In this excerpt from Episode 205 - 'The Soong Dynasty,' Marshall gives us a personal example of misunderstanding and misinformation from his younger days, and a look into what resources were available and what information was being represented regarding the First Republic of China and its president, Sun Yat-sen. Listen…
This excerpt from Episode 202 - Conflict Follows Trade sets the stage for the rest of the series. The perception of China by the outside world was based mostly on artwork: porcelain pots seemingly depicting everyday life, fanciful literature, because accurate information was in very short supply, and this initial…
Mike provides a brief thesis of our series, 'Tea, Drugs, and Jesus,' in Episode 205, outlining how the information given to the American people regarding China was romanticized and idealized time and time again. Listen to the full episode and series on all major platforms; check us out on www.usofamnesia.com…
An excerpt from Episode 204 - The Harmonious Fists that highlights one of the theses of our series on the history of America and China, 'Tea, Drugs, and Jesus.' China has often been the subject of misinformation and misunderstanding in American media throughout history, and the US approach to foreign…
@USAAmnesia Mike wraps up our intellectual debate series on the history of "America First" with a solemn reminder of the dangers associated with this term and ideology that are often forgotten due to revisionist history. Check out our channel for the entire series on America First, an ongoing series on…
Mike leads our discussion of the American experience in China during World War II. Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin Roosevelt, and General “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell are the central figures in this episode, which explores many aspects of the war's often-overlooked China-Burma-India Theater and introduces us to the Flying Tigers, the Burma Road,…
Marshall, Blake, and Mike discuss America’s view of China from the 1920s through the early 1940s and the strong influence Americans raised by missionaries in China, notably Henry Luce and Pearl Buck, had on that view. Chiang Kai-shek emerges as the leader of the Republic of China, and Americans contribute…
Mike walks us through the events of the Boxer Rebellion, a conflict in which Chinese rebels attempted to slaughter all foreigners and Chinese Christians in China. Marshall then explains how this drove missionaries into isolated compounds, from which they could look out on the Chinese — and judge them —…
As the Manchu dynasty weakens during the 19th century, U.S. missionaries arrive. Christian evangelization leads to the outbreak of the long, bloody, brutal, and genocidal Taiping Rebellion, whose leader claims to be the younger brother of Jesus, and (not for the last time) an American official gets fired for assessing…
Where trade goes, conflict follows! While Britain and the East India Company focus on the opium trade with China, Americans of the first half of the 19th century try to break into the Chinese market with...well...opium, but also with ginseng, sandalwood, furs, and even sea cucumbers. After the British crush…
Ben Franklin got China wrong, and America still does today! Marshall again will lead our discussion in a new series, “Tea, Drugs, and Jesus,” looking at how the United States keeps misunderstanding China, in no small part because American political leaders often refuse to listen to experts on Chinese affairs.…
Marshall, Blake, and Mike wrap up the America First series by dissecting the America First principles of non-involvement in World War II, then discussing the effect on America of the shockingly rapid 1940 fall of France, American support to Britain through Lend-Lease, Charles Lindbergh’s ascent to the leadership of the…
