Mosaic of China with Oscar Fuchs - Season 1 Trailer

Hello, I’m Oscar. In this trailer, I introduce the podcast: why I’m doing it, it’s limitations, the guests lined up for Season 1, the interview format, the visual element and it’s integration with social media. Mercifully, this introduction episode is the most you’ll ever hear my voice. In all future podcast episodes, I’ll be leaving the guest to do most of the talking. Instagram: www.instagram.com/oscology Facebook: www.facebook.com/mosaicofchina WeChat: www.mosaicofchina.com/wechat

Episode Transcript

OF (00:00):
Hello, this is Oscar Fuchs. And welcome to the Mosaic of China podcast.

(00:06):
So first of all, why am I doingthis? And why are you here? Well,
a lot of what's written and recordedabout China focuses on the issues,
issues like government and politics, businessand economics, technology and the environment,
things like that. But what I found was thatthere's very little focus on the people,
the people who live and work here. So what thispodcast aims to do is to showcase some of these

(00:31):
people who I've personally encountered livinghere in China these last few years. And just
by talking to this selection of people aboutwho they are and what they're doing in China,
I hope to offer you a different lenson this place that I've called home.
The biggest limitation, of course, is thatthis is an English language podcast. So that
already eliminates the many tens of millionsof non-English speakers here. And in season

(00:52):
one of the podcast, actually, the overwhelmingmajority of people are living here in Shanghai,
not just because it's the commercial capitalof the country. But because, well, this is
where I currently live. But here's the thing,I'm not trying to offer an all-encompassing,
exhaustive definition of the people of China. Eachtile in this Mosaic just represents one story,

(01:13):
and the 30 or so tiles that are laid out inSeason 1, aren't meant to represent the 1.43
billion tiles that are not. Now having saidall that, what I have tried to do is to curate
a season of interviews that will offer as manydiverse voices and perspectives as possible. So,
as for the Chinese guests, you'll hear fromthe playwright, the technology innovator,

(01:34):
the urban artist, the female comedian,the GM of a luxury private member's club,
the programme director of a dance theatre, thoseare just a few. And then for the International
contingent, there's the Kiwi diplomat, there'sthe Indian banker, the Armenian violinist, the
Venezuelan marketer, the American journalist, theFrench CEO, the Canadian biochemist, and so on.

(02:00):
I've also tried to make the format ofthe podcast as interesting as possible,
so that it can hopefully appeal not just to theChina Insider, but also to the China Newbie. So
let me just quickly explain how it works.There are three parts to each interview.
The first part is a straightforward two-wayconversation, which starts with the guest,

(02:20):
introducing an object that in some waydescribes their life in China. In most cases,
the guests brought in this object to therecording, so I'll be sharing photos of the
guest and their object on social media. Andthen in the second part, I ask every guest,
the same 10 China-related questions, all on thetheme of their personal experiences, tastes and

(02:40):
opinions. There's a visual element to quite a fewof these questions, too. So again, as a listener,
you can just stick with the audio recording, butthen there's an extra layer of information that
you can get from visiting us on @mosaicofchina.This short introduction is actually the most that
you'll hopefully be hearing my voice. UsuallyI'll be the one asking the questions in these
podcasts. So, look, I might come back and doa little Q&A at some point during the season.

(03:03):
And that'll probably depend on what kind offeedback I hear from you, the listener, on
social media. So all I can say is thanks so muchfor being here and I hope to see you next time.