S8 Ep146: 7/8 The Unfilial Son and the Trauma of Informing — Tanya Branigan — This segment recounts the 1970 execution of Fu Zhong Mo, a devoted Communist Party member who was denounced following her criticism of Mao. Her seventeen-year-old son, Jiang Hong Bing, in
7/8 The Unfilial Son and the Trauma of Informing — Tanya Branigan — This segment recounts the 1970 execution of Fu Zhong Mo, a devoted Communist Party member who was denounced following her criticism of Mao. Her seventeen-year-old son, Jiang Hong Bing, informed state authorities against his mother, subordinating filial obligation to worship of Mao Zedong. Fu was publicly executed, and her corpse was subsequently moved multiple times by authorities. Jiang lives with severe guilt, characterizing himself as an "unfilial son" and tormented by the knowledge that he and his father directly facilitated her judicial murder.
1967 SHANGHAI
--------
10:55
--------
10:55
S8 Ep146: 6/8 Impersonators, Nostalgia, and the Fall of Lin Biao — Tanya Branigan — CR nostalgia manifests in organized commemorative groups and the remarkable phenomenon of Lin Biao impersonators. Lin Biao, once Mao's designated successor and principal architect o
6/8 Impersonators, Nostalgia, and the Fall of Lin Biao — Tanya Branigan — CR nostalgia manifests in organized commemorative groups and the remarkable phenomenon of Lin Biao impersonators. Lin Biao, once Mao's designated successor and principal architect of the personality cult, was subsequently vilified following his mysterious plane crash and disappearance. His dramatic downfall fractured revolutionary faith among many Chinese. Former educated youth, who endured severe conditions during rural exile, maintain regular reunion gatherings recalling their youthful experiences with nostalgic fondness, seeking transcendent meaning and harking back to an era they perceive as morally uncomplicated.
1967
--------
8:20
--------
8:20
S8 Ep146: 5/8 Princelings, Purges, and the Politics of Red Nostalgia — Tanya Branigan — Princelings Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping, both children of senior Communist leadership, were themselves CR victims, experiencing persecution and hardship. Bo Xilai, known for his con
5/8 Princelings, Purges, and the Politics of Red Nostalgia — Tanya Branigan — Princelings Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping, both children of senior Communist leadership, were themselves CR victims, experiencing persecution and hardship. Bo Xilai, known for his conspicuous personal style, strategically exploited CR nostalgia by promoting "red songs" celebrating the revolutionary era. Xi Jinping, though more rhetorically restrained, similarly adopted ideological and sentimental appeals to revolutionary memory. This return to Maoist mythology attracts grassroots constituencies seeking transcendent meaning, ideological purity, and moral certainty amid contemporary economic disruption and pervasive institutional corruption.
1967
--------
9:30
--------
9:30
S8 Ep146: 4/8 Persecution and Survival: The Composer Wang Xilin's Memory — Tanya Branigan — The biography of composer Wang Xilin, a zealous Communist Party member and peasant-background intellectual, illustrates the regime's betrayal of its devoted followers. Wang
4/8 Persecution and Survival: The Composer Wang Xilin's Memory — Tanya Branigan — The biography of composer Wang Xilin, a zealous Communist Party member and peasant-background intellectual, illustrates the regime's betrayal of its devoted followers. Wang endured systematic persecution including multiple struggle sessions, during which he anticipated execution. Branigan documents that remembering this trauma remains acutely painful; Wangcompared his suffering to Holocaust experiences at Auschwitz. Wang demonstrates extreme anger when questioned about controversial gaps in his compositional legacy, reflecting the profound depth of his unresolved psychological trauma.
1967
--------
7:15
--------
7:15
S8 Ep146: 3/8 Red August and the Idealism of Teenage Red Guards — Tanya Branigan — Yu Zhangzhen, who became a Red Guard at age thirteen, recalls "Red August" 1966, when Mao Zedong summoned millions of young people to massive rallies, explicitly endorsing the moveme
3/8 Red August and the Idealism of Teenage Red Guards — Tanya Branigan — Yu Zhangzhen, who became a Red Guard at age thirteen, recalls "Red August" 1966, when Mao Zedong summoned millions of young people to massive rallies, explicitly endorsing the movement and exhorting them to destroy the "four olds." Despite witnessing horrific violence, including corpse-filled athletic fields, Yu maintained genuine ideological commitment to the revolutionary cause. For many participants, the CR represented a liberating experience, offering unprecedented personal autonomy, free nationwide travel privileges, and intoxicating liberation from parental and institutional discipline.
1966
The John Batchelor Show is a hard news-analysis radio program on current events, world history, global politics and natural sciences. Based in New York City for two decades, the show has travelled widely to report, from the Middle East to the South Caucasus to the Arabian Peninsula and East Asia.
USA