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Wisconsin Public Radio

CHANGING CHINA

Program 05-08-14-A

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Forget the Middle East. Robert Kaplan says the war in Iraq is just a blip on the radar screen. The next U.S. military challenge will be in the Pacific - against China. In this hour of the Peabody Award Winning program To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll look at a changing China - from its military and economy to its literature. And, the godfather of Chinese Rock and Roll - Cui Jian.

SEGMENT 1:

Edward Friedman is an expert on politics in China. His numerous books on the subject include "Revolution, Resistance and Reform in Village China" and "What If China Doesn't Democratize?" Friedman tells Steve Paulson that the Chinese act as if they are already involved in a Cold War with the U.S. Also, Mo Yan is a Chinese novelist whom many critics think will be a future Nobel Prize winner. His new novel is called "Big Breasts & Wide Hips." Yan talks from Beijing with Steve Paulson about depicting violence in his books, and dealing with pressure from the censors. We hear Mo Yan speaking in Chinese and his remarks are translated by the man who translated his books, Howard Goldblatt.

SEGMENT 2:

Matthew Clark produced a compilation CD of Chinese rock and roll. He plays excerpts for Anne Strainchamps and tells her about the various bands and the Chinese rock scene. And we hear lots of the music. Also, Anne talks with Chinese superstar Cui Jian about his new album.

SEGMENT 3:

Vicki Croke is the author of "The Lady and the Panda." The book tells the story of Ruth Harkness, a New York City dress designer and socialite who brought the first giant panda back from China in 1936. Croke tells Jim Fleming how Harkness succeeded where other adventurers failed. We also hear Harkness in historic recordings from the 1930s. Also, journalist Ian Johnson is the author of "Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China." He talks with Anne Strainchamps about one of them. Johnson is the Berlin Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal.

Cassette copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 05-08-14-B.

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Books:

• Vicki Constantine Croke, The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China's Most Exotic Animal (Random House)
• Edward Friedman, China's Rise, Taiwan's Dilemma, and International Peace (Routledge) (coming Fall 2005)
• Edward Friedman, Asia's Giants: Comparing China and India. Palgrave (Macmillan) (coming Fall 2005)
• Edward Friedman, Revolution, Resistance, and Reform in Village China (Yale) (coming Fall 2005)
• Ian Johnson, Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China (Vintage)
• Mo Yan, Howard Goldblatt (Translator), Big Breasts and Wide Hips (Arcade Publishing)
• Mo Yan, Howard Goldblatt (Translator), Red Sorghum (Penguin Books)

Links:

• Website for the "godfather of Chinese Rock and Roll" Cui Jian (including Cui Jian's new video): http://www.cuijian.com
• To read more about (and to hear more) Chinese Rock and Roll:
  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/red/sonic/
• To purchase Matthew Corbin Clark's CD of Chinese Rock:
  http://www.beijingband.com
  

Music:

• CUI JIAN - "Nothing To My Name" from ROCK 'N' ROLL ON THE NEW LONG MARCH
  - 1987.
• CUI JIAN - "Mr. Red" from SHOW YOUR COLOUR - 2005.
• CUI JIAN - "Get Over That Day" (Live) from SHOW YOUR COLOUR - 2005
• RUINS - "A Bouquet of People" from FLY LIKE A LEAF - 2005
• GLORIOUS PHARMACY - "Little Shadow" from BEIJING BAND 2001 compilation.
• SUBS - "8 O'Clock" unreleased - 2004
• WOOD PUSHING MELON - "How Steel Is Not Made" from MA MUSIC compilation - 2003
• Tan Dun & Yo-Yo Ma - "Desert Capricco" from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (motion picture soundtrack). Sony Music
• Tan Dun & Yo-Yo Ma - "Night Flight" from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (motion picture soundtrack). Sony Music
• "Nu Wa Creates Human Beings" from The Music of Chen Yi. The Women's Philharmonic conducted by JoAnn Falletta. New Albion Records
• "Singing the Night Among Fishing Boats" from Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto. Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony ORchestra. Tatako Nishizaki on violin. Marco Polo Records

Distribution dates:

week of 09/17/2006 - hour 1 week of 08/14/2005 - hour 2

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

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