Edward Wong: At the Edge of Empire, China, Family, and Power
The Gist
Mike Pesca
4.4 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 29 August 2025
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
New York Times correspondent Edward Wong has reported from Beijing to Baghdad, covering the rise of China and the reach of American power. In his new book At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning with China, Wong blends geopolitics with personal history, from his father’s time in Mao’s army to his own years navigating censorship and nationalism in modern China. Mike talks with Wong about ideology, disillusionment, and what China’s trajectory means for the United States and the world. Plus: On the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Mike reflects on how rumors and misinformation shaped the disaster response, and what lessons still echo in today’s media landscape.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There's an exciting live event, a debate that I'm taking part of. It's part of the open to debate series. |
| 0:06.6 | And the question, to be debated is, is masculinity a prison? I think that's a little bit of a term of |
| 0:13.8 | art, but I'm not going to give away too much of my side of the debate, which is nah, come on, masculinity |
| 0:19.7 | is not a prison. I'm actually going to bring more |
| 0:22.2 | to the debate than just tone of voice. But if it's just on tone of voice, come on, masculinity |
| 0:27.1 | of prison? Things like that will be said. Details of the debate. Wednesday, September 10th, |
| 0:33.7 | doors open at 5.30, the debate starts at six at the comedy seller village underground in Greenwich Village. |
| 0:41.5 | I will be debating Lux Altram. She is arguing yes. Masculinity is a prison. The moderator is Naima Raza. |
| 0:52.3 | And I think you're going to like it. I've been thinking a lot about, |
| 0:54.7 | is masculinity a prison? |
| 0:57.0 | And I think I will be able to convince you |
| 0:58.6 | if you're not already convinced. |
| 1:00.2 | Nah, it's not. |
| 1:01.8 | September 10th, New York City, |
| 1:03.6 | details for tickets in the show notes. |
| 1:06.7 | Or go to open to debate.org |
| 1:09.8 | for tickets and more details about the programs they put on. |
| 1:17.7 | It's Friday, August 29th, 2025 from Peachfish Productions. |
| 1:22.0 | It's the gist. I'm Mike Pesca. |
| 1:23.5 | It is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. |
| 1:26.9 | I was there. The day after the levees broke, I was in the state, and I stayed there for a few weeks. |
| 1:33.9 | As you said, there are still some people at the Superdome. General Fleming addressed some portions of the media today. |
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