Xi Zhongxun's Second Act: 1949-1989
This is part two of our series with Joseph Torigian, author of the definitive biography of Xi Zhongxun. This episode traces the inner world of a man navigating power politics, exile, and reform, and the legacy he left his son, Xi Jinping.
Against the backdrop of the Great Leap Forward, the Sino-Soviet split, the Cultural Revolution, and reform and opening up, we discuss…
The moral dilemmas of a mid-level party cadre,
What it’s like to be purged, and why the party prescribes self-criticism as therapy,
“Frenemies” in the CCP, Deng Xiaoping’s autocratic side, and the unsung heros of the reform…
The skinny
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