After 25 episodes examining everything from female empowerment and entrepreneurship to sexual assault and attitudes to race in China, the RADII-backed Wǒ Men Podcast is celebrating one year of exploring different perspectives and a diversity of voices on contemporary China from the inside.
We’re marking the occasion with a special event in Beijing, a chance to meet presenters Jingjing and Yajun along with members of RADII staff and previous podcast guests for drinks and conversation. Whether you want to find out more, get involved, or just grab a free drink and have a chat with a diverse community of people, join us at The Bookworm Beijing from 4-6pm on Saturday July 7th.
Entry is free and so is your first drink, but places are limited so please register in advance through this link (works best with your VPN off) or by scanning the QR code below:
After being forced to drop out of school and work in a rocket factory for ten years in the early stages of the Reform and Opening up era, Lijia taught herself English and chased her childhood dream to eventually become one of the best-known Chinese authors writing in English. Over the last decade, she has used her pen to portray a China that we rarely see in mainstream media.
For this epsidoe of Wǒ Men Podcast, we sit down with Lijia to discuss her life and to examine just how much China has transformed over the generations. As a social commentator, Lijia shares her views on the changes and constants in China over the last few decades. We also discuss her latest book Lotus and the core social issues demonstrated by China’s prostitution industry.
Cover photo: Lijia Zhang as a baby (courtesy Lijia Zhang)
Join Us for the Wǒ Men Podcast 1st Anniversary Party!
Wǒ Men is turning one! Come and celebrate the first birthday of the Wǒ Men podcast with RADII at The Bookworm Beijing at 4pm on Saturday July 7th.
Entry is free, but places are limited so please register in advance by clicking this link or scanning the QR code below. We can’t wait to see you there!
And here’s the World Cup trophy itself selling shit, though we’re not sure this is a legit tie-up. The poster here shows the cup used in an advert for anti-hangover pills, which if they’re effective might well be useful for Chinese fans given the match schedule sees numerous games kicking off at 2am China time.
As ever, some commercial tie-ups for the World Cup are classier than others. We’ll let you decide where Les Bleus plugging dishwashers and extractor fans for Vatti lies.
The ad is a pretty straight-up Photoshopping of some key players’ profile shots onto a… wait, what is that?
Anyway, the French squad’s association with the Chinese brand’s appliances doesn’t stop there.
Not only has the company also signed up retired French and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, they’re also running a promotion that could see customers across China get full refunds on any hobs, dishwashers, and water boiler units they’ve purchased from Vatti during the month of June.
There’s just one small catch: France have to lift the World Cup trophy in Russia. Hmm, maybe check the T&Cs on that one. Bon chance!
Ex-Daily Show funnyman and current host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight John Oliver took a momentary break from roasting the US President to shift focus to another world leader in a segment that aired on last Sunday’s program. “The truth here is a lot of us are probably under-informed about China,” Oliver says in an intro to an extensive piece focusing predominately on the recent moves of Xi Jinping at home and abroad:
Tonight let’s talk about China, and let’s put America aside for most of this piece and talk instead about China on its terms. Because it’s been going through seismic social, economic and political changes which have been happening head-spinningly quickly.
The regular RADII reader won’t learn much from this per se — Oliver does an admirable job of breaking down recent developments that our own Jeremiah Jenne covers with more authority and wit, such as Xi’s rescinding of presidential term limits in February — but it’s good to see a mainstream American TV show recognize the need to demystify the Chinese leadership’s ambitions at a time when geopolitical fault lines are being tested and redrawn around the world.
The segment touches on some of the New China Narrative’s greatest hits (double-digit GDP growth for 30 years, 800 million people out of poverty, “growing middle class pretty content with how things are going,” etc) and includes a few trademark Oliverian zingers (“Wow, a sense of optimism about the future… as a British person I just find that utterly incomprehensible”) before digging into the “troubling stuff under the surface” (Xinjiang).
Overall it makes for a handy link to pass on to a friend or family member that might need a 20-minute YouTube crash course on what exactly is shaping up in China at the moment.
Of course, if you’re a galaxy brain RADII reader all you need to do is stay tuned right here for more updates on this front. Not to toot our own horns but we’re a little more seasoned when it comes to digging up ridiculous OBOR propaganda vids.
Update: In the wake of this segment, it seems “John Oliver” has been blocked as a search term on Weibo and according to multiple news reports HBO’s website is no longer accessible in China. Guess the authorities didn’t see the funny side….
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Cover image: Xi Jinping: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (YouTube)
Today is not only Dragon Boat Festival in China, but also one of the country’s numerous “shopping festivals” — in this case it’s 6.18, originally created by JD.com to celebrate their founding in 1998.
It’s a day of huge sales and discounts across the e-commerce platform (and increasingly across its rival sites too), but this year has been marked by an extra windfall for the Beijing-headquartered company after it was announced that Google will invest $550 million USD in their operations.
Billed as a “strategic partnership” the deal will see the companies “explore joint development of retail solutions to enable helpful, personalized and frictionless shopping experiences in several regions including Southeast Asia, the U.S. and Europe”, according to an official press release.
The statement goes on to say that:
Google and JD plan to collaborate on a range of strategic initiatives, including joint development of retail solutions in a range of regions around the world, including Southeast Asia, the U.S. and Europe. By applying JD’s supply chain and logistics expertise and Google’s technology strengths, the two companies aim to explore the creation of next generation retail infrastructure solutions, with the goal of offering helpful, personalized and frictionless shopping experiences. JD also plans to make a selection of high-quality products available for sale through Google Shopping in multiple regions.
While Google’s search and email services are blocked along with some of its other products in Mainland China, the global internet giant does maintain a number of operations — and some visibility — in the country.
