Yangyang Cheng

Today, @azohra.bsky.social and @brishen.bsky.social, co-chairs of the ALPE, share some exciting updates from the association.

I learned so much from and came away so inspired by this conversation with @elifriedman.bsky.social and Yueran Zhang, on the shifting status of workers in China and the history of labor activism in the country. Give it a listen! @madeinchinajournal.com

The shifting status of workers in Chinese society embodied China’s transition from socialism to market capitalism. But how did workers see themselves in this process? And has the Party-State lived up to its promises? In our podcast, @yangyangcheng.bsky.social speaks to Eli Friedman and Yueran Zhang.

"I understand that there have been some experiments showing that LLM review may have similar outcomes to human peer review, but who cares? Either scholarship, research and publishing are human enterprises or they aren’t." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu... >>

Excellent overview of the demise of academic freedom at UT Austin, with great quotes by several AAUP leaders. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

The campaign of educational censorship sweeping Texas and other GOP-governed states in the name of “free speech” and “diversity of viewpoint” in many ways exceeds the worst of the McCarthy Era (gift link obvs) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

Today is DAF Day! The Xylom is thrilled to accept donor-advised funds (DAFs). Take action to strengthen the independent press today by recommending a grant through your donor-advised fund. Learn more via our fiscal sponsor, the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation: altnewsfoundation.org/the-xylom/

How do digital platforms from Alibaba to Didi navigate shifting politics in China, and is the promise of agency and freedom in e-commerce a marketing myth? I learned so much talking to @lizhiliu.bsky.social and Jack Linzhou Xing for the latest Gateway to Global China @madeinchinajournal.com. Listen⏬

How do digital platforms from Alibaba to Didi navigate shifting politics in China, and is the promise of agency and freedom in e-commerce a marketing myth? I learned so much talking to @lizhiliu.bsky.social and Jack Linzhou Xing for the latest Gateway to Global China @madeinchinajournal.com. Listen⏬

Fresh meals and fancy gadgets delivered to your doorstep instantly, at rock-bottom prices, are among China's top draws. But at what cost? For our podcast, Lizhi Liu and Jack Linzhou Xing join @yangyangcheng.bsky.social to unpack the rise of China's e-commerce giants and the politics behind them.

Drexel University is choosing to shut down the country’s oldest natural history museum, The Academy of Natural Sciences, for “funding” reasons (even though it costs .6% of their annual budget and they spent WAY more on ai nobody wants this year!) Go to save-the-academy.org to help.

Forget grandiose talk of curing cancer - this is what AI is actually doing to healthcare. In the words of one cardiologist: “it’s bots fighting bots, agents fighting agents, a horrible dystopic future nobody wants to live in.”

Please take a moment to read this important piece that grapples with some urgent and complex issues for anyone who cares about US-China academic exchange and the transnational flow of people and ideas, co-authored by Penny Edwards and Christina Fink. www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/gues...

Hi all, only a few days left to pitch ideas for the upcoming issues of Made in China Journal (on Hong Kong) and Global China Pulse (on the new geopolitics of knowledge production). Short pitches are due September 30. 1/

New Gallup polling finds that 71% of Americans approve of labor unions and 56 million Americans would join a union tomrorow if they could. We are witnessing a historic rebirth of worker power. If you want a better life for you and your children, join or support a union.

You know, honestly, more than monetary donations, if somebody worked at a company that had access to a lot of 18 terabyte and larger hard drives and could talk to us, that's where we are really suffering. The internet archive has no special priority in buying hard drives and those things are insane.

Scoop: For nearly a year, NSF has struggled to make new grants. Now we know that it will not catch up. In fact, NSF will award just 6,100 new grants—a 30% y/o/y decline, itself down from a previous avg. of 11,000+. In fact, the last time NSF awarded so few grants was in the early '80s.

"The rise, demise, and rebirth of the legendary bookstore embody decades of political and economic developments in China, and its transpacific journey lays bare the unruly contours of language and identity." @yangyangcheng.bsky.social writes for @chinafile.bsky.social about JF (Jifeng) Books.

A Shanghai bookstore was shut down by the Chinese state in 2018. Six years later, it reopened in Washington, D.C. Yangyang Cheng spent months reporting the full, complicated story of Jifeng —

A lovely scary hopeful read from @yangyangcheng.bsky.social

How did Jifeng Books, once the pride of Shanghai, run afoul of the authorities? Is its reincarnation in D.C. a replica of the store in China? How is the immigrant venture navigating deteriorating politics in its new abode, while nurturing aspirations for the homeland? I write @chinafile.bsky.social:

"The nature of the book as both a commodity and a carrier of ideas makes bookstores one of the few places in China where public discussions can take place without seeking prior approval. Consumer activities provide cover for civic discourse." I write about Jifeng Books and its transpacific remaking.

A great essay whether or not you live in DC -- a case study in what migration means for ideas and communities. Also recommended: the JF Books youtube, where you can see the events they run: www.youtube.com/@JFBooks%E5%...

On the eve of its second birthday in DC, after being forced to end a 20-year run in Shanghai in 2018, I write about Jifeng Books. It's about decades of change in and between China and the US, cultural production under capitalism and authoritarian politics, and ringing the bells that still can ring.

Great piece about a world gone by. #Shanghai #Jifeng #books

The new issue of the Made in China Journal is out! Over the past decade, we have watched hopes for a more pluralist China fade, with activists describing growing feelings of dejection and powerlessness. There is a term for it: political depression. In this issue, we explore this condition.

An absolute must read, especially for those at institutions proposing versions of ‘computational humanities’ or ‘tech humanities,’ which are often framed on industry terms rather than humanistic ones

Few subjects have stirred as much nationalistic debate across the Pacific as biotech. For our podcast, @yangyangcheng.bsky.social speaks to Abigail Coplin and Chenjian Li about the power and limits of biotechnologies, and how the body becomes a geopolitical battleground and site for profit.

As a big fan of libraries, I was thrilled to learn about the work Hannah and @flexlibris.bsky.social are doing to give the public the critical information they’re looking for about the products tech companies are pushing on them. Support your local library (and library workers)!

A university cannot be a sanctuary for knowledge while serving as an agent of the border. As long as some students can be threatened with deportation, no one's academic freedom is secure. 20/

I am losing my mind. Chat isn’t a search engine. this isn’t normal. framing it as normative is slimy. Tone, vibes all bad.

Daredevil: Born Again S3

Tweet so good I printed it out and put it on my wall. I referred to it in a conference talk today @hypervisible.blacksky.app

Even the so-called 'good' NYT columnists are committed to making classroom micro-politics national news while ignoring the manifold structural problems with higher ed. The @nytimes.com higher ed's coverage is a manifestation of PMC anxieties about universities, not a depiction of reality.