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PODCAST

Sinobabble

A relaxing, educational podcast covering China"s modern history, current events, and academic analyses of China"s politics, society, and culture in a variety of mini-series. Starting with the history of the 20th century, this podcast aims to explore all facets of the history of China, from the major events to the smallest local changes, to give you a full picture of the development of one of the world"s most powerful nations. As the series develops, we will discuss Chinese art, religion, politics,

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All Episodes

64:51

China's Ethnic Unity and Progress Law: A breakdown

Sinobabble ·

2026/04/18

In early March, the PRC's National People's Congress passed a law titled the P.R.C. Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress. According to the government the law, which has been in development since 2023, the law "lays out the overall requirements, important principles, and responsibilities and duties of relevant entities concerning the promotion of ethnic unity and progress. It also outlines specific measures to build a common cultural home, facilitate interaction, exchanges, and in...

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46:48

[Archive] Dreaming of East Turkestan: Xinjiang and...

Sinobabble ·

2026/04/09

Over the Easter break, the next two episodes of the podcast will be archival episodes covering the medieval and modern history of Mongolia and Xinjiang. This is in preparation for an episode I'll be doing when I get back on the New Ethnic Unity Policy released by the Chinese government. Our book club book for this month is The Last Quarter of the Moon, also on the theme of ethnic minorities in China, so it's a very topical month! This episode discusses the historical background of the relati...

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30:45

[Archive] Why is Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia?...

Sinobabble ·

2026/04/02

Over the Easter break, the next two episodes of the podcast will be archival episodes covering the medieval and modern history of Mongolia and Xinjiang. This is in preparation for an episode I'll be doing when I get back on the New Ethnic Unity Policy released by the Chinese government. Our book club book for this month is The Last Quarter of the Moon, also on the theme of ethnic minorities in China, so it's a very topical month! The second episode of three on the CCP’s incorporation o...

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62:39

How to glaze your billionaire bestie | The...

Sinobabble ·

2026/03/27

This episode is the third installment in our book club, we’re doing well guys. The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic certainly tries to live up to its name. It covers the “‘extraordinary life story’ (Publishers Weekly) of the billionaire businessman Jimmy Lai, a leading Hong Kong democracy activist fighting for freedom of speech who became China’s most famous political prisoner.” My review of this book is very, ver...

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31:57

Internal agitprop & 'minimum compliance' in Chinese...

Sinobabble ·

2026/03/20

A look at three recent papers published in the China Quarterly, and what they say about local governance, internal propaganda and the politics of 'getting things done' in modern China. Buy bookclub books here Buy me a coffee Latest Substack post Support the show Sign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442 Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/ Support ...

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51:20

Down to the countryside 2.0 & the myth of the rural...

Sinobabble ·

2026/03/13

China’s post 90s and 00s generation are burnt out, mentally and emotionally drained, and apparently are not getting enough sunlight. While grinding in the city seems to have led to a law of diminishing returns -- typically referred to as ‘involution’ -- many young hopefuls are still seeking opportunity elsewhere. In this episode I explore the phenonmenon of the ‘rural reset’, the idea that one can up sticks and move down to a beautiful rural idyll and live out the dream life running a coffee ...

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60:31

Consumption as identity and politics in China...

Sinobabble ·

2026/03/06

Today's guest is Yaling Jiang. Yaling is a former journalist who currently uses her research and reporting skills to provide businesses with insights and analysis on the Chinese consumer market. She is the founder of research agency Aperture China, alongside which she runs the newsletter Following the Yuan on Substack, which provides nuanced takes on Chinese consumer trends. We discuss how Chinese people see themselves as consumers first and political citizens second, the CCP's attempts to in...

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40:30

Sex and irreverence during the Great Proletarian...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/27

This is a recording of the livestream of our monthly book club. In this livestream we discuss the book Serve the People! by Yan Lianke, a banned book set during the Cultural Revolution in China. If you would like to find out more about the book club and which books we’re reading, please click here. Buy me a coffee Links to everything Support the show Sign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442 Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newslette...

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43:22

[Archive] 20th Century History Episode 48 | The...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/26

Part 8 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke. The death of Mao Zedong and the trial of the Gang of Four are traditionally used as the signifiers of the end of the Cultural Revolution. The violent and turbulent 10 year period came to a sudden stop as political in-fighting continued until Deng Xiaoping was able to quash his foes and come out on top. In this episode, we cover how the Cultural Revolution finally came to a...

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44:56

[Archive] 20th Century History Episode 51 | The...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/25

Part 7 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke. In this episode, we discuss the changes made to China's cultural realm during the Cultural Revolution. As the main target of the Cultural Revolution Group, cultural production including art, literature, theatre, and film were all subject to the new rules of the decade. But were those rules made to last? And were the CRG able to impose their will completely when they relied ...

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42:23

[Archive] 20th Century History Episode 50 | The...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/24

Part 6 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke. In this episode we look at how the economy and educational system fared during the Cultural Revolution decade. We discuss how a period of chaos led into a period of stagnation, where things neither got much better nor much worse. We also talk about differences between the countryside and the cities, and how every day life was irrevocably impacted by the social turmoil that ...

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45:30

[Archive] 20th Century History Episode 49 | The...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/23

Part 5 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke. In this episode we explore the mysterious and complex character of Lin Biao, and his even more mysterious demise. We ask how he rose to prominence so quickly after being a largely background figure in the party for so many years, and what effect his vice-chairmanship and sudden death had on the Cultural Revolution. *I accidentally say Liu instead of Lin at around the 22:30...

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45:30

[Archive] 20th Century History Episode 48 | The...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/22

Part 4 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke. In episode 4 of the Cultural Revolution series, we look at how the party began to rebuild itself in the period 1968-1972 through a series of internal meetings, some last-minute purges, and a few devastating mass campaigns that would end up having a much higher impact than anything the Red Guards had carried out in previous years. Though much had happened in China during th...

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45:19

[Archive] 20th Century History Episode 47 | The...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/21

Part 3 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke. In this episode, we look at how Mao reversed the course of the Cultural Revolution, bringing in the army to end the violence and destruction caused by the factionalism between the Red Guards and other mass organisations. We discuss the much vaunted revolutionary committees, temporary governments made up of a triple alliance between the mass organisations, the Cultural Revol...

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41:00

[Archive] 20th Century History Episode 46 | The...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/20

Part 2 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke. In this episode we talk about the violence that gripped the Chinese nation at the height of the Cultural Revolution. We discuss the difference between the brutality that took place in the cities, which was mainly perpetrated by Red Guards and affected culture as much as people, and the countryside, which pitted neighbour against neighbour. Music clips are from "The East is...

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49:06

[Archive] 20th Century History Episode 45 | The...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/19

A reupload of a classic history episode in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke. The first of 8 episodes covering the build up, events, and aftermath of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which took place in China from 1966 to 1976. In this episode we discuss what the Cultural Revolution was supposed to be, recap its principal causes, discuss the events that led to the declaration of the CR, and cover the formation and expansion of the Red Guards, Mao'...

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46:49

The end of exchange? The state of US-China academic...

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/13

I’m very excited to have on Rory Truex as my guest for today’s episode. Rory is Associate Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. His research focuses on Chinese politics and authoritarian systems, and his work has been published in the American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, The China Quarterly and many more. He has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Hill, South China Morning Post, and The New York Times. ...

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62:00

China travel & Ghost cities w/David Fishman

Sinobabble ·

2026/02/06

I’m very excited to have on David Fishman as my guest for today’s episode. David is Head of Lantau Group in Shanghai, where he works as a consultant for stakeholders in the power sector, and advises on energy development, energy infrastructure, and electricity consumption. But I know him as the author of the Substack Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones, a travel and geography publication where he shares his experiences exploring the less-covered corners of China’s economic transformation...

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70:50

Engineering or Authoritarianism? Breakneck Book...

Sinobabble ·

2026/01/30

**This livestream was recorded on Tuesday 27th January 2026** We discuss the book Breakneck by Dan Wang. A huge hit towards the end of 2025, we talk about whether the hype is merited, the strengths and weaknesses of his narrative, and whether or not his ideas stand up to scrutiny. At the end, we (and by we, I mean I) ramble about the Three Body Problem trilogy for 10 minutes. Buy book club books here: https://www.sinobabble.com/bookclub Buy me a cof...

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39:49

Hebei heating scandal & the politics of clean energy...

Sinobabble ·

2026/01/23

Recently, news of Hebei villagers freezing in their homes this winter has sparked heated discussion online. The villagers are part of a government scheme to convert the population to 'clean' energy sources, mainly via a coal-to-gas policy. But as subsidies taper and the cost of gas rises, poorer residents are opting out of the policy, either using traditional heating methods to stay warm or suffering the cold. In this episode we explore the origins of the coal-to-gas policy, the real-term eff...

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56 results

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