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cover of episode Let Only Red Flowers Bloom with NPR Correspondent Emily Feng

Let Only Red Flowers Bloom with NPR Correspondent Emily Feng

2025/4/15
logo of podcast Barbarians at the Gate

Barbarians at the Gate
AI Chapters Transcript
Chapters
The episode begins with Emily Feng, the author, discussing her recent move back to the United States after years of reporting in China and Taiwan. She reflects on her decision to take a break from social media, particularly from news related to the United States, and the interesting conversations she's had with people in Beijing who are considering moving there.
  • Emily Feng's return to the US after reporting from China and Taiwan
  • Her self-imposed social media break from US news
  • Anecdotes of people considering moving to Beijing

Shownotes Transcript

In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, we talk with Emily Feng about her new book Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China).* Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting for NPR), Emily paints a picture of how state control has intensified over recent years, reshaping Chinese society, politics, and culture.

Emily explains how she wove together personal stories into the historical, cultural, and political contexts, offering insights into the lives of Uyghurs separated by detention camps, human rights lawyers battling censorship, Mongolian educators struggling to preserve their language, and ordinary citizens whose acts of remembrance have become quiet forms of resistance.