Syria, Korea, China, pandas, pizza, museums, hockey, Rancho Gordo beans—this reading round-up is jam-packed and truly has something for just about everyone. It’s also my final reading round-up of 2024, as I’m going to publish some holiday-themed posts next week and the following. Thanks for joining me this week!
Recommendations
Events in Syria
Rania Abouzeid, “The Fall of Assad’s Syria”
Anne Applebaum, “The Syrian Regime Collapsed Gradually—And Then Suddenly”
John Lee Anderson, “Searching for Loved Ones in a Newly Liberated Syrian Prison”
Carlotta Gall, with photographs by David Guttenfelder, “‘They Had the Desire to Return’”
The palace bore some indications that the mood inside had soured as the rebels approached the city. A dumpster overflowed with shredded papers. A table in one office held a half-finished cup of coffee, a dozen cigarette butts and a remote control, evoking the image of its former occupant smoking nervously while watching the news of the rebel advance. The television had been torn from the wall.
— Ben Hubbard, with photographs by Nicole Tung, “A Tour of Assad’s Monumental Palace, With a Scruffy Rebel as a Guide”
Louisa Loveluck, “War destroyed and divided Aleppo. Can Assad’s fall unite the city?”
Louisa Loveluck and Mustafa Salim, “As Syria’s notorious prisons empty, families search for the missing”
Bethan McKernan, “‘We won’t stop until we find them all’: joy gives way to grief as Syria buries its dead”
Rob Schmitz, “Syrians who left their war-torn country for Germany debate whether to return” (audio)
What are words anyway? They are supposed to convey meaning, but how do you distill the meaning of what happened in the last 10 days, as Syria’s rebels staged the greatest insurgent comeback in history to end 60 years of Baathist rule? How do you distill the liberation of Aleppo, one of the world’s oldest cities? How do you describe the freeing of Hama, a city that has been so thoroughly traumatized by Rifaat al-Assad’s rampage in the 1980s that it has waited 40 years to grieve its men, women and children? How do you capture the emotional resonance of watching church bells ring in Christian Sahnaya to the tune of “One, one, one, the Syrian people are one?” Or the sonorous tones of the deceased prominent rebel and former goalkeeper Abdel Baset al-Sarout singing the revolutionary song “Jannah Jannah” echoing in the heart of Umayyad Square in Damascus? The chants of hundreds of thousands gathered in Assi Square in Hama and around the Homs Clock Tower?
— Kareem Shaheen, “Dawn in Damascus” — and make sure to check out more of the amazing reporting and analysis on Syria published by New Lines magazine
Robin Wright, “Syria After Assad”
China Stories
Michael Forsythe, Bianca Pallaro, Jay Root, and Benjamin Weiser, “How a Criminal With Close Ties to China Became a New York Power Broker”
John Garnaut and Sam Chetwin George, “This Unreadable Russian Novel Is Xi Jinping’s Spiritual Guide”
Mara Hvistendahl and Joy Dong, “The Panda Factories” and Mara Hvistendahl, “U.S. Zoos Gave a Fortune to Protect Pandas. That’s Not How China Spent It.”
Mara Hvistendahl, Joy Dong, and Adam Goldman, “From Chinese Patriot to American Spy: The Unusual Life of John Leung”
The film’s reception reflects the unpredictable nature of censorship in the country, as well as the growing appetite for female-centered stories. Discussion of women’s issues is generally allowed so long as it does not morph into calls for rights. “Her Story,” which some have called China’s answer to “Barbie,” cushions many of its social critiques with jokes.
— Vivian Wang, “How a Feminist Comedy Came to Rule China’s Box Office”
Clarissa Wei, “Pizza Hut Taiwan Knows It’s Making Italians Angry”
Sean Williams, “Risky Business: Southeast Asia’s runaway gambling industry has created chaos — both to the detriment and advantage of China.”
Wanderings Around the World
Peter Baugh, “‘What a shot’: The stories behind some of hockey’s most iconic photos from the man who took them”
Amber X. Chen and Lucy Tobier, “The ‘Save Chinatown’ Coalition Goes on the Defensive in Philadelphia”
It was at Lefortovo that I came to understand the power of the shadowy force that had taken away my freedom. In one of the First Investigative Department’s offices, under the watch of two portraits of Putin and a third of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Soviet Union’s first secret police service, the chief investigator on my case explained that I had been arrested and charged as a CIA agent because DKRO had said that’s what I was. “That’s enough for me,” the investigator said.
— Evan Gershkovich, with Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson, and Thomas Grove, “Tracking Putin’s Most Feared Secret Agency—From Inside a Russian Prison and Beyond”
Sarah Johnson, “Women at the wheel: the female taxi services bringing safety and independence to Bolivian travel”
E. Tammy Kim, “In South Korea, a Blueprint for Resisting Autocracy?”
Ruchi Kumar, “An Afghan museum that buried its artifacts after Taliban takeover is reborn online”
South Korea now enters a prolonged period of uncertainty: The Constitutional Court must decide whether to uphold the impeachment charges, a process that could take up to six months. If the court decides the legislature’s decision is constitutional, Yoon will be removed from office and a new presidential election will be held within 60 days.
— Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol impeached after martial law ploy”
— Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Kelly Kasulis Cho, “South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s fall was as fast as his ascent”
Michael E. Ruane, “Beneath the Lincoln Memorial, a vast space is being transformed”
Kat Sklar, “‘Why Am I So Stoked About Surprise Legumes??’ The Rancho Gordo Bean Club Obsession, Unpacked”
Standout Story
Rahman’s secret repatriation is a starkly chilling example of how China increasingly exerts its will extrajudicially outside its borders, not only over Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, but also international bodies — including the United Nations, whose systems were designed to protect the world’s most vulnerable. Under international law, no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture or other inhumane treatment. The United States says there is an ongoing genocide against the Uyghur Muslim population, and in 2022, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said China may be responsible for crimes against humanity against the minority group.
— Shibani Mahtani, “He thought he had escaped Beijing’s clutches only to vanish back into China”
Recent Publications
Featured photo: Holiday decorations at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA, January 10, 2015.
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham 
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