Speaking and Media
I comment in the media and speak regularly at companies, universities, high schools, think tanks and appear in the media on many of the issues I write about. (Please see the articles page for a complete list of subjects and publications.)
Some of the most popular Chinese topics include: how changing social values impact foreign businesses, China’s political climate, the government’s reform agenda, and Chinese people’s search for values and religion. European topics include the rise of Islamism, history, Germany after reunification, and the creation of the new Berlin.
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SPEAKING AND MEDIA APPEARANCES
2025 EVENTS AND MEDIA
March, 2025
Leiden University, Details to come.
2024 EVENTS AND MEDIA
Italy Tour
3-6 December 2024
December 3: John Cabot University, Rome, 6-8 pm.. Registration mandatory.
December 4: University of Naples, 10:30. Details and poster here.
December 5: ISPI Milan, 10 am. Registration details TK.
December 5: Collegio Ghislieri, Pavia, 5 pm. Small group.
December 5: Collegio Ghislieri, Pavia. Details here.
December 6, European University Florence, 2 pm. Registration here.
December 6, Villa Guicciardini, Florence, 6 pm. Details TK.
Peking Hotel substack interview
22 November 2024
I wrote earlier this year about undergoing 17 hours of interviews for a Hoover oral history project. Now, the first part of it has been published on a substack newsletter, “Peking Hotel,” by a young Chinese scholar. You can read the transcript and watch the video here.
The Guardian editorial
12 November 2024
A shoutout in the The Guardian, which referred to Sparks in a piece on China’s growth prospects. Writing about the persistence of opposition to Xi, it writes: “As Ian Johnson observes in his book Sparks, China faces a unique challenge as its leader ages and the economy slows, confronting ranks of dissenters ‘conditioned to see defeat as merely temporary.'”
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
29 October 2024
A talk to other fellows and invited guests about my research project here on folk religion in Beijing. There is a recording somewhere but only available to fellows and the Ministry for State Security. (joke!)
Boston Review of Books
7 October 2024
An independent online journal with very serious book reviews did an article on my recent NYRB review of Perry Link’s and Wu Dazhi’s biography of Liu Xiaobo. In it, I noted how many foreign countries didn’t pay enough attention to Chinese thinkers–to wiit, the deafening silence in the mainstream media that greeted this tour-de-force biography. In another era, it would have been reviewed in all major media but for whatever reasons (primarily, I think, a lack of seriousness in many countries’ societies) virtually no publication except the NYRB reviewed it.
Asia Research Institute/NUS
4 September 2024
I spoke at the National University of Singapore’s Asia Research Institute on counter-histories in China. It was an honor to return to ARI, where I spent 8 months as a visiting fellow during the 2020-2021 academic year. Unfortunately, the university decided that the topic was too sensitive and made it a closed-door meeting that only staff could attend. In Germany they call this “vorauseilende Gehorsamkeit.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Australian Broadcasting “The World”
29 August 2024
Talking on ABC’s The World about the diaries of a senior Chinese leader, Li Rui, held at Stanford Unversity Hoover Institution’s archives and which China is trying to get back (where they will vanish). See the seven-minute interview with me on YouTube here.
Wall Street Journal
24 August 2024
Interviewed for an article about Chinese exiles setting up bookstores abroad.
“The lack of space to express even moderate views inside China on topics such as economics, let alone politics, has magnified the importance of Chinese voices from outside the country, said Ian Johnson, author of Sparks: China’s Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future, about Chinese intellectuals’ efforts to preserve the country’s key memories.”
Read the article by Fan Wenxin on the WSJ website here, or download a PDF of the piece here.
WhyNot/歪脑
17 July 2024
Thanks to Radio Free Asia’s WhyNot/歪脑 Mandarin service (aimed at younger people) for this video interview on Sparks and the China Unofficial Archive. It’s a really professional, succinct summary of the ideas in the book and why we set up the online archive. Watch the interview here.
Chinese Literature Podcast
11 May 2024
Interview with Lee Moore on the novelists and writers challenging the state’s monopoly. Listen here.
New Books Network
9 May 2024
Interview with Ed Pulford of the network’s East Asia channel. Listen here.
China Law & Policy Podcast
28 April 2024
Interview with Elizabeth M. Lynch. Read the program notes and listen to or download the podcast here.
Princeton University
23 April 2024
Lecture to students, visit with grad students.
Boston University
2 April 2024
University-wide lecture on history battles in China. Details here.
WFMU Radio Techtonic
20 March 2024
Interview with Radio Techtonic‘s Mark Hurst on the technology behind the growth of China’s unofficial history movement. You can find it on Apple podcasts or listen here. The interview starts at 8’30”
UC San Diego
19 March 2024
“Counter-histories in China.” Organized by the 21st Century China Center (21CCC) at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. 5 pm For map and registration, please click here. Video of the talk on YouTube here.
Stanford University
18 March 2024
Talk with Orville Schell and Glenn Tiffert at the Hoover Institution from 4 to 5:30 pm. Details and registration here.
See the YouTube recording here.
Annual Meeting Association for Asian Studies, Seattle.
16 March 2024
8:30 am. Panel discussion with independent journalist Jiang Xue, publisher and bookstore entrepreneur Zhang Jieping, and U Wisconsin’s Guo Jian. Panel details here. Details on the AAS meeting here.
Yale Club New York City
12 February 2024
“Art and Politics: How Artists Respond to Turbulent Times Through Their Creations.: Discussion with author Kejia Wu. Registration and information here.
Yale University
12 February 2024
The Battle for Memory in China. 12 noon to 1:30 pm. Details and registration here.
York University, U Toronto
6-7 February 2024
Feb 7, noon lunch with faculty and staff, York University. Private.
2:30 pm, public lecture, York University. Details and registration here.
Feb 6, 3 pm Critical Studies Group. Private.
2023 Events
(For Sparks book events, see dedicated page here.)
University of Westminster
13 December 2023
Launch of the China Unofficial Archives with Shao Jiang and Gerda Wieländer. View details here. View it on YouTube here.
Asia Society
30 October 2023
Panel discussion on dissent inside and outside China with the independent journalist Jiang Xue (who is also a main character in my book, Sparks), the publisher and columnist Annie Zhang Jieping, and the NYT columnist/host of one of the most popular sinophone podcasts, Li Yuan. Moderated by the Asia Society’s Susan Jakes. Details here. Watch the discussion here.
Asia Society
12 October 2023
Launch of China Review of Books, panel discussion. Details here. Watch the discussion here (Ian and David Barboza appear at minute 36.)
→SPARKS TOUR (Sept-Dec 2023), see dedicated page here.
Queens Library
8 September 2023
In conversation with Chun Han Wong on his new book, Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China’s Superpower Future. This is viewable on YouTube via the Queens Public Library feed.
Wissenschaftskolleg
Institute for Advanced Study
29 March 2023
Discussion with Franciscus Verellen at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin on “Religion, Civil Society, and Political Power in China.” Watch the discussion (in German) here.
Asia Society
1 March 2023
“Hell in China”–no, not a panel on politics or Sino-US relations but on concepts of morality and the afterlife. From the description:
What are the conceptions of hell in China, and what role have these traditionally played in shaping the contours of the moral universe for many if not most Chinese? What happened to that moral universe when China’s Communist Party under Mao largely banned the practice of religion, with what lasting effects, and with how much rebounding to previous norms once those restrictions eased up? Has a renewed search for meaning and spirituality in China over the past couple of decades, an era of rapid growth and rapid change, led to different understandings of hell and the role it plays in modern life?
Join us at the Asia Society March 1 for a discussion–in person or by video. Details here. Watch the video here.
Fordham University
25 January 2023
“China’s New Civil Religion:” A talk jointly sponsored by the US-China Catholic Association, ChinaSource, and the China Academic Consortium. To watch the talk, here it is on YouTube.
Live Recording of Sinica Podcast
24 January 2023
Recording the Sinica podcast with Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn at Rizzoli Bookstore in Manhattan. Here’s the podcast, and a transcript.
University of Wisconsin
2 November 2022
I’ll be spending two days on the University of Wisconsin at Madison campus. Details for the main talk at the Upper House can be found here.
The President’s Inbox
12 October 2022
An interview on one of the snappiest podcasts about foreign affairs. Topic: the 20th Party Congress. Listen here.
Workshop: Digitization of Memory
22 September 2022
I’ll be presenting a paper to this workshop, being held virtually and in person at the University of Bonn, Germany. My talk will be on the samizdat publication Spark, 《星火》. The outcome is supposed to be a conference book that will include my paper–we’ll see if it’s good enough…
I’ll post links to the conference here if there is a public video component.
New York Times Book Review Podcast
5 August 2022
I join the Aug 5, 2022, NYT Book Review Podcast to discuss my recent review for the Times of Wang Xiaobo’s classic 1990s novel, Golden Age.
C-Span Washington Journal
13 March 2022
I join Greta Brawner on her weekly Washington Journal for a 40-minute discussion of China’s role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Classical Ideas Podcast
1 February 2022
This 2019 podcast with host Greg Soden has recently been reissued on the New Books Network. Greg is a high school teacher who has done hundreds of interviews with faith leaders, practitioners, and authors. He’s incredibly engaged and this was one of my favorite interviews. Listen to the show here.
University of Nottingham
14 January 2022
A lecture on the underground Chinese journal Remembrance (记忆). See my post on this lecture.
China Institute
10 December 2021
I had the privilege of discussing with the Chinese non-fiction writer Liang Hong about her newly translated book about her home village and the changes sweeping through rural China. See the summary and YouTube link here.
Hong Kong Baptist University
11-13 November 2021
Thirty years after the Cold War ended, how does it affect our view of the world, including the ongoing rivalry with China. Watch our roundtable on YouTube here.
IIS Madra China Studies Centre
4 November 2021
Discussion with experts from India, China, and elsewhere on China’s role in Afghanistan after the U.S. pullout. Details here.
University of Manchester
12 October 2021
Lecture on my history and memory project: “Digital dissent: How grassroots historians are challenging the Chinese Communist Party’s version of the past—and its right to rule.” Details here.
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
6 October 2021
I joined Biao Xiang, director of the institute’s Anthropology of Economic Experimentation, in discussing a lecture by David Ownby, Université de Montréal, on “The Changing Intellectual Landscape in China.” David is super knowledgeable about this topic (see his
www.readingthechinadream.com
website) and it’s a rare chance to hear him synthesize his years of work translating leading Chinese thinkers.
Event details here.
An edited recording is on the Max Planck website at https://www.eth.mpg.de/
Thanks to Professor Xiang and the folks at Max Planck for putting on such a professional lecture and recording.
Note on Media Appearances
Since joining CFR on July 1 (see here), I’ve had an increasing number of media appearances so will no longer list them all. From this point on I’ll list major public speeches and media appearances that seem particularly noteworthy.
This month, I’ve talked to: the radio show “Inside Sources” on China and Afghanistan; al-Jazeera on Afghanistan; Canadian Press on Afghanistan; and The Signal on youth culture.
CNBC
23 August 2021
Interview with Abigail Ng on China’s “tricky” problem with the Taliban.
Read the article here.
U.S.-China Catholic Association
06-07 August 2021
China Hirn
28 July 2021
Interview with Wolfgang Hirn (in German) who puts out the Chinahirn newsletter. Mr. Hirn profiles me under the title “Old China Hands,” which seems appropriate… Read the profile here.
Hamodia
17 July 2021
Interviewed for in-dpeth piece on the Chinese Communist Party at 100. Link here.
BBC Analysis
01 July 2021
An interview, starting at minute 6:15, with Isabel Hilton on a documentary about the Chinese Communist Party at 100. Check out the show’s page here and listen to the broadcast on this permanent link..
Sophia University Tokyo
13 May 2021
Pulitzer Center Annual Conference
21 April 2021
Princeton University
21 April 2021
International Horizons
12 April 2021
International Visitor Leadership Program
6 April 2021
St. Teresa of Avila Parish (Chicago)
24 March 2021
Duke University China-U.S. Summit 2021
20 March 2021
University of Virginia’s Religion, Race & Democracy Lab
18 March 2021
Afternoon Drive Home
9 March 2021
Princeton US-China Coalition
6 March 2021
28th Annual Asian Studies Development Program, East-West Center
4 March 2021
California State University San Bernardino
22 February 2021
National University of Singapore
15 December 2020
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
21 November 2020
Private discussion with faculty about how to engage with China.
European Citizen Education Network
6 November 2020
Chulalongkorn University
5 November 2020
Watch the video here.
University of Chicago
29 October 2020
Bridge Project
16 October 2020
Chinese University of Hong Kong
16 October 2020
Rutgers University
25 Sept 2020
“Twenty Years in China: A Journalist’s Experience on Trends and Developments.” Talk to Asian Studies and Journalism students via Zoom. For a summary, please click here. To watch the video, click here.
Hong Kong Baptist University
10 Sept 2020
The World and Everything In It
20 August 2020
ABC Australia Late Night Live
18 August 2020
Barbarian at the Gate
7 July 2020
Asia Matters
18 March 2020
Deep Background
14 March 2020
Abu Dhabi ECSSR
11 December 2019
University of Notre Dame
28 October 2019
Loyola University
29 October 2019
BBC Weekend
27 July 2019
Leipzig University
3 July 2019
BBC Television
4 June 2019
Princeton University
24-25 April 2018
Hoover Institution, Stanford University
22 April 2018
Foreign Policy
30 March 2019
The Initium
15 March 2019
Medium
13 March 2019
The Reporter
08 March 2019
BBC The Real Story
3 March 2019
Talks in Taipei, Taiwan
15 February 2019
16 February 2019
1400-1630
18 February 2019
1400-1700
The Economist
17 January 2019 issue
CNN
26 December 2018
National Public Radio
26 December 2018
Brush Talks
December 2018
Slovakia
Dec. 3 and 5
Einstein Forum
13 December 2018
Portland State University
10 October 2018
Baylor University
3 October 2018
Auburn University
2 October 2018
Gethsemane Church Berlin
13 July 2018
China Institute
New York City
7 June 2018
China Zentrum
(Sankt Augustin, Germany)
12 April 2018
Konfuzius Institut an der FU Berlin
16 April 2018
neuen Werten im China der Gegenwart”
UCLASchool of Law
19 March 2018
UC Irvine
20 March 2018
UC San Diego
21 March 2018
Association of Asian Studies Annual Meeting
Washington, D.C.
24 March 2018
Purdue University
27 March 2018
University of London
School of Oriental and African Studies.
15 January 2018
Singapore Writers Festival
11 November 2017
Hong Kong University
6 November 2017
Hong Kong Baptist University
6 November 2017
Hong Kong Literary Festival
4 November 2017
National Committee for U.S.-China Relations
26 October 2017
Yale University
23 October 2017
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
19 October
Young China Watchers
18 October 2017
Columbia University
18 October 2017
Council on Foreign Relations
24 May 2017
Foreign Correspondents Club of China
18 May 2017
Beijing International Society.
18 May 2017
Duke Kunshan campus
16 May 2017
Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club
15 May 2017
University of Notre Dame
27 April 2017
Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, Georgetown University
19 April 2017
Center for Strategic and International Studies
18 April 2017
The Bookworm
8 March 2017
Sinica Podcast
29 December 2016
National Library of Singapore
2 November 2016
Princeton University
22-24 October 2016
Beijing Capital Normal University
24 September 2016
Fieldstead Company, Irvine, CA
19 August 2016
Freie Universität Berlin
7 July 2016
“China’s Religious Revival:” A talk at the East Asian Seminar on why religion is growing in China and the implications for society and politics.
The Beijing Center
28 May and 5 June 2016
Talk to undergraduates from NYU and Universität Antwerpen on China’s search for values.
Colgate University
23 May 2016
Talk to visiting students putting together a video project on religion on China, especially the Miaofengshan pilgrimage and Sydney Gamble’s 1920s films.
NYRB China Conference
16 January 2016
A talk in Hong Kong at the New York Review of Books’ conference on “The Governance of China.”
A talk on A Mosque in Munich
View Video
New America Foundation