The Little Red Podcast

11/06/2025

On the theme of Boys' Love this week, read host Graeme Smith’s 2021 article about the growth in popularity of BL and the censorship backlash, as published on The Intepreter.

As a genre, gay fiction has leapt from words to the screen with enormous popularity, but not beyond the censor’s reach.

10/06/2025

With recent crackdowns on Boys' Love (BL) authors in China, we reflect on an episode from back in 2021 exploring the genre. We hear from guests Angie Baecker and Huangxiang Zhenghuanzhe 幻想症患者 about the appeal of consuming and writing BL and how it explores masculinity and taboos in Chinese society.

For the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/fandom-untamed-the-business-of-boys-love

06/06/2025

Episode Rewind: June 4 marks the anniversary of the deadly crackdown ordered by Deng Xiaoping, which killed hundreds – maybe thousands – of people in Beijing and Chengdu. While the campaign to erase all memory of the event continues, explosive new information emerged in the lead up to the anniversary in 2019. It revealed new details about resistance to the crackdown among the military and how the Communist Party managed the aftermath of Tiananmen. Former student leader Zhou Fengsuo as well as the publisher of The Last Secret, Bao Pu and Joseph Torigian of American University joined us in this episode from 2019 to discuss these revelations and what life is like in exile for the student leaders.

For the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/tiananmens-final-secret

04/06/2025

In our 2019 episode “Tiananmen’s Final Secret”, Joseph Torigian and Zhou Fengsuo discuss what newly discovered materials about June 4 revealed about party allegiances at the time and the extent of popular support for the protestors. Torigian examines the perspectives of Politburo members in the lead up to and aftermath of the government's decision to crackdown on protestors. Meanwhile, former student protestor Fengsuo considers who supported the protestors and reasons behind the events of June 4.

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/tiananmens-final-secret

28/05/2025

In September 2018, the Vatican and China struck a landmark deal about the appointment of Catholic Bishops, but the political symbolism was far greater. The Holy See and Beijing effectively cut off relations in 1950 in the intervening years, around 12 million Chinese Catholics were forced to choose between worshipping at a state sanctioned church under the auspices of the Patriotic Association, which did not answer to the Vatican, or worshipping at unregistered churches. In this episode rewind, former Catholic priest and researcher Jeremy Clarke discusses what this looked like on the ground for China's Catholics and what the new deal meant for the future.

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/keeping-the-faith-xis-deal-with-the-holy-see

16/05/2025

With a new Pope in the Vatican, we reflect on China's relationship with the Holy See in an episode from way back in 2018. Six years ago, the Vatican and China signed a deeply controversial agreement on the appointment of bishops, ending the cold war that has frozen ties since 1950. That deep freeze led to schisms between the official and underground churches, with some clergy persecuted for decades and the church refusing to recognise Beijing's handpicked bishops. But the new agreement divided the faithful yet again, with some fearing Catholicism is facing calamity as President Xi Jinping tightens control over religion. To explore what’s behind this sudden rapprochement and what it could mean for China’s 12 million Catholics, Louisa and Graeme were joined by Jeremy Clarke, a former Catholic priest who has researched China's historical relations with the Holy See.

https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/keeping-the-faith-xis-deal-with-the-holy-see?in_playlist=podcast

16/05/2025

Prefer reading to listening? The transcript for our second-latest episode "Let's Get Spiritual: State, Digital Spirituality and Feng Shui in China" is available now! Hear from guests Tristan Brown and Haoyang Zhai on the China in the World website:

09/05/2025

In our latest episode, we discussed the recent rise of psychology in China. Guests Yiying Xiong, Hsuan-ying Huang, Barclay Bram share their thoughts on why the surge in interest in psychology has taken place, therapeutic trends, and the sustainability of psychology in China. Listen to the full episode here: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/china-on-the-couch-xi-jinpings-psy-boom

01/05/2025

In our latest episode on the recent surge in psychology in China, guest Hsuan-ying Huang speaks to how Xi Jinping defines mental health and its implications.

23/04/2025

Our LRP transcripts have moved to a new home! Read the transcript for our second-most recent episode, about changing marriage and birth rates in China:

China is in the grip of a gender war. While government officials are texting and even cold calling women to urge them have children, the fertility rate continues to drop. Better educated and often better paid their male peers, many urban Chinese women are simply choosing not to marry. To discuss the...

21/04/2025

In this rewind, we revisit our episode on the relationship between China and Hollywood, from back in 2019. Guest Rebecca Davis discusses the possibility of China exerting control on Hollywood in the future.

11/04/2025

In this episode rewind, we revisit China’s foray into Hollywood back in 2019. With cinema takings in the United States at a 22-year low, Hollywood moguls are looking to an unlikely saviour: China. With box office revenues growing at 9 percent, Hollywood is scrambling to find the formula for movies that make the cut of China’s 34 approved films and appeal to Chinese audiences. For every surprise hit, like The Meg and Warcraft, there are flops like The Great Wall. Like many an autocrat before him, Xi Jinping is enamoured of the silver screen, elevating film above radio and television in his 2018 overhaul of the propaganda apparatus. To discuss the special place of film in China’s global soft power push, back in March Louisa and Graeme were joined by City University of New York’s Ying Zhu and Variety Magazine’s Beijing bureau chief Rebecca Davis.

For the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/power-projection-china-s-hollywood-dream