Alec Ash is a young British writer who lives in Beijing, who has covered “left behind” children in Chinese villages, the “toughest high school exam in the world” and internet live streaming among many other subjects. He is the author of Wish Lanterns, which the Financial Times called a “closely observed study of China’s millennials.” The book tells the stories of six Chinese people born between 1985 and 1990. The characters have very different backgrounds and aspirations, including a rock musician named Lucifer, an internet addict named Snail, and a patriotic Party official’s daughter.
In this episode of the Sinica Podcast, Alec discusses his book with Kaiser, Jeremy, and David Moser. He talks about contemporary youth culture in China, the concerns of Chinese millennials, how he met the six characters in the book and what we can understand about China’s changing culture from their stories.
Recommendations:
Jeremy: Unreliable Sources: How the Twentieth Century Was Reported, by John Simpson.
David: The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China, edited by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom.
Alec: The Barbarians at the Gate podcast.
Kaiser: Battle Cry of Freedom, by James M. McPherson — ”the best single-volume history of the American Civil War that I know of” — and Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping, by Stephen R. Platt.
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The View from China: Leading IR scholar Da Wei of Tsinghua's CISS
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Back to the Future: David M. Lampton and Thomas Fingar on What Went Wrong and How to Fix It
Kerry Brown: on What does the West Wants from China, and the Exercise of Chinese Power
Historian Rana Mitter on ideology in China's "New Era" — live from Salzburg, Austria
Schwarzman Scholars Capstone Showcase: The 2023 Winners
The Ukrainian Factor in China's Strategy: a roundtable
Peter Hessler, live at Duke University's Nasher Museum
This Week in China's History: The Qing Abdication — February 12, 1912
Sinica comes roaring back in the Year of the Dragon: A chat with Jeremy Goldkorn
Live from New York: China and the Global South, with Maria Repnikova and Eric Olander
In Memoriam: Jeffrey A. Bader, from February 2022
Live from Chicago: Decoding China — China’s economic miracle interrupted?
Robert Daly of the Kissinger Institute on the morality of U.S. China policy
China Tobacco: How China's tobacco monopoly also has ensured that China keeps smoking
The Philadelphia Orchestra commemorates the 50th anniversary of its groundbreaking China tour
Ian Johnson on "Sparks," his new book on China's underground historians
U.S. Congressman Rick Larsen (D-WA) on his new U.S.-China policy white paper
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