Barbarians at the Gate

This Was Funnier in China: Jesse Appell's Cross-Cultural Comedy Journey

Posted May 5, 2026 • 00:48:45

On this episode, we sit down with the one and only Jesse Appell—Chinese TV stand-up comedian, blogger, lecturer, tea entrepreneur, and passionate...

The Business of Burgers in Beijing: What Fast Food Festivals Reveal About China's Economy

Posted April 21, 2026 • 00:33:22

Mike Wester launched the first Burger Fest in Beijing 13 years ago as a scrappy response to the collapse of print ad revenue. Today, burger festivals...

Barbarians Remix: Do you really need to learn to write characters to study Chinese?

Posted April 7, 2026 • 00:27:43

Originally released on October 3, 2023.

Warning: GEEKY CONTENT

Hosting solo in this week’s episode, David takes...

The Many Lives of Da Shan: Mark Rowswell on Chinese Poetry, Performing Live, and Staging Shawshank in Mandarin

Posted March 24, 2026 • 00:45:43

In this episode, we reconnect with an old friend of the podcast, Canadian performer Mark Rowswell, better known in China as Dashan, or “Big Mountain.”...

Lee Moore's China Backstory: Why Saying "History Proves" Actually Means "I Haven't Done the Reading"

Posted March 10, 2026 • 00:42:35

Lee Moore's new book challenges both Chinese state propaganda and Western pundits on Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong...