Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

Thanks for joining me this week.

Recommendations

China Stories

Eliot Chen, “All the President’s Generals”

Chen Yiru, “Dot Dot Dot: What the Last Ever Telegrams From Hangzhou Say”

Rachel Cheung, “‘A Vicious Cycle’ — Squeezed by commercial and political pressures, China’s book publishers face an existential crisis.”

Jack Neubauer, “The Forgotten ‘Jeep Babies’ of China” — excerpt from Neubauer’s new book, The Adoption Plan: China and the Remaking of Global Humanitarianism

More and more Americans are now, perhaps for the first time in their lives, facing threats from their own government for simply doing their job, speaking their mind or protesting. As someone with experience challenging one of the world’s most ruthless and powerful governments, I have one important piece of advice to share: Show courage. This is not simply a display of moral strength. It is also an effective strategy for fighting back against creeping authoritarianism.

— Yaqiu Wang, “What I Learned in China: Obedience Gets You Nowhere”

Wanderings Around the World

Richard Fausset and Robert Chiarito, “New Pope Has Creole Roots in New Orleans”

Jessica Kutz, “The Black mothers behind one of the biggest environmental fights of the 20th century”

David Marchese, “Ocean Vuong Was Ready to Kill. Then a Moment of Grace Changed His Life.”

Oleksandr Polianichev, “Today, Tehran, Pyongyang and Beijing support the Kremlin’s war effort while it poses as anti-imperialist — but Iran, China, and Korea were once the prey of tsarist Russia”

Dodai Stewart, with photos by Joann Pai, “‘Paris Here I Come!’”

Featured photo: Belle Isle Park, Detroit, MI, May 12, 2024.