The Little Red Podcast

23/11/2025

How far will technology go in China? Daria Impiombato gives us a sneak peak into the future. For the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ivyA3TyXY

19/11/2025

In our latest episode, we explore China’s rapid adoption of AI. Guests Alex Colville and Daria Impiombato delve into China’s motivations in developing AI and international scepticism of China’s capability.

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/the-lead-goose-china-s-ai-embrace?in_playlist=podcast

16/11/2025

With news breaking of Shi Yongxin’s recent arrest, find out the background to this story in our recent episode on the revival of Buddhism in China.

Listen to the full episode:

https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/karma-chameleon-the-ccp-turns-to-buddhism

04/11/2025

In the latest episode in our series on belief, we’re looking at the CCP’s faith in Artificial Intelligence. China has embraced AI like no other nation, laying out a plan for AI that would see 70 percent adoption across six sectors - including governance – within the next two years. This aggressive approach is driven by commercial imperatives, the desire to shape international standards, and the hope that AI will solve the Party’s biggest worry: social stability. To explore China’s AI dreams, Louisa and Graeme are joined by China Media Project’s Alex Colville, who also writes the China Chatbot newsletter on Lingua Sinica, and Daria Impiombato, a senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies.

Image: Goose, c/- Andy Hazel, 2025

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/the-lead-goose-china-s-ai-embrace

31/10/2025

The resurgence of shamanism in China has taken many different forms, but none quite as surprising as a shaman-inspired theme park. In this excerpt from our latest episode, Feng Qu tells the story of Chang Chun’s Shamanistic Joy Park and its owner, including its untimely ending following government disapproval.

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/wolf-spirits-and-wild-shamans-the-revival-of-spirit-mediums

29/10/2025

Our latest episode in our series on belief in China examined the revitalisation of shamanism. Guests Feng Qu and Mayfair Yang detail what Shamanistic practices look like today, how it is considered in comparison to other beliefs in China, and what the future holds for shamanism.

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/wolf-spirits-and-wild-shamans-the-revival-of-spirit-mediums

25/10/2025

In our episode on shamanism in China, we explore regional differences in shamanistic practices. Feng Qu reflects upon practices in northeastern China, while Mayfair Yang compares northern shamanism with practices in Wenzhou in southeastern China.

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/wolf-spirits-and-wild-shamans-the-revival-of-spirit-mediums

19/10/2025

In our most recent episode, we looked into the resurgence of shamanism across China, bringing an ancient practice into the contemporary era. Guests Feng Qu and Mayfair Yang contemplate what shamanism looks like in today’s China, from its geographic spread to current associations with the practice.

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/wolf-spirits-and-wild-shamans-the-revival-of-spirit-mediums

08/10/2025

In the latest episode in our series on belief, we’re exploring the surprising revival of shamanism in China, which has made a comeback despite Mao's best efforts at eradication. Ritual healers and spirit mediums are tapping into online believers and a public thirst for authentic spirituality. Shamanism has also become a tourist draw as a form of cultural and religious heritage, with a shamanic theme park even existing in northeast China until 2021. To explore the diversity of shamanic practices across China and their survival in the face of official scepticism, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Feng Qu, an archaeologist from Nanjing Normal University and Mayfair Yang, a cultural anthropologist from UC Santa Barbara.

Image: Totem poles at the Changbai Mountain Nayin Tribe Shamanic Culture Tourist Resort. Feng Qu, February 2023.

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/wolf-spirits-and-wild-shamans-the-revival-of-spirit-mediums

08/10/2025

Our latest episode of the pod is live - you can catch it on YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

In the latest episode in our series on belief, we’re exploring the surprising revival of shamanism in China, which has made a comeback despite Mao's best eff...

30/09/2025

Our episode on China’s incel community explored discourse on gender expectations in Chinese society. Qian Huang from the University of Groningen weighs in on how state and incel community perspectives differ on articulating women’s roles.

Listen to the full episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/man-up-the-rise-and-rise-of-china-s-manosphere