Best Tales From The Pan Podcasts (2024)

1
Kerry Brown, "The Great Reversal: Britain, China and the 400-Year Contest for Power" (Yale UP, 2024) 39:29

2h ago39:29

39:29

In the sixteenth century, Queen Elizabeth I tried to send several letters to her Chinese counterpart, the Wan Li Emperor. The letters tried to ask the Ming emperor to conduct trade relations with faraway England; none of the expeditions carrying the letters ever arrived. It’s an inauspicious beginning to the four centuries of foreign relations betw…

1
Letting Go of Childhood Homes 39:58

18m ago39:58

39:58

In this episode, Megan explores the emotional journey of saying goodbye to her childhood home, unlocking family memories and healing along the way. Joined by Cari, whose family once owned the house Megan currently lives in, they reflect on the significance of spaces and the physical doors that connect us to our past. Dive into this rebroadcasted ep…

1
Steven K. Bailey, "Target Hong Kong: A True Story of U.S. Navy Pilots at War" (Osprey, 2024) 51:29

7d ago51:29

51:29

On January 16, 1945, dozens of U.S. Navy aircraft took off for China’s southern coast, including the occupied British colony of Hong Kong. It was part of Operation Gratitude, an exercise to target airfields, ports, and convoys throughout the South China Sea. U.S. pilots bombed targets in Hong Kong and, controversially, in neutral Macau as they stro…

1
Peter Rose, "The Good War of Consul Reeves" (Blacksmith Books, 2024) 50:15

24h ago50:15

50:15

Macau was supposed to be a sleepy post for John Reeves, the British consul for the Portuguese colony on China’s southern coast. He arrived, alone, in June 1941, his wife and daughter left behind in China. Seven months later, Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, invaded Hong Kong, and made Reeves the last remaining British diplomat for hundreds of miles, …

1
Millennial is Back: Navigating Life 10 Years Later 17:40

15d ago17:40

17:40

Megan Tan, creator of the award-winning podcast Millennial, is back with a new vision for 2024. Listen now to reconnect with the heart of Millennial, and be a part of its exciting future by supporting the show on Patreon. Go to www.patreon.com/dearmillennial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

1
David Chaffetz, "Raiders, Rulers, and Traders: The Horse and the Rise of Empires" (Norton, 2024) 47:25

8d ago47:25

47:25

After reading David Chaffetz’s newest book, you’d think that the horse–not oil–has been humanity’s most important strategic commodity. As David writes in his book Raiders, Rulers and Traders: The Horse and the Rise of Empires (Norton, 2024), societies in Central Asia grew powerful on the backs of strong herds of horses, giving them a military and a…

1
Marga Ortigas, "God's Ashes: Apocrypha" (Penguin, 2024) 37:10

15d ago37:10

37:10

Climate change. The refugee crisis. The rise of social media. These big social questions—and others—inspired journalist Marga Ortigas in the creation of her new novel God’s Ashes (Penguin Southeast Asia, 2024) , a piece of speculative fiction set in a very different 2023. A transnational crime unites the book’s characters, rich and poor, on a journ…

1
Rachel Kousser, "Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great" (Mariner Books, 2024) 50:05

23d ago50:05

50:05

In 330 BC, Alexander the Great conquers the city of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire. His troops later burn it to the ground, capping centuries of tensions between the Hellenistic Greeks and Macedonians and the Persians. That event kicks off Rachel Kousser’s book Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years o…

1
Juli Min, "Shanghailanders" (Spiegel & Grau, 2024) 41:00

1M ago41:00

41:00

Shanghailanders (Spiegel & Grau: 2024), the debut novel from Juli Min, starts at the end: Leo, a wealthy Shanghai businessman, sees his wife and daughters off at the airport as they travel to Boston. Everyone, it seems, is unhappy. The novel then travels backwards through time, giving answers to questions revealed in later chapters, jumping from pe…

1
Lio Mangubat, "Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves: Lost Tales from the Philippine Colonial Period, 1565-1946" (Faction Press, 2024) 55:16

1M ago55:16

55:16

Baseball’s introduction to the Philippines. The slot machine trade between Manila and Shanghai. A musical based extremely loosely on the life of the sultan of Sulu. These are just a few of the historical topics from Lio Mangubat’s Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves: Lost Tales from the Philippine Colonial Period (Faction Press: 2024), a collection of 13 …

1
Roger Crowley, "Spice: The 16th-Century Contest that Shaped the Modern World" (Yale UP, 2024) 54:31

1M ago54:31

54:31

The spice islands: Specks of land in the Indonesian archipelago that were the exclusive home of cloves, commodities once worth their weight in gold. The Portuguese got there first, persuading the Spanish to fund expeditions trying to go the other direction, sailing westward across the Atlantic. Roger Crowley, in his new book Spice: The 16th-Century…

1
Dan Morrison, "The Poisoner of Bengal: The 1930s Murder That Shocked the World" (Juggernaut, 2024) 46:08

2M ago46:08

46:08

It’s the 1930s. Amarendra Chandra Pandey, the youngest son of an Indian prince, is about to board a train when a man bumps into him. Amarendra feels a prick; he then boards the train, worried about what it portends. Just over a week later, Amarendra is dead—of plague. India had not had a case of plague in a dozen years: Was Amarendra’s death natura…

1
Bill Lascher, "A Danger Shared: A Journalist’s Glimpses of a Continent at War" (Blacksmith Books, 2024) 52:09

2M ago52:09

52:09

Melville Jacoby was a U.S. war correspondent during the Sino-Japanese War and, later, the Second World War, writing about the Japanese advances from Chongqing, Hanoi, and Manila. He was also a relative of Bill Lascher, a journalist–specifically, the cousin of Bill’s grandmother. Bill has now collected Mel’s work in a book: A Danger Shared: A Journa…

1
Eric Thompson, "The Story of Southeast Asia" (NUS Press, 2024) 1:08:52

2M ago1:08:52

1:08:52

Does Southeast Asia “exist”? It’s a real question: Southeast Asia is a geographic region encompassing many different cultures, religions, political styles, historical experiences, and languages, economies. Can we think of this part of the world as one cohesive “place”? Eric Thompson, in his book The Story of Southeast Asia (NUS Press: 2024), sugges…

1
The Jacket - Episode 2 27:32

3M ago27:32

27:32

In our last episode, Grub, Insurance, and Goblin were tasked with locating some items stolen from their client - 'The Cowboy'. But, like with most things in Night City, this job isn't as simple as it appears. Warning: Spoilers for the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Anime!By Artemis Ronan

1
Michelle T. King, "Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-Mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food" (Norton, 2024) 45:41

2M ago45:41

45:41

In 1971, the New York Times called the Taiwanese-Chinese chef, Fu Pei-Mei, the “the Julia Child of Chinese cooking.” But, as Michelle T. King notes in her book Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-Mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food (Norton, 2024), the inverse–that Julia Child was the Fu Pei-Mei of French cuisine–might be more appropriate. Fu spent d…

1
Jin Feng, "The Transpacific Flow: Creative Writing Programs in China" (Association for Asian Studies, 2024) 39:42

3M ago39:42

39:42

In 2009, Fudan University launched China’s first MFA program in creative writing, spurring a wave of such programs in Chinese universities. Many of these programs’ founding members point to the Iowa Writers Workshop and, specifically, its International Writers Program, which invited dozens of Mainland Chinese writers to take part between 1979 and 2…

1
Cyberpunk Edgerunners: The Jacket - Episode 1 54:04

3M ago54:04

54:04

Welcome to our first-ever Tale that doesn't from the Oasis! In this short miniseries, Jamie, Jay, and Jen play through Artemis the Narrator's interpretation of 'The Jacket' - the mission module included in the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit. Join us as we dive, for the first time ever... ..into the world of Night City. Warning: Spoilers for the…

1
Clare Hammond, "On the Shadow Tracks: A Journey Through Occupied Myanmar" (Allen Lane, 2024) 30:59

3M ago30:59

30:59

In 2016, journalist Clare Hammond embarked on a project to study the railways of Myanmar–a transportation network that sprawls the country, rarely used and not shown on many maps, and often used at the pleasure of the country’s military. In her book On the Shadow Tracks; A Journey Through Occupied Myanmar (Allen Lane: 2024), Clare travels the lengt…

1
Behind the Mirage - Cyberpunk Edgerunners Mission Kit Review and Analysis 39:33

3M ago39:33

39:33

In this special ‘Behind the Mirage’ episode, Artemis the Narrator and Andrea (who plays Sedoy in Season 1), dive into the upcoming Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Mission Kit (Release Date: June 21, 2024). We talk about our first impressions, thoughts, and an analysis of the kit from the perspective of folks already familiar with Cyberpunk: RED. Spoilers fo…

1
Sudev Sheth, "Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 52:36

3M ago52:36

52:36

Running and securing an empire can get expensive–especially one known for its opulence, like the Mughal Empire, which conquered much of northern India before rapidly declining in the eighteenth century. But how did the Mughals get their money? Often, it was through wealthy merchants, like the Jhaveri family, who willingly—and then not-so-willingly–…

1
Scott Crawford, "The Han-Xiongnu War, 133 BC-89 AD: The Struggle of China and a Steppe Empire Told Through Its Key Figures (Pen & Sword, 2023) 44:59

4M ago44:59

44:59

For two centuries, the Xiongnu people–a vast nomadic empire that covered modern-day Siberia, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang—were one of the Han Dynasty’s fiercest rivals. They raided the wealthy and prosperous Chinese, and even forced the Han to treat them as equals—much to the chagrin of those in the imperial court. There’s not much known abou…

1
Gary J. Bass, "Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia" (Knopf, 2023) 49:21

4M ago49:21

49:21

In December 1948, a panel of 12 judges sentenced 23 Japanese officials for war crimes. Seven, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, were sentenced to death. The sentencing ended the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, an over-two-year-long trial over Imperial Japan’s atrocities in China and its decision to attack the U.S. But u…

1
Peter Harmsen, "Bernhard Sindberg: The Schindler of Nanjing" (Casemate, 2024) 36:39

4M ago36:39

36:39

In December 1937, Bernhard Sindberg arrives at a cement factory outside of Nanjing. He’s one of just two foreigners, and he gets there just weeks before the Japanese invade and commit the now infamous atrocities in the Chinese city. As the writer Peter Harmsen notes, Bernhard’s background isn’t particularly compelling: He’s bounced from job to job,…

1
Rajrishi Singhal, "Slip, Stitch and Stumble: The Untold Story of Financial Reforms in India" (Viking, 2024) 47:02

4M ago47:02

47:02

India’s stock markets are booming. One calculation from Bloomberg puts India as the world’s fourth-largest equity market, overtaking Hong Kong, as domestic and foreign investors pile into the Indian stock exchange. But getting to the point where India’s stock markets—and its financial system more broadly—could work effectively took a long time. As …

1
SnapCast: A Moth Story To Listen To 1:38

4M ago1:38

1:38

Send us a Text Message. We are not back as yet, but until we are, we want to share this story with you. The story can be found here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth/id275699983?i=1000654758401 To leave a review, comment, or idea, access transcripts, and communicate with Tate, please visit us at https://www.pantopen.com…

1
Cycling Idioms: Along for the ride; Backpedal; Freewheeling; Take off the training wheels; Fifth wheel or third wheel; Shift gears; Spin one's wheels; Back in the saddle; Handlebar moustache; 18:37

4M ago18:37

18:37

Woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle; Just like riding a bike; Soft-pedal; Cyclopath

1
Jeremy Garlick, "Advantage China: Agent of Change in an Era of Global Disruption" (Bloomsbury, 2023) 43:54

4M ago43:54

43:54

China’s rise to global prominence is a pretty good contender for the most important world development in the past 30 years. But now the question is how Beijing managed to be successful on the international stage–let alone how large that success is—with fierce debates between hawks and doves in the West and elsewhere. Jeremy Garlick tries to offer a…

1
SnapCast: Introducing An Easy Way To Interact With The Podcast 1:08

5M ago1:08

1:08

Send us a Text Message. We have a new, easy way to be in touch with the podcast. It's that link right at the top of the show notes. Listen to the episode to understand how it works To leave a review, comment, or idea, access transcripts, and communicate with Tate, please visit us at https://www.pantopen.com…

1
Stick Idioms: Short end of the stick; Get hit with the stupid stick; Fiddlesticks!; Wrong end of the stick; Stick in the mud; Beat them off with a stick; 15:22

5M ago15:22

15:22

Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick; Speak softly and carry a big stick; More XYZ than you can shake a stick at;.

1
Katie Gee Salisbury, "Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong" (Dutton, 2024) 46:21

5M ago46:21

46:21

In 2022, the U.S. Mint released the first batch of its American Women Quarters series, celebrating the achievements of U.S. women throughout its history. The first set of five included Maya Angelou, Sally Ride…and Anna May Wong, the first Asian-American to ever appear on U.S. currency. Katie Gee Salisbury takes on Anna May Wong’s life in her book N…

1
Mukund Padmanabhan, "The Great Flap of 1942: How the Raj Panicked over a Japanese Non-invasion (Vintage Books, 2024) 31:16

5M ago31:16

31:16

In April 1942, at least half a million people fled the city of Madras, now known as Chennai. The reason? The British, after weeks of growing unease about the possibility of a Japanese invasion, finally recommended that people leave the city. In the tense, uncertain atmosphere of 1942, many people took that advice to heart–and fled. The Japanese, of…

1
Moon Idioms: Moonstruck; Moonshine; Once in a blue moon; Moonlight; Hang the moon; Shoot for the moon; Mooning away, over, around, or about; 24:16

5M ago24:16

24:16

Over the moon; The moon is made of green cheese; Love you to the moon and back; Shoot the moon; Moonshot; Ask for the moon; Moon on a stick; Cast beyond the moon; Barking at the moon; Harvest moon; Blood moon; Moon-faced; Moongazing

1
Jonathan Chatwin, "The Southern Tour: Deng Xiaoping and the Fight for China's Future" (Bloomsbury, 2024) 51:09

5M ago51:09

51:09

Deng Xiaoping’s 1992 Southern Tour has become a milestone in Chinese economic history. Historians and commentators credit Deng’s visit to Guangzhou Province for reinvigorating China’s market reforms in the years following 1989—leading to the Chinese economic powerhouse we see today. Journalist Jonathan Chatwin follows Deng’s journey in The Southern…

1
Robert D. Kaplan, "The Loom of Time: Between Empire and Anarchy, from the Mediterranean to China" (Random House, 2023) 30:02

6M ago30:02

30:02

The Middle East remains one of the world’s most complicated, thorny—and, uncharitably, unstable—parts of the world, as countless headlines make clear. Internal strife, regional competition and external interventions have been the region’s history for the past several decades. Robert Kaplan—author, foreign policy thinker, longtime writer on internat…

1
Kyokutei Bakin, "Eight Dogs, Or Hakkenden: Part Two--His Master's Blade" (Cornell UP, 2024) 38:02

6M ago38:02

38:02

Glynne Walley, translator of classic Japanese novel Hakkenden, joins us on the podcast again to talk about his second translated volume: Hakkenden, Part 2: His Master’s Blade (Cornell East Asia Series: 2024). Unlike Part 1—which is all preamble!—in Part 2 we meet some of the fabled eight dog warriors and the Confucian virtues they represent: Shino,…

1
David Veevers, "The Great Defiance: How the World Took on the British Empire" (Ebury Press, 2023) 1:11:21

6M ago1:11:21

1:11:21

It’s very easy to study the history of the British Empire from the perspective of, well, the British–and to extend the early 20th century version of the empire as a world-spanning entity backwards through history. David Veevers, in his new book The Great Defiance: How the World Took on the British Empire (Ebury Press, 2023) studies the English, and…

1
We Are Taking A Short Break 0:56

6M ago0:56

0:56

Send us a Text Message. We will take a short break To leave a review, comment, or idea, access transcripts, and communicate with Tate, please visit us at https://www.pantopen.comBy Tate Basildon

1
Noo Saro-Wiwa, "Black Ghosts: A Journey Into the Lives of Africans in China" (Canongate Books, 2024) 32:53

6M ago32:53

32:53

Just a decade ago, before COVID upended everything, tens of thousands of migrants from African countries traveled to China in search of economic opportunity. One 2012 estimate put the African population in Guangzhou alone at 100,000. When the British-Nigerian travel writer Noo Saro-Wiwa heard about this community, she decided to travel to Guangzhou…

1
Julie Kalman, "The Kings of Algiers: How Two Jewish Families Shaped the Mediterranean World During the Napoleonic Wars and Beyond" (Princeton UP, 2023) 48:06

7M ago48:06

48:06

On July 27th, 1827, the dey of Algiers struck the French consul over his country’s refusal to pay back its debts–specifically, to two Jewish merchant families: the Bacris, and the Busnachs. It was an error of judgment: France blockaded Algiers, and later invaded, turning Algeria into a French colony. The unpaid debt has festered as a diplomatic iss…

1
The Gas Canister: A Story of Mystery and Suspense 16:38

7M ago16:38

16:38

Send us a Text Message. "The Gas Canister" is a mysterious and suspenseful story about a stranded traveler on a dark, lonely road without cell service. He has to decide whether to wait or walk through the darkness to find help. Along the way, he encounters the unexpected and learns about the secrets that lurk in the shadows. This is a work of ficti…

1
Ben Rothenberg, "Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice" (Dutton, 2024) 43:27

7M ago43:27

43:27

In July 2021, Naomi Osaka—world number 1 women’s tennis player—lit the Olympic Cauldron at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The half-Japanese, half-American, Black athlete was a symbol of a more complicated, more multiethnic Japan—and of the global nature of high-level sports. Osaka is now about to start her comeback, after taking some time off following t…

1
Thomas J. Barfield, "Shadow Empires: An Alternative Imperial History" (Princeton UP, 2023) 49:44

7M ago49:44

49:44

Empires are one of the most common forms of political structure in history—yet no empire is alike. We have our “standard” view of empire: perhaps the Romans, or the China of the Qin and Han Dynasties—vast polities that cover numerous different people, knit together by strong institutions from a political center. But where do, say, the empires of th…

1
BONUS: Why We Use AI Narration 2:01

7M ago2:01

2:01

Send us a Text Message. Due to recent pushback by a few listeners regarding using AI voice generation to narrate the stories on the podcast, Tate decided to explain why he chose that. To leave a review, comment, or idea, access transcripts, and communicate with Tate, please visit us at https://www.pantopen.com…

1
Behind the Mirage III - Finale Cast Commentary ft. Andrea, Jamie and Jen 2:07:14

7M ago2:07:14

2:07:14

‘Behind the Mirage’ is a series of bonus episodes where Artemis the Narrator and one or more co-hosts will dive into our creative process and give some behind-the-scenes looks into what goes into making a ‘Tales From The Oasis’ episode! In this episode wrapping up Season 1 of Tales from the Oasis, Artemis is joined by several cast members, as they …

1
Simon Partner, "Koume's World: The Life and Work of a Samurai Woman Before and After the Meiji Restoration" (Columbia UP, 2023) 1:02:41

7M ago1:02:41

1:02:41

In 1864, on a midsummer’s day, Kawai Koume, a 60-year old matriarch of a samurai family in Wakayama, makes a note in her diary, which she had dutifully written in for over three decades. There are reports of armed clashes in Kyoto. It’s said that the emperor has ordered the expulsion of the foreigners, and it’s also said that a large band of vagabo…

1
The Tracks of Empathy: A True Story of Kindness, Skepticism and the Intersection of Lives 9:29

7M ago9:29

9:29

Send us a Text Message. In this true story, we embark on a mundane train ride Tate took from New York City. Amidst a carriage filled with strangers, a chance encounter unfolds that reveals the layers of our humanity often taken for granted and overlooked in the passage of our daily lives, where compassion and skepticism regularly overlap. To leave …

1
Diego Javier Luis, "The First Asians in the Americas: A Transpacific History" (Harvard UP, 2024) 57:06

7M ago57:06

57:06

There’s a popular folk hero in Puebla, Mexico—Catarina de San Juan, who Mexicans hailed as a devoted religious figure after her death in 1688. She’s credited with creating the China Poblana dress, a connection of dubious historical veracity made several centuries after her death. But Catarina is one of Mexico’s most famous “chinos”—despite the fact…

1
Gregory Wallance, "Into Siberia: George Kennan's Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia" (St. Martin's Press, 2023) 54:28

8M ago54:28

54:28

It’s perhaps one of history’s funny accidents that relations between the U.S. and Russia were changed not by one, but two, George Kennans. Decades before George F. Kennan wrote his famous Long Telegram that set the tone for the Cold War, his predecessor was exploring Russia’s Far East on a quest to investigate the then-Russian Empire’s practice of …

1
The Fence: A Story of Reflections on Time, Identity, and the Fragility of Memory 8:49

8M ago8:49

8:49

Send us a Text Message. In this story, we venture into the life of Alison, an older woman whose seemingly ordinary day takes an unexpected turn, revealing layers of memory and the profound impact of time. Alison's story unfolds against the backdrop of her lifelong home, where familiarity meets the unknown. As she approaches her neighbor's fence, an…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Tales From The Pan Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide