Podcasts that explore the Middle Kingdom and its people
The Chinese New Year falls annually in late January/early February, so I took this as a cue to find podcasts that focus on China — living in China, Chinese history, and business and startup culture.
One in a Billion—a podcast about China through the voices of Chinese millennials in America, hosted by Mable Chan. Start with: Episode 2, looking at China’s gender imbalance through the lens of photojournalist Muyi Xiao.
The China History Podcast—host Laszlo Montgomery covers 5,000 years of Chinese culture and history. Start with: The History of Tea, Part I, the beginning of 47 centuries of tea history as it related to China.
China in the World—host and director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center Paul Haenle in conversation with international Chinese policy and relations experts. Start with: Is China’s Belt and Road a Strategy?, on the proposed economic infrastructure for trade with Asia and Europe.
Sinica Podcast — Sinica Podcast is a weekly discussion from of current affairs in China with hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn. Start with: Ken Liu on Chinese science fiction.
Bottled in China — a new-to-the-scene podcast on the food and beverage scene in Asia. Start with: Reinventing the Bao: Alex Xu, owner of Baoism, transform Shanghai street food.
The China Startup Pulse—a behind the scenes on the ground look at the ecosystem of startups in China, hosted by Todd (Havoc) Embley and Ryan Shuken. Start with: Zero to Hero: Jenny Zhu, cofounder of Open Language, on WeChat content strategy in 8 steps.
Ready to begin listening? All the links in this article will automatically open in the RadioPublic app, so download the app for iOS or Android to get started. If you’d like the recommended starter episodes listed here in one handy playlist to go, we’ve got that too: China Rising — select any episode to hear it now or tap “follow” in the app to listen to the playlist later.
