This season on Underreported with Nicholas Lemann, we’re focusing on our new book, The Subplot: What China Is Reading and Why It Matters, by journalist and critic Megan Walsh. Our three-part series explores not only the content of the book, but why it is worth our time and attention.
An Open Talk on Censorship
A Conversation with Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Before we speak to the author herself in upcoming episodes, we want to set the stage, so we’re joined by Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor’s Professor of History at UC Irvine. He’s one of America’s leading China specialists, and has published several important books, including Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink, also published by Columbia Global Reports. There’s no better guest to help us wade into the intricate and nuanced realities of China, a country that the US has locked in its gaze.
This is episode one of a three-part series.
Transcript
to learn more about Columbia Global Reports, visit us at globalreports.columbia.edu
In The Subplot, journalist and critic Megan Walsh takes the reader on a lively journey through the last two decades of China’s literary landscape, illustrating the country’s complex relationship between art and politics. She also dispels assumptions Westerners make about censorship, and opens up a view of Chinese society that you don’t see through conventional news coverage.
“A sharp, revealing portrait of contemporary China…. Elegantly written and fascinating.” —Adam Foulds, author of The Quickening Maze
episode credits
Produced by Tracey Madigan
Associate producer Liann Herder
Audio engineer John Weppler
We want to thank the Mellon Foundation and its support for this podcast.
You can find all of our podcasts, and more information about our books at globalreports.columbia.edu