Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

The Phillies season has ended; the Flyers season has begun. Time marches on.

Thanks for joining me this week.

Recommendations

China Stories

Emma Belmonte, “A Surrogacy Silk Road: Chinese Parents Head West for Babies”

Yangyang Cheng, “No Country for A Woman”

While men and boys are perceived to have more potential, are allowed more time, and extended more grace to make mistakes, as women and girls, we are always racing against time: we are told we must study harder before menses drains our brains, find a life partner before we age out of desirability, and fulfil our motherly duties before the biological clock runs out. Neither our time nor our body fully belongs to us. They are claimed by men and by the state, in the name of harmony and prosperity.

— Yangyang Cheng, “Beyond Representation: On Being a Woman in Science in China”

ChinaFile Conversation, “Remembering Jerome A. Cohen”

Helen Davidson, “‘I can touch the clouds’: how it feels to cross the world’s highest bridge”

Zhao Gu Gammage, “When Arafat Met Zhou Enlai”

Hai Xing, “Breaking the Ice: Li Shenzhi and American Studies in China in the 1980s”

Lily Kuo, “China Punishes ‘Excessively Pessimistic’ Social Media Users”

Alexandra Stevenson, with photographs by Paulo Nunes Dos Santos, “An Irish Factory Town Prospered With China. Now, Its ‘Jewel in the Crown’ Is Leaving.”

Wanderings Around the World

Eric Foner, “The Underground Railroad’s Stealth Sailors”

Nevin Martell, “Wild rice binds this tribe together. It’s under threat from every direction.”

Talya Minsberg, “New Race-Day Worry for the Chicago Marathon: Immigration Enforcement”

Standout Stories

Yesterday wrapped up observation of another Banned Books Week, so I’m taking this opportunity to recommend The Beautiful and Banned, a podcast hosted by Christine Renee Miller and Jessica Goudeau. The pair talk through banned books, plays, and movies of both recent years and earlier vintage (I didn’t expect an episode on the works of Molière!). Their conversations are informative and thoughtful: Miller and Goudeau wrangle with how they feel about religion, race, inequality, and more. Although the show is currently on hiatus as the hosts work on other projects, there are 40+ back episodes to listen to before it returns.

---

Montana State’s Maggie Greene is writing a book on the history of mountaineering in China and recently gave a very entertaining talk on her work during a visit to UC Irvine. If you’re interested in modern Chinese history, watching this video is a great way to spend an hour of your day.

Featured photo: Approaching the Taj Mahal, September 5, 2010.