Face-Off: The U.S. vs China

Face-Off: The U.S. vs China

FACE-OFF: US vs CHINA is an inside look at the turbulent relationship between the world's two superpowers, the two men in charge, and the vital issues that affect us all. FACE-OFF is hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jane Perlez, former New York Times Beijing bureau chief and current fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. In each episode Professor Rana Mitter, recently of the University of Oxford and now professor of modern China at the Harvard Kennedy School, chats with Jane on what’s at stake.

Episodes

China's Arms Race

November 25, 2025 • 52 mins
China is outbuilding America's navy and beating us in hypersonic missiles. Xi has purged corrupt generals to create a military machine loyal only to him. Can China's forces actually win a war? We break down the PLA's transformation from paper tiger to potential superpower. Guest: Zhou Bo, Retired Senior Colonel in the People’s Liberation Army (https://ciss.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/CFExperts/1212) Book Recommendations: Should The...
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Generation Burnout

November 18, 2025 • 59 mins
China's youth were supposed to lead the nation to glory. Instead, they're lying flat, embracing "garbage time," and quietly rebelling against a system that promised everything and delivered economic stagnation. In this episode of Face-Off - our first of Season 3 (!) - we get inside the psychology of China's disillusioned generation. Guest: Chang Che, Chinese-American Writer (https://changnche.com/)  Book Recommendations:  Spark...
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Season 3 Trailer

November 4, 2025 • 3 mins
In our third season of Face-Off: The US vs China, we’ll explore some of the biggest issues dividing these global powers today: Trump and Xi Jinping, AI, China’s growing military might, and also… robots. Season 3 of Face-Off: US vs China begins Tuesday, November 18th. Join us. Face-Off is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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THE GREATER WAGER EPISODE 5: The Break-Up

October 28, 2025 • 18 mins
THE GREAT WAGER Episode 5. The break-up: Richard Nixon’s great wager reverberates from the '70s to today While we’re preparing season 3 of Face Off, we’re excited to present an encore presentation of The Great Wager, a five-part series about Richard Nixon’s top-secret plan to go to China, befriend China, and change the balance of power in the Cold War. This is the series finale: Episode 5. All of a sudden, it’s less clear i...
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THE GREAT WAGER EPISODE 4: Shared Secrets

October 21, 2025 • 16 mins
THE GREAT WAGER Episode 4. Shared secrets: How The U.S. and China worked together to spy on the Soviet Union While we’re preparing season 3 of Face Off, we’re excited to present an encore presentation of The Great Wager, a five-part series about Richard Nixon’s top-secret plan to go to China, befriend China, and change the balance of power in the Cold War. This is Episode 4. The relationship between China and the U.S. is of...
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THE GREAT WAGER EPISODE 3: When Nixon Met Mao

October 14, 2025 • 17 mins
THE GREAT WAGER Episode 3. Grip and grin: When Nixon met Mao While we’re preparing season 3 of Face Off, we’re excited to present an encore presentation of The Great Wager, a five-part series about Richard Nixon’s top-secret plan to go to China, befriend China, and change the balance of power in the Cold War. This is Episode 3. The news of Nixon’s trip to China is public, and he’s getting credit for pulling off such a his...
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THE GREAT WAGER EPISODE 2: Plots & Private Planes

October 7, 2025 • 17 mins
THE GREAT WAGER Episode 2: Plots and private planes: How Henry Kissinger pulled off a secret trip to China While we’re preparing season 3 of Face Off, we’re excited to present an encore presentation of The Great Wager, a five-part series about Richard Nixon’s top-secret plan to go to China, befriend China, and change the balance of power in the Cold War. This is Episode 2. Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kis...
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THE GREAT WAGER EPISODE 1: Richard Nixon's "Crazy" Idea

October 1, 2025 • 15 mins
THE GREAT WAGER EPISODE 1: Richard Nixon's 'crazy' idea: Make befriending the Chinese Communist Party his legacy With money, power and political standing at stake, America’s relationship with China is tenuous. But it wasn’t always that way. The Great Wager is a five-part series that tells the story of the extraordinary encounter between Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong in 1972 that brought these two countries together, the secret c...
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Criss-Crossing China

May 20, 2025 • 51 mins
In this bonus episode of Face-Off Jane speaks with former ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns. They discuss Ambassador Burns’ encounters with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, his meetings with American CEOs, and his travels to remote places in China.  BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: To Change China, by Jonathan D. Spence The Private Life of Chairman Mao, by Zhi-Sui Li Chip Wars, by Chris Miller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...
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From Mao to Xi Jinping: A Conversation with Orville Schell

April 24, 2025 • 59 mins
In a special bonus episode recorded live at the Asia Society, host Jane Perlez speaks with journalist and scholar Orville Schell about his 50 years covering Chinese leaders and their American counterparts. They attempt to answer the question: how did we get here? Recorded live at The Asia Society on April 8, 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Soulmates: Xi and Putin

April 1, 2025 • 40 mins
China and Russia have rarely been friendly - until now. Xi and Putin have been open about their bromance, exchanging gifts, sharing lavish dinners, even celebrating a birthday together. Are the two dictators, Xi and Putin, aiming to forge a new arrangement in the world that diminishes the traditional role of the United States? Our guest, Lyle Goldstein, former professor at US Naval War College, and now teaching at Brown University,...
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AI Superpower: US or China?

March 25, 2025 • 44 mins
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has given China five years to dominate Artificial Intelligence. He believes China must accomplish this goal in order to become the world’s tech giant. But the United States is doing everything it can to stop China from reaching its goal. Can Washington stop US and European advanced chips from reaching China? It seems not, as the arrival of DeepSeek shows. Will AI development be throttled by the Chinese g...
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Electric Vehicles

March 18, 2025 • 44 mins
Back in 2015 the Chinese government declared that they would become the world leader in EVs by 2025. Major car companies scoffed. Who wants an EV? Today, China automakers have surpassed Japan, Germany and the US to become the number one exporter of cars. A record number of Chinese EVs were sold globally last year. How did China become the global leader in EVs? We’ll talk with the man who literally wrote the book on the rise of Chin...
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Feminist Rebels

March 11, 2025 • 39 mins
China’s leader, Mao Zedong famously said that “Women hold up half the sky.” But these days it doesn’t feel that way in China. Unfair marriage rules, difficulties getting a divorce, barriers to owning property and many more restrictions are challenging women to speak out, and act. We’ll hear about the Chinese “leftover women” who are veering from the traditional path and about the Chinese feminists of today. Guest:  Leta Hong Finch...
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Hollywood and China

March 4, 2025 • 49 mins
Motion pictures first came to China in 1896.  China was one of the first countries to screen the Lumiere brother’s “western shadowplays” as they were called. By the 1930’s Shanghai was known as the Hollywood of the East.  That all changed after the founding of the People’s Republic. Western films were eventually allowed back into China but it wasn’t until the release of the American epic, Titanic and its blockbuster success in Chi...
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TikTok: What Now?

February 25, 2025 • 55 mins
More than 170 million Americans are entertained, informed and earn big bucks from the Chinese-owned app, TikTok. Now their relationship with TikTok is in mortal danger, to say the least. American politicians seem to be able to agree on one thing: TikTok is bad. What happens now, and how did Americans get hooked on TikTok in the first place. Trump used TikTok to great affect in his campaign. What’s his attitude to TikTok going forwa...
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Journalists in China

February 18, 2025 • 39 mins
There are few American journalists reporting from inside China today. But that has not always been the case. In fact, American journalists in China freely reported on one of the biggest stories of recent history: the Chinese army’s massacre of protestors in Tiananmen Square in 1989. In this episode, we talk to Richard Roth, a CBS correspondent who was there during the 1989 protests. We feature Lingling Wei, the distinguished Wall S...
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Two Strongmen

February 11, 2025 • 48 mins
Trump has praised Xi Jinping in the past. He’s also slapped tariffs on China. What does the return of Trump mean for China? Economic rivalry for sure. Possible war over Taiwan? A battle over AI dominance and confrontation over China’s rapidly expanding military force, also for sure. How will Trump stop China from usurping America’s place on the global stage? Guest: Minxin Pei, Claremont College professor and China commentator. ...
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Season 2 Trailer

January 31, 2025 • 3 mins
Season 2 of Face-Off: US vs China begins Tuesday, February 11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The New Cold Wars: A Conversation with David Sanger

October 1, 2024 • 53 mins
In this bonus episode, Jane Perlez sits down with New York Times national security and White House correspondent David Sanger. In this candid conversation, they talk about his new bestseller: New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West. Plus they discuss Sanger's views on where the US - China relationship is headed, how he worries about the friendship between China and Russia, and a par...
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