Anthony Tao: The Poetry and Soul of Beijing

Sinica Podcast

Kaiser Kuo

Culture, China News, Hangzhou, Chinese, International Relations, Chongqing, Beijing, Sichuan, Currentaffairs, China, Politics, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, China Economy, News, China Politics, Business, Film, Shenzhen

4.8 • 676 Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2024

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on Sinica, I'm in Beijing, where I spoke with my dear friend Anthony Tao, an English-language poet and a builder of community in the city where I lived for over 20 years. Anthony recently published a volume of his poetry called We Met in Beijing, and it captures the relationship that so many have with the city wherever they might come from. The episode features readings of some of his — and my — favorite poems.

3:28 Why Anthony chose poetry as a medium, and the poetry he has read [appreciated?]

9:13 A discussion of Anthony’s poem, “I Landed in Beijing,” and the feelings Beijing inspires

19:56 Anthony’s poem, “Self-censorship”

27:08 Anthony’s journalism in poetic form and processing the trauma of COVID

31:38 Living as an “expat” and writing from an expat’s perspective: Anthony’s poem “Dancing like a Laowai

40:46 Anthony’s bar — The Golden Weasel — and meeting interesting people in Beijing

44:49 The themes of place and nostalgia, Anthony’s poem, “Postcard,” and the last stanza of his title poem, “We Met in Beijing”

Recommendations:

Anthony: The poetry of Stephen Dunn; the TV series Lucky Hank (2023) based on Straight Man by Richard Russo; Spittoon, an English-language literary collective in China; and his band, Poetry x Music

Kaiser: The many international restaurants of Xiaoyun Lu in Beijing

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Transcript

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0:45.7	That's audible.com slash Wondery UK. Welcome to the Cynica podcast, the weekly discussion of current affairs in China.
1:03.2	In this program, we'll look at books, ideas, new research, intellectual currents, and cultural trends
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1:11.0	politics, foreign relations, economics, and society. Join me each week for in-depth conversations
1:17.0	that shed more light and bring less heat to how we think and talk about China. I'm Kaiser Guo,
1:24.0	coming to you from the city I called home for over 20 years and in which I hope to be spending much, much more time in the coming years, Beijing.
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