Video journalist Isabelle Niu joins us to talk about the pending WeChat ban and her Quartz video “Is WeChat a Problem for Democracies?” With so much talk around banning Chinese apps like WeChat and TikTok and China’s recent expulsion of American journalists, our tiny window into China is quickly closing. Isabelle tells us how WeChat provides insight into what the Chinese government is signaling and into the lives of WeChat’s 1 billion users. What are the consequences of not understanding Chinese society and politics? How will alienating China affect diaspora communities? We also talk to Isabelle about Loud Murmurs, our favorite left-leaning Mandarin language podcast that unpacks foreign culture and media to better understand what it means to be Chinese.

Dolly and Joey also atone for Indigenous People’s day sins by proposing to rename Columbus, OH to Flavortown, OH, give a 🚨 MILES GUO ALERT 🚨 about the fight he’s picking with Texas pastor Bob Fu and Big Jesus, and bless the show with an NBA title for Flavortown’s very own LeBron James.

Watch “Is WeChat a Problem for Democracies?”: youtube.com/watch?v=Lrn5in0iBd8

Listen to Loud Murmurs: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/loud-murmurs-%E5%B0%8F%E5%A3%B0%E5%96%A7%E5%93%97/id1355583279

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