The Listening Post

China: Regulating superstars, superfans and big tech

Are China’s new regulations designed to build a better society or a strong Communist Party? Plus, activists vs statues in Colombia.

Xi Jinping’s China has embarked on a campaign that could transform the country’s technology, entertainment and media industries.

Contributors:
Chris Buckley – China correspondent, The New York Times
Kaiser Kuo – Host, The Sinica Podcast and editor-at-large, SupChina
Bingchun Meng – Associate professor, Department of Media and Communications, LSE
Rui Zhong – Program associate, Wilson Center, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States

On our radar

A month of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Meenakshi Ravi and producer Johanna Hoes discuss how the Taliban is already leaving its mark on the country’s news industry despite initial promises to the contrary.

Structures of oppression? Colombia’s falling statues

Indigenous Colombians have been toppling statues of European colonisers – challenging how the country’s history is remembered.

Contributors:
Didier Chirimuscay – Misak community leader
Rodolfo Segovia – President, Colombian Academy of History
Amada Carolina Perez – Historian, Javeriana University