We’re proud to present our last summer cross post with NPR’s Rough Translation! In this episode, host Gregory Warner talks to reporter Emily Feng about the rise of anti-work culture in China. While you may have heard about the term 躺平 or “lying flat”, Emily delves into 丧文化, or the sang subculture, which embodies cynicism and defeatism in response to China’s particular flavor of late-stage capitalism. Later in the episode, Emily discusses how the Chinese government is trying to stamp out the anti-work vibes by using an internet star to shift the narrative. This episode is part of Rough Translation’s special @Work series.
We also have an exciting announcement in this episode: introducing our new podcast production team members!
Saga Ringmar (@saga_ringmar) is our new senior producer. She produced our most recent episode about China, Taiwan, and US Foreign Policy. Previously, Saga worked as a researcher for Kinapodden i P1, a podcast about news, politics, and culture in China for the Swedish Public Radio. Saga grew up in Taipei and Shanghai and speaks English, Mandarin, and Swedish. She is currently a copy writer based in Sweden. Learn more about Saga on her website. Welcome Saga!
Lauren Lau (@laurenflau) is our new associate producer. She is a freelance journalist for CNN and is based in Hong Kong. Lauren is a recent graduate of the University of Hong Kong’s journalism program. She has interned at the South China Morning Post, AFP, and was a fixer for The Atlantic. You can listen to some of Lauren’s work with China Echo, a HKU journalism student project which reported local stories not covered by English language media. As a born and raised Hong Konger, Lauren can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. Welcome Lauren!