My latest in @NewYorker: China is investing in the study of ancient Greece and Rome—and a familiar culture war is brewing in its universities about how it should be taught. Featuring Leo Strauss and Western scholars in the postclassisms initiative. www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...

How China Learned to Love the Classics

The Chinese Communist Party has embraced the study of Greek and Latin—as, in some ways, an antidote to the modern West.

newyorker.com

I had a great convo with Xiang Biao, director of the Max Plank Institute for anthropology in Germany about youth disaffection, problems of elite politics, and how to find agency in a stagnant, more authoritarian era. (In China, but parallels to US arer clear) changche.substack.com/p/into-asia-...

@davidedgarwolf.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Excited to say that the beautiful Guardian Long Read Magazine is out now, ft. work by @mrkocnnll.bsky.social, @imogenwk.bsky.social, @jackgoulder.bsky.social, @tessairini.bsky.social, @hettieobrien.bsky.social + many other brilliant writers. Order your copy here guardianbookshop.com/long-read-50...

For @gdnlongread, I profile'd Zhu Song-Chun, one of China's top AI scientists and an avatar of America's "reverse brain drain" problem. I detail why he left, the geopolitics of his repatriation, and the keys to AGI he may have brought back with him. www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

‘I have to do it’: Why one of the world’s most brilliant AI scientists left the US for China

In 2020, after spending half his life in the US, Song-Chun Zhu took a one-way ticket to China. Now he might hold the key to who wins the global AI race

theguardian.com

"The broad message I heard in Yiwu was this: Trump had overestimated America’s leverage. At the end of this standoff, China, not America, would come out stronger: more self-reliant at home and more respected abroad." By @changche.bsky.social:

‘You Think We’re Afraid of America?’

Chinese manufacturers seem ready for a trade war.

theatlantic.com

In Yiwu, the largest wholesale manufacturing hub, Chinese sellers told me that Trump's tariffs would hurt, but they're ready to hunker down. My latest @TheAtlantic www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

‘You Think We’re Afraid of America?’

Chinese manufacturers seem ready for a trade war.

theatlantic.com

For @gdnlongread, I wrote about Chinese burnout, and the man who's created a business—modeled of Alcoholics Anonymous—to tackle it, one session at a time. www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

The man making a business out of China’s burnout generation

Li Jianxiong was a highflying marketing executive in Beijing until a breakdown sent him to the west on a wellness voyage of discovery – just as his peers were losing faith in the Chinese Dream

theguardian.com

For @newyorker.com, I wrote about Xiao Gongqin, the architect of Chinese “neo-authoritarianism." I discuss its origins, Xiao's views of American politics, and what lessons his theory holds for America's current predicament. www.newyorker.com/news/the-wee...

The Father of Chinese Authoritarianism Has a Message for America

Xiao Gongqin thought that, in moments of flux, a strongman could build a bridge to democracy. Now he’s not so sure.

newyorker.com