The New East Asian Studies Podcasts in the Age of AI

What is objectivity, and how has it evolved? In this episode, we explore historical epistemology through the works of Lorraine Daston, Peter Galison, and Ian Hacking. We discuss how scientific practices and visual culture shaped the concept of objectivity, tracing its history from "truth-to-nature" ideals to "trained judgment" in disciplines like anatomy, crystallography, and astronomy.

We also highlight Ian Hacking's reflections o...

How did capitalism evolve, and what role did the global economy play in its development? In this episode, we explore economic history, focusing on Sven Beckert’s Empire of Cotton and foundational Marxist critiques of capitalism. We uncover how European imperialism, slave labor, and industrial innovation reshaped global economies, creating vast inequalities and modern capitalist structures that persist to this day.

Drawing on key in...

In this episode, we explore In Search of Admiration and Respect, Yanqiu Zheng’s insightful book on Chinese cultural diplomacy in the United States between 1875 and 1974. Faced with Western misunderstandings and stereotypes, China sought to reshape its image through cultural initiatives. The discussion highlights key players, including the China Institute in America and the Nationalist government, and their contrasting approaches to...

South Korea faces a demographic crisis characterized by an alarmingly low birth rate and a rapidly aging population. In this episode, we discuss the cultural, economic, and social factors contributing to these trends, including shifting attitudes toward marriage, family, and the impact of forced early retirement policies. We examine the government’s efforts to boost the birth rate, why financial incentives have failed, and the chal...

In this episode, Professor Taylor Fravel of MIT explores the evolution of China’s military strategy since 1949, analyzing its transformation from preparing for total war to focusing on localized conflicts and informatised warfare. Drawing insights from his acclaimed book Active Defense, Fravel discusses the goals and components of China’s current military strategy, with a special emphasis on Taiwan, territorial disputes, and nuclea...

This book rewrites the story of classical Chinese philosophy, which has always been considered the single most creative and vibrant chapter in the history of Chinese philosophy. Works attributed to Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi and many others represent the very origins of moral and political thinking in China. As testimony to their enduring stature, in recent decades many Chinese intellectuals, and ev...

This episode celebrates the life and scholarship of Ezra Vogel, one of the most influential figures in East Asian studies, and examines his groundbreaking work on Deng Xiaoping. Through a panel discussion featuring Vogel’s colleagues, family, and students, we explore his contributions to understanding East Asia, his mentorship of a global network of scholars, and his dedication to cross-cultural dialogue. The discussion highlights ...

Winner of the 2022 Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences
Merchants of Virtue explores the question of what it meant to be Hindu in precolonial South Asia. Divya Cherian presents a fine-grained study of everyday life and local politics in the kingdom of Marwar in eighteenth-century western India to uncover how merchants enforced their caste ideals of vegetarianism and bodily austerity as universal markers of Hindu ident...

How did U.S. immigration policies cultivate the "model minority" narrative for Asian Americans? In this episode, we explore Madeline Hsu’s The Good Immigrants, which examines a century of Chinese elite migration to the U.S. through the lens of immigration exemptions for intellectuals, businessmen, and students.

From the earliest restrictions targeting Chinese laborers to exemptions for those with professional skills or Western educ...

Julia Andrews's extraordinary study of art, artists, and artistic policy during the first three decades of the People's Republic of China makes a major contribution to our understanding of modern China. From 1949 to 1979 the Chinese government controlled the lives and work of the country's artists--these were also years of extreme isolation from international artistic dialogue. During this period the Chinese Communist Party succeed...

What is the state of Tibetan studies today, and how did we get here? In this episode, we dive into the history and current challenges of global Tibetology with insights from Professor Shen Weirong, a leading expert in Tibetan studies. We explore the evolution of Tibetology, from the missionary scholars and pioneers of the 20th century to its golden age in the 1990s and the subsequent decline in Western interest.

Professor Shen refl...

This book traces the changing and long-term history of the vast Brahmaputra valley region, that has distinct languages, faiths, monastic traditions, and lay-monk relationship, in different orders and gender and household relations. It examines the political and economic order of Buddhist, Vaisnava, Saiva, Tantric, and Sufi teachers and their disciples, students, and adherents in the northeast India. In the course of the nineteenth ...

What is history, and how do we write it? In this episode, we explore how historians have approached their craft over the past century, focusing on concepts of objectivity, temporality, and the evolution of historical discourse. We examine Peter Novick's exploration of American historians' struggle to present the past "as it really happened" and Reinhart Koselleck's groundbreaking theories on historical time, social reality, and the...

What drives the high educational and economic attainment of Asian Americans? In this episode, we explore The Asian American Achievement Paradox by Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou, which delves into the intersection of immigration policies, community resources, and cultural expectations to uncover the factors behind this phenomenon.

We examine how "hyper-selectivity" in immigration shapes the "success frame" that drives academic achieveme...

In this episode, we explore the driving forces behind China's foreign policy, including its response to U.S. containment strategies, the trend of counter-globalization, and the role of digital technology. Drawing insights from the perspectives of YAN Xuetong, a leading Chinese academic, we discuss how Beijing navigates strategic competition with Washington while maintaining its opening-up policies initiated in 1978. The conversatio...

In this episode, we explore the rise of Gönpo Namgyel, a minor Tibetan chieftain from Eastern Kham who challenged the power centers of Central Tibet and Qing China during the 19th century. Situated on the periphery, the Kham region was more than just a battleground between empires—it was a dynamic political landscape where local leaders actively shaped their own destinies.

Drawing from Tibetan and Chinese primary sources, we examin...

In this episode, we explore the concept of connected histories as developed by historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Moving beyond traditional narratives of isolated regions, we examine the deep interconnections between Europe, South Asia, and the broader Eurasian world from the 15th to 18th centuries.

From the Portuguese presence in Asia to the Persianate influence in the Bay of Bengal and the global flow of commodities, ideas, and power...

The Labrang Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Amdo and its extended support community are one of the largest and most famous in Tibetan history. This crucially important and little-studied community is on the northeast corner of the Tibetan Plateau in modern Gansu Province, in close proximity to Chinese, Mongol, and Muslim communities. It is Tibetan but located in China; it was founded by Mongols, and associated with Muslims. Its wide-...

How has xenophobia shaped America’s past, present, and future? In this episode, we examine the roots of xenophobia in the United States, from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to present-day immigration policies. Drawing on insights from Erika Lee's At America’s Gates, we explore how the U.S. transformed into a "gatekeeping nation" through laws, surveillance, and deportation aimed at controlling immigration and racial boundaries.

W...