ARTICLES
BIRTH OF A SUPERCITY
This is another in a loose series I've been doing for the New York Times on creating a mega-city of more than 100 million in North China.
LIFE UNDER MAO
How much do we really know about the Mao era? In this Q&A with Stanford University’s Andrew Walder, we talk about his new book “Revolution Derailed.”
LAND OF ATHEISM?
Are Chinese really as atheistic as a recent Gallup poll suggests? I take a closer look.
PODCAST: WRITING ON CHINA
Can journalism capture the complexity of change in a place like China?
“THEY DIED FOR US:” Q&A WITH HU JIE
In this interview in the New York Review blog with the filmmaker Hu Jie, I talk about Shoah, the Great Famine and his new series of woodblock prints that need a gallery exhibition. Step up somebody.
FROM BERLIN TO BEIJING
It will be my honor to host Timothy Garton Ash for a talk May 20 at Beijing's famous bookstore, The Bookworm.
BANNED BOOKS
In this piece for the Sunday New York Times, I write about a lawsuit filed by Li Nanyang, the daughter of nanogenarian CP leader Li Rui.
TALKING MAO BLUES
In this Q&A for the NYT’s Sinosphere blog, I talk to polymath poet Willis Barnstone on his translation of Mao and Wang Wei, escorting Allen Ginsberg to a Daoist temple, and other adventures from his 87 years.
HESSLERMANIA IN CHINA
How best to write about China? In this piece for the New York Review of Books, I write about my former colleague, Peter Hessler.
XINJIANG BEYOND THE CLICHES
My review in the NYR blog of Carolyn Drake's stunning new photobook, "Wild Pigeon," which goes beyond the usual photo cliches of old men in turbans, or women in veils.
THE MIRAGE OF WINTER SPORTS
Reporting on this story for the New York Times about Beijing's Winter Olympics bid made me realize how environmentally destructive most winter sports are.
INTERFAITH VOICES ON RELIGION IN CHINA
I was a panelist along with Brown University’s Rebecca Nedostup on this show about China’s religious boom–and crackdowns on religion. You can listen here or go to the show’s website here.