi, commander of the shattered 58th Division, was sentenced to death for desertion and shot on October 22nd. His men were so outraged that three regimental commanders resigned in protest; the division was pulled from the order of battle entirely and given three months to rebuild. Li Yutang, commander of the 10th Corps, was dismissed—though the Third Battle of Changsha would begin before his replacement could take post, and he would be reinstated to play a key role in the city's defence.   On the Japanese side, the 11th Army acknowledged 1,670 killed, 5,184 wounded, and 14 missing, far fewer than Chinese claims, though post-war regimental histories suggest the true figure was higher. Lieutenant General Anami, who had championed the operation, found himself stung by the charge that the battle had served mainly as material for Chinese propaganda. On November 23rd, he reportedly reacted with visible displeasure when someone in his headquarters said as much aloud.  Anami's annoyance was easy enough to understand, but the accusation carried a troubling degree of accuracy. The Second Battle of Changsha had yielded no decisive strategic gain and no substantial alteration in the military balance. What it did generate, rather effectively, was a story and by the autumn of 1941, stories were one of the few things China still had in plentiful supply. The most consequential struggles were taking place not along the Miluo River, but in foreign ministries and embassies, in Washington and Moscow, in the messages passing between Chongqing and London, and in the increasingly strained calculations of statesmen trying to determine, amid rapidly changing circumstances, whom to support and for how long.   For Chiang Kai-shek, the challenge was never merely military. It was structural, and had been so from the outset. He had always seen clearly, precisely because he understood China's weakness, that Japan could not be defeated by China alone. The country lacked the industrial base, the logistical reach, and after four years of relentless attrition more and more the manpower needed to force a decisive result on the battlefield. China's survival depended on making its war inseparable from the wars of other powers. Since 1937, Chiang's diplomacy had pursued that single objective: convincing enough great powers that their interests were aligned with China's, and holding that coalition together long enough for Japan to be subdued. That effort turned out to be vastly more difficult than it ought to have been.   The problem started with the international order in which the war emerged. Chiang had hoped to assemble a concert of allies willing to help defend China against Japanese aggression. He was blocked not just by the reluctance of neutral states to aid China, but by the speed with which alliances shifted in the opening years of the Second World War. He had never welcomed the prospect of a general European conflict, correctly fearing that it would push China even further to the margins of world attention. Even so, he recognized that once the lines had hardened between the imperial democracies and fascism, new alignments might become possible. From his perspective, the growing amity between Berlin and Moscow was therefore disastrous. He had been eager to draw the USSR into war against Japan. Instead, the Soviets were now effectively aligned with the Nazis, who were themselves allied with Tokyo.   The world created after Versailles had already enraged many Chinese. After all, the May Fourth demonstrations of 1919 had arisen directly from the settlement reached at the Paris Peace Conference. Yet that older order had at least possessed recognizable anchors, especially the dominance of the two great European empires and the United States. Now those empires were weakening, and no one could say with confidence what the new geopolitical order would be. For all Chiang knew, Germany might emerge as Europe's new dominant power. The early years of the European war produced a bewildering spectacle of diplomatic realignment.   The Nationalist government had previously enjoyed a short-lived flirtation with Nazi Germany. In fact, Hitler's regime continued supplying Chiang with munitions in the first months of China's war against Japan. The Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 had theoretically joined Germany, Italy, and Japan into the Axis, but mutual distrust prevented them from forming anything like a fully coherent alliance. Chiang found it useful to imply to Western powers that he might be pushed into closer alignment with Germany, a particularly disturbing possibility for the USSR, which faced enemies in both Europe and Asia. But eventually the contradictions in German policy toward East Asia became too severe. In April 1938, Germany yielded to Japanese pressure and ended its support for China.   Britain offered little meaningful help. Neville Chamberlain became prime minister in May 1937 at the head of a Conservative-led National Government, and was quickly overwhelmed by the deteriorating European situation. If Czechoslovakia was for him a "far-off country of which we know nothing," China's fate was even more distant and obscure to many,  perhaps most  policymakers in London. The Nationalists had more success in cultivating the United States. At the Nine-Power Conference in Brussels in November 1937, the Chinese delegation failed to persuade Washington to impose sanctions on Japan and confront it directly. By the middle of 1938, however, American views were beginning to shift. As Japan pushed deeper into southern China, it became increasingly obvious that the occupied territory would be closed to foreign trade. In December 1938, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau arranged a private American loan of $25 million to China, to be repaid through shipments of tung oil, a varnish product whose real importance lay not in itself, but in what the arrangement signified: a quiet American expression of faith that Chongqing would survive. Chiang also held on to the hope of an even less likely partnership. He had become fiercely anti-Communist during the 1920s, yet in the early years of the anti-Japanese war his greatest hope still rested on Soviet entry into the conflict. Soviet advisers and pilots had aided China from 1937 to 1939, but the USSR never formally declared war on Japan. Still, as Japanese aggression in northern Asia intensified, it remained possible that the Soviets would eventually be drawn in.   Then, as so often happened whenever Chiang tried to impose some control over the course of the war, events beyond China's borders altered the struggle in fundamental ways. While Western attention remained fixed on Europe's darkening horizon, a battle with major consequences for East Asia unfolded on the frontiers of Outer Mongolia, Manchukuo, and the eastern Soviet Union. Throughout much of 1938 and early 1939, one faction within the Japanese Imperial Army sought to pressure the Soviets along their eastern frontier. The USSR appeared vulnerable; Stalin's paranoid purges had executed or exiled many of the Red Army's best officers. In May 1939, fighting broke out near Nomonhan between forces from Soviet-backed Mongolia and Japanese troops from Manchukuo. Within days, both sides had reinforced heavily, until nearly 60,000 Soviet troops faced about 40,000 soldiers from the Kwantung Army. Over the next four months, until mid-September, they fought a major battle ending in a decisive Japanese defeat and establishing the reputation of General Georgi Zhukov, who would later become one of Stalin's most celebrated wartime commanders. The much-derided Soviet Army had fought with formidable effectiveness, and the result was not only a ceasefire but also a nonaggression pact between the two sides, extinguishing, in one stroke, Chiang's hopes for a Chinese-Soviet military alliance. The final blow came after developments in northern Europe. In the Winter War of 1939–1940, the Soviet invasion of Finland led Britain and France to back a motion expelling the USSR from the League of Nations. China, then a member of the League Council, declined to use its veto to block the resolution. Stalin was enraged by Chiang's failure to prevent Soviet expulsion, and mutual suspicion thereafter poisoned relations between the two leaders for the rest of the war against Japan. China would now have to continue without further major Soviet backing.   By the spring of 1940, China's position had become deeply precarious. In March, senior Japanese negotiators sought an agreement with Chiang in Chongqing, while Wang Jingwei was trying to formalize his rival Nationalist government in Nanjing. This effort, known in Chinese as the Tong Operation, and in Japanese as Operation Kiri, led to talks in Hong Kong from March 7 to 10, 1940. Militarily, the Nationalists were in grave danger: the United States remained neutral, and Europe was in chaos. Indeed, that same spring, with France seemingly near collapse, the British government also sent out discreet feelers to explore the possibility of a negotiated peace with Germany. For China, Western assistance was nowhere in sight. The Japanese judged the moment favorable for pressing Chiang toward concessions. Faced with serious danger to his regime, Chiang allowed the door to negotiation to open just slightly.   As a consequence, the Japanese delayed full recognition of Wang Jingwei's new government. Through the summer and autumn of 1940, Tokyo remained uncertain about the defector. Prominent Japanese figures such as Count Arima Yoriyasu of the Privy Council said Wang's conduct demonstrated his untrustworthiness, and Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yōsuke continued to express interest in an agreement with Chongqing. Zhou Fohai captured the defectors' frustration, men who believed they had made the highest patriotic sacrifice when he wrote: "Chongqing sees us as collaborators, we see ourselves as heroes. We think only peace can save the country — that's why we think of ourselves as heroes. If we end up classed as heroes, then China and Japan will be at peace. If we end up classed as collaborators, then China and Japan will never be at peace."That formulation conveyed something genuine about the moral dizziness of the period. Most of the defectors were not men devoid of principles; they were men whose principles had carried them to a place that history would find exceptionally hard to pardon.   The "New Fourth Army Incident" brought to a close one of the most consequential years in modern Chinese political history. The battle of ideas unfolding in 1940 was already visible to informed contemporaries. Early in 1941, US Ambassador Nelson Johnson sent Washington a detailed assessment of the Chinese political situation in reply to another report passed along by Major Evans Carlson, an American officer who had made an extensive journey through the Chinese interior. The contrast between the two documents revealed a widening split in American views of China. Carlson, together with his travelling companion, the New Zealander Rewi Alley, had become increasingly sympathetic to the Communists after visiting their territories in 1938 and admiring their discipline. Carlson described the Nationalists as moving toward "fascism," and argued that American aid should be conditioned on Chiang's government being compelled to adopt more "democratic" institutions.   Johnson strongly disagreed. It was "only normal and natural," he wrote, that the Nationalists wanted to retain power, but during the war they had established the National Political Consultative Council, in which multiple parties, including the Communists, were represented. He also noted that the CCP could publish its own newspaper in Chongqing in a way that would have been impossible before the war. One might have expected the Nationalists to use the war as a justification "to extinguish . . . all political opposition," yet instead they had chosen to "muddle along." Johnson further thought that the influence of competing cliques inside the Nationalist Party had been overstated. Chiang Kai-shek, by contrast, had "grown in stature, as he has come to be recognized as the symbol of united resistance to Japanese encroachment"; ultimately, "it is he who makes the final decisions." Johnson did agree with Carlson that Chiang's regime was hesitant to encourage a broad-based popular movement animated by anything beyond anti-Japanese feeling, though he also pointed to Nationalist cooperative programs and county-level reforms. But he rejected the idea that American support should depend on sweeping political transformation. Chiang was committed to continuing the war against Japan, and Washington should back him in that effort. In a notably farsighted passage, Johnson wrote: "It is my view that since the fall of the Manchu dynasty and the collapse of the traditional Chinese concept of government the Chinese people have been feeling their way along toward a new evolving form of government. A definitive form of government has not yet been established and may not be established for decades; it may or may not be in the form of a democracy, but it will be a type of government that will be adapted to the needs of China and its people." The tension between these two American interpretations,  Carlson's idealized belief in the Communists and Johnson's pragmatic support for Chiang was more than a minor bureaucratic dispute. It foreshadowed a debate that would dominate American foreign policy for the next decade, and would still echo when the People's Republic was proclaimed in 1949.   The disastrous experience of 1940 seemed to cast doubt on whether any future for China existed outside the Japanese Empire. As 1941 wore on, another dreadful event shook the exhausted wartime capital. On June 5, Chongqing endured roughly five hours of bombing, driving the population into air-raid shelters. In one tunnel in the Shibati district, the conditions were even worse than usual. The large shelter was supposed to have lights and electric fans, but the generators had never been connected. Inside, the air was dark, hot, and suffocating. Around ten that evening, people began emerging from the tunnel when rumors spread that the Japanese were returning with poison-gas bombs. Air-raid wardens forced people back inside, even as others were still trying to come out. Bodies toppled over one another, and panic spread as people realized they could not breathe. Over the next few hours, hundreds died underground in the darkness. The exact number was never definitively established: the official figure was 461, though a contemporary police report placed it far higher, at 1,527. What rescuers remembered most vividly were the tortured expressions of the dead, people tangled together in each other's arms as they lost consciousness, clothing ripped to shreds by desperate hands clawing at one another, and bodies so drenched in sweat that they looked as though they had been soaked in water. One survivor, Tang Zhengchang, remembered a hand reaching out from a pile of corpses and pleading, "Sir, please help me . . ." The grip on Tang's shorts was so tight that it pulled them off; he escaped the tunnel naked from the waist down. Official descriptions of the disaster were softened. Even so, the tragedy deepened the city's gloom and in a place already saturated with grief, an added layer of darkness mattered a great deal.   Yet events elsewhere would soon offer the National Government a narrow margin of hope. Late in 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt won re-election as president of the United States. "I am not going to send your boys into any foreign wars," he had proclaimed during the campaign against Wendell Willkie. But Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull both understood that Nazi domination of Europe posed a grave challenge to American influence there. And with China's "Open Door" to trade effectively shut by Japanese occupation, it was becoming increasingly clear that strict neutrality might not remain viable. In a 1941 report on China's domestic and foreign situation, Ambassador Johnson noted that during Germany's sweeping victories across Europe in mid-1940, the Chinese had become anxious about whether the Allies would remain committed to their cause. Britain's refusal to surrender, however, together with continuing Soviet goodwill, lifted public morale in China. People now looked toward the United States and Britain for support and felt that "victory" was "virtually theirs."   Then, on June 22, 1941, the world awoke to news that roughly three million German soldiers were advancing into the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of the USSR, dramatically overturned the nonaggression that had governed relations between the two major European dictatorships for the previous two years. It transformed the war in Europe entirely. Less obviously, it also transformed the war in Asia. Thanks to intelligence leaks, Chiang Kai-shek had already realized that war between Germany and the USSR was likely. After the neutrality treaty between the USSR and Japan was signed on April 13, 1941, Chiang predicted that the United States would be drawn into the Asian war, and even that Japan might eventually reverse course and strike the Soviet Union. If that happened, China would become the critical Asian ally of both Washington and Moscow. Stalin had been caught off guard by the German assault — largely because he ignored increasingly urgent warnings from senior colleagues receiving intelligence from well-placed spies in Germany and the Comintern, eager to preserve its alliances, now pressed the Chinese Communists to cooperate more closely with the Nationalists. On June 23, 1941, the CCP Central Committee responded with a declaration that it would "persevere in the Anti-Japanese United Front, persevere in Nationalist-Communist cooperation," and would align itself with the British, the Americans, and others resisting the "fascist rulers" of the Axis.   In Chongqing and Yan'an, the German attack on the Soviet Union was interpreted as a hopeful sign that Japan's fortunes might be beginning to turn. In Nanjing, the reaction was different. On June 22, Zhou Fohai recorded in his diary that, although the outcome "cannot be predicted," members of the Nanjing regime "all believe Germany will win and will take Moscow within two months." Zhou speculated that Japan could not easily reconcile its neutrality treaty with the USSR and its membership in the Anti-Comintern Pact, which was supposed to unite the Axis against Soviet expansionism. Still, because Germany had struck first, Japan was under no formal obligation to help. Zhou also continued to view events through a lens he had never abandoned: that of Chinese nationalism. "If Chongqing joins the Allies and they win," he wrote, "then this is good for China." If they lost, it would be disastrous for Chiang Kai-shek; but because Wang Jingwei had established a government in Nanjing under Japanese sponsorship, China now had "a foot in both boats." It was a ruthless calculation, but not a wholly dishonorable one. Zhou was not merely advancing Japanese interests. He was hedging, wagering on multiple futures in the name of a China he believed would endure beyond whatever constellation of powers happened to dominate at the moment. Whether posterity would judge that conduct prudent or collaborative was a question he could neither settle nor live to see resolved to his satisfaction.   The summer of 1941 marked a major geopolitical turning point in the war. Until then, the conflicts in China and Europe had remained separate, if desperate, struggles on the Eurasian continent. Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union now forced Japan to decide whether it too would enter war against the USSR. Debate in Tokyo was brief. Although some officials, including Foreign Minister Matsuoka, favored striking north before moving south, both the Kwantung Army and the Navy advised against helping Germany at least until Germany had succeeded in drawing substantial Soviet forces away from Siberia and into Europe. Konoye, once again prime minister, agreed. With the northern option set aside, Japanese leaders turned toward another great power instead: the United States. Japan's failure to gain further decisive momentum in China had fueled demands for broader regional expansion, especially into Southeast Asia, with its abundant oil, rubber, and other strategic resources. From 1940 onward, measures such as the pressure to close the Burma Road made it increasingly obvious that Tokyo had adopted a more aggressive posture in Asia. Unable to subdue China, Japanese policymakers chose instead to escalate the conflict still further.   Japanese political life had become ever more dominated by the unresolved war in China. As early as 1938, military expenditures consumed about 70 percent of the national budget, and that same year a National Mobilization Bill granted the government "total war control" over the zaibatsu, Japan's major industrial conglomerates. By 1940, the New Order was making itself felt throughout everyday life, with campaigns against luxury and extravagant consumption taking on new prominence. In February 1940, a parliamentarian was expelled from the Diet simply for daring to criticize the "holy war" in China. In such an atmosphere, retreat from imperial ambitions became increasingly unthinkable. That figure, 70 percent of the national budget devoted to the military is worth dwelling on, because it reveals something essential about the trap in which Japanese strategists had placed themselves. The war in China had not been won, yet abandoning it would have meant admitting a failure so severe that it would have shaken the ideological and institutional foundations of military supremacy in Japanese politics. The only apparent ways out required pushing further in: more conquest, more extraction, more expansion. The logic was brutally clear, and profoundly destructive.   The Roosevelt administration watched these developments with growing alarm. Though still formally neutral, the United States was already using Lend-Lease to provide major assistance to Britain and the Soviet Union in their struggles against Germany. It now expanded aid to China as well. On February 10, Roosevelt's representative Lauchlin Currie visited Chongqing to inform Chiang Kai-shek that the United States would soon provide $45 million in military equipment. General John Magruder, head of the small AMMISCA mission,  the American Military Mission in China had been sent to Chongqing in September 1941, as part of quiet preparation for possible Chinese entry into an alliance against Japan. The China branch of the OSS, precursor to the CIA, was led by General William "Wild Bill" Donovan, whom Roosevelt had dispatched to China in early 1941.   The Americans repeatedly tried to discourage Japan from moving south into Southeast Asia, but relations only grew more confrontational. Japan occupied the southern part of French Indochina, and in response the United States imposed an oil embargo in July 1941. The consequences were immense. Japan imported around 80 percent of its oil from the United States. Without that supply, its navy, the essential instrument for southern expansion  had reserves for perhaps eighteen months. The real question facing Tokyo, then, was not whether it must act, but how soon. Unable any longer to resist mounting military pressure for war, Konoye resigned on October 16 and was replaced as premier by General Tōjō Hideki. Tokyo accelerated its preparations for conflict with the Western powers. Planned targets included Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaya, the Netherlands East Indies, and the Philippines. I should note, if you want to learn about all of this history in more detail, you can go check out the pacific war channel on youtube. I have a chronological series that is just now talking about events like the Japanese invasion of french indochina and the road to pearl harbor.   Throughout the autumn of 1941, increasingly desperate negotiations took place between Japan and the United States. Washington insisted that Japan withdraw from China; Tokyo was equally firm that it would do no such thing. From the Japanese point of view, the demand to leave China was not a serious negotiating position but a demand for national humiliation a call to repudiate four years of war, vast casualties, and the ideological basis of Japanese militarism in a single diplomatic act. In the end, the gulf between the two positions could not be bridged.   While civilian and military leaders in Tokyo argued over the pace at which they should move toward war, few among Japan's rulers doubted that war was coming. At the imperial conference of November 5, it was formally agreed that if no satisfactory diplomatic solution had been reached by December 1, war would follow soon after. Talks in Washington between Ambassador Nomura Kichisaburō, diplomat Kurusu Saburō, and Secretary of State Cordell Hull led nowhere. On November 26, Hull delivered a note repeating the American position that Japan must withdraw from both China and Indochina. On December 1, the imperial conference resolved to go to war; the following day, the date of attack was fixed as December 8, December 7 by American time. In one sense, this was the culmination toward which the entire previous decade had been moving. The war in China had started as a localized conflict, then expanded into a continental one, and was now about to become something larger still: a truly global war, stretching from the North Atlantic to the western Pacific. China's long, lonely resistance would suddenly gain new dimensions and new allies,  though not the ones Chiang had spent four years trying to cultivate, and not under circumstances he would have chosen.   In the early morning of December 7, 1941, the US Pacific Fleet lay anchored at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, its sailors and officers still largely asleep as dawn crept across the Pacific. The attack did not come without warning signs,  American and Japanese diplomats had been locked in increasingly desperate negotiations throughout the autumn, each side hardening its position until no room remained to maneuver. Washington had demanded that Japan withdraw from China, a condition Tokyo viewed not as a serious opening offer but as a demand for national humiliation: a call to repudiate four years of brutal war, hundreds of thousands of casualties, and the entire ideological foundation upon which Japanese militarism rested. No agreement was possible on those terms, and both sides privately knew it.   The strike force assembled in secret was formidable. Six aircraft carriers,  the Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, Hiryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku had sailed under strict radio silence across the North Pacific, launching their aircraft in two successive waves before the American base had any meaningful chance to respond. The first wave of approximately 183 planes swept in just before 8 a.m., targeting the rows of battleships moored along Battleship Row and the military airfields at Wheeler, Hickam, and Ford Island simultaneously, ensuring that American aircraft could not scramble in time to mount an effective defense. A second wave of roughly 170 planes followed less than an hour later, pressing the attack on damaged ships and harbor installations.   The destruction was staggering. The battleship Arizona suffered a catastrophic magazine explosion after a armor-piercing bomb penetrated her forward decks, killing nearly 1,177 of her crew in minutes, almost half of the total American dead from the entire attack. The Oklahoma capsized after being struck by multiple torpedoes. The West Virginia and California sank at their moorings. In total, seventeen vessels were damaged or destroyed, and the vast majority of military aircraft at the nearby airfields were caught on the ground and obliterated before they could take flight. Around 2,400 Americans were killed and another 1,100 wounded, making it the deadliest single attack on American soil or territory in the nation's history to that point.   Yet the attack was not a complete strategic success for Japan. The US Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers, the vessels that would ultimately decide the naval war in the Pacific happened to be at sea that morning and escaped unharmed. The harbor's fuel storage and repair facilities were also left largely intact, allowing the fleet to reconstitute faster than Japanese planners had anticipated. What Japan achieved in tactical devastation, it partly squandered in strategic miscalculation. The attack ended American neutrality instantly and irrevocably. The following day, President Roosevelt addressed Congress, calling December 7 "a date which will live in infamy," and within hours the United States declared war on Japan. For China, after more than four years of fighting alone, the blow that devastated Pearl Harbor paradoxically carried a thread of desperate hope at last, the great power Chiang Kai-shek had spent years trying to draw into the conflict had arrived, not under circumstances he would have chosen, but arrived nonetheless. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. After years of fighting, China's situation darkened in 1941 with intense bombing of Chongqing and fears of poison-gas attacks. Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June shifted alliances and pressured Japan toward wider war. Japan escalated plans for Southeast Asia, suffered an oil embargo, and negotiations with the United States broke down over withdrawing from China and Indochina. Then the Pearl Harbor attack began the Pacific War.

As artificial intelligence evolves into a core driver of global industrial competition, China's strong power supply system and its forward-looking computing-electricity synergy strategy will give it an unparalleled edge in rolling out AI infrastructure, according to experts, corporate executives and on-the-ground evidence.专家、企业高管及实地证据表明，随着人工智能发展成为全球产业竞争的核心驱动力，中国强大的电力供应体系及其前瞻性的算电协同战略，将为其部署AI基础设施提供无与伦比的优势。Zhang Qin, former deputy chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology and fellow of International Academy of Artificial Intelligence Sciences, said that "AI is creating an explosive demand for energy, and the solution lies in safe, reliable and green power. China has great strength in that area".中国科协原副主席、国际人工智能科学院院士张勤表示，“人工智能正在催生爆炸性的能源需求，解决方案在于安全、可靠且绿色的电力。中国在这一领域拥有强大实力”。"Apart from solar and wind power, nuclear energy can also be a crucial power supply for data centers if safety is guaranteed. This is a technological frontier to be conquered rather than a barrier to AI adoption," Zhang told China Daily on the sidelines of the recent World Internet of Things Top 500 Summit in Beijing.张勤在近日于北京举行的世界物联网500强峰会期间接受《中国日报》采访时表示：“除了风能和太阳能，核能若安全保障到位，同样可以成为数据中心的关键电力来源。这是一个有待攻克的技术前沿，而非AI应用的障碍。”The comments came as China embraces AI with open arms. The value of its core AI industries exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan ($177 billion) last year, maintaining annual growth of more than 20 percent for several consecutive years, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.这些言论正值中国全力拥抱AI之际。据工业和信息化部数据，去年中国核心AI产业产值超过1.2万亿元人民币（约合1770亿美元），连续数年保持20%以上的年增长率。Furthermore, the country is turning AI into real-world applications and a driver of economic growth. In the first half of this year, China's industrial output of AI-related sectors, including integrated circuit manufacturing and in-vehicle intelligent equipment manufacturing, grew more than 30 percent year-on-year.此外，中国正将AI转化为实际应用和经济增长的驱动力。今年上半年，中国集成电路制造、车载智能设备制造等AI相关产业的工业产值同比增长超过30%。Wei Zhigang, chairman of CNNC Hainan Nuclear Power Co, said that as AI triggers unprecedented global demand for computing power, "the ultimate constraint has become clear: the need for vast, stable electricity supplies".中核集团海南核电有限公司董事长魏志刚表示，随着人工智能引发全球对算力的空前需求，“最终的约束已变得清晰：对庞大而稳定电力供应的需求”。Tech giants such as Microsoft and Google are actively exploring small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, to power AI data centers.微软、谷歌等科技巨头正积极探索利用小型模块化核反应堆为AI数据中心供电。Wei added that CNNC's Linglong One — the world's first onshore commercial SMR — is nearing completion, and the company plans to begin commercial operations later this year. One key advantage of SMRs, Wei said, is their flexible placement, allowing them to be deployed right where computing power is needed, enabling close load-matching.魏志刚补充说，中核集团的“玲珑一号”，全球首个陆上商用小型模块化核反应堆已接近完工，公司计划于今年晚些时候开始商业运营。他指出，SMR的一大优势在于其部署灵活性，可直接建在算力需求地，实现就近负荷匹配。Zhou Ji, a senior researcher at market consultancy Pangoal, said that "China's energy system has an edge in three dimensions: scale, structure and system, which constitutes solid support for AI computing infrastructure at the foundational level".市场咨询机构盘古智库高级研究员周济表示，“中国能源体系在规模、结构和体制三个维度上具有优势，这为AI算力基础设施奠定了坚实基础”。Regarding scale, China ranks first in the world in total electricity generation and also leads in incremental growth. In terms of structure, the country has the world's largest installed capacity of new energy, with the share of green power continuing to rise, Zhou said.周济指出，在规模上，中国发电总量位居全球第一，增量增长同样领先；在结构上，中国拥有全球最大的新能源装机容量，绿色电力占比持续上升。As for system, China's ultra-high-voltage grid technology enables cross-regional optimization of power resources, while the country is also adopting a pioneering approach that aligns computing infrastructure with clean energy sources, he added.他补充说，在体制上，中国的特高压电网技术实现了电力资源的跨区域优化配置，同时，中国还在采取一种开创性做法，即让算力基础设施与清洁能源协同布局。Looking ahead, the Beijing Institute of Technology's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research projected that by 2030, China's data centers will consume about 525.76 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, accounting for 4.8 percent of the country's total societal electricity use.展望未来，北京理工大学能源与环境政策研究中心预测，到2030年，中国数据中心将消耗约5257.6亿千瓦时电力，占全社会用电量的4.8%。In the United States, meanwhile, the amount of electricity consumed by data centers is expected to cause significant tightening across the national power market.与此同时，美国数据中心的电力消耗预计将导致全国电力市场显著趋紧。That strain is already feeding through to the real economy, as big tech data centers are driving up power bills for manufacturers across the US Rust Belt, Reuters reported. For example, the Belden Brick Co in Sugarcreek, Ohio, a 141-year-old enterprise, saw its electricity costs surge 90 percent last year, largely due to rising power demand from regional data centers.据路透社报道，这种压力已传导至实体经济，大型科技数据中心正在推高美国“铁锈地带”制造商的电费账单。例如，俄亥俄州舒格克里克市拥有141年历史的贝尔登砖公司，去年电费飙升了90%，主要原因是区域数据中心的电力需求不断增长。China, by contrast, is taking a coordinated, long-term approach. Wang Hongzhi, head of the National Energy Administration, has said that China's energy system will become significantly more secure, resilient and structurally optimized by 2030, driven by over 20 trillion yuan in planned investments for key energy projects and emerging sectors.相比之下，中国正采取协调一致、着眼长远的方法。国家能源局局长王宏志表示，在重点能源项目和新兴领域计划投资逾20万亿元的推动下，到2030年，中国能源系统将显著提升安全性、韧性和结构优化水平。To accommodate the surging electricity demand driven by AI, Wang said China will closely align national computing hubs with large renewable bases in the western regions, advancing the synergy between computing and electricity, while simultaneously promoting distributed power, microgrids and virtual power plants to meet localized computing needs.王宏志表示，为满足AI驱动的激增电力需求，中国将把全国算力枢纽与西部地区大型可再生能源基地紧密对接，推进算电协同，同时推广分布式电源、微电网和虚拟电厂，以满足本地化算力需求。A virtual power plant is a network of small, distributed energy resources, such as solar panels and electric vehicle chargers, that are connected and managed as one.虚拟电厂是一个由小型分布式能源资源（如太阳能电池板和电动汽车充电桩）组成的网络，这些资源被连接起来并作为一个整体进行管理。Song Yunbo, chief sustainability officer of GCL Group, a major Chinese new energy company, said that China "already generates over one-third of its electricity from renewables — a global leader — and the country's energy surplus makes it an ideal testing ground for AI-driven applications".中国新能源巨头协鑫集团首席可持续发展官宋赟波表示，中国“已有超过三分之一的电力来自可再生能源全球领先而国家的能源富余使其成为AI驱动应用的理想试验场”。Miao Qing, chairwoman of Yingli Group, another Chinese new energy company, said AI-powered virtual power plants are reshaping electricity systems by aggregating distributed renewables, storage and flexible loads to smooth peaks and valleys while dynamically responding to real-time market prices.另一家中国新能源企业英利集团董事长苗青表示，AI驱动的虚拟电厂正在重塑电力系统，通过聚合分布式可再生能源、储能和灵活负荷，削峰填谷，同时动态响应实时市场价格。Miao said China has already built more than 530 virtual power plants, and the prospects for wider application are "very promising".苗青表示，中国已建成530多个虚拟电厂，更广泛的应用前景“非常乐观”。load-matching /ləʊd ˈmætʃɪŋ/负荷匹配incremental growth /ˌɪŋkrɪˈmentəl ɡrəʊθ/增量增长installed capacity /ɪnˈstɔːld kəˈpæsəti/装机容量ultra-high-voltage grid /ˈʌltrə haɪ ˈvəʊltɪdʒ ɡrɪd/特高压电网cross-regional optimization /krɒs ˈriːdʒənəl ˌɒptɪmaɪˈzeɪʃən/跨区域优化配置societal electricity use /səˈsaɪətəl ɪˌlekˈtrɪsəti juːs/全社会用电量Rust Belt /rʌst belt/铁锈地带coordinated /kəʊˈɔːdɪneɪtɪd/协调一致的

Director Zoe Zhou's film, WE ARE HAPPY FISH (2025), is described as "a nihilistic girl escapes from her family with a robot boy to revive a dead fish", which by itself is interesting and accurate. But it only nibbles at how wild, zany, carefree the film is. Zoe also pushes back at the idea that film school would ever take the edges off her work. In this film, she does an amazing job blending "surrealism, dark humor, and social commentary", as she states for her goal, and I'll be the first person in line to watch whatever is next.In this episode, Zoe and I talk about:was this the same basic story of when it started?why the Toronto Metropolitan University?were the interests of " blending surrealism, body horror, dark humor, and social commentary" shaped by film school?her philosophy on casting;why the Future of Film Showcase and why Toronto?;what's next for her and what draws her to bloody and horror.Zoe's Indie Film Highlight: WE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES (2019) dir. by Makoto Nagahisa; AND SO WE PUT GOLDFISH IN THE POOL (2017)Memorable Quotes:" For my style, I usually make like very bloody or like Japanese cult kind of stuffs before this short film."" I think school always trying to protect the students from doing dangerous stuff, so I'm always kinda pushing the boundaries from the classes. Links:Follow Zoe On InstagramIMA Film student wins Best Film at MDFF Selects Student Showcase 2025

Good afternoon, I'm _ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opens lower The Taiwan Stock Exchange opened 81 points lower this morning. Opening turnover reached 6.77 billion N-T dollars. Taiwan shares followed other Asian markets lower as oil prices rose above 100 U-S dollars a barrel amid growing conflict (衝突) in the Gulf. U-S stocks also fell overnight as higher oil prices worried investors. The S&P 500 lost 1.2 percent, the Dow fell 1 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.2 percent. Traffic controls possible as Noul approaches The Directorate General of Highways says traffic controls (交通管制) may be introduced on five highway sections. These include the Southern Cross-Island Highway and the East Coast Highway. The announcement comes after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Tropical Storm Noul. Noul is the 12th tropical storm of this year's season. The highways agency also activated its emergency response team (緊急應變小組) at 7 this morning. Officials said mountain roads could become blocked (受阻的、無法通行的) or damaged during the storm. Traffic controls will be changed based on the latest weather reports and road conditions. MAC to cancel citizenship of China-born organizer The Mainland Affairs Council says it will cancel the Taiwan citizenship (公民身分、國籍) of a China-born woman convicted (被判有罪的) of working for Beijing in Taiwan. Zhou Man-zhi became a Taiwan citizen through marriage in 2004. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court confirmed her eight-year prison sentence (監禁刑期) for breaking the National Security Act. The court found that Zhou tried to develop two groups for marriage immigrants in Taiwan. It said she acted for China-based organizations controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Trump links Saudi nuclear deal to Israel ties U-S President Donald Trump says a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement (合作協議) with Saudi Arabia can only move forward if the kingdom establishes relations (建立關係) with Israel. Saudi Arabia has long refused to join the agreements without a clear path toward an independent (獨立) Palestinian state. Sagher Meghani reports. Human Rights Watch criticizes Indian police Human Rights Watch is calling on India's government to investigate police actions against student protesters in New Delhi. The group says security forces used unnecessary and excessive force (過度武力), including tear gas (催淚瓦斯) and batons, against mostly peaceful protesters. The criticism comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has offered to hold talks with protest leaders. The protesters are demanding that the country's education minister resign (辭職). India is now ranked as the country with the highest risk of civil unrest (社會動盪) on a major international index. The number of people joining protests has more than doubled over the past year. Neha Poonia reports from New Delhi. Diplomats consider removing ICC prosecutor Diplomats are preparing to vote on whether to remove the chief prosecutor (首席檢察官) of the International Criminal Court. The vote follows findings of sexual misconduct (性行為不當). The prosecutor is also banned from entering the U-S and is under U-S sanctions. The sanctions (制裁) are linked to the court's investigation of Israeli officials over the conflict in Gaza. Molly Quell has the latest. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

In this week's episode, Blood editor Dr. James Griffin interviews Drs. Hanny Al-Samkari and Xin Zhou on their latest articles published in Blood. This episode highlights two important advances in hematology: the first report from the CHORUS registry for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) presented by Dr. Al-Samkari and also the introduction of the ASH Hematomics (ASHOP) platform for integrative genomic data analysis presented by Dr. Zhou. The CHORUS registry reveals that HHT is a progressive, underrecognized inherited bleeding disorder with a substantial burden of recurrent bleeding, iron deficiency, arteriovenous malformations, and life-threatening complications, while emphasizing the need for earlier diagnosis and the development of targeted therapies. The second presentation introduces ASHOP, an open-access platform that enables researchers to explore and integrate large-scale clinical and genomic datasets, facilitating discoveries in leukemia and other hematologic diseases through advanced analytical tools. Together, these studies demonstrate how comprehensive patient registries and innovative data-sharing resources are advancing precision medicine, improving disease understanding, and accelerating future research across hematology.

Zhou Zhang and Mallory Montgomery have teamed up, once again, to create their third Thursday crossword, and they keep getting better with age/practice. The theme was endearingly quirky, and the clues were definitely Thursday-worthy. As representative examples, regard 33A, Little dipper?, TOE

 EPISODE DESCRIPTION I sat down with Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, to dig into how they're building stablecoin infrastructure that's genuinely changing lives in the Philippines and beyond. Wei walked me through his journey from Goldman Sachs to Binance CFO to buying Coins.ph from Gojek in 2022 and rebuilding it from scratch. We talked about why the Philippines has become a global leader in stablecoin adoption, how they slashed payment fees from 4-8% down to near-zero for Filipino freelancers, and why Wei believes every country needs its own blockchain currency , not just a blockchain dollar. We also got into the Genius Act, the Clarity Act, the upcoming wave of tokenized assets, and what it will take for stablecoins to go truly global. This one is packed with real-world insight from someone actually in the trenches of building payments infrastructure at the intersection of crypto and emerging markets. DISCLAIMERNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/ CONNECT Coins.ph Website: https://www.coins.ph/en-phCoins.ph Twitter/X: https://x.com/coinsphLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coins-ph/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coinsph_officialWeb3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/ KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS • [00:01] Introduction to Wei Zhou and Coins.ph, building stablecoin infrastructure for the Philippines• [01:11] Wei's journey: Goldman Sachs, Binance CFO, buying Coins.ph from Gojek in 2022 and rebuilding it from scratch• [04:49] Why the Philippines is a natural fit for stablecoin adoption , the gig economy, English fluency, and the unbanked• [06:22] How Coins.ph cut payment fees from 4-8% (PayPal) to under 0.2% using USDC and USDT rails• [09:36] New feature: users can now spend USDT and USDC directly without converting to pesos, protecting against FX losses• [10:47] Financial literacy over crypto education , why Coins.ph focuses on helping people avoid scams first• [15:44] The importance of being a licensed VASP and e-money issuer , stacking regulatory 'Lego blocks'• [18:50] Institutional adoption in the US vs retail/payment adoption in emerging markets , why they differ• [19:49] The Genius Act's impact on stablecoin growth and why the Clarity Act could unlock the next wave of token issuance• [26:39] Why USD will remain dominant in stablecoins , mirroring the traditional FX market structure• [33:47] Tokenization wave: NASDAQ, SWIFT, DTCC, and the SEC all moving toward blockchain-based assets• [36:26] Coins.ph super app redesign , crypto payments via QR at local merchants with near-zero fees• [36:58] PHP-C: a Philippine peso-backed stablecoin already in BSP sandbox, waiting for regulatory sign-off• [38:03] Why every country needs 'blockchain pesos' to match blockchain dollars , currency sovereignty on-chain• [39:56] Vision for Coins.ph: evolving into an all-in-one fintech with trading, payments, savings, investing, and lending• [43:29] Expansion into Brazil and other regions, plus ongoing fundraising conversations

Outline00:00 - Intro02:25 - Bachelier and the Théorie de la Spéculation03:05 - Stochastic processes, Brownian motion, and the heat equation09:45 - Poincaré's verdict, obscurity, and rediscovery13:50 - Robert C. Merton: from hot rods to MIT19:25 - Dynamic programming and Itô calculus24:35 - Merton's portfolio problem as stochastic optimal control31:10 - Options, dynamic hedging, and the Black–Scholes–Merton equation39:50 - LTCM: the dream team46:30 - August 1998: the crash49:00 - Fat tails and the ten-sigma defense51:40 - The ghosts of 2008 and echoes in the AI boom54:00 - Robustness embraced at last: Hansen and Sargent57:45 - OutroLinksBachelier's thesis, "Théorie de la Spéculation" (1900): https://www.numdam.org/item/10.24033/asens.476.pdfCourtault et al., "Louis Bachelier on the Centenary of Théorie de la Spéculation": https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9965.00098Merton's Nobel autobiography: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1997/merton/biographical/Merton's MIT "Infinite History" interview: https://infinite.mit.edu/video/robert-c-merton-phd-%E2%80%9970/Mandelbrot, "The Variation of Certain Speculative Prices": https://doi.org/10.1086/294632Merton, "Optimum Consumption and Portfolio Rules in a Continuous-Time Model": https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0531(71)90038-XMoehle & Boyd, "A Certainty Equivalent Merton Problem": https://doi.org/10.1109/LCSYS.2021.3111534Brigo & Mercurio, "Interest Rate Models: Theory and Practice": https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-34604-3Armstrong, Brigo & Hanzon, "Optimal Projection Filters with Information Geometry": https://doi.org/10.1007/s41884-023-00108-xHu & Zhou, "Constrained Stochastic LQ Control with Random Coefficients, and Application to Portfolio Selection": https://doi.org/10.1137/S0363012904441969Black & Scholes, "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities": https://doi.org/10.1086/260062Merton, "Theory of Rational Option Pricing": https://doi.org/10.2307/3003143Merton, "Option Pricing When Underlying Stock Returns Are Discontinuous": https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(76)90022-2Scholes' Nobel lecture: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1997/scholes/lecture/Merton's Nobel lecture: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1997/merton/lecture/Markowitz, "Portfolio Selection": https://doi.org/10.2307/2975974Michael Lewis, "Liar's Poker": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liar%27s_PokerEdwards, "Hedge Funds and the Collapse of Long-Term Capital Management": https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.13.2.189Lowenstein, "When Genius Failed": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Genius_FailedTaleb, "Statistical Consequences of Fat Tails": https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.10488Taleb & West, "Working with Convex Responses: Antifragility from Finance to Oncology": https://doi.org/10.3390/e25020343Taleb, "The Black Swan": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Swan:_The_Impact_of_the_Highly_ImprobableTaleb, "Fooled by Randomness": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fooled_by_RandomnessMan Group, "The AI Bubble: Hidden Risks and Opportunities": https://www.man.com/insights/the-ai-bubbleSen. Warren's remarks at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator: https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/minority/warren-remarks-at-vanderbilt-policy-accelerator-event-highlighting-economic-and-financial-risks-of-potential-ai-crashMeng & Chen, "Artificial Intelligence and Systemic Risk": https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.03272Doyle, "Guaranteed Margins for LQG Regulators": https://doi.org/10.1109/TAC.1978.1101791Safonov & Athans, "Gain and Phase Margin for Multiloop LQG Regulators": https://doi.org/10.1109/TAC.1977.1101470Hansen & Sargent, "Robust Control and Model Uncertainty": https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.91.2.60Hansen & Sargent, "Wanting Robustness in Macroeconomics": http://www.tomsargent.com/research/wanting.pdfSupport the showPodcast infoPodcast website: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/5n84j85jSpotify: https://tinyurl.com/4rwztj3cRSS: https://tinyurl.com/yc2fcv4yYoutube: https://tinyurl.com/bdbvhsj6Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/3z24yr43Twitter: https://twitter.com/IncontrolPInstagram: https://tinyurl.com/35cu4kr4Acknowledgments and sponsorsThis episode was supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research on «Dependable, ubiquitous automation» and the IFAC Activity fund. The podcast benefits from the help of an incredibly talented and passionate team. Special thanks to L. Seward, E. Cahard, F. Banis, F. Dörfler, J. Lygeros, ETH studio and mirrorlake . Music was composed by A New Element.

Het is zomer... en in de tweede aflevering van de Summerschool neemt dr. Paul van Els van de Universiteit Leiden ons mee naar het oude China! We gaan met Paul mee naar het begin van de Zhou-dynastie, omstreeks het jaar 1045 v. Chr. Maar wat maakt de opkomst van die dynastie zo interessant? Wat deden zij om hun macht te legitimeren en wat heeft dat te maken met het 'Hemels Mandaat'? Dat en meer bespreken we in de Summerschool in deze fascinerende kennismaking met het oude China!Zomer en seizoen 4Vanaf woensdag 1 juli luister je de hele maand juli naar de 'Summerschool' van Oudheid! De maand augustus staat in het teken van de jaarlijkse 'Zomerspecials' van Oudheid. Op woensdag 2 september start alweer het vierde seizoen van Oudheid... kortom: maak je klaar voor een zomer vol Oudheid!Shownotes

What does it mean to truly see your employees? In this episode, Brandon Laws sits down with Zhou Fang, founder of Intersectional Group LLC, to explore how an intersectional lens can transform the way leaders support their teams. Zhou draws on her experience as an immigrant, multilingual professional, and DEI consultant to unpack what most organizations get wrong about inclusion, how to hold people accountable with warmth and compassion, and why your people are your most important business decision. Whether you're leading a team of five or five hundred, this conversation will challenge you to do better and give you the tools to start! Key Timestamps 00:02 Welcome and introduction of Zhou Fang, founder of Intersectional Group LLC 00:33 How Zhou's immigrant experience, coming to the U.S. in 2010, shaped her perspective on the workplace 01:04 "Don't make us feel like an alien": What immigrant workers need from employers 02:12 Defining intersectionality and why it matters for leaders and business owners 04:16 How an intersectional lens helps turn workplace problems into opportunities 07:13 How Zhou developed her intersectional lens through lived experience in the U.S. workforce, not in the classroom 09:51 What good and bad employer experiences taught Zhou about what workplaces should look like 11:40 What most leaders miss when supporting employees on visas or non-citizens 14:32 How to start the intersectionality conversation inside your organization 16:34 The most common misunderstanding organizations make when beginning DEI work 18:34 Why deprioritizing people is a harmful business decision 20:16 Practical, low-cost steps small organizations can take to support their teams 22:06 Balancing warmth and accountability: why they are not opposites 24:52 The difference between empathy and sympathy, and why it matters for leadership 28:16 What Xenium HR does internally to build curiosity and belonging across teams 29:38 How company retreats and shared experiences build connection in remote and hybrid environments 31:12 Topics and conversations happening on Zhou's podcast, The Intersection 34:09 What Zhou is hearing across the HR landscape right now: burnout, mental wellbeing, and the need for flexible policy 36:28 Where to find Zhou and her upcoming April event in Portland A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

Graphic novelist Vivian Zhou discusses her creative process, influences, and experiences – emphasizing the importance of daydreaming and quiet time for developing stories. Vivian also highlights the value of having an agent to navigate the publishing industry and maintain creative control over her work. The Creative Nova Scotia Awards are presented by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council to celebrate artistic excellence across Mi'kma'ki. Award categories are as follows: Creative Community Impact Prix Grand-Pré Established Artist Emerging Artist Black Artist Indigenous Artist The Portia White Prize Collectively, the awards are worth $75,000! Visit artsns.ca for more information. This series would not be possible without the fantastic production work of Heist and Keke Beatz.

Success is rarely the result of vision alone. In this episode, Morris Zhou of Berde Renewables shares his insights on recognizing opportunities, building businesses, and leading with clarity in high-growth environments. From entrepreneurship and team culture to communication and accountability, the conversation explores why sustainable leadership is built on consistency, conviction, and leading by example rather than trying to satisfy every expectation.Morris explains how Berde Renewables is helping businesses transition toward more sustainable energy solutions while addressing the broader challenges of energy security and national competitiveness.00:02:13 - Morris Zhou, Group CEO & Co-Founder of Berde Renewables00:04:08 - What Berde Renewables does and the zero-capex solar model00:08:50 - The green vs. black energy debate is over — renewables are now cheapest00:15:26 - How Morris stumbled into solar with a one-page brochure in 200900:24:20 - The complexity jump from rooftop panels to utility-scale solar farms00:31:27 - The startup miracle: finding a new funder over coffee00:43:02 - Learning the language of banks: bankability, risk, and putting the puzzle together00:49:01 - Why the Philippines? The cartel, the incumbents, and the opportunity01:00:18 - Berde's business model: zero capex, day-one savings, 15–25 year contracts01:04:33 - 150MW+ of committed projects across the Philippines and Thailand01:05:27 - Why distributed solar is the future of energy in Southeast Asia01:19:46 - Making friends first — building trust before business in the Philippine market01:22:38 - Why FOMO is finally hitting the market: rising costs and geopolitical tension01:29:52 - Philippines vs. Australia team culture and the importance of psychological safety01:33:45 - Being the industry expert, not always the subject matter expert01:34:43 - What's next for Berde Renewables: scale, speed, and customer satisfaction01:36:04 - No barrier to entry — the case for going solar now 01:35:35 - How to reach Berde RenewablesFollow now and never miss an episode.

Dr. Alicia Zhou is the Chief Executive Officer of the Cancer Research Institute—the oldest nonprofit in the world devoted exclusively to cancer immunology and immunotherapy. She joins Shoshana to discuss the innovations happening in cancer research, how immunotherapy is different from chemotherapy and radiation, what doctors can do to make clinical trials less intimidating, and why the conversation around cancer will change in the next 10 years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Sinica, I speak with Andrew Seth Meyer, professor of history at CUNY Brooklyn College and the author of a remarkable new book from Oxford University Press, To Rule All Under Heaven: A History of Classical China from Confucius to the First Emperor. Sixteen years in the making, it's the first proper one-volume narrative history of the Warring States in English aimed at a general reader — a gap in the field that Andy has now decisively filled. We talk about why this period — the roughly 260 years between Confucius's death and Qin's unification in 221 BCE — really is the deepest layer of Chinese political history that still genuinely matters, and we try together to find the line between responsible historical reasoning about modern China and the kind of lazy essentialism that reaches for Han Feizi every time Xi Jinping makes a speech. Along the way we get into the displacement of the hereditary aristocracy by the shi, the Lüshi Chunqiu as a piece of political genius, why the standard caricature of “Legalist” Qin is wrong, and what it means that the Chinese state is still, in some real sense, running on operating software written in the 4th century BCE.8:14 – The 16-year gestation, why no general-reader Warring States book existed in English, and what made Andy think he could be the one to write it11:06 – The romanization headaches: Wei vs. Wey, King Zhao of Qin vs. King Zhao of Yan, and the special agonies of writing about early China for an English audience14:31 – Why he organized the book by state rather than strictly chronologically — and what that structure lets him do18:14 – The relevance question: how to take the deep continuity of Chinese political life seriously without falling into the orientalist “eternal China” trap25:52 – Why the Warring States is properly called a revolution: the destruction of Zhou-era hereditary aristocracy and the rise of the shi33:15 – Fukuyama's claim that Qin built the world's first genuinely modern state — is “modern” the right word?36:30 – Qin's 38 commanderies, why the radical version lasted only 15 years, and the Han retreat: aristocracy or regional autonomy?39:46 – Reading the Hundred Schools as embedded political actors rather than tidy textbook categories — and the Jixia Academy as ancient Brookings44:06 – The Lüshi Chunqiu as a brilliant piece of political propaganda, and what its tripartite cosmological structure was actually arguing52:31 – Why the cartoon-legalist version of the Qin is wrong: the 70 erudites, the Taishan stelae, and what the book-burning episode really was57:05 – The axial age question: pattern-matching or something real?1:00:40 – What the Warring States actually has to teach us about China in 2026: zhong guo as aspiration, not description1:05:08 – How the Warring States is taught in China and Taiwan today, and what archaeology is doing to the field1:08:36 – Constant self-reinvention as the real Chinese legacy, and why no plausible future China fully repudiates the CCPPaying it forward:Avital Rom (postdoc at Cambridge, early Chinese cultural history, editor of a forthcoming volume on disability and impairment in early China)Liang Cai (Notre Dame, new book on Han-era jurisprudence and legal traditions)Recommendations:Andy: Hadestown on Broadway — and Anaïs Mitchell's original concept albumKaiser: To Say Nothing of the Dog: or, How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last by Connie Willis (audiobook especially recommended)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As trade tensions simmer and inflationary pressures reshape the global economy, President Trump has arrived in Beijing for a high-stakes summit with President Xi Jinping. With American interests hanging in the balance, understanding the internal calculus of the CCP is more critical than ever. One individual deeply familiar with China's decision-making process is former People's Liberation Army Colonel and Senior Fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy, Zhou Bo. He spoke to Bret to share the Chinese perspective on critical issues like the Iran war and Taiwanese independence, as well as where he sees U.S-China relations going in the future.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

How did ancient China plunge into 261 years of chaos, and how did that turmoil forge an empire?Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Andrew Seth Meyer to explore the Warring States period, from collapsing Zhou power and ruthless coups to mass armies, crossbows, and battlefield slaughter. They trace the rise of Confucian ideas, the seven great states, and the brutal climb of Qin toward China's first emperorTo find out more about Andrew's new book To Rule All Under Heaven, head to his website: https://www.andrewsethmeyer.com/MOREThe Romans and ChinaListen on AppleListen on SpotifyThe Terracotta Army:Listen on AppleListen on Spotify Presented by Tristan Hughes. The producer and audio editor is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music courtesy of Epidemic SoundsThe Ancients is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Fanell discusses China's "Joint Sword 2024 Alpha" military exercises, describing them as an "Anaconda strategy" intended to blockade and pressure Taiwan following its presidential inauguration. He and Bradley Thayerargue that Washington's "neo-engagement" policy has failed, allowing the CCP to exert influence over American institutions. 1/41957 ZHOU

What's the difference between a ‘Test Driver' and a ‘Reserve Driver'? Well, who better to answer that than Cadillac Test Driver Colton Herta and Reserve Driver Zhou Guanyu?Colton and Zhou join Christian Hewgill ahead of Cadillac's first home race in Miami to answer your questions about Formula 1.How does F2 compare to Colton's previous career in IndyCar? What's it like working with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez? Who replaces a driver if they are injured or ill? How close is simulator performance to the real car? And why do drivers sometimes plunge themselves into ice baths after a race?

  Last time we spoke about the battle of south Guangxi. In late 1939, amid the Sino-Japanese War stalemate, Japan aimed to sever China's vital supply lines from French Indochina by invading southern Guangxi. The 21st Army, including the 5th Division and Taiwan Mixed Brigade landed at Qinzhou Bay on November 15, capturing Nanning by November 24 after feinting at Beihai and overcoming scattered Chinese defenses under the 16th Army Group. Chinese forces, commanded by Bai Chongxi and reinforced by the elite 5th Army launched a counteroffensive in December. The brutal Battle of Kunlun Pass saw repeated assaults. However, Japanese counterattacks in January 1940, bolstered by the 18th Division and Konoye Brigade, recaptured Kunlun Pass and Binyang by February, inflicting over 10,000 Chinese losses and forcing retreats. A stalemate ensued until September 1940, when Japan pressured Indochina. Overextended Japanese forces withdrew south, allowing Chinese to recapture Nanning on October 30 and clear Guangxi by November 17.   #199 The battle of West Suiyuan  Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Back in 1936,  the Xi'an Incident had forced a fragile alliance between the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists, forming a united front against Japan. This front extended to regional warlords like the Ma Clique, who controlled Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai. The Ma family, descendants of Muslim generals loyal to the Qing Dynasty, navigated complex loyalties but ultimately aligned with the Nationalist cause, driven by patriotism and self-preservation.   The stakes in West Suiyuan were high. Control of the region meant access to the Suiyuan-Xinjiang Highway, a lifeline for Soviet aid to China. Japanese occupation could threaten the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, a Communist stronghold, and open paths to Lanzhou and beyond. The battles here, though overshadowed by larger theaters like Shanghai or Wuhan, demonstrated how peripheral fronts contributed to the national resistance. Over 70 years later, the sacrifices of more than 2,000 Ningxia soldiers remain a poignant reminder of the human cost of resistance, their anti-Japanese merits etched forever in the annals of Chinese history.   The seeds of the Battle of West Suiyuan were sown in the turbulent years following the Xi'an Incident. This event in December 1936 led to the initial formation of a national united front against Japanese aggression. The Communist Party of China (CPC) mobilized masses in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, strengthening anti-Japanese forces and exerting pressure on the Ma Clique. Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government also influenced the Mas, solidifying their resolve to resist Japan.   The Ma Clique, a powerful Muslim warlord faction in Northwest China, was led by figures like Ma Hongkui (governor of Ningxia) and his cousin Ma Hongbin. They controlled a semi-autonomous region with a mix of Hui, Han, and Mongolian populations. Japan, seeking to exploit ethnic divisions, attempted to woo the Mas. Even after the July 7, 1937, outbreak of war, Japan persisted. On October 17, 1937, after occupying Baotou, the Japanese established the "Baotou Hui Muslim Branch" and appointed Jiang Wenhuan, a former Hui commander, to court Ma Hongkui. They sent envoys, including an imam from Northeast China, and even airdropped letters from "Manchukuo." In a dramatic move, Japanese commander Itagaki Seishiro flew to Alashan Banner to invite Ma Hongkui for talks. Ma sent Zhou Baihuang, who rebuffed Itagaki by invoking historical grievances: the Japanese role in the Eight-Nation Alliance's 1900 invasion, where Ma family members died at Zhengyang Gate. "The family feud remains unresolved, and the national humiliation is yet to be avenged; they are irreconcilable enemies," Zhou declared.   Japan's plot to persuade surrender failed, leading to a major offensive against Suiyuan and Ningxia. Large numbers of troops reinforced Baotou, and bombings targeted Ningxia. In response, Ma Hongkui began building fortifications in places like Shizuishan and Dengkou. Starting in the winter of 1937, he constructed defense fortifications in the Shizuishan area in four phases. In the Shizuishan Weizha area, trenches several meters wide and deep were dug, covered with branches, straw, and loose soil for camouflage, to prevent the passage of Japanese armored vehicles and heavy weapons. Within a hundred li north of Dengkou and Sanshenggong, all major roads were cut off, and deep trenches were dug to destroy the Japanese army's access to Ningxia. The banks of the Yellow River ferry crossings in northern Ningxia and the Helan Mountain passages were all cut into steep cliffs. Important passageways were fortified with blocking positions and hidden artillery to repel invading Japanese troops.   Among the various military commanders in Northwest China, Ma Hongbin possessed the strongest anti-Japanese spirit. Having joined the army at a young age, Ma Hongbin placed great emphasis on cultural learning and the cultivation of his personal character. Outside of military service, he was always seen with a book in hand, resembling a scholar. His long-term study fostered his upright character and patriotism. After the Japanese invasion of China, deeply moved by the nation's peril, he resolved to lead his troops to the battlefield to save the country from its crisis. In the spring of 1938, at the opening ceremony of an officer training course held in Wanghongbao, Yongning, Ma Hongbin addressed his subordinates from the podium: "Always remember that the nation comes first, the people come first, defend the land and country, and fulfill your duties. On the battlefield, you must be able to both attack and defend, and be prepared to live and die with the position, with the determination to fight to the end."   The Ma forces were reorganized into the Nationalist structure. Ma Hongkui's 15th Route Army and Ma Hongbin's 35th Division (later expanded to the 81st Army) formed the 17th Army Group, with Ma Hongkui as Commander-in-Chief and Ma Hongbin as Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Commander of the 81st Army. The officer training of the 81st Army improved the anti-Japanese consciousness and combat quality of the entire army, preparing for the counterattack against the Japanese invasion. In May 1938, due to the weakened defenses of Suiyuan (at that time, the troops of Fu Zuoyi, the chairman of Suiyuan Province, had retreated to Shanxi), most of the area was occupied by Japanese and puppet troops. The Kuomintang Central Committee appointed Ma Hongbin as the commander of the Suiyuan West Defense Command. Ma Hongbin led his 81st Army and two cavalry brigades and one infantry brigade of Ma Hongkui's troops to Wuyuan (now Wuyuan County, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) to unify the command of the various anti-Japanese forces that had retreated into Suiyuan West. His mission was to prevent the Japanese army from advancing westward.   After arriving in Wuyuan, Ma Hongbin convened a meeting of commanders from various forces to discuss the defense against the Japanese. The various armies in western Suiyuan were of different factions and not affiliated with each other, and most adopted a policy of seeking safety and avoiding danger in their defenses. Ma Hongbin deployed the main force of his 81st Army, the 35th Division, at key passes in the Wubu Langshan area northeast of Wuyuan to serve as the first line of defense, while deploying three brigades of Ma Hongkui's troops along the line from Wuyuan to Langshan as reinforcements.   The terrain was challenging: vast deserts, mountains like Yinshan and Langshan, and the Yellow River's bends. Wubulangkou, a narrow pass between Erlang and Chashitai Mountains, was strategically vital. Defenses included anti-tank trenches and mines. These preparations reflected the Ningxia Army's blend of traditional cavalry tactics and modern training. The troops, many Hui Muslims, brought cultural cohesion and resilience, but faced equipment shortages—outdated mortars and rifles versus Japanese mechanization.   In May 1938, Ma Hongbin arrived in Linhe (now part of Bayannur, Inner Mongolia) to establish his command post. After inspecting the situation of the friendly forces in the defense zone and designating the defense zone of his subordinate 81st Army, he ordered Ma Tengjiao, commander of the 35th Division, to lead four infantry regiments, namely the 103rd and 104th Brigades, to Suiyuan Western Defense Command to fight against the Japanese. Ma Hongbin established a command post in Linhe, where he and his son, Ma Dunjing, the chief of staff of the 81st Army, deployed their troops in areas such as Wuzhen and Siyitang. Ma Dunjing directed his troops to conduct exercises in the Wuzhen and Siyitang area, and invited Soviet military advisors to provide guidance, preparing for combat with an extremely serious attitude.   To show his support for Ma Hongbin's leadership of the Suiyuan Western Defense Command, Ma Hongkui dispatched two cavalry brigades to Suiyuan Western Defense Command. The main reason why the Ma Clique army from Ningxia went to Suiyuan to fight against the Japanese was that the defense of Suiyuan was directly related to the safety of Ningxia. At the same time, after the Ma Clique army was incorporated into the anti-Japanese army, its primary task was to fight against the Japanese invaders and defend the country. In addition, the anti-Japanese enthusiasm of the people in the Northwest continued to rise. Under the impetus of the situation, it was inevitable that the Ningxia army would join the anti-Japanese war in Suiyuan.   The initial engagement came in the late summer and early autumn of 1939, as Japanese troops, driving cars, armored vehicles, and tanks, advanced from Baotou towards the defenses of the 81st Army in western Suiyuan, attempting to annihilate the main force of the 81st Army. Ma Dunjing (the third son of Ma Hongbin), Chief of Staff of the 81st Army, personally commanded the operation at the front line in Wuda Town. The Japanese advanced to the defensive positions of the 35th Division and bombarded Ma's position with heavy artillery fire. The 35th Division returned fire with 82mm mortars. Because Ma's mortars were old-fashioned, they emitted smoke upon firing, revealing their positions. The Japanese immediately unleashed over 200 shells on the 35th Division's artillery positions, silencing them and rendering them incapable of retaliating. Taking advantage of this, the Japanese, under the powerful cover of artillery and machine gun fire, swarmed in by car, tank, and armored vehicle. The 35th Division held their ground, waiting for the Japanese troops to enter effective firing range and disembark from their vehicles. Suddenly, soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 206th Regiment jumped out of their fortifications and charged into the enemy lines, engaging the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat. The Japanese were thrown into disarray, some killed before they could even disembark. Those who did disembark suffered heavy casualties, with the remaining soldiers turning back to their vehicles and fleeing in panic. Forced to retreat after suffering a decisive blow, the 35th Division captured two Japanese vehicles, over a hundred artillery shells, dozens of boxes of ammunition, as well as firearms and officer's swords. This marked the first victory in the Suiyuan-Western Anti-Japanese War. This victory boosted morale and public spirit. When the captured vehicles entered Wuyuan County, the people cheered enthusiastically, plastering the vehicles with various celebratory slogans. An elderly local artist even composed a song to celebrate the victory and sang it on the street: "Our old Western Army (referring to Ma Hongbin's 81st Army) is really good at fighting. We drove away the Japanese soldiers, captured cars and brought them into Wuyuan City, where the whole city celebrated and welcomed them. Relying on our old Western Army, we defeated the Japanese soldiers, and the people have peace." The campaign's defining battle occurred at Wubulangkou in early 1940, following the Chinese raid on Baotou in December 1939. In the autumn of 1939, the situation in Shanxi stabilized, and Fu Zuoyi, the chairman of Suiyuan Province who had retreated to Shanxi, led his troops back to western Suiyuan, establishing the Deputy Commander's Headquarters of the Eighth War Zone to unify command of military and political affairs in western Suiyuan and actively preparing for a counter-offensive. To coordinate with the nationwide winter offensive, Fu Zuoyi decided to attack Baotou, a key Japanese stronghold, to contain the Japanese forces in North China. The Battle of Baotou was spearheaded by the newly formed 31st Division of Fu Zuoyi's 35th Army, with the 35th Division of Ma Hongbin's 81st Army providing support. Under meticulous planning, on December 20th, Sun Lanfeng's newly formed 31st Division of Fu Zuoyi's army stormed into Baotou. The Japanese army, caught off guard, panicked and suffered over a thousand casualties, scattering in all directions, losing all their supplies within the city. Fu Zuoyi then directed his troops to withdraw to the rear of western Suiyuan, luring the enemy deeper into the territory for a later battle.   The Battle of Baotou greatly angered the Japanese army. Therefore, more than 30,000 Japanese troops were mobilized from Zhangjiakou, Taiyuan, Datong, and other places, along with more than 1,500 military vehicles, armored vehicles, tanks, dozens of aircraft, and six divisions of puppet Mongolian troops, totaling more than 40,000 men. Under the command of Division Commander Kuroda, they launched a major offensive into western Suiyuan in early 1940, attempting to seize western and southern Inner Mongolia in one fell swoop. Facing the superior Japanese forces, the people and soldiers of western Suiyuan adopted a scorched-earth policy and mobile warfare to maneuver against the enemy. The specific deployment was as follows: the 7th Cavalry Division of Men Bingyue's troops blocked the Japanese troops in the Xishanzui and Maqidukou areas, and then turned to the right bank of the Yellow River to threaten the enemy's left flank; the 35th Division of Ma Hongbin's troops and the 1st Cavalry Brigade of Ma Hongkui's troops constructed positions in the Wubulangkou and Wuzhen areas, blocked the enemy, and then moved into Langshan to threaten the Japanese right flank; the 35th Army of Fu Zuoyi's troops assembled northwest of Wuyuan to launch mobile attacks on the enemy; other units chose favorable terrain to harass the exhausted enemy at any time; and the logistics personnel were transferred to the Dengkou and Shizuishan areas. Before Langshan Mountain, where the Yang family generals once fought against the Jin dynasty, a thousand-mile-long battlefield against the Japanese was set up.   Wubulangkou is located in the western part of the Yinshan Mountains. Nestled between the eastern and western ends of the rugged and precipitous Erlang Mountain and Chashitai Mountain, it forms a strategically vital location. After Fu Zuoyi returned to western Suiyuan in 1939 to serve as deputy commander of the Eighth War Zone, the Ningxia army was placed under his command. At the end of December, Fu Zuoyi's troops stormed Baotou, inflicting over a thousand casualties on the Japanese. Okabe, commander of the Japanese Mengjiang Garrison, considered the defeat at Baotou a great humiliation and declared, "We must sweep through the Hetao region and completely annihilate Fu Zuoyi's army." To eliminate future troubles, the Japanese, "determined to decisively crush the enemy's base in the Hetao region with their main force," began in January 1940, mobilizing over 30,000 Japanese and puppet troops from Zhangjiakou, Datong, and other places, along with over a thousand vehicles, aircraft, artillery, and tanks. Under the command of Division Commander Kuroda Shigetoku, they launched a three-pronged, menacing invasion of western Suiyuan.   On January 31, Kuroda led the main force of the Japanese central route, consisting of over 780 vehicles, armored vehicles, and tanks, and launched an attack at 4:30 PM on the positions of the 35th Division of the 81st Army in the area of Wubulangkou, Siyitang, and Wuzhen.    Ubulangkou, where Ma Hongbin's 35th Division was stationed, is a transliteration of the Mongolian word "Ubulak," meaning "mouth of large and small springs." Located in the southern part of present-day Urad Middle Banner, it lies at the junction of Wuliangsutai, Delingshan Township, and Wengeng Sumu, a strategically important location nestled between two mountains. When the Battle of Ubulangkou began, Ma Hongbin was in Chongqing attending a high-level military conference convened by Chiang Kai-shek, and his troops were commanded by Ma Tengjiao, commander of the 35th Division. At approximately 8:00 AM on January 31, 1940, the Japanese army amassed its forces in the Zaoshulinzi desert area, directly north of Siyitang and directly east of Ubulangkou. Their vanguard first used three aircraft to circling and bombard the positions of Ma's 205th Regiment, followed by artillery bombardment. Under the cover of aircraft and artillery, Japanese tanks, armored vehicles, and hundreds of military vehicles carrying Japanese troops launched an attack on the Siyitang and Ubulangkou positions. Following Ma Hongbin's orders, a defensive trench, 3 meters wide and 3 meters deep, had been dug in front of the 81st Army's position, stretching approximately 10 kilometers from the foot of Wubulang Pass to the north bank of the Yellow River. A 50-meter-wide pit zone preceded the trench. The two sides fought fiercely until nightfall, suffering heavy casualties and remaining evenly matched. At the Siyitang position, Ding Liangyu, the company commander of the 1st Company, 1st Battalion, 205th Regiment, was wounded and died the following day; more than 30 platoon leaders, squad leaders, and soldiers were killed. Xue Wanyou, the battalion clerk, was hit by an artillery shell, his body torn apart and his head severed. Although the officers and soldiers of Ma's 35th Division suffered heavy casualties, they held their ground. Unable to break through, the Japanese used aircraft to continuously release poison gas with the wind at their backs. Although Ma's troops had prepared simple gas masks made of gauze wrapped in sawdust, the concentration of the gas was too high, causing many to experience headaches, chest tightness, and vomiting, greatly weakening their fighting capacity and making the situation increasingly critical. Around 10 PM, Division Commander Ma Tengjiao ordered Ma Jiangong, deputy battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 206th Regiment, to lead two companies from Wulanaobao to reinforce the 208th Regiment via Siyitang. Ma Jiangong was killed by a grenade in the fierce fighting. The two companies fought desperately to break free from the enemy and finally joined up with the 208th Regiment. The enemy, realizing this, reinforced their forces and intensified their attack. At 11:30 PM, the 208th Regiment's position was breached, but the enemy dared not advance rashly. The battle resumed at dawn the next day, and the fighting at the Siyitang position remained extremely fierce. Ma Tengjiao ordered the 1st Battalion of the 206th Regiment to reinforce the Siyitang position. While traversing a seven- or eight-mile stretch of open land, the reinforcements were subjected to heavy artillery fire from the Japanese, suffering heavy casualties. However, the troops braved the artillery fire, bullets, and thick smoke, breaking through the enemy's fire blockade and reaching the position. The combined forces of the Wubulangkou and Siyitang positions continued to inflict powerful blows on the Japanese army. The 205th Regiment, holding the fortified Siyitang, engaged in bayonet fighting with the Japanese army. When their bayonets bent, the soldiers would grab the enemy and bite them, or detonate grenades to die alongside them. The troops had gone two days and two nights without food or water, and coupled with the bitter cold, they were exhausted and suffering heavy casualties. The battle was exceptionally fierce, tragic, and arduous. Ma Hongbin later recalled this battle, saying, "Even the world-famous battles of Taierzhuang and Changsha, where the National Revolutionary Army fought with such heroic spirit, were no more than this."   In the early morning of February 1st, the Japanese army first bombarded the defensive positions at Wubulangkou and Siyitang with heavy artillery, and then used aircraft to dive-bomb the open area in front of Wubulangkou. Under the attack of enemy artillery and tanks combined with infantry, the 208th Regiment suffered heavy casualties, and the front-line positions at Wubulangkou were breached by the enemy. The 205th and 206th Regiments sent reinforcements, using bunkers and high ground fortifications to stubbornly resist the enemy, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Seeing that they could not capture the positions defended by the Ningxia army, the Japanese army released tear gas and sneezing gas. While attacking from the front, the Japanese army sent puppet Mongolian troops to flank and attack Wubulangkou from the rear of the mountain. Although the Ma troops resisted bravely, they were ultimately outnumbered, and their positions were successively breached by the enemy, forcing the remaining defenders to withdraw. In this battle, more than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the Ningxia Ma troops shed their blood in western Suiyuan, using their lives to block the enemy's advance.   Ma's troops retreated, pursued by Japanese ground forces and strafed by aircraft, suffering over a thousand casualties and forced to retreat into the desert. They continued to fight the Japanese in the quicksand, killing another 200 enemy soldiers. After a grueling six-day, six-night march, the troops successfully returned to their Dengkou base for rest. Post-war statistics show that Ma's 35th Division originally had over 5,000 men; in the battle of Wubulangkou, over 1,000 were killed and 2,000 wounded, including 700 suffering from frostbite. This battle exemplified sacrificial defense, buying time for counteroffensives.   Upon learning of the defeat of his troops in Chongqing, Ma Hongbin immediately flew back to Ningxia and rushed to Dengkou. After regrouping the troops and investigating officers who had failed in their command, he reorganized two regiments, replenished their equipment, and after a brief rest, led by Brigade Commander Ma Peiqing, returned to western Suiyuan. To cooperate with Fu Zuoyi's troops in continuing the fight against the Japanese invaders, the Ningxia army, mainly composed of the 35th Division, entered the Dala Banner area of Yimeng to fight the enemy. After occupying Wuyuan, the Japanese army believed that the Chinese army in western Suiyuan was in disarray and would be unable to recover its fighting capacity in a short time. Furthermore, due to its overextended battle lines and supply difficulties, the Japanese army had no spare troops to expand the war. Therefore, they centered their forces on Wuyuan, leaving a Japanese regiment and four divisions of puppet Mongolian troops, totaling over 15,000 men, to garrison the Hetao region, while the rest of their forces retreated eastward. After the main Japanese force withdrew, Fu Zuoyi decided to organize a campaign to recapture Wuyuan. In March 1940, he ordered his 35th Army to lead the attack on Wuyuan, while Ma's 81st Army moved from western Suiyuan to the Dalad Banner area on the south bank of the Yellow River in the Ordos League to construct fortifications and block Japanese reinforcements from Baotou. At midnight on March 20, Fu's 35th Army simultaneously launched attacks on Japanese strongholds in Wuyuan, Meilingmiao, and Xingongzhong. After two days of fierce fighting, our army finally recaptured Linhe and Wuyuan, killing Lieutenant General Mizukawa, the division commander of the Japanese army, and several thousand of his puppet troops.    Upon hearing the news, the Japanese troops in Baotou crossed the Yellow River, attempting to outflank the 35th Army from the south. However, their westward advance was met with resistance from the positions of Ma's 81st Army. During the defensive battle, Ma's troops were bombarded by more than 30 Japanese artillery pieces. Due to outdated weaponry and lack of artillery counterattack, Ma's right flank was destroyed, allowing the enemy to encircle them from the rear. To avoid being outflanked, Ma's troops retreated north to the Shawo area to regroup. Ma Hongbin ordered each regiment to exploit the enemy's difficulty in vehicular movement in the desert, employing mobile warfare tactics, advancing when the enemy advanced and retreating when the enemy retreated, maintaining a distance of five or six li from the enemy, and choosing opportune moments to attack and exhaust them. Ma's troops also frequently formed assault teams to harass the enemy at night, keeping them constantly on edge. After maneuvering with the Japanese in the desert for several days using mobile warfare, Ma Hongbin's troops occupied a hilltop southwest of Xinminbao and laid an ambush. When the enemy approached, they unleashed a sudden barrage of fire, inflicting hundreds of casualties. This blow forced the Japanese army to abandon its southern reinforcement plan and retreat north across the Yellow River near Zhaojunfen. After the Japanese retreat, the 81st Army immediately launched an attack on the puppet Mongolian cavalry south of the Yellow River. After more than a month of battles, large and small, except for Chaidengtai, which was captured by Fu Zuoyi's troops, all other puppet strongholds were wiped out by Ma Hongbin's troops, and "the entire Damian Beach area in the northeast of the Ih Ju League was recovered."   During the Qingming Festival in 1940, the 35th Division, returning to western Suiyuan, buried the officers and soldiers who died in the battle at Wubulangkou. With tears in their eyes, people buried the remains of 148 officers and soldiers at the Cemetery for Fallen Soldiers on the west side of Wubulangkou, and erected brick monuments in front of the graves according to the names on the surviving shoulder insignia of the fallen officers and soldiers' uniforms.    Casualties on all sides were significant, reflecting the intensity of the fighting. For the Japanese, two brigades and the 72nd Cavalry Regiment took heavy hits, though official reports admitted only about 1,000 losses. Given that these units were sidelined from combat for an extended period afterward, the true figure was likely far higher. Battle reports from the 26th Division alone recorded over 3,000 casualties, nearly 20% of its strength,pushing the total Japanese toll, including other units, to between 4,000 and 5,000. Puppet forces fared even worse. The "Suiyuan-Western Autonomous Allied Army" proved utterly ineffective, collapsing almost immediately against the superior Ma Clique cavalry of the Nationalist 81st Army. While the puppet Mongolian cavalry had some combat capability, their reluctance to fight for the Japanese—often against their own kin, led to half-hearted engagements and quick retreats. Combined puppet casualties and prisoners numbered around 5,000 to 6,000, bringing the overall Japanese and puppet losses to 10,000–12,000 killed or wounded. The Chinese forces, vastly outmatched in equipment and relying on brave but undertrained local security units, endured heavy sacrifices. Domestic sources estimate their casualties at 15,000–20,000.   This campaign marked the only major anti-Japanese engagement involving people from Ningxia, where over 10,000 Hui and Han fighters, under Ma Hongbin and Ma Hongkui, battled fiercely in what is now Linhe and Wuyuan in Inner Mongolia. Thousands perished, buried far from home, embodying the unyielding spirit of the Chinese nation. It stood as Northwest China's sole battlefield in the war, a point of pride for its people. Victory was hard-won, despite the Chinese having slightly more troops but far inferior weaponry. Success stemmed from the soldiers' bravery, tactical use of cavalry mobility, and crucially, the puppet Mongolians' unwillingness to fully commit. The campaign not only repelled the Japanese westward and southward advances, securing Northwest China's northern gateway and blocking incursions into Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Gansu, but also safeguarded key supply routes like the Suiyuan-Xinjiang Highway and connections to Lanzhou. This ensured a steady influx of Soviet aid, bolstering the national resistance and indirectly supporting efforts in Southwest China.   I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. After a Chinese raid seized Baotou, Japan launched a major 1940 offensive with tens of thousands of troops, vehicles, armor, aircraft, and puppet Mongolian forces. Chinese defenders used scorched earth, fortifications at Wubulangkou, and mobile cavalry/desert tactics, ambushes, and night harassment. Fu Zuoyi later recaptured Wuyuan/Linhe. Casualties were heavy—Chinese estimates 15,000–20,000; Japanese/puppet losses possibly 10,000–12,000.