Jeremiah Jenne
@jeremiahjenne.com
China-based PhD historian and global storyteller. 20+ years making history come alive through teaching, tours, & writing. Co-host: Barbarians at the Gate & By Their Own Compass. Short Bio: Birth. School. Work. More School. China.
The virgin liberal looks at the US attacking Canada and is baffled by an ally attacking an ally for no reason. The chad Legalist understands the stratagem of befriending far (North Korea, Russia), while attacking near (Canada, Greenland, Minneapolis) is the True wisdom.
What do Anthropic's hunger for training data, an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas, and the possible loss of thousands of documents related to the history of USAID have to do with the Qianlong Emperor? Link in the reply below.
Come for the bizarre need to prove that the Tang Dynasty, in fact, was a thing; stay for the obligatory smack at the New Qing Historians tacked on at the end of the article. news.ifeng.com/c/8vkEqv6KA9C
“唐朝不存在”是如何炮制的？《中国社会科学报》刊文梳理
石家庄市第一中学历史教师张宇宙谈到，历史教学可以以伪史论内容为教学案例，拆解其从史料到史识，再到方法、本质、目的的错误逻辑，识破其散播历史虚无主义的企图，引导学生自我判断，不被碎片化的短视频误导。
news.ifeng.com
Great on-the-ground insight from Shenzhen-based writer/consultant Yajun Zhang
The World Is Cheering China’s AI Win. On the Ground, Nobody Has Time to Celebrate
180,000 AI anime titles a month. A Didi driver who's happier earning less. Notes from on the ground in China's tech scene.
substack.com
At breakfast today in Shanghai, I saw this translation and immediately had thoughts of @bokane.org and the hills upon which we choose to fight and die.
MAGA embraces the long-standing CCP policy of "Patriotic Education for the Masses" (爱国教育） www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/o...
Morning hike up Baoshi Hill in Hangzhou. The Baochu Pagoda site dates to the 960s.
Nellie Bly saw her race around the world as a competition against time, Jules Verne’s fictional Phileas Fogg, and society’s notions about what a woman could or couldn’t do. New York City newspapers saw it differently. Listen to the full episode here: www.bytheirowncompass.com/p/nellie-bly...
Morning walk in Suzhou on the Baodai Bridge. 53 arches constructed in the 9th century so barge pullers (job description = position title) could tow cargoes across the mouth of Dantai Lake. The steel monstrosity behind it is the younger, hotter replacement with far less charm and grace.
Somerset Maugham's On a Chinese Screen was written over a century ago. So why do so many of the expat archetypes Maugham collected in his travels still feel so relevant today? Alexander Boyd of @chinabooksreview.com joins me to discuss on the latest episode of Barbarians at the Gate. Link below.
Every classics scholar watching Nolan’s Odyssey rn
Nellie Bly faked insanity to expose the horrors of a 19th-century asylum. Sarah subjected herself to industrial quantities of hairspray and make-up to infiltrate a budget airline. Learn more about Nellie Bly’s amazing story and her epic journey around the world at By Their Own Compass. Link below.
Crusading reporter. Feminist icon. World traveler. And somebody who never backed down from a challenge. Nellie Bly was a legend. This is her story. www.bytheirowncompass.com/p/nellie-bly...
Nellie Bly's Record-Breaking Race Around the World
Listen now | How a gutsy undercover reporter beat Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days – and became a global sensation
bytheirowncompass.com
The state intervenes in the market to avoid setting off a panic and to promote social stability. Maybe it's just me, but whenever I see the "National Team" buying the dip in the Chinese stock market, I can't help but think of the Qing-era Ever Normal Granaries hooked up to a Bloomberg terminal.
Maugham's On a Chinese Screen is the author's setting board, upon which he pins missionaries, consular officials, fellow tourists, and the occasional Chinese scholar. My latest column for @chinabooksreview.com chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/16/w...
W. Somerset Maugham: On a Chinese Screen | China Books Review
Over a century after it came out, Maugham's travelogue of his trip to China in 1919–20 reveals less about China itself, more about the foreigners who lived there.
chinabooksreview.com
Trump's war in Iran has made gas unaffordable and I am suffering from explosive diarrhea I contracted from a parasite that RFK Jr. said was good for you. But my liberal neighbor won't stop saying "Odysseus" with this weird ancient Greek accent. I have never felt more politically homeless.
"A racist law that inspired more racist laws and was literally named after its racism is definitely not racist. At least according to the Trump administration." MAGA's version of "Patriotic Education" (爱国教育) finds ever deeper depths of dumb. www.thebulwark.com/p/racist-law...
Racist Law From 1882 Is Not That Racist, Trump Says
Buried in the White House’s broadside against the Smithsonian is a bizarre—and revealing—claim about the Chinese Exclusion Act.
thebulwark.com
A century after it came out, Maugham's travelogue of his trip to China in 1919–20 reveals less about China itself, more about the foreigners who lived there. Read Jeremiah Jenne's latest Archive Pick now: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/16/w...
The World Cup final is Sunday, and the latest episode from By Their Own Compass looks back at one of the most improbable journeys in World Cup history. Simon Cockerell of Koryo Tours (183 visits to the DPRK and counting!) joins to discuss. Link to the full episode below.
The technical term for getting beaten soundly by Belgium in soccer is “getting waffle housed.”
The US men's soccer team suffered an embarrassing defeat after Donald Trump had a bizarre interaction with FIFA. So why does it feel like Joe Biden is the one who had Folarin Balogun's red card rescinded?
This has literally always been the case, you blithering dipshit.
Johan Hegg would like a word... www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2z5...
Amon Amarth - Row in Toronto (12-02-22) @AmonAmarthOfficial
YouTube video by Dave For Night
youtube.com
Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻♀️@chenchenzhang.net · 2mo agothought the "viking row" was some kind of years old tradition. turns out it was a very recent idea from a guy named Ole Frøystad, who successfully pitched it to the national team's supporters' alliance. www.vg.no/sport/i/q6me...
On our latest episode celebrating the 100th anniversary of Route 66, I want to talk about highways, but Sarah has a more basic question: Sure, America has great roads…but why doesn’t it have a decent train system?
Nothing says freedom like the open road. This year is not only the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence, but also marks the 100th anniversary of the most iconic highway in America – Route 66. Listen to the latest episode of By Their Own Compass on Substack, Apple, or Spotify.
Route 66: Cowboys, Cadillacs and Nat King Cole
Listen now | A true embodiment of the American dream, or US exceptionalism at its finest?
bytheirowncompass.substack.com
Did Chinese admiral Zheng He discover America? What’s the evidence, and what do historians make of Gavin Menzies ’ best-selling book 1421? Listen to the latest episode of By Their Own Compass on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Zheng He was a eunuch and a badass commander of an armada. Listen to the latest episode of By Their Own Compass for more about why historians haven't always been fair to eunuchs in Chinese history. For more, listen to the latest episode of By Their Own Compass (link below)
China built the world's biggest armada, sailed it across the Indian Ocean seven times, and then just... stopped. Why? New episode on Zheng He, the eunuch admiral who commanded it. Link to the full episode below.
