Podcast
Sinobabble
Hosted by Edi Obiakpani · EN
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, culture, and economics, bringing the country's past to life. If you're more interested in modern China, stay tuned for the modern China series where we talk about how the CCP exercises control, makes people disappear, and encourages loyalty. We also get on the ground and talk to the people of Hong Kong about their recent experiences with the protests in the territory in 2019.
36episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
“It is a way for me to seek meaning in this absurd world": Digital vulnerability and the rise of spiritual scams in China
2w ago00:46:46Tap to summarizeAcross China and the Chinese diaspora, digital spirituality is growing as users flock to online platforms seeking services to help with luck, love, and wealth. However, these spaces are also hotbeds for scammers, who prey on prey on loneliness, uncertainty, and cultural vulnerability to exploit hundreds if not thousands of people. In this episode, I do a deep dive to explore how post‑Mao moral crises, revived but fragmented spiritual practices, and China’s low‑trust social environment have created fertile ground for spiritual conmen. We look at why victims often hide their experiences, how “face culture” and filial piety complicate intervention, and why enforcement struggles to keep up with an ever-evolving scene.Learn more about the Book Club hereSupport the show!Read my latest Substack postSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
Transcribe →How to read China well w/Alexander Boyd
3w ago01:08:30Tap to summarizeAlexander from China Books Review joins us to talk about evolutions in the Chinese book space, upcoming works by notable authors, and his favourite China books you may not have heard of before. He also gives tips on how to read more, what not to read, and how to create a good book club list!Read more from Alexander and the team at Chinabooksreview.com and don’t forget to find out more about the Sinobabble bookclub here!Books mentionedThe Shanghai Agents: The Soviet Plot to Start a Revolution in Interwar China by Heather SalterRed Dawn Over China: How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity by Frank DikötterRemembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy by Liu CixinThe Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China by Ruixue Jia, Hongbin Li, Claire CousineauI Deliver Parcels in Beijing by Hu AnyanAdrift in the South by Xiao HaiPrivate Revolutions by Yuan YangSong of Praise for a Flower: One Woman’s Journey through China’s Tumultuous 20th Century by Fengxian Chu and Charlene ChuFly, Wild Swans by Jung ChangCrazy Rich Asians Series by Kevin KwanTaiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-ziTo Live 活着 by Yu HuaHunter by Shuang XuetaoTo Rule All under Heaven: A History of Classical China, from Confucius to the First Emperor by Andrew Seth Meyer Uncanny Beliefs: Superstition in Modern Chinese History Edited by Emily Baum and Albert WuWhy China Needs Democracy by Dongxian JiangMake China Great Again: Online Alt-History Fiction and Popular Authoritarianism by Rongbin HanAnyuan: Mining China’s Revolutionary Tradition by Elizabeth J. PerryOn the Edge: Feeling Precarious in China by Margaret HillenbrandNegative Exposures: Knowing What Not to Know in Contemporary China by Margaret HillenbrandBuy bookclub books hereBuy me a coffeeLatest Substack postSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
Transcribe →Violence as 'family dispute': culture and politics in China's domestic violence laws
4w ago00:34:14Tap to summarizeAfter reading the story about a young woman abused and kidnapped by her family, I went down a rabbit hole to learn why police and judiciary avoid prosecuting what they consider to be 'family disputes'. In this episode, I unpack how domestic violence is routinely dismissed as a “family affair,” why police and courts avoid intervention, how cultural norms around shame and harmony shape reporting behaviour, and why China’s 2016 Anti‑Domestic Violence Law still has no real teeth. We cover clan and kinship networks, cultural attitudes, and political pressures to understand the roots of a system that places family harmony above victim protection.Read the original story hereBuy bookclub books here Buy me a coffeeLatest Substack postLinks to everythingSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
Transcribe →Tongueless by Lau Yee-Wa Review | Sinobabble Book Club
Jun 2700:27:30Tap to summarizeFor more on the book club, including upcoming books and where to buy them, head to this webpage.To support the show, head over to my Buy Me a Coffee page to give a one-off or monthly donations, if your discretionary entertainment funds allow!Support the showSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
Transcribe →Media influence as foreign policy: China’s journalist training in Africa w/Dr Emeka Umejei
Jun 2200:51:21Tap to summarizeIn 2022, Freedom House released a report titled “Beijing's Global Media Influence 2022”, highlighting the numerous ways in which the Chinese government seeks to influence media across the world. They stated that China’s main tactics were the mass distribution of content, harassment and intimidation of outlets that publish negative news, disinformation campaigns, and training for media workers and officials in different locales.The provision of free or subsidised training for local journalists in the Global south is a foundational aspect of China’s efforts to ‘tell China’s story well’ through legitimate means. By co-opting local voices, China is able to disseminate its own message through local partners in an organic way and free of charge.But what does this training look like? Who is participating and what are they learning? And how does China ensure that after journalists return home, they continue to talk about China in the right way? Today’s guest is here to discuss this and more.Dr Emeka Umejei is currently Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg. He has a PhD in Journalism and Media Studies and has taught in institutions across Africa including the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, the American University of Nigeria, and the University of Ghana. Prior to this he worked as a journalist in Nigeria for leading national newspapers and served as an African correspondent for U.S.-based media outfit LNG Publications.He has written two books on Chinese influence on African journalism: Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance, and Paradox (2020) and China in African Media: Between Influence Operations and Decolonization which came out this year.Buy bookclub books here Buy me a coffeeLatest Substack postLinks to everythingSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
Transcribe →The Party's Interests Come First Review | Sinobabble Book Club
Jun 1300:39:48Tap to summarizeFor more on the book club, including upcoming books and where to buy them, head to this webpage.To support the show, head over to my Buy Me a Coffee page to give a one-off or monthly donations, if your discretionary entertainment funds allow!Support the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
Transcribe →[Preview] How Chinamaxxing foreigners are performing nationalism on Chinese social media
Jun 600:14:39Tap to summarize**This is a bonus episode for paid subscribers. If you would like to become a paid sub and receive bonus content, head over to Buy Me a Coffee using the link in the description, or upgrade your Substack account**An article in the Journal of Contemporary China inspire me to dip my toe in the Chinamaxxing trend and discuss how foreign influencers in China promote state approved nationalist narratives at home and abroad. We look at the different types of influencer (Western, non-Western, couples, students, teachers, and more) and get to the bottom of the types of content they produce, what's in it for them, and how the CCP maintains their control over what's produce at all times.Imported Nationalism: How Foreign Influencers and Local Followers Amplify the Chinese Dream in Weibo’s Attention EconomyToo Simple, Sometimes Naive articleBuy bookclub books here Buy me a coffeeLatest Substack postSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
Transcribe →From victim to victor: Xenophobia and anti-Japanism as nationalism in China
May 2300:49:50Tap to summarizeEarlier this week, I read a Substack article discussing the rise in viral anti-Japanese content on Chinese social media. The gruesome posts and recent polling data all point to the fact that anti-Japanese sentiment is increasing among Chinese people, despite increasing economic ties and a move away from 'wolf warrior' style diplomacy. Why, when China seems to be more doveish, does Japan still draw so much ire? What is about the history, proximity, and perceived injustices between the two nations that causes continuous rifts? And how does the CCP harness these feelings of hatred and disgust for their own benefit?In this episode we push the envelope a bit further on the nationalism theme, and examine how sometimes xenophobia can go really right, and how at other times it can go terribly wrong.Check out the article I mention at the beginning of the episode here "Japanophobia — a quick way to go viral in China" Buy bookclub books here Buy me a coffeeLatest Substack postLinks to everythingSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
Transcribe →Nationalism with International Characteristics w/Nick Zeller
May 1601:06:52Tap to summarizeNick and I ramble about nationalism for about an hour.Follow the China Monitor and Nick on SubstackBuy bookclub books hereBuy me a coffeeLatest Substack postLinks to everythingSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
Transcribe →Can an outsider truly portray an ethnic group faithfully? | Last Quarter of the Moon Review (Sinobabble Book Club)
May 900:29:57Tap to summarizeA (late!) review of our April Book club book The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian. A 90-year-old Evenki woman who has spent her life in the forests of northeast China herding reindeer recounts the story of her life, her people, and the encroachment of modernity and imperialism on how they live. A story of nature, love, loss, despair, and change, we also ask if someone who is not part of a particular ethnic group can truly capture their spirit, or are they doomed to orientalism at worst and essentialisation at best.May's book is The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian, check out the link below if you still need to buy a copy!Buy bookclub books here Buy me a coffeeLatest Substack postLinks to everythingSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod
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