Had the good fortune to talk about Chinese Characters, the book of essays about everyday life in China that I co-edited with Jeff Wasserstrom, with Lisa Napoli on KCRW in Los Angeles. Here’s our chat: Lisa wrote in the Which Way, LA blog: “There’s lots of news each day from and about China, but it’s rare that any of […]
Posts with the Asia tag
How has the web changed coverage of Asia?
Next week in San Diego, I’ll be on a “late breaking” news panel at the Association for Asian Studies’ annual conference. I’ve started to think about how to explain the many ways that connectivity — social media, VOIP, chat clients — have really colored how I think about news and story telling about the region. From telling […]
Filling Foreign News Gaps with Scholars: Asia Beat
I’m working with the Association for Asian Studies, the Journal of Asian Studies and Jeffrey Wasserstrom on a new news proposal. We’re one of 51 finalists of some 1,000 entries to the Knight News Challenge and will find out in a few weeks if they will help fund the project. In the meantime, we’re looking for more […]
On the cover of the Journal of Asian Studies
The Journal of Asian Studies, where I am an advising editor, published a photo I took on its cover of its most recent issue. It’s an image an image that I took in May, 2008 from a bridge overlooking the Sai River, which sits between Thailand and Myanmar. On the right are bustling tourist and […]
April 18 at UCLA, I’ll be in coversation with Marketplace China correspondent Rob Schmitz
These days, Rob is in the news for debunking the Mike Daisey Foxconn investigation that aired on This American Life. We’ll be talking about that story and his other reporting on China for American Public Media’s Marketplace radio program at UCLA on April 17. Is there something you want me to ask? Please leave your questions in […]
Fred Korematsu Day, Two Ways
Yesterday was Fred Korematsu Day in California. Korematsu, a Japanese-American who resisted placement in a World War II-era internment camp, and later fought in courts to have a Supreme Court conviction of “defiance” overturned, was remembered on January 30 in the state of California. In September, California declared this day, Korematsu’s birthday, to be the […]
Changing the China News Narrative
“China is a breeding ground for heroes,” Foreign Policy contributing editor Christina Larson said at a roundtable discussion at the University of California, Irvine hosted by The China Beat yesterday. Larson has done a lot of reporting on China’s environmental movement, where she has found great stories about a dynamic country. Environmentalists in China, she […]
Deeper Reading: Recent Titles on Islam around the World
If you are reading and watching American news in the last few weeks, you are probably simultaneously seeing a lot and very little about Islam in America today. The conversation surrounding Park51, the Islamic community center slated to be built in Lower Manhatten, is often very shallow, with little explication of terms and nuance. Words […]
Book Reviews: Full List
All reviews published by Zócalo Public Square unless otherwise noted. Not looking for book reviews? See my portfolio. Asia The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa by Deborah Brautigam March 9, 2010 If the headlines are any indication, it’s time for a proper China scare. China Watcher: Confessions of a Peking Tom by […]
Weekend Reading
If you are looking for downtime reading, here are a few of my favorite, most enjoyable nonfiction choices from my reviews for Zócalo Public Square: