I am shooting my shot. I love writing op-eds. @teenvogue.com was my main outlet, but if there are any others (especially independently ran) that are looking for a contributing writer on race, gender, and the economy, I'd love to work with you. Signed, A Black woman who writes for the public

No no no begs every archivist. You are never going to be able to find anything. Please don’t start using emojis in file names. Who asked for this? What fresh hell is next?

I'm deep in a first pass of copy edits on the #AAS2026 Annual Conference program and oh, wow. Scholars are under such pressures these days, yet they continue to come up with incredible projects. I see so many sessions I wish I could attend.

AAS and LUMS are *extending* the AAS-in-Asia 2026 Call for Proposals deadline—all panel and roundtable proposals will now be due by December 2. And for those unable to travel to Lahore, there will be a virtual participation option available. Read more: aasinasia.org

Call for Papers: "Indigenous Imaginaries of the Commons: Breaks and Continuities in the Historiographies of South Asia and Hawaiʻi," to be held at UH Manoa, April 8-10, 2026. Submit your proposal by January 12 for consideration.

Happy US pub day to Sonia Faleiro’s THE ROBE AND THE SWORD: How Buddhist Extremism Is Shaping Modern Asia (Dec 4 in UK) “Sonia Faleiro is a master of narrative reportage, illuminating every topic she touches”—Fatima Bhutto learn more & get your copy now-> globalreports.columbia.edu/books/the-ro...

A university administrator wrote last summer that my team’s research on forced labor in the Uyghur Region of China and student recruitment in China were “untenable bedfellows.” Today on the picket line at Sheffield Hallam University…

*click*

Edmund Fitzgerald Day should really be a state holiday here.

Let my gravestone read "PUNCTUATION GOES INSIDE THE QUOTATION MARKS."

In an interview with @andypeaps.bsky.social at @thewirechina.bsky.social, @proflind.bsky.social talks about her concept of "smart authoritarianism" and how previous analysts got it wrong when they anticipated that there would be a limit to how much China could grow without democracy.

First snow, Silk Roads cooking, China's efforts at transnational repression, a shrinking Tibetan community in Dharamsala, protests in Asia and beyond, the AI industry in China—you'll find all this (and more!) in today's Weekly Wanderings.

Damn right!

Tomorrow (Monday, Nov 10) the tables are turned: I’m the guest on the Greenhouse #envhum book talk to discuss Ghosts Behind Glass with @finnarne.me & guest host @medievalpenguin.bsky.social Join us online for the discussion! 4pm CET/3pm GMT/10am EST newnatures.org/greenhouse/e...

Living in a tech utopia bubble in China reminds me what it’s like living in a tech utopia bubble here. Expo halls filled with crappy robots, involuted anomie, resignation to overwork.

First snow, Silk Roads cooking, China's efforts at transnational repression, a shrinking Tibetan community in Dharamsala, protests in Asia and beyond, the AI industry in China—you'll find all this (and more!) in today's Weekly Wanderings.

During an October trip to China, @astoks.bsky.social observed how "Like in the U.S., the AI race/bubble is sucking investment and energy (both in kilowatts and zheng nengliang) out of other sectors and concentrating wealth and capital in a few leading firms."

Call for Proposals: North American Taiwan Studies Association' 31st Annual Conference, "Resonance/Dissonance — Taiwan Studies, Knowledge Production, and Power Asymmetry." June 26-28, IU Bloomington. Proposal deadline is December 31.

It is the 150th year anniversary of Qiu Jin's birth. It is an honor to translate the work of this amazing feminist poet. Just want to take some time today to honor her memory 💐

Agree with this. Writing is one of my favorite things to do. It's not something I want to outsource to an LLM.

It's Friday night baby

My dearest mentor, Professor Joseph Fewsmith, unfortunately passed away this week. I wrote this little tribute with great pain. But no writing is enough to express my love and gratitude for Joe.

Five yrs ago today in my role as head of Voter Protection for Biden-Harris in Phila, at right about this moment, I was reaching out to our team to figure out who could sneak into a hastily-called press conference by Rudy Giuliani at the Four Seasons Hotel ... and then, what, it's going to be where??

Call for nominations: @chinabooksreview.com is now seeking submissions for the 2025 Baifang Schell Book Prize, which will be awarded to one work of nonfiction and one of literature. Nomination deadline is December 15.

love to read in a historical document that something happened "由于种种原因" is this the archival silence that I have been reading about?

Thanks to generous funding from the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation, we are pleased to offer grants of up to $2,000 to support the attendance of Ming Studies scholars at #AAS2026 in Vancouver. Apply by December 18 for this opportunity! bit.ly/AAS2026Ming

On November 18, audiences across North America are invited to join GETSEA for its annual simulcast film screening. This year's feature presentation is VIETNAMERICA and will include a virtual discussion with Executive Producer Nancy Bui. buff.ly/m6unrlO

I am so deeply shaken by Janet's sudden passing. Getting to know her has been one of the pleasures of my time at both @ncuscr.bsky.social and @asianstudies.org, and I can't believe that we won't talk again soon.

"In February, Murphy was told that her work on China, described previously by the university as 'groundbreaking', had to stop." Amy Hawkins reports on an attempt by Sheffield Hallam University to end research by @lauratmurphy.bsky.social into forced labor in Xinjiang.

🔔 Reminder: Monday, November 17 is the preliminary application deadline for 2025-26 UCLA Library Modern Endangered Archives Program Grants. Full application details: ucla.in/4n8aJGS

I'm thrilled to be back in Taiwan, where I'll be based for the next few years as The Economist's Chief China Correspondent and co-host of the Drum Tower podcast. I'll be jointly leading our China coverage from here, focusing on foreign policy, military affairs, Taiwan and Chinese influence abroad.

"You will be haunted," resumed the Ghost, "by three spirits."

Looking forward to reading @rianthum.bsky.social ‘s important new book, Islamic China. Pre-order your copy today! www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

Our forthcoming volume on the environmental history of China's era of high socialism has a cover. Paul Pickowicz, who took the photo when he visited China in 1971 as part of a Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars delegation, also contributed the book's epilogue.

Oh, boy, Stephen Colbert is OVER-THE-TOP in making "Xi Jinping" sound "foreign." Someone please give him a quick pronunciation lesson, ASAP.

Note to the universe of cable news people reporting right now on Trump/Xi Jinping. For last name of PRC leader, just say SHE. As in "he and she." That's close enough for English speakers. (Not "gee" or "ji" or 'zhi' or something seemingly more 'foreign' sounding.)

I recently talked with a friend about my interest in hiking the Appalachian Trail and my worry that it's something I should be doing NOW (at 43), even though I'm not in a position to pause my life and do it. I don't want to wait to 80, but stories like this reassure me I still have time. (🤞)

SILK ROADS: A FLAVOR ODYSSEY WITH RECIPES FROM BAKU TO BEIJING, by Anna Ansari, is a cookbook-memoir-travelogue that showcases the culinary connections across East, Central, and Middle East Asia. I'll be cooking from it this weekend.

🚨How can we write about China-US relations without a Cold-War binary or Orientalist rhetoric? Check out our upcoming virtual writing workshop with @yangyangcheng.bsky.social! 📅6 December 2025, 12 – 1:45 PM 💲$40 USD ($20 for students/members/grads) For more details: nuvoices.com/2025/10/27/v...

AAS on campus: Digital Media Manager Maura Cunningham (pictured) and Grants Manager Molly DeDona (photographer) are at the University of Michigan today sharing information about association membership, internships, and funding opportunities.

Very excited to be on the judging panel for the 2026 @orwellprize.bsky.social in Political Writing, chaired by Rohan Silva, alongside Katie Prescott, Sam Bowman and Lawrence Freedman. Looking forward to reading and discussing—get your submissions in now! www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-p...

It's interesting that this article almost entirely elides - as was the historical tendency - American traders' explicit and significant hand in the opium trade. If we want to use the Opium War to understand this clash then we need to recognize that Americans were barely neutral and hardly blameless.

'It creates a “black hole of information”' - earlier this year, @rebeccalroot.bsky.social wrote about what the closure of Radio Free Asia would mean for free speech: greater risk for journalists, less information for the public and a win for governments: www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/09/what...

It is not lost on me that I could probably get more done if I stopped clicking on every "how to stop procrastinating" article on the planet.

Breaking News: Radio Free Asia will shut down its operations for the first time since its founding in 1996, after being targeted by the Trump administration.

SILK ROADS: A FLAVOR ODYSSEY WITH RECIPES FROM BAKU TO BEIJING, by Anna Ansari, is a cookbook-memoir-travelogue that showcases the culinary connections across East, Central, and Middle East Asia. I'll be cooking from it this weekend.

Same.

I mean…seriously. Wasn’t expecting the virus infected monkey dystopian plot line but I guess we’ve arrived there.

University of Michigan students: we have two Spring 2026 semester internship opportunities at the AAS office in Ann Arbor! Staff members will be on campus *tomorrow* to share more info and answer your questions—stop by Haven Hall (10-1:30) or Weiser Hall 307 (2pm) for details. buff.ly/TbvHJwW

On view at the Toledo Museum of Art until November 30, INFINITE IMAGES showcases those who work with mathematical approaches to create generative art. It's a fascinating show, though I was left wondering how we can ensure that some of the pieces won't fall victim to technological obsolescence.