Li Bai - Let's Party
Can Li Bai, China's greatest poet, be translated into frat-boy-ese? Lee tried. It is not as crazy as it sounds. Li Bai is an alcoholic poet. Though he has long been translated into a highfalutin Engl...
9 Jul 202223min
Chen Qiufan - Waste Tide - Part II
In this episode, Part Two of our two part series on Chen Qiufan's first novel, Rob and Lee try to pivot away from the narrower discussions of what happens in the novel and more on a broader discussion...
2 Jul 202215min
Chen Qiufan - Waste Tide - Part 1
This is part 一 in a two part series on the novel called Wast Tide. This is Chen Qiufan's first novel, its a science-fiction novel that touches on environmentalism and transhumanism. Join Rob and Lee a...
25 Jun 202216min
Mei Yaochen - Sacrificing for My Cat
How many cats have been immortalized in poetry that we are still reading a millenium later? At least one, Mr. Five White. Here, we stand with Mei Yaochen as he gives Mr. Five White the appropriate sen...
18 Jun 202221min
Pu Liye - Chairman Xi's Backside is Where My Gaze Lies
This week, we get back to our weird poetry series. Today's weird poem is one written by an editor at the Xinhua News Agency, China's state-sponsored answer to Reuters or Bloomberg. Chairman Xi visited...
11 Jun 202216min
Li Peng Step Down!
This week's weird poem is weird in an unexpectedly weird way. Upon first glance, it is an anodyne poem published in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the official rag of the CCP. Until you s...
4 Jun 202218min
San Francisco Poets - Show Me the Money
One San Francisco poet, writing in the early 20th century, wrote something that no other poet ever said in the history of Chinese literature (probably): having money is more important than having sons...
28 Mai 202212min
The Unhappy American
This week and next week, in honor of Asian American History month, we are interrupting our wierd poetry series to shoehorn in two poems by Chinese-speaking poets. This week, we look at a poem by an un...
21 Mai 202216min
