Drum Tower - Podcast Rankings and reviews

As the hosts mention on their recent one-year looking back episode, one thing that makes this podcast phenomenal is the opportunity for folks like me in the US to hear directly from Chinese people in their own voices. As tensions between the US and China increase, I think podcasts like this are increasingly vital so I can try to understand what is happening in China without being told all bad news or all good news. There is a striving for honest and nuanced coverage and I appreciate what is done on a weekly basis to bring the big picture into clarity by listening to smaller slices of life. The understanding of China in the US is not very detailed. I truly appreciate having the context, interviews, and cultural explanations shared with me so I can attempt to understand China better.

Hands down the best single source of information about China for Westerners that want news and info about China.

Westerners that want to have a more complete and full view of China, must listen to this podcast.

I subscribed to The Economist mainly for the Drum Tower and appreciate the important topics and engaging content.
However, when it comes to Taiwan, a recurring bias seems apparent, portraying Taiwan as wise, moral, and overly vulnerable while the mainland is consistently doing nothing positive. The comparison between Taiwan and Ukraine, and China and Moscow, feels misplaced to me. While Taiwan and the mainland were once part of the same country before their political split, Ukraine and Russia, though deeply intertwined, were separate republics since within the Soviet Union and are distinctly two separate nations.
That said, the show is overall excellent, and I’m looking forward to more valuable content!

This podcast is extremely informative. I prompted me to learn more about modern Chinese history, including reading Spence’s Search for Modern China. I also made myself learn more about the geography of China’s cities and provinces beyond those that are constantly in the news. I am a little nervous about paying full-freight for the subscription next month, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Used to be a great podcast, but they switched to a paid model and locked all the old episodes. I was in the middle of listening to something that can’t even finish the episode anymore. I might be willing to pay a little bit to listen to this, but the pricing is pretty ridiculous. And anyway the fact that they would retroactively lock old episodes that used to be free unless you pay is not something I’d support.