Even though I don’t work at a university, a lot of what I do still accords with the rhythms of the academic calendar. The end of the spring term is fast approaching, which means campus events are happening at a rapid pace: last week I gave one talk and attended two others, and the weeks ahead hold the promise of more. Much as I appreciate the convenience and connectivity of Zoom talks, it’s also quite pleasant to walk the halls at the University of Michigan and meet up with colleagues there. (And the provision of “light refreshments” usually makes up for the annoyance of hunting down a parking spot.)
Another highlight of the week: my documentary debut in “Panda Power: The Origins of Panda Diplomacy,” now available on YouTube thanks to Channel News Asia. (I wrote about the experience of filming this in a weekly column at the end of January.)
Recommendations
China Stories
Ivan Franceschini, “Dissident at the Doorstep: A Conversation with Yangyang Cheng”
Tom Grundy, “Reporters Without Borders rep. denied entry to Hong Kong, NGO says, after 6-hour detention, searches at airport”
Amy Hawkins, “The Chinese émigrés leaving the pressures of home for laid back Chiang Mai”
Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu, “The Earth Buffalo Flips Over”
Lin uses the word “cold” (冷淡) to describe the atmosphere of the publishing industry in Hong Kong. He points out that media have played a crucial role in the health of the publishing — and authorities’ crackdown on the press has been yet another challenge for the industry. “The bleakness of the media also has an impact on the book industry,” says Lin. “Newly published books need to be promoted through media reporting, and the dimming vibrancy of civil society has also impacted reading habits.”
Leung Ka Lai, “Finding Hope in the Fissures”
Kanis Leung, “Beneath the calm, Hong Kong’s new security law drives deeper, quieter changes”
Joshua Yang, “A Memoryless Hong Kong: On Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin’s ‘Among the Braves’ and Brian Kern’s ‘Liberate Hong Kong’”
Li Yuan, “What Chinese Outrage Over ‘3 Body Problem’ Says About China”
Wanderings Around the World
Robert Bickers, “Old stories, new departures”
Stella Kalinina, “‘More good days than bad’: the Ukrainian refugees rebuilding their lives in California”
Karin Wulf, “Archival Shouting: Silence and Volume in Collections and Institutions”
Standout Story
These men were no beasts of burden, but talented prognosticators who turned a racist policy, rooted in subjugation, into a livelihood and a source of esteem—one that, ironically, first added diversity to the game of golf. Men like Willie Peterson, who was on the bag for five of Jack Nicklaus’s six Masters victories. Or Willie “Cemetery” Perteet, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s personal caddie at Augusta National during the fifties. When the club bent to pressure in 1982 and dropped the ban on outside caddies, the change rocked the corps—many of its members, including those who counted on that crucial tournament paycheck to tide them over till the seasonal club reopened in October, had to look for other work.
Latria Graham, “Masters of the Green: The Black Caddies of Augusta National”
Feature photo: The only golf-related photo in my library: Waynesborough Country Club, October 2021. (I was there for a wedding, not to play a round.)
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham 
Leave a comment