Stuck in the Middle Kingdom with You artwork

Stuck in the Middle Kingdom with You

69 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago - ★★★★★ - 1 rating

This podcast tells the story of a year of an English teacher in China, working in an international school in Changshu, Jiangsu.

It‘s also full of history and culture. We‘ll go back to the imperial days, the revolutionary days, the days of triumph and the days of humiliation. Mostly though, it‘s modern China that I‘ll focus on, as it is the most relevant to understanding China now. China is super fascinating, and it‘s also probably the most important country in the world to understand right now, so this is my contribution to that. It‘s not a chronological history; instead, it kind of matches up to the things that were occuring in my roller-coaster of a year living in Changshu.
I‘ve changed the names of the people I that I met when I was in China, except Jess of course. You‘ll meet Jess later. She‘s awesome.

Blog: SMKYpodcast.blogspot.com

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Episodes

#51 | Last Episode

October 25, 2023 07:06 - 23 minutes - 25.7 MB

And so we are at an end. Summer break was here, relations with the school were in the gutter, but I'd signed a contract for next year and was effectively trapped. The only way out was to concoct a cunning scheme, and that's exactly what I did... *cackle* 谢谢,再见 亚当 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYPodcast

In Conversation with Lisa, another of the Cradle of Elites’ English Teachers

October 07, 2023 07:36 - 34 minutes - 24.7 MB

As I was planning my escape from the Cradle, Lisa was just settling in. How did her experience compare to mine? From her home back in the USA, she told me her story.   Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYPodcast

#50 | Farewell Drinks

September 24, 2023 08:01 - 13 minutes - 15 MB

In this penultimate episode, the foreign teachers meet for one last time at Brew Kettle, and as the booze takes effect a certain clarity appears.   Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#49 | A Daring Escape – The Rise and Fall (and Crash and Burn) of Lin Biao

September 09, 2023 08:00 - 26 minutes - 25.7 MB

We're almost at the end of this troubled tale and, because few stories end as dramatically as Lin Biao's, I think it's time to revisit the ailing marshal and find out how it all went so wrong. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#48 | Contract Killer

August 27, 2023 08:00 - 19 minutes - 19.5 MB

The year end is nigh. School holidays approach. The question to renewing the contract has come. What should a paranoid, anxiety-addled teacher do? Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#47 | Something in the Water – Jinxi Water Town and Tibet

August 13, 2023 08:00 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MB

We cycle through the wetlands of Jiangnan to the water town of Jinxi, muse a little on the contradicting feelings of restriction and freedom in China, and then get into the story of modern Tibet. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#47 | Down The Rabbit Hole

July 23, 2023 18:10 - 14 minutes - 15 MB

It's Easter in Changshu, and an Easter Egg hunt at school goes hopelessly off the rails. Also, the festival of Qingming, and the Chinese story of creation – with a giant rabbit called Pangu. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast Song: 'I am the Sea' - Epic Pirate Battle Music, supported by #TheROOMnoCopyRMusic

#46 | Newbies

July 10, 2023 07:49 - 11 minutes - 13.1 MB

A change in the teacher line-up has been taking place following the surprising dismissal of teacher Tyler. The new clan heads out to a nightclub, where I get some advice about dealing with Dodi. (dubious accent alert) Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast  

#45 | The Sino-Soviet Split pt. 3 – Rapprochement with America

June 25, 2023 15:29 - 39 minutes - 35.6 MB

In episode 1 of this three-parter, China was alarmed at Soviet attempts to live alongside the Americans; and in part 2 those attempts went into reverse as the Cold War reached its peak temperatures. In the final part, we follow the secret mission of Henry Kissinger as he went to China to make contact after 25 years of silence, and how the new Sino-American relationship shook up the final decades of the Cold War. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#44 | The Sino-Soviet Split pt.2 – Peaceful Co-Existence?

June 11, 2023 19:48 - 17 minutes - 16 MB

Part 2 of 3 in a Sino-Soviet Split miniseries, and it's time for the hopes for peaceful co-existence between the Americans and the Soviets to be roundly dashed, much to the satisfaction of a certain Chairman over in Beijing. Next time, how the Chinese capitalised on the situation for their own ends. Music in this episode:  Dragon Castle by Makai Symphony Cuba Baion by Kurt Drabek Russians by Sting (guitar cover by Giuseppe Torrisi) Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#43 | The Sino-Soviet Split pt. 1

May 28, 2023 09:01 - 19 minutes - 18.4 MB

If only the two big communist powers had gotten on, perhaps they could have stuck it to the Americans during the Cold War, but it wasn't to be. Personalities and ideologies got in the way. In this first part of an SMKY doublepod, we look at the period leading up to the split in the early 60s. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast  

#42 | Red Tourists – Neo-Maoism, Lei Feng, Suzhou’s Gardens

May 14, 2023 10:04 - 19 minutes - 20.7 MB

China might be a big scary communist country to people in the West, but for Neo-Maoists the country has lost its way, and sometimes it seems that communism in China is more of a nostalgic indulgence. Apart from Mao, Lei Feng is the mascot of commie merchandise.  We also take a trip into the Humble Administrator's Garden, and the Suzhou Museum, before a dramatic race for the bus. FYI: Songs that feature in this episode – 1, Without the Communist Party, there is No New China – 2, Learn from ...

#41 | “Better to hear two Suzhou people argue than listen to one regular person talking”

April 30, 2023 12:15 - 15 minutes - 15.4 MB

As we head back to Suzhou, we look at the story of the ancient city and make sense of all those Wus associated with the area. We then dive into the local tourist hotspot at Shantang Street, it's poetry and nostalgia, for dinner. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

In Conversation | Making sense of touching fish, lying flat, letting it rot and sang culture

April 19, 2023 14:03 - 30 minutes - 22.9 MB

A number of curious phrases have popped up lately in China, as a new internet-native generation join the workforce and find themselves getting knocked about by office politics and social pressures.  In this episode, a Shanghai-based worker joins me to explain these terms. Sang culture - 丧文化 Lying flat - 躺平 Let it rot - 摆烂 Neijuan - 奶卷 Touching fish - 摸鱼  

#40 | This is My Town – Office politics, hukou, sang culture, neijuan...white collar work in China

April 02, 2023 10:43 - 17 minutes - 20.3 MB

After visiting the harsh cold countryside for the Lantern Festival, I get back to the school only to be thrown into more office politics. But compared to the Chinese workers, laowai work is pretty tame. Let's explore that a little. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#39 | Lily’s Town

March 19, 2023 11:32 - 22 minutes - 23.2 MB

Having returned from the winter break, I head off into rural Jiangsu to spend the Lantern Festival in Lily's Town. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @AdamSMKY

#38 | The Yangtze Never Runs backwards; Man Recaptures Not His Youth - More Opium Wars and the Century of Humiliation

March 05, 2023 08:41 - 16 minutes - 18 MB

Picking up at the end of the last episode, today Grade 7 teacher Penny and I travel to the epic Yangtze River, and we get stuck in to the Opium Wars. Not Britain's finest moment, that. And we discover why Penny left a note under my door while I was sick.... Email: [email protected] Twitter: @AdamSMKY  

#37 | Choppy Waters – Zheng He, Tea, Opium, and the beating of war drums

February 19, 2023 09:56 - 15 minutes - 16.7 MB

It's time to recall the Opium Wars that began China's Century of Humiliation. After the lofty heights of the Ming expeditions with Zheng He's epic fleet, the Chinese lost their ability to rule the waves. This episode details the prelude to the first Opium War, how the British set up their drug trade and why they did it. Next episode, battle commences. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#36 | The New Guy

February 05, 2023 13:26 - 14 minutes - 15.3 MB

As Winter Break approaches, I take a trip to the biology department.   And a new guy starts at the school...   Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#35 | ”The Headdress is no worse than the Eyebrows” – Liu Rushi, Wu Zetian, Cixi, female leaders and little emperors

January 22, 2023 13:24 - 28 minutes - 29.8 MB

Today we go back in time to find out about "China's most respectable prostitute", and the winners and losers in the concubine system.  Also, the dramatic end of the Ming dynasty and the rise of the Qing! And #MeToo in China, or #RiceBunny... Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast  

#34 | ”Shame the Poor, not the Harlot” | Valentines Days, Ding Ling, Sex Work, and the baifumei look

January 08, 2023 11:54 - 17 minutes - 19 MB

As events in the school take a curious turn, we turn to the topic of love, sex and marriage in China. How have the ruptures of the modern age changed this part of life? Email: [email protected] Twitter: @AdamSMKY

#33 | From Revolutions to Resolutions

January 01, 2023 11:00 - 13 minutes - 13.4 MB

It's time to go back to the school, where the dawning of a new year gives this troubled teacher a chance to reset the clock, and begin afresh with a new positive spirit. Or something. Meanwhile, one teacher makes an untimely departure, and the prospect of romance is in the air. Email: [email protected] Twitter: SMKYPodcast

Maoism Beyond China pt.2 | The Counterculture, New Left, Black Panthers, Weather Underground, Paris ’68

December 08, 2022 10:32 - 24 minutes - 26 MB

To conclude this two-parter exploring how Mao's ideas manifested outside China, we look to the world of the hippies and stoners and idealists. Why did this strand of Marxist thinking, with its emphasis on the peasantry and anti-imperialism, appeal to the relatively comfy students, activists and thinkers of the developed West? Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYPodcast 

Maoism Beyond China pt.1 | Maoist Workers Institute, Shining Path, Pol Pot

November 24, 2022 15:00 - 26 minutes - 29.2 MB

Does Maoism really deserve all the criticism that it gets? Er, yes. Yes it does. For some it was a fad, but for others it became a way of life which endures to this day. Over the next two episodes, we’re going to have a look at Maoism, from the bad to the very bad. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYPodcast  

#32 | The Rising Sun – Zhou Enlai, Sun Weishi, and Jiang Qing

November 10, 2022 14:02 - 22 minutes - 22 MB

On the past few episodes of SMKY, we covered some of the challenges in modern China with regard to the competition, guanxi and ruthlessness which infuse the culture. China is indeed a competitive society where relationships matter more than anything, and one-upmanship is the name of the game. But, despite Xi Jinping’s cult of personality, the situation now is nothing when compared to the headiest days of the Mao years, when even for the number 2, Premier Zhou Enlai, things were touch n go. ...

”Either You’re a Wolf or You’re a Sheep.” | In Conversation with ESL teacher Tom

October 30, 2022 11:39 - 44 minutes - 39.2 MB

In the past few episodes we've been attempting to get our heads around Chinese culture and the pitfalls that foreigners often find themselves in when they go there to teach English. Unlike me, in relatively well-developed Changshu, Tom was teaching way out in the sticks, in a place that he describes as "the real China." Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#31 | 吃人不吐骨头 ...Without Spitting Out the Bones

October 13, 2022 14:07 - 14 minutes - 13.8 MB

Guanxi is the oil the greases the engine of life in China. But when things go wrong, it all comes tumbling down, and fast. This is the story of Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai. And then, back to the school. Email: [email protected]  

#30 | 吃人不吐骨头 Eat a Man...

September 30, 2022 10:31 - 19 minutes - 21.4 MB

It's not always a barrel of laughs for those who find themselves living in the Middle Kingdom – culture shock is real and when it hits, it hits hard. In the first of a two-parter doublepod, we try to make a little sense of some of the cultural cornerstones of Chinese society: guanxi and mianzi, and also status and hierarchy. Twitter @SMKYpodcast

#29 | Shut Up and Colour

September 15, 2022 12:02 - 11 minutes - 12.9 MB

Despondency sets in amongst the foreign teachers as we each find a reason to gripe about the school. Say hi on Twitter @SMKYpodcast

#28 | 久病成良医 Long Time Ill Become Doctor

September 02, 2022 11:33 - 14 minutes - 16.2 MB

Teacher Adam's tour of China takes us finally to the hospital. Well, sickness is no fun at the best of times, but at least the management are supportive. Or are they?   Twitter @SMKYpodcast

#27 | Christmas in Changshu

August 18, 2022 11:48 - 9 minutes - 9.24 MB

The holiday season is upon us, and all the world unites in a moment of happiness and reflection. Or something. Meanwhile, at school, the song that I'd picked for a Christmas performance turns out to be more challenging than I'd initially expected.  Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#26 | Sunset in Nanjing - The Rape of Nanjing/Nanjing Massacre, Meiji Restoration, Sino-Japanese Wars, Xi-an Incident

August 03, 2022 20:17 - 24 minutes - 24.1 MB

Warning – this episode contains descriptions of war crimes As darkness descends on Nanjing, our trip to the city comes to an end. We look at the rise of Japanese ultranationalism and fascism, their unhinged campaign to take over China, and the most famous atrocity the city is known for. Twit: @SMKYpodcast

#25 | One Loved Money, One Loved Power, and One Loved China

July 20, 2022 13:44 - 12 minutes - 14.2 MB

The rises and falls and rises and rivalries of China's most famous power-sisters, the Soongs. With a story that spans some 100 years, China's 20th century is nothing without this family.  Twitter @SMKYpodcast

#24 | Sunrise in Nanjing – Hongwu Emperor, Taiping Rebellion, Sun Yatsen, and Chinese republicanism

July 07, 2022 12:52 - 19 minutes - 21.6 MB

Me and teacher friend Jess head to Nanjing with the intention of visiting the Rape of Nanjing Memorial museum. Before that though, a little background of some notable Nanjing moments in history, as China's southern capital, and the founding values of Chinese republicanism and where they went. Twitter @SMKYpodcast

#23 | December – Shivers, fads, Social Credit Scores, and baijiu

June 23, 2022 14:36 - 12 minutes - 14.2 MB

Twit: @SMKYPodcast

#22 | The Silkworms Will Weave Until They Die

June 10, 2022 10:01 - 15 minutes - 15.4 MB

It's time for a school trip to Suzhou, following in Marco Polo's footsteps, to learn the secrets of silk, and muse on China's healthcare. "Too many tweets might make a twat," as David Cameron once said. My twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#21 | Bamboo Blues

June 03, 2022 10:24 - 15 minutes - 19 MB

Like any teacher worth his salt, I attempted to combat the onset of an early winter depression by getting hopelessly drunk and trying to play a piano song to a group of drunks in a bar in the city. And if that doesn't work, there's always Roland Emmerich movies and bamboo carpentry. One of these things must provide a cure surely. Twitter @SMKYpodcast

#20 | Dear Diary

May 27, 2022 08:01 - 11 minutes - 12.8 MB

There's a bit in most movies called the low point, not long before the end, where it seems that all is lost for the main character. We're not quite at the end of this tale, but in November, all was lost.

#19 | Temple Tantrums – Religion and Spirituality in China: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Falun Gong, Mao Zedong

May 20, 2022 14:39 - 30 minutes - 33.7 MB

Back at the Cradle of Elites, there's a newcomer in town. Jess is from the UK, and we find ourselves in a temple. From there, it's just a hop, skip and a jump to a discussion about religion and spirituality in China, from the ancient belief systems to the modern cults. Twitter @SMKYpodcast

“It’s Not About the Truth!” | Xinjiang, Peng Shuai, and more China-West misunderstandings

May 12, 2022 20:06 - 36 minutes - 35.5 MB

I arranged for one more chat with Spring, and decided not to play so nice this time. (This was recorded before the British government came up with its "send asylum seekers to Rwanda" policy. This is possibly relevant in the first half of this conversation, when I'm claiming that we respect human rights. Oops.)

”This society, it works!” A Shanghainese view on how we misunderstand China

May 05, 2022 12:17 - 24 minutes - 23.8 MB

This is the first of two chats. We talk about censorship and foreign companies pulling out of China, whether "Taiwan is China!", whether Trump was good or bad for China, the people's trust of the CCP in relation to Covid, and cultural differences in general.

#18 | ...And Quick Mouths

April 27, 2022 14:37 - 32 minutes - 36.4 MB

The concluding part of this idiom-inspired doublepod about human rights in China. We start at Tiananmen Square, and weave through the current Shanghai lockdown to troubled, outspoken businessmen and recent events in Hong Kong. And of course, the saint of human rights in China, Liu Xiaobo, makes an appearance.

#17 | Those With Straight Hearts...

April 20, 2022 07:52 - 21 minutes - 21.3 MB

Scandals and troublemakers in China, and how the authorities react. Featuring appearances from the Gang of Four, Jiang Qing, Chen Mengjia with his Chinese characters, Zhang Zhan exposing Covid-19 failures and Tiananmen Square.

Stuck in the Middle Kingdom with Covid: A chat with a locked-down Shanghainese

April 11, 2022 10:25 - 19 minutes - 23.4 MB

Shanghai's been locked down for weeks now, and China's reputation for dealing well with Covid is being undermined as cases continue to rise. Not only that, but hospital appointments are getting missed and people are running out of food. I chat with one of those on the inside.  

In Conversation: Brian Hioe on Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement & China-Taiwan situation

April 06, 2022 06:57 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MB

I'm grateful to founding editor of @NewBloomMag Brian Hioe for joining me for a chat about the political situation in Taiwan, mainly in regards to the Sunflower Movement, the relationship with China, chances of war...   Twit @SMKYpodcast Blog https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com New Bloom https://newbloommag.net Brian @brianhioe

#16 | Will of the People – Wuxi, Chinese Democracy, VPNs, Taiwan

March 30, 2022 08:18 - 18 minutes - 34.2 MB

I took a weekend trip to Wuxi, the most notable part of the trip being the discomfort of the transportation and the nice fella who worked in Wuxi's youth hostel. With hushed voices, we covered a number of controversial topics. Twitter: @SMKYpodcast https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com

Tech Support Interlude

March 20, 2022 11:29 - 1 minute - 3.37 MB

Down with Apple 👊

Ukraine Episode

March 05, 2022 12:46 - 19 minutes - 36.4 MB

Instead of a regular episode, a few reflections on the way counternarrative-inclined westerners have responded to Russia's aggression, mostly on Twitter. My twitter @SMKYpodcast

#15 | The Grass Bends when the Wind Blows on it – Confucianism in China, a Conversation

February 24, 2022 10:10 - 26 minutes - 48.2 MB

A chat today with Manzhou from Shanghai about Confucianism. And stick around to the end for an email from Teacher Kelly, as some of the staff make a move against the school management.   https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com

#14 | Plunging Vertically, Lightly Clinking

February 17, 2022 10:59 - 15 minutes - 28.5 MB

Penny rocks up to drag me away from the safety of my apartment, and we go back into Changshu City to find sweatshops, green tea, and an illegal swimmer.   https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com