Barbarians at the Gate

Latest episodes

• Shen Fu and Six Records of a Floating Life: Love, grief, and lying flat in Qing China

  October 22, 2026 · 34 min

  What can a grief memoir about a beloved wife tell us about love, life, and society in 18th-century China? Shen Fu’s Six Records of a Life Adrift (浮生六記 / fúshēng liù jì) offers a bottom-up look at Qing dynasty elites. Shen Fu experiences…

• You Must Remember This: Studying in China yesterday, today, and tomorrow?

  October 8, 2026 · 37 min

  David and Jeremiah are back together again in Beijing. Recording from Palace Moser, the two get weirdly nostalgic and compare notes on what has changed in the 20+ years (Jeremiah) and 40+ years (David) since they first moved to China’s…

• Chairmen, China, and the Tricky Translations of Political Terms in the PRC

  September 24, 2026 · 28 min

  Two older gentlemen with expanding waistlines, staggering daddy issues, and a shared love of firing military brass meet in DC this week. And right on cue, the pundits leap forward to pontificate on the most important issues facing Sino-US…

• Mao More Than Ever

  September 11, 2026 · 31 min

  Mao Zedong died on September 9, 1976. Fifty years later, Jeremiah and David compare notes on a mostly quiet anniversary. Jeremiah reports that there were enough tributes to beat the over/under, but David argues that the Party would still…

• The Last Emperor of China with author Paul French

  August 27, 2026 · 42 min

  China’s last emperor (Puyi), his empress (Wanrong), and concubine (Wenxiu) spent two years sequestered in the Forbidden City before their expulsion in 1924. Around them were holdover dowagers, scheming eunuchs, corrupt officials, and two…

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