The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy

This week on Sinica, our live recording from the Rizzoli Bookstore in the Flatiron district of Manhattan with the legendary Ian Johnson, who has covered China for a host of publications spanning 35 years. Ian, who is now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, offers his analysis of media coverage, shares some pet peeves in the way China is reported, and offers a sneak peek at some of the themes of his forthcoming book.

4:31 – Beijing’s shifting diplomatic messaging

12:10 – U.S. media coverage of China’s COVID-19 policies

14:45 – Structural biases of reporting on/in China

24:05 – Reporting on China through social media

29:46 – Resisting and recasting the blob’s China narrative

39:52 – How think tanks affect China discourse in the U.S.

43:03 – The importance of history to the CCP

A complete transcript of this podcast is available at TheChinaProject.com.

Recommendations:

Jeremy: Paul French's Ultimate China Bookshelf, a new feature at The China Project

Ian: Golden Age by Wáng Xiaǒbō 王小波, translated by Yan Yan; Blue Note jazz LP re-issues 

Kaiser: Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy, narrated by Julia Whelan and Edoardo Ballerini

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