China has been engulfed by a controversy that strikes at the very heart of the nation—forget the South China Sea, rampant human rights abuses, even a looming economic crash. Last month food critic Chua Lam, otherwise known as the Food God, called for the end to the PRC’s most beloved dining craze: hot pot. The backlash has been immense, with enraged Weibo users calling for Chua Lam’s abolition. To discuss whether hotpot is indeed an uncultured blight on China’s rich culinary landscape, cookbook author extraordinaire Fuchsia Dunlop joins Louisa and Graeme.   Also there's a chance to win a Little Red Podcast mug in our first ever competition.   Snap a pic of the dish you'd like to disappear and send it to us on Twitter or Facebook to be a contender.

Image: Spicy hot pot, c/ Peijia Li on Unsplash.

China has been engulfed by a controversy that strikes at the very heart of the nation—forget the South China Sea, rampant human rights abuses, even a looming economic crash. Last month food critic Chua Lam, otherwise known as the Food God, called for the end to the PRC’s most beloved dining craze: hot pot. The backlash has been immense, with enraged Weibo users calling for Chua Lam’s abolition. To discuss whether hotpot is indeed an uncultured blight on China’s rich culinary landscape, cookbook author extraordinaire Fuchsia Dunlop joins Louisa and Graeme.   Also there's a chance to win a Little Red Podcast mug in our first ever competition.   Snap a pic of the dish you'd like to disappear and send it to us on Twitter or Facebook to be a contender.
Image: Spicy hot pot, c/ <a href="https://unsplash.com/@peiijiaa">Peijia Li </a>on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/raw-meat-on-stainless-steel-tray-AIWSvNU38H8">Unsplash.</a>

The Little Red Podcast: interviews and chat celebrating China beyond the Beijing beltway. Hosted by Graeme Smith, China studies academic at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs and Louisa Lim, former China correspondent for the BBC and NPR, now with the Centre for Advancing Journalism at Melbourne University. We are the 2018 winners of podcast of the year in the News & Current Affairs category of the Australian Podcast Awards. Follow us @limlouisa and @GraemeKSmith, and find show notes at www.facebook.com/LittleRedPodcast/

The Little Red Podcast: interviews and chat celeb…

The Little Red Podcast

Awardwinning interviews and chat celebrating China beyond the Beijing beltway. Hosted by Graeme Smith, China studies academic at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs and Louisa Lim, former China correspondent for the BBC and NPR, now with the Centre for Advancing Journalism at Melbourne University. We are the 2018 winners of podcast of the year in the News & Current Affairs category of the Australian Podcast Awards and we're funded by the Australian National University's Centre on China in the World. Find us on your favourite platforms: we're on Stitcher, Spotify and even Podbean. Follow us @limlouisa and @GraemeKSmith, and find show notes at www.facebook.com/LittleRedPodcast/. Our editor is the Saturday Paper's Andy Hazel (@AndyRickie), background research is by the Asia Society's Julia Bergin (@juliabergin1) and Xu Chong (@ChongXuCheng), our stirring theme tune was composed by Susie Wilkins (@susiewilkins) and our iconic art is courtesy of Seb Danta (@SebDanta).

Awardwinning interviews and chat celebrating China beyond the Beijing beltway. Hosted by Graeme Smith, China studies academic at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs and Louisa Lim, former China correspondent for the BBC and NPR, now with the Centre for Advancing Journalism at Melbourne University. We are the 2018 winners of podcast of the year in the News &amp; Current Affairs category of the Australian Podcast Awards and we're funded by the Australian National University's Centre on China in the World. Find us on your favourite platforms: we're on Stitcher, Spotify and even Podbean. Follow us @limlouisa and @GraemeKSmith, and find show notes at www.facebook.com/LittleRedPodcast/. Our editor is the Saturday Paper's Andy Hazel (@AndyRickie), background research is by the Asia Society's Julia Bergin (@juliabergin1) and Xu Chong (@ChongXuCheng), our stirring theme tune was composed by Susie Wilkins (@susiewilkins) and our iconic art is courtesy of Seb Danta (@SebDanta).

Hotpot Wars: Tensions bubble in the battle for China’s Culinary Soul

China’s largesse in the Pacific is nothing if not visible. From mobile phone towers to gleaming stadiums and government buildings, Beijing’s splashing out on those it sees as choosing “the right side of history.” In this episode, we explore Taiwan’s future in the Pacific as it is deserted by its former diplomatic allies, lured by Beijing’s goodies. In this episode, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Solomon Islands journalist Dorothy Wickham, co-founder of the Melanesian News Network, and the University of California’s Jessica Marinaccio, a former staffer in Tuvalu’s Taiwanese embassy.

Show transcripts can be found at: https://www.thechinastory.org/lrp/

Image: Wikimedia Commons. “President Tsai and Tuvalu Prime Minister Sopoaga plant a coconut seedling, symbolizing the close friendship between Taiwan and Tuvalu.” (2017) Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan) | Government Website Open Information Announcement

China’s largesse in the Pacific is nothing if not visible. From mobile phone towers to gleaming stadiums and government buildings, Beijing’s splashing out on those it sees as choosing “the right side of history.” In this episode, we explore Taiwan’s future in the Pacific as it is deserted by its former diplomatic allies, lured by Beijing’s goodies. In this episode, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Solomon Islands journalist Dorothy Wickham, co-founder of the Melanesian News Network, and the University of California’s Jessica Marinaccio, a former staffer in Tuvalu’s Taiwanese embassy.
Show transcripts can be found at: <a href="https://www.thechinastory.org/lrp/">https://www.thechinastory.org/lrp/</a>
Image: Wikimedia Commons. “President Tsai and Tuvalu Prime Minister Sopoaga plant a coconut seedling, symbolizing the close friendship between Taiwan and Tuvalu.” (2017) <a href="http://english.president.gov.tw/Default.aspx?tabid=1272">Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan) | Government Website Open Information Announcement</a>

Hold my popcorn: Diplomatic war in the Pacific Theatre

Stand-up comedy looked set to be the next big thing on China’s entertainment scene, with shows like Roast Convention drawing billions of views and comics scoring lucrative commercial endorsements. But comedy now finds itself in retreat.  A new wave of feminist comics is struggling with attacks from online trolls and a disapproving state.  To ask whether the regime–and China’s men—can take a joke, Louisa and Graeme are joined by three stand up Chinese comedians: He Huang who's based here in Australia, and two members of the London-based 50 Shades of Feminism, Barbie and Elena.

Transcript available at: https://www.thechinastory.org/lrp/the-feminists-have-stood-up-gender-and-comedy-in-china/

Stand-up comedy looked set to be the next big thing on China’s entertainment scene, with shows like Roast Convention drawing billions of views and comics scoring lucrative commercial endorsements. But comedy now finds itself in retreat.  A new wave of feminist comics is struggling with attacks from online trolls and a disapproving state.  To ask whether the regime–and China’s men—can take a joke, Louisa and Graeme are joined by three stand up Chinese comedians: He Huang who's based here in Australia, and two members of the London-based 50 Shades of Feminism, Barbie and Elena.
Transcript available at: https://www.thechinastory.org/lrp/the-feminists-have-stood-up-gender-and-comedy-in-china/

The Feminists have Stood Up: Gender and Comedy in China

Every generation in modern China has been richer and more ambitious than the one before—until Gen Z. With youth unemployment so high that the government has simply stopped reporting the figures, many are opting to lie flat, slump down dead, or even become full-time children. The Party frets that despite the best efforts of the propaganda organs to get them excited about a tech-driven utopian future, China’s young people seem to have lost their work ethic. Louisa and Graeme are joined by Steven Sun Zhao, a Gen Z writer at Chaoyang Trap and Yaling Jiang, a proud millennial and the founder of Aperture China.

A full transcript is available at https://www.thechinastory.org/lrp/full-time-children-or-half-dead-chinas-gen-z-goes-to-ground/

Image: Woman in black jacket sitting on blue chair, c/- 绵 绵 on Unsplash

Every generation in modern China has been richer and more ambitious than the one before—until Gen Z. With youth unemployment so high that the government has simply stopped reporting the figures, many are opting to lie flat, slump down dead, or even become full-time children. The Party frets that despite the best efforts of the propaganda organs to get them excited about a tech-driven utopian future, China’s young people seem to have lost their work ethic. Louisa and Graeme are joined by Steven Sun Zhao, a Gen Z writer at <a href="https://chaoyangtrap.house/">Chaoyang Trap</a> and Yaling Jiang, a proud millennial and the founder of Aperture China.
A full transcript is available at <a href="https://www.thechinastory.org/lrp/full-time-children-or-half-dead-chinas-gen-z-goes-to-ground/">https://www.thechinastory.org/lrp/full-time-children-or-half-dead-chinas-gen-z-goes-to-ground/</a>
Image: Woman in black jacket sitting on blue chair, c/- <a href="https://unsplash.com/@serwin365?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">绵 绵</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-in-black-jacket-sitting-on-blue-chair-avMyDRq-9fU?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>

Hotpot Wars: Tensions bubble in the battle for China’s Culinary Soul

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