The Burning Archive

This Burning Archive interview tackles a critical question: Can Australia and China rewrite their shared Asian history? Delving into the subtleties of China-Australia history, the Burning Archive interviews a brilliant Australian historian who specializes in Australian Chinese communities, Sophie Loy-Wilson. Sophie shows how we all have a capacity for a more "generous approach to storytelling". We can rewrite history, without relying on political leaders. Discover how historical narratives have shaped international relations, and how a shift in perspective can unlock new ways to connect across borders. Learn about the historical factors shaping the relationship between these two nations and how a reframing of the past can pave the way for a more compassionate future. And as a special bonus Sophie Loy-Wilson (Senior Lecturer in History at Sydney University) offers her top three history book recommendations to learn about the history of China through the lives of individuals. The article "Ruptured Histories: Australia, China and Japan", co-authored by Sophie Loy-Wilson and Andrew Levidis in History Australia can be read for free here https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14490854.2024.2312210 Sophie Loy-Wilson's book, Australians in Shanghai is available at good public and university libraries and here https://amzn.to/3JkFsOF. Be sure to like and subscribe to the Burning Archive. If you enjoy this content, you can support my work by contributing through the Thanks button. You can read more insights into world history, geopolitics and culture today by signing up to my free weekly newsletter on world history, culture and geopolitics, the Burning Archive, at https://jeffrich.substack.com. Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: https://jeffrich.substack.com

W.G. Sebald, The Rings of Saturn is an unclassifiable book - essayistic semi-fiction that traces the history of destruction and is haunted by the horrors of war and the Holocaust. I reflect on Sebald's histories of destruction, based on my recent essay at jeffrich.substack.com, and read from the first chapter of The Rings of Saturn. ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY Receive insights from world history and fragments of my reading weekly.  ✉️ Signup is free: ⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠ ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: ⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠ ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/ ▼ ▽  MY BOOKS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022  https://amzn.to/4b7cyyw Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020 https://amzn.to/3u2Yh56

Warwick Powell and I had a wide-ranging conversation about Australia-China relationships, and how history has shaped the tensions in the relationship today. But history can also show us how Australia, Asia and America can learn to live together at peace with a multipolar world. Please enjoy this wonderful, inspiring conversation with Australia-China expert, Warwick Powell. Warwick Powell is an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology, author, chairman of Smart Trade Networks, former adviser to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and a frequent commentator on geopolitics and Australia-Asia relationships. You can follow Warwick Powell on X (Twitter) at: https://twitter.com/baoshaoshan Warwick recommended two YouTube sites towards the end of the interview that can help you see the reality of contemporary daily life in China more clearly, and away from the often polarising rhetoric of politics. These sites are Blondie in China ( @BlondieinChina ) - https://www.youtube.com/@BlondieinChina Katherine’s journey to the East ( @kats_journey_east ) - https://www.youtube.com/@kats_journey_east You can also watch my discussion with  @TheDuran  about AUKUS, China and Australia's role in a multipolar world here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VutieNNCkDc&t=1377s Jeff Rich (the Burning Archive) writes on world history and cultural affairs, and offers courses to help you see the world more clearly, and connect with the world more compassionately, with some quality world history. ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/ World History Explorers Season I, Civilizations has started. Join now, and read with me a modern masterpiece of world history, Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY Read my weekly Substack, and receive insights from world history and my reading every Saturday. ✉️ Signup is free: https://jeffrich.substack.com ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: https://jeffrich.substack.com ▼ ▽ MY BOOKS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022 https://amzn.to/4b7cyyw Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020 https://amzn.to/3u2Yh56

How can smart defence strategies and multilateral diplomacy avoid a US-China war in Asia - for example over Taiwan? Have American and Australian advocates of war with China over Taiwan really thought about the realities of a war with China? How should middle powers - like Australia, Indonesia and the ASEAN nations - adapt their defence and foreign policies to the new realities of war, Asian strengths and US power today? My conversation with Sam Roggeveen about his book The Echidna Strategy: Australia's Search for Power and Peace asked these fundamental questions that concern everyone around the world. What would a war with China really be like, and how can defence - the echidna strategy - and some creative diplomacy avoid a US-China war in Asia. Our conversation covered Australian defence and foreign policy, AUKUS and nuclear submarines, the upcoming Australia-ASEAN meeting in Melbourne (March 2024), China, Indonesia, regional order in Asia and the West Pacific, lessons of the Ukraine war, & the USA. Is the USA becoming just a normal great power, and what does that mean for other countries all around the world? A big thank you to Sam Roggeveen, who is the Director, International Security at the Lowy Institute Links to Sam's book, The Echidna Strategy: Australia's Search for Power and Peace (2023) ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH QUALITY WORLD HISTORY Join my free weekly newsletter to receive insights from world history and reflections on the intersection of culture, history and geopolitics. ✉️ Signup is free: https://jeffrich.substack.com ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/

How did Western civilization rise up from the Atlantic Ocean? How did the idea of the West get confused with the military alliance of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation? And how do we tell the story of the West if we view civilisation as a process, and civilisations as always plural? You can explore the world history of civilizations, as discussed in this podcast, by joining me in reading in Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations. Join my ⁠⁠World History Explorers⁠⁠ world history book club, with Season 1 starting on March 1. ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✉️ Signup for info on courses at: https:/courses.jeffrichwriter.com ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY Join 200+ email subscribers who receive insights from world history and fragments of my reading weekly.  ✉️ Signup is free: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

There have been many civilizations of the sea - the Vikings, the Ancient Greeks, the great Polynesian navigators of the Pacific. But among the most intriguing is Sri Vijaya that thrived in what we think of as Indonesia, in the 'middle ages'. You can explore the world history of civilizations, as discussed in this podcast, by joining me in reading in Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations. Join my ⁠World History Explorers⁠ world history book club, with Season 1 starting on March 1. ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✉️ Signup for info on courses at: https:/courses.jeffrichwriter.com ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY Join 200+ email subscribers who receive insights from world history and fragments of my reading weekly.  ✉️ Signup is free: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

When Americans described Afghani tribesmen as uncivilized people from the mountains they used old tropes about the culture of people from highlands. However, we learn from Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations much more about the complex achievements of civilizations of the highlands from Scotland to New Guinea, and from Afghanistan to South America. You can explore the world history of civilizations, as discussed in this podcast, by joining me in reading in Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations. Join my World History Explorers world history book club, with Season 1 starting on March 1. ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses ⁠⁠⁠https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/⁠⁠⁠ ✉️ Signup for info on courses at: https:/courses.jeffrichwriter.com ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY Join 200+ email subscribers who receive insights from world history and fragments of my reading weekly.  ✉️ Signup is free: ⁠⁠⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠⁠⁠ ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: ⁠⁠⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠⁠⁠ ▼ ▽  MY BOOKS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty⁠⁠⁠ From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022  ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/4b7cyyw⁠⁠⁠ Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020 ⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3u2Yh56⁠⁠⁠ ▼ ▽  MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS for World History Explorers Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T Darwin, After Tamerlane - https://amzn.to/3Ht5AGd Frankopan, The Earth Transformed - https://amzn.to/3SqZb4B Overy, Blood and Ruins - https://amzn.to/3Ubd8oU Quinn, How the World Made the West - https://amzn.to/3U422St

Did civilization spread from a cradle in the river valleys of Mesopotamia? Or is there a different story of the emergence of civilizations from fields of mud? In this episode of the special Summer of Civilizations series, I tell the story of Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations that developed in the river valleys of Mesopotamia. They left a legacy - carpets, the Epic of Gilgamesh - and an early piece of fake news, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. But is their true story how they struggled against the environment, and lost? ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses ⁠⁠https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/⁠⁠ ✉️ Signup for info on courses at: https:/courses.jeffrichwriter.com ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY Join 200+ email subscribers who receive insights from world history and fragments of my reading weekly.  ✉️ Signup is free: ⁠⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠⁠ ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: ⁠⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠⁠ ▼ ▽  MY BOOKS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing ⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty⁠⁠ From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022  ⁠⁠https://amzn.to/4b7cyyw⁠⁠ Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020 ⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3u2Yh56⁠⁠ ▼ ▽  MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS for World History Explorers Fernandez-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T Darwin, After Tamerlane - https://amzn.to/3Ht5AGd Frankopan, The Earth Transformed - https://amzn.to/3SqZb4B Overy, Blood and Ruins - https://amzn.to/3Ubd8oU Quinn, How the World Made the West - https://amzn.to/3U422St

In this episode of the special Summer of Civilizations series, I share the stories of civilizations that developed in tropical islands, including the great African walled city of Benin and the island off Papua New Guinea, once named by Europeans as Frederick Hendrick Island, and known now as Pulau Kolepom or Pulau Yos Sudarso. ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses ⁠https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/⁠ ✉️ Signup for info on courses at: https:/courses.jeffrichwriter.com ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY Join 200+ email subscribers who receive insights from world history and fragments of my reading weekly.  ✉️ Signup is free: ⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠ ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: ⁠https://jeffrich.substack.com⁠ ▼ ▽  MY BOOKS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing ⁠https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty⁠ From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022  ⁠https://amzn.to/4b7cyyw⁠ Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020 ⁠https://amzn.to/3u2Yh56⁠ ▼ ▽  MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS for World History Explorers Fernandez-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T Darwin, After Tamerlane - https://amzn.to/3Ht5AGd Frankopan, The Earth Transformed - https://amzn.to/3SqZb4B Overy, Blood and Ruins - https://amzn.to/3Ubd8oU Quinn, How the World Made the West - https://amzn.to/3U422St

In this episode of the special Summer of Civilizations series, I share the stories of civilizations that developed in the ice and tundra of Northern Eurasia and the great Eurasian Steppe. ▼ ▽ SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY WITH MY COURSES World History Explorers and all my courses https://courses.jeffrichwriter.com/ ✉️ Signup for info on courses at: https:/courses.jeffrichwriter.com ▼ ▽ JOIN THE BURNING ARCHIVE - SEE THE WORLD MORE CLEARLY Join 200+ email subscribers who receive insights from world history and fragments of my reading weekly.  ✉️ Signup is free: https://jeffrich.substack.com ✉️ Paid subscribers receive bonus content weekly: https://jeffrich.substack.com ▼ ▽  MY BOOKS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Bureaucrat: Writing on Governing https://amzn.to/3SaI4Ty From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2022  https://amzn.to/4b7cyyw Gathering Flowers of the Mind: Collected Poems 1996-2020 https://amzn.to/3u2Yh56 ▼ ▽  MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS for World History Explorers Fernandez-Armesto, Civilizations - https://amzn.to/3OaNr3T Darwin, After Tamerlane - https://amzn.to/3Ht5AGd Frankopan, The Earth Transformed - https://amzn.to/3SqZb4B Overy, Blood and Ruins - https://amzn.to/3Ubd8oU Quinn, How the World Made the West - https://amzn.to/3U422St