U.S.-China Tensions: Threat Inflation and Balloon Deflation
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
Comedy Central
4.5 • 7.5K Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2023
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When a Chinese spy balloon was spotted above the U.S. last week, Americans reacted the only way they know how—by shooting it out of the sky with a missile. But why do we keep insisting that China is our sworn enemy? We’re talking with Jessica Chen Weiss, the Michael J. Zak Professor for China and Asia-Pacific Studies at Cornell and Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, and John Glaser, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and host of Cato’s Power Problems podcast. We discuss America’s reflexive urge to escalate even the smallest threat, why our geopolitical position is actually way more secure than we’re led to believe, and whether we might figure out a way to share the world stage with China. Writers Tocarra Mallard and Robby Slowik also join us to talk about why the State of the Union is always so overdramatic.
Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+.
CREDITS Hosted by: Jon Stewart
Featuring, in order of appearance: Tocarra Mallard, Robby Slowik, Jessica Chen Weiss, John Glaser
Executive Produced by Jon Stewart, Brinda Adhikari, James Dixon, Chris McShane, and Richard Plepler
Lead Producer: Sophie Erickson
Producers: Zach Goldbaum, Caity Gray
Assoc. Producer: Andrea Betanzos
Sound Engineer: Miguel Carrascal
Senior Digital Producer: Freddie Morgan
Digital Producer: Cassie Murdoch
Digital Coordinator: Norma Hernandez
Supervising Producer: Lorrie Baranek
Head Writer: Kris Acimovic
Elements Producer: Kenneth Hull
Clearances Producer: Daniella Philipson
Senior Talent Producer: Brittany Mehmedovic
Talent Manager: Marjorie McCurry
Talent Coordinator: Lukas Thimm
Senior Research Producer: Susan Helvenston
Theme Music by: Gary Clark Jr.
The Problem With Jon Stewart podcast is an Apple TV+ podcast, produced by Busboy Productions.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hold on, hold on. |
| 0:01.9 | I wish I could figure out, okay, speak right, |
| 0:04.0 | I just switch it to speaker. |
| 0:06.3 | Come on. |
| 0:08.6 | Welcome to Evening's with Grandpa. |
| 0:12.7 | All right, here we go. |
| 0:13.9 | Hello everybody, welcome once again to the podcast, the problem with me, the problem, John |
| 0:40.1 | Stewart. |
| 0:41.1 | I don't know what it is, first week of February, second week of February, that it all runs together. |
| 0:46.1 | When you're, it's winter time and you're aging. |
| 0:49.1 | Don't forget to watch the Apple TV Plus Show. |
| 0:51.5 | We got more episodes coming. |
| 0:53.0 | I like everybody else right now and beyond myself in fear of balloons, they could be coming |
| 1:00.2 | from anywhere, ladies and gentlemen, they could be coming from the north from the south. |
| 1:04.4 | If they are to rub together and you feel the hair on the nape of your neck go up, that |
| 1:08.4 | is just static electricity. |
| 1:09.7 | That is not the Chinese in any way trying to infiltrate into your spinal column, but these |
| 1:15.6 | balloons are obviously very dangerous. |
| 1:18.1 | And today's program, we're going to talk to Jessica Chen, vice professor of China and |
| 1:22.0 | Asia Pacific Studies at Cornell and Kato Institute scholar John Glazer about why we're not |
| 1:27.3 | at war already. |
| 1:28.6 | Are we to just stand here on our hands and let balloons run rough shot over this great |
... |
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