Let’s talk about dry Keith
A Stoic acceptance of mediocrity
In world first, Chinese scientists report cell therapy cure in diabetes case
For patients battling diabetes, a group of Chinese scientists and clinicians may offer a glimmer of hope. For the first time in the world, a patient’s diabetes has reportedly been…
Chinese sci-fi has crossed the translation barrier
Netflix's lavish new adaptation of Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem is the latest 'translation' of one of this century's best, and best-selling, sci-fi novels. In this episode, we track the…
Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to buy TikTok
“I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin, who leads Liberty Strategic Capital, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “It’s a great business and…
Breaking Free, Guan Xiao — Art21
From her Beijing studio, Guan Xiao resists the distractions and expectations of our modern era. The sculptor describes the meditative experience of making work in her studio, where she is…
Techno Orientalism
racist tropes in western scifi
AliExpress: The New Amazon? Or, Close, But No Cigar?
oth Ali and Amazon are sticking around for the near future, if not way longer. But they will get some new competititors. In Korea, for example, competitor Coupang just went…
How to Survive Underground
Faced with the unthinkable, we hoard, grow suspicious, act on fear; we also reinvent, build community, and create new conditions for surviving.
The sci-fi of another language
The meaning of science fiction stories are often tough to pin down. Do they depict the future or the present? Are they personal or political? Imaginative or reality-based? Also, is…
North Korea, Part One: The Peaceful Peninsula
This year, we’re doing a long-form series on North Korea. We’ll get into the history, culture, and ideology of the isolated, totalitarian country. In order to get proper context, we’re…