Barbarians at the Gate

Neysun Mahboubi on the past, present, and future of US-China Academic Exchanges

We are honored to have Professor Neysun Mahboubi, Director of the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations, a program that provides a platform for talented U.S.-based China scholars to contribute academically informed analysis on the most important issues in U.S.-China relations. Neysun recounts his experiences as a legal scholar in China during the 1990s Reform and Opening Up period, focusing on his mentors and the legal scholars who were at the forefront of legal reform in the PRC. A passionate advocate for scholarly research on China, Neysun emphasizes the value of on-the-ground research, for those who are able to do so, in these increasingly complicated times.   Neysun A. Mahboubi is Director of the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations [https://global.upenn.edu/future-of-us-china-relations/] at the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses on Chinese history, law, and policy and hosts the China Studies podcast [https://global.upenn.edu/future-of-us-china-relations/podcast/]. He is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

AI Slop, AI Detectors, and Authentic Voice: A China-Tech Insider on Writing and Working With AI

Should we view today’s powerful AI language tools as intellectual crutches or as incredibly useful assets? Can they be safely integrated into our existing toolkit for business and academia, or should we approach them with justified caution? And why is the Western world terrified of AI, whereas China is already incorporating it into all sectors of society? Spoiler alert: The West views AI as a possible extinction risk, to be monitored and controlled, while China pragmatically views it as merely a tool to improve the lives of ordinary people. In this episode, we’re delighted to welcome back Zhang Yajun, founder of Zhang Global Advisory. Yajun shares her insights on the rapidly expanding role of Artificial Intelligence in global business communication and academic research. Yajun offers a more measured and practical take. From personal experience, she knows that non-native speakers can effectively use AI to produce writing that is clear, idiomatic, and faithful to their original ideas — while still preserving their authentic "human tone" and avoiding the sterile, formulaic output that AI often generates.

China Books Review x Barbarians at the Gate: The Private Life of Chairman Mao

The Politburo had given Mao Zedong’s personal physician Li Zhisui a direct order: prepare the Chairman’s body so that he can be on permanent display. Li was aghast. It was not what Mao had wanted, and besides, “How to pickle your country’s leader” wasn’t one of the courses he studied in medical school. But after the turbulence of the Cultural Revolution, Mao’s death meant a potential political showdown between the Gang of Four, including Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing, and Mao’s chosen successor, Hua Guofeng. Dr. Li did not want to be caught in the middle. So Li and his team did the best they could. Spoiler alert: it involved a massage that nobody would want to give. Li Zhisui’s controversial memoir, The Private Life of Chairman Mao, was published in 1994. Readers were titillated by Mao’s sex life, questionable hygiene regime, and gruesome medical maladies. Defenders of Mao labeled the book pure propaganda. Dr. Li was a disloyal liar, and his collaborators and publishers were pushing anti-Mao agendas. Jeremiah is joined by Alexander Boyd, Associate Editor of the China Books Review, to discuss Mao Zedong, Li Zhisui, and Jeremiah’s recent retrospective essay about The Private Life of Chairman Mao. Who was Dr. Li? What did it take to survive in the courtyards of power at the peak of Mao’s paranoia? And did Dr. Li really witness all of the major events he described in his book?

This Was Funnier in China: Jesse Appell's Cross-Cultural Comedy Journey

On this episode, we sit down with the one and only Jesse Appell—Chinese TV stand-up comedian, blogger, lecturer, tea entrepreneur, and passionate bridge-builder for US–China cultural exchange. In his newly published book, Jesse shares the unlikely story of how a Fulbright Fellowship to study the traditional Chinese humor form “crosstalk” (xiangsheng) launched him from student to television star, with his video clips capturing more than half a billion views on the Chinese Internet.

The Business of Burgers in Beijing: What Fast Food Festivals Reveal About China's Economy

Mike Wester launched the first Burger Fest in Beijing 13 years ago as a scrappy response to the collapse of print ad revenue. Today, burger festivals run in third-tier cities across China, subsidized by local governments trying to drive foot traffic into half-empty malls. Hefei alone has four a year. In this episode, Jeremiah talks with Mike Wester, co-founder of True Run Media and publisher of the Beijinger, about how burgers became one of China's fastest-growing new cuisines, what the food festival boom reveals about Chinese commercial real estate, and why a generation raised on McDonald's is now opening artisanal burger shops in cities that didn't have a KFC a decade ago. They cover the social-media arms race, producing photogenic and often inedible creations, and 13 years of memorable entries — including a Wagyu patty with goose liver, cinnamon, and apple, and a pig-brain burger from a man who built his fortune on braised pig brains.