Videos

Marshall, Blake, and Mike wrap up the "Tea, Drugs, and Jesus" series with a review of how the United States misunderstood China in various ways at various times during the history of relations between the two countries between the late 18th century and 1972, as well as what broader themes of misunderstanding recurred throughout that history. They then discuss how the United States continues to misunderstand China today, and how it similarly misjudges the motivations, behaviors, and actions of many other countries, leading to mistakes and failure — all because of America's incuriosity about the world, its resulting lack of cultural literacy, and its propensity to ignore or fire experts who tell American leaders things they — and often the American public — do not want to hear about the world around them.

Marshall describes how the movies falsely depicted the Axis powers of World War II as a deep, unified conspiracy against the world and how Americans then falsely assumed that communist countries behaved as a unified bloc in a similar — and also fictional — way in this excerpt from Episode 210 ("Only Nixon Can Go to China") of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "Tea, Drugs, and Jesus," which explores how the United States always has misunderstood China. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com. This video includes: * Wikimedia Commons photo of a museum display by Eric Chan (https://www.flickr.com/people/47983324@N00), used under the Creative Commons Attribu…

The Boxer Rebellion was a violent Chinese uprising against foreigners that is best known for the 55-day siege of the foreign legations in Peking in 1900. Mike describes the origins and early stages of the rebellion in this excerpt from Episode 204 ("The Harmonious") of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "Tea, Drugs, and Jesus," which explores how the United States always has misunderstood China. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com. This video includes: * Wikimedia Commons photo by Peter d'Aprix of a mixed-media wax sculpture of a Chinese Boxer at the George S. Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures® produced by George S. Stuart. * Photo of Boxer archer: …

When Chinese "volunteers" intervened in the Korean War in 1950, American relations with the People's Republic of China fell into an icy abyss from which they did not emerge until President Richard Nixon made his momentous decision to transform world politics by visiting Beijing in 1972. In the United States, the "loss" of China to what Americans thought of as monolithic "world communism" led during the intervening two decades to the "Red Scare," the "Lavender Scare," blacklisting, and growing U.S. involvement in conflict in Southeast Asia — all while American policymakers ignored, fired, and even ruined the reputations and careers of experts who tried to give them advice on the realities of China, Vietnam, communism, and international relations during the Cold War.

The United States had three major policy options with regard to China as Chinese Communist forces swept to victory over the Nationalists on the Chinese mainland in 1949. Marshall, Mike, and Blake introduce these three options in this excerpt from Episode 209 ("White Paper to Red Scare") of th United States of Amnesia podcast series "Tea, Drugs, and Jesus," which explores how the United States always has misunderstood China. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com.

Marshall, Blake, and Mike engage in a wide-ranging discussion of American policy disputes over what to do about China after World War II. President Truman, Secretaries of State George C. Marshall and Dean Acheson, Madame Chiang and her family, General Claire Chennault, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, the CIA, the domino theory, the American idea of monolithic “international communism,” and anti-colonial nationalist movements in Southeast Asia all play roles as Marshall lays out three options U.S. policymakers debated between 1945 and 1950: Should the United States follow the advice of the “China hands” by turning its back on the corrupt Nationalist government of the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek and instead recognize the Communist government of the People’s Republic of China as China’s legitimate government? Or should America take the view of policy realists that China had little strategic value to the United States and was a sociopolitical mess not worth being involved in? Or sh…

Mike walks us through the complex situation in China in the aftermath of World War II, with armed Japanese operating in the country, Soviet forces occupying Manchuria, and the Nationalist and Communist Chinese resuming their civil war with one another. The decisive phase of the civil war ensues, culminating in the Communist takeover of mainland China and the Nationalist retreat to Taiwan. Marshall then leads our discussion of the efforts of American leaders, including President Truman and Secretaries of State George C. Marshall and Dean Acheson, to determine a way forward in their China policy while Madame Chiang and General Claire Chennault lobby for continued support to the corrupt Nationalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek, whose constant demands for more American aid earn him the derisive nickname “Cash My Check.”

The Ku Klux Klan was a powerful social and political force in the United States in the 1920s, and probably reached the zenith of its power and influence with a large parade it held in Washington, D.C., in August 1925. Mike describes the parade and related events in this excerpt from Episode 102 ("America First — Part 2") of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "America First," which traces the evolution of that phrase and the movement that embodied it from the 1880s through the outbreak of World War II. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com.

In this excerpt from Episode 202 ("Conflict Follows Trade") of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "Tea, Drugs, and Jesus" — which discusses how the United States always has misunderstood China — Marshall describes how American merchants seeking trade with China in the 1820s and 1830s established a market in bêche-de-mer — also known as sea cucumbers. We are a long-format podcast that makes deep dives into the history you have forgotten or never knew. We drop new episodes every other Wednesday and begin a new series every few weeks. For much more, see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, or visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com. The Wikimedia Commons photo of a sea cucumber in chopsticks is by Jpatokal (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jpatokal) and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)…

In this excerpt from Episode 205 ("The Soong Dynasty") of the United States of Amnesia podcast series "Tea, Drugs, and Jesus" — which explores how the United States has never really understood China — Marshall explains how Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, later viewed in the United States as a great leader in a struggle against global communism, actually collaborated with the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communists in his early days — in ways his American supporters in the 1950s abhorred in the fellow Americans. We drop long-form podcast episodes on historical topics every other Wednesday. For much more, visit our YouTube channel @USAmnesia, listen wherever you get your podcasts, and visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com.

In this excerpt from Episode 207 ("Flying Tigers and Burmese Roads") of the United States of Amnesia podcast's "Tea, Drugs, and Jesus" series on the persistent U.S. misunderstanding of China, Blake tells us how Generals Joseph Stilwell and Claire Chennault described Chinese Nationalist leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in a 1943 meeting with President Franklin Roosevelt. For the entire episode — and much more — see our YouTube channel @USAAmnesiaor listen wherever you get your podcasts. To learn more, visit our website at https://www.usofamnesia.com. Email us at usa.amnesia@gmail.com.

Mike again leads us in our narrative of how America continued to fall short of its goals for China in World War II during the second half of the war. We meet General Claire Chennault of 'Flying Tigers' fame, whose ideas for how to fight in China contradict those of his bitter rival, General Joseph Stilwell, but gain favor with Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang and, for a while, with Franklin Roosevelt. Ultimately, the war in China ends in frustration for America, and Mike, Marshall, and Blake discuss how the historiography of the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II has changed, but still can obscure a more basic American misunderstanding of Chiang, his government, his military, and his Communist rivals during the war. They also review the obstacles that blocked the Nationalists and Communists from making common cause in China, which will lead to a resumption of their civil war after World War II ends.