China's New Youth

Barbarians at the Gate

In this episode, Jeremiah and David catch up with writer, editor, and journalist Alec Ash, to discuss the new US edition of his 2016 book Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China. Alec’s book is an intimate portrait of six diverse members of China’s “post-80s” generation, tracing their lives’ trajectory in the context of China’s turbulent and unpredictable economic modernization process. Orville Schell called the book “…a fascinating mosaic that gives us a wonderfully vivid sense of what it’s like to grow up today in the People’s Republic of China.”

With the themes of the book as a jumping-off point, the topic broadens in historical scope, exploring communalities and contrasts in earlier youth movements such as the May 4th movement, the Tiananmen Square movement, the Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution, and the current resurgence of nationalism among the “post-2000’s” generation. Alec’s articles have appeared in publications such as The Economist, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, and elsewhere. He is Managing Editor of the China Channel at the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Articles mentioned in the podcast:

Peter Hessler, "How China Controlled the Coronavirus: Teaching and Learning in Sichuan during the Pandemic," The New Yorker, August 10, 2020

Geremie R. Barmé, "The Good Caucasian of Sichuan & Kumbaya China," China Heritage, September 1, 2020

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