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About This Podcast
Hosted by writers Chang Che and Ian Buruma, Into Asia explores how China, Japan, and Korea are reshaping the world. From memory politics to AI and demographic decline, they connect history and current affairs to reveal the new role Asia will play in the twenty-first century.
Editing by Sydney Watson
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Recent Episodes
The Velvet Prison: Self-Censorship from Berlin to Beijing to New York
How should decent people live in indecent societies? Chang and Ian look at historical cases from Nazi Germany and contemporary China to see how artists and intellectuals responded, and resisted, as…
Trump at the Imperial Court
Chang and Ian unpack Trump's historic summit with Xi Jinping. They discuss the pageantry, the Taiwan question, the first serious bilateral talks on AI, plus the echoes of Marco Polo and the Macartney…
Taiwan on the Eve of the Summit
Will Trump cut a deal with Xi that concedes ground on America's Taiwan policy? That is the question hanging over the US-China summit in Beijing this week. To talk through what's at stake, Ian and I…
Why So Many Asians Study Classical Music
Why are Chinese, Korean, and Japanese musicians so overrepresented in Western orchestras? Mari Yoshihara, author of Musicians from a Different Shore, joins Ian Buruma and Chang Che to trace how…
A Year Inside ByteDance's AI Lab
From 2025 to 2026, Zhang Chi was an AI researcher at ByteDance Seed, the division behind Doubao, China's most-used chatbot. Now a assistant professor at Peking University, he joins Chang for a rare…
Takaichi Goes to Washington
The main item on Sanae Takaichi's agenda during her recent visit to the White House, on March 19, was China: to shore up Japan's relationship with the U.S. ahead of Trump much-anticipated summit with…
Takaichi's New Japan
In February, Sanae Takaichi won the biggest electoral victory in the Liberal Democratic Party’s 70-year history. With a constitutional supermajority, an ambitious industrial policy, and a willingness…
China-maxxing: Why Young Americans are Rethinking China
In November, the left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker took his first trip to China, live-streaming the trip to hundreds of thousands of viewers on the streaming platform Twitch. Hasan is a…
Inside Xi Jinping’s Military Crackdown
China’s top generals are falling like flies, and at unprecedented speeds. As Xi Jinping dismantles the upper ranks of the People’s Liberation Army, questions are mounting about corruption, loyalty,…
Drum Diplomacy: As Trump Sows Chaos Abroad, South Korea and Japan Edge Closer
As Trump threatens the sovereignty of NATO allies, the leaders of South Korea and Japan appeared together in Nara, playing drums in a highly choreographed display of diplomatic comity. Ian and Chang…
The American Dream Is Fading. What Comes Next For China's Youths?
Across the world, the promise of stable growth that underwrote many economies is unraveling. From Nepal to Bulgaria to Mexico, young people fed up with the status quo are rebelling. While many have…
Taiwan’s Forgotten Role in Japan’s War
Lau Kek-huat is a Malaysian-born documentary filmmaker based in Taiwan. His latest film, From Island to Island, won the prestigious Golden Horse Award in 2024. The film examines the role of Taiwanese…
Japan’s New Leader Meets China’s Red Line
Less than a month into Sanae Takaichi’s tenure as Japan's prime minister, she has already sparked a diplomatic crisis with Japan's powerful neighbor. Joining us is Tokujin Matsudaira, a…
Anti-Semitism and East Asia
In the September 29, 2025, issue of The New Yorker, the writer Ian Buruma reviews two books that trace the uses and abuses of anti-semitism from late-19th century France to present-day US campus…
The Forces Shaping Asia's Low Birth Rates
China, Japan, and South Korea are each confronting plummeting birthrates and rapidly aging populations, each with worrying consequences for their economies, societies, and political futures.What…
The Chinese Immigrants Behind Japan’s Populist Surge
Japan's first female prime minister, Takaichi Sanae, a hard-line conservative, rose to power on promises of national renewal and a “Japan First” agenda. Her rise follows the stunning breakthrough of…
Inside China's AI Boom
From Shanghai’s World AI Conference to start-up incubators across the city, the Chinese tech analyst Rui Ma shares what she’s seeing on the ground, and where China actually stands in the global AI…
How China Remembers World War II
In September, China staged a boisterous military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of World War II. The spectacle is part of a broader campaign in recent years, from museums openings, movies, and…
Frequently Asked Questions
Into Asia has published 18 episodes since October 2025, covering topics in History, News.
Into Asia is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 45m.
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