Barbarians at the Gate
A semi-serious deep dive into Chinese history and culture broadcast from Beijing and hosted by Jeremiah Jenne and David Moser.
- Update frequency
- every 20 days
- Average duration
- 39 minutes
- Episodes
- 93
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
Rocking China with Historian Andrew Field
In this episode, we welcome back Andrew Field to discuss his new book Rocking China: Rock Music Scenes in Beijing, Shanghai and Beyond.
While having already conducted valuable research into the hist…
Tik-Tok-for-Tat: Jeremiah and David try to Fix US-China Relations
Fueled by too many red bulls (Jeremiah) and some pretty good pharmaceuticals following an emergency root canal (David), our intrepid cohosts throw caution to the wind and attempt to fix US-China Rela…
What Xi Said: Comedy and Cross-Cultural Communication with Performer and Content Creator Jesse Appell
This week we catch up with Jesse Appell, an English-Chinese standup comedy star better known to his more than 3 million Chinese followers as Ai Jiexi 艾杰西. Jesse talks about how he parlayed his Fulbri…
The Peking Express with Author James Zimmerman
In this episode, we are delighted to talk with James Zimmerman about his new book, Peking Express: The Bandits who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China. The book is an ent…
Getting Elevated in Qinghai with Entrepreneur and Mountain Guide Ben Cubbage
In this episode, we are joined by Ben Cubbage, who calls in from the lofty heights of Xining, the capital of Qinghai province. Ben co-founded Elevated Trips, an organization that offers specialized t…
The Forbidden City with Matthew Hu
This week’s topic is the Forbidden City, and our tour guide once again is Matthew Hu Xinyu, Trustee of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP) and founder of the Courtyard Institute. Ma…
CCTV Follies with Journalist and Author Philip Cunningham
In this episode, we welcome to the podcast journalist Philip Cunningham, freelance writer for newspapers such as South China Morning Post and Japan Times, and was a former Knight Fellow and Harvard N…
When will China re-open its doors for study abroad and educational exchanges?
In this episode, recorded on January 13, 2023, Jeremiah in Florida and David in Taiwan touch base and exchange updates on the evolving Covid-19 situation in China and elsewhere. We compare and contra…
One from the Vault: Touring China with Historian Mo Yajun
David and Jeremiah are both traveling this week, and in that spirit, we offer a rebroadcast of one of our favorite episodes from the archives. In this episode from March 2022, we spoke with historian…
Notes from the Medical Tent: Beijing Learns to Live with COVID
In an abrupt reversal, On December 7, China announced a rollback of most of its most draconian anti-COVID-19 restrictions, including limiting lockdowns, mass testing, and health app requirements for …
Standing Up to Zero COVID: The View from Beijing
This episode of BATG provides a “time stamp” and an initial reaction to protests in several major Chinese cities on November 26 and 27, events that are still developing at the time of this recording.…
Lockdowns, Legacies, and Looking Back with Journalist Melinda Liu
In this week’s podcast, we are delighted and honored to talk to Melinda Liu, legendary journalist and long-time observer of post-Mao China. In addition to her long-time stint as Beijing Bureau Chief …
Back to the Land: Author Alec Ash on escaping to Dali, rural retreats, and a return to England
In this week’s episode, we catch up with our old friend Alec Ash, writer, journalist, and author of the Wish Lanterns, a portrait of six diverse members of China’s “post-80s” generation. Having resid…
CoCo19 and the Quarantines: The Scene from Beijing
Post-Covid China border closings, the expulsion of western journalists, and suspensions of academic exchanges have resulted in a woeful lack of foreign “eyes on the ground” to provide updates and ins…
Beijing Calling Taipei
In this episode, David phones in from Taiwan to share some of his impressions of the current mood of the beleaguered island. The discussion touches on the recent visit of Nancy Pelosi, how the Taiwan…
The Destruction of Yuanmingyuan (One from the Vault)
David and Jeremiah are on vacation this month, which means, like the days of summer TV (pre-Internet and pre-InfiniteStreamingNetflixVerse), we are replaying one of our favorite earlier episodes. We …
It's a Matter of Trust: Social and Political Confidence in the United States and the PRC
Three years of Covid-19 chaos, political upheavals, climate change disasters, and economic downturns have triggered an increasing lack of faith in government institutions worldwide. The United States…
Writing about China for the World
This week we talk with Hatty Liu, Managing Editor of The World of Chinese. This bi-monthly magazine explores all aspects of Chinese culture and society, providing vivid storytelling accounts of the e…
Teaching Values: Ideology and Education in China with Jiang Xueqin
Contrary to the common stereotype that Chinese education is regimented and mired in tradition, the education system in China is actually one of the most dynamic sectors of Chinese society, with core …
Pride, Politics, and Pandemics: Understanding China's Nationalism with Peter Gries
What do we know about Chinese nationalism? Do nationalistic sentiments manifest differently among different demographic groups, as is often the case in Western democratic countries? What kinds of glo…