Rerun: Chairman Mao Zedong swam in the Yangtze River on 25th July, 1966. Despite being in his Seventies, the leader was said by party propagandists (and hence every newspaper in China) to have set a world-record pace of nearly 15 km in 65 min.
This piece of political theatre showed the world that the public face of the Chinese Communist party was in robust ... Show More
Nov 20
Microsoft's Windows Gamble
Windows 1.0 came out on 20th November, 1985, introducing graphical user interface to the masses for the first time. Well, that was the concept, anyway; in truth, users required mighty hardware by the standards of the time (TWO floppy drives!), and hardly anybody bought it. But it ... Show More
13m 29s
Jun 2025
[BEST OF] The Chinese Revolution: Chairman Mao, Cultural Revolution, & Communist China
ORIGINALLY RELEASED Jun 4, 2018 In this episode, Breht is joined by Yueran Zhang, a PhD candidate in Sociology at Harvard University, to discuss the Chinese Revolution and the legacy of Mao Zedong. Together, they explore the historical context of China's revolutionary transformat ... Show More
1h 2m
Mar 2025
Real Wives of Dictators | Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao's Wife
<p>For better or (mostly) worse, Jiang Qing left her mark on the 20th century.</p><br><p>Even before she was married to Chairman Mao, Jiang was a charismatic actor, and her passion for culture helped her spearhead the Cultural Revolution as part of the Communist Party in China, l ... Show More
43 m
Jun 2025
[BEST OF] The History of Modern China
From the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions, to the Chinese Revolution and Civil War, through the Long March and the rise of Mao Zedong, to the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, all the way to Deng's Reform and China today, Professor of East Asian and Global History Dr. Ken H ... Show More
7 h
Aug 2024
Season 3, Episode 10: Jean Dong, Chinese Statecraft in a Changing World
Please join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and China expert, Jean Dong as they discuss Dong’s fascinating book, Chinese Statecraft in a Changing World: Demystifying Enduring Traditions and Dynamic Constraints. Dr. Dong offers a rich and subtle historical perspective on China’s statecraf ... Show More
40m 34s
May 2025
MAGA-Mao Connections with Orville Schell
What can Mao Zedong teach us about Donald Trump? To find out, ChinaTalk interviewed the legendary sinologist Orville Schell, who visited China during the Cultural Revolution and is currently at the Asia Society. We discuss… Mao Zedong’s psychology and political style, Similaritie ... Show More
1h 18m
Sep 22
Xiang Biao and Wu Qi, "Self as Method: Thinking Through China and the World" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022)
Today I had the pleasure of talking to Professor Xiang Biao on his new book, Self as Method: Thinking Through China and the World, which was originally written and published in Chinese. The English translation has just come out with Palgrave Macmillan. Self as Method provides a m ... Show More
1h 39m