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Weekly Wanderings: August 23, 2026
In just about a month I’ll be leaving for ten days in Lahore, Pakistan—first to work at the AAS-in-Asia conference, then for some time on my own to see the city. This will be my first trip to Pakistan, so of course I’m preparing the best way I know how: research. I probably won’t get…
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Weekly Wanderings: August 16, 2026
I’m keeping it simple this week in the China links section with an exclusive focus on the passing of former PRC Premier Zhu Rongji, who died on August 12 at the age of 97. As you’ll see in many of the stories below, Zhu hasn’t been a major player in Communist Party politics for many…
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Weekly Wanderings: August 9, 2026
Thanks for joining me this week. Recommendations China Stories E. Eduardo Castillo, “A rare glimpse into Tibet, where some hope to preserve language and customs despite China’s new law” The discovery at Sanxingdui helped force Chinese scholars to revise their understanding of ancient China—that it was never rooted in a single civilization on the banks…
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Weekly Wanderings: August 2, 2026
Ten Years?!? Ten Years!! I still think of myself as having somewhat recently moved to Michigan, but this past week marked my ten-year anniversary in the state. I’m a Michigander, I guess? Except I haven’t learned to say “furnace,” “pop,” or “tennis shoes” when I’m talking about a heater, soda, or sneakers. I was thinking…
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Weekly Wanderings: July 19, 2026
Heat, humidity, wildfire smoke … I’m sure I wasn’t the only person struggling with conditions this week. I told my brother yesterday, “I hate feeling hermetically sealed,” but the only way to cope has been with all my windows shut and the air conditioner running. At the same time, I’m ever-conscious that I’m only experiencing…
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Weekly Wanderings: July 13, 2026
In the Hot Seat The Phillies have been very up-and-down lately, so I went to yesterday’s game against the Tigers in Detroit with some trepidation. The Tigers had won the first game in the series, 10-2, on Friday, before the Phillies rebounded on Saturday to eke out a 4-2 victory. I would see almost-All Star…
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Weekly Wanderings: July 5, 2026
Semiquincentennial Edition Apple Pages doesn’t recognize “semiquincentennial” and keeps underlining it as misspelled. Not very patriotic, Apple. (Apparently Pages wants me to hyphenate the word, but that looks weird and pedantic so I’m keeping it [allegedly] misspelled.) After taking June off from posting, I’m easing back into things this week with a short list of…
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Weekly Wanderings: May 31, 2026
Don’t Try This at Home My book club is discussing Kiran Desai’s third novel, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, tomorrow night. The book is nearly 700 pages long—so when did I start reading it? Friday morning. 🙄 The past few days have been a throwback to graduate school, with me racing through the book…
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Weekly Wanderings: May 26, 2026
Thanks for joining me this week. Recommendations China Stories Chang Che, “Mistranslations at the Trump-Xi summit” Chen Yiru, “Before WeChat, There Were Qiaopi Writers” Rachel Cheung, Noah Berman, Savannah Billman, and Tom Mitchell, “Assessing the Summit” J. Michael Cole, “After All the Noise: The Trump-Xi Meeting and What It May Mean for Taiwan” Ella Creamer,…
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Weekly Wanderings: May 17, 2026
Mr. Trump Goes to China China analysts were working overtime last week as Donald Trump flew to Beijing for two days of meetings with Xi Jinping. While there are innumerable issues causing friction around the edges, it seems to have been a cordial and uneventful trip overall. Both men made some carefully planned remarks (Trump…
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Maura Elizabeth Cunningham 