ARTICLES
MORSE CODE AND COMPUTERS
I'm sorry to report the passing of a legendary foreign correspondent, Wilbur G. Landrey, chief correspondent and world editor at UP and UPI in its heyday and later a remarkable correspondent for The St. Petersburg Times in its glory years under Gene Patterson.
DEEP, STUBBORN, AND LASTING
How are Chinese Catholics faring during this period of tensions between Beijing and the Vatican? In this piece for America magazine, I try to answer that complicated question.
SPEAKING LIKE A STATE
What happens when three-quarters of a nation loses its mother tongues by government order?
CENSORING CHINA QUARTERLY
In this piece for The New York Times, I write about Cambridge University Press’s decision to censor content of its prestigious China Quarterly journal to users in China.
WHEN THE PARTY MEETS THE LAW
In this multi-book review essay for the NYRB, I look at the fate of China’s rights lawyers and what drives them to keep fighting a battle that seems hopeless.
INTERVIEWS ON SECTS AND RELIGION
Check out these two related interviews: one with the BBC and the other on The Sinica Podcast.
THE GOD OF DEVELOPMENT
In this report for the NYT from the boondocks two hundred kilometers south of Beijing, I look at the cost of the government's plan to create a stately, new capital modeled on Washington DC--and found a way of life under threat.
CHINASOURCE ON ‘MUST-READ’
In this review for the Christianity-in-China website ChinaSource, founder Brent Fulton writes: “To call Johnson’s work monumental would not be an overstatement. For anyone seeking to engage in the spiritual life of China, it is a must-read.”
CHANGING HISTORY THROUGH COMICS
In this Saturday profile for The New York Times, I look at an unconventional historian--the comic book artist Sonny Liew.
LXB: THE MAN WHO STAYED
In this blogpost for the New York Review of Books daily, I look at Liu Xiaobo's death in the context of China's century-long struggle for a more pluralistic society
DESKBOUND TRAVEL
One of the great pleasures and privileges of getting one's book reviewed is discovering people with similar interests and passions.