One of the hardest things about leaving The Spectator magazine was no longer creating and hosting the podcast, Chinese Whispers. Founded in 2020 as (I’m pretty sure) Britain’s first China podcast, it was also my baby. Over the years we racked up over 200 episodes, covering everything from China’s obsession with Taiwan to the Chinese ketamine craze of the Noughties. I tried to bring a more colourful and complex side to China than delivered by mainstream news headlines, because that’s the China I know and love. And I was endlessly inspired and impressed by you, the devoted listeners who were also interested in this side to the country.
Well, I’ve had a year off, but it’s time... So many of you asked me when and if it would ever come back, I figured: why not?
Chinese Whispers is officially back.
I’m going to try to keep to the winning formula of Whispers 1.0, which is (I think) a mix of high and low when it comes to topics, a light but informative tone and, when the occasion calls, bringing my own experience of these issues into the recording (much to the chagrin of my poor mother). But on Substack there has never been an easier way to let me know your thoughts, feedback, and suggestions for future topics, so please do get in touch!
Apart from the music, the main difference is that Whispers 2.0 will now be hosted on Substack as my own creation. I think that means two things. First, without the podcast platform of The Spectator, it might be harder to grow – so please, if you know others who loved the podcast, do tell them about its return.
The second difference is that the show will no longer be free. Because it takes resources (both time and money) to keep a podcast going on my own steam, full episodes will only be available to paid subscribers of the Chinese Whispers Substack.
The Substack has been free so far, but from now on I will be adding a paid tier which includes weekly posts and at least monthly episodes. Free subscribers will still get fortnightly updates, but I hope you understand and will consider supporting the show!
But to celebrate the reboot and to help you share it widely with other fans, this episode will be free to listen to.
Ep 1. Regional Stereotypes
In a country as big as China, you will not be surprised to hear that the Chinese people hold many assumptions, prejudices and stereotypes about people from other parts of the country, from other socioeconomic or educational backgrounds, about genders and professions. It’s a topic I’ve wanted to cover for a long time, because it is such an authentically Chinese conversation.
So I was delighted when Yaling Jiang of the Following the Yuan Substack covered exactly this earlier this year. Yaling identified six major stereotypes that the Chinese have about each other, from the Beijing Uncle to the Shanghai Socialite or the Shenzhen Drifter.
As ever with these cultural labels, they say so much about China, bringing in so much of its history of economic development, the cultural heritage of various regions, gender relations, etc etc. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it.
The Transcript
With the help of AI, I can now provide full transcripts for episodes going forward. Scroll back up to find a tab that should say ‘Transcript’.
Please bear with any transcription mistakes and typos – the best experience, probably, is still listening to the conversation!
