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China's clash of ambitions

Elizabeth Rowland, Executive Director of TN-China Network, discusses Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China by Evan Osnos in this Books Sandwiched In podcast.

Modern day China is experiencing a great collision: the clash between the elevation of the individual and the Communist Party's struggle to retain control. The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos has seen the clash first hand during his decades on the ground covering this rising global power. In Age of Ambition, Osnos asks probing questions: Why does a government with more success lifting people from poverty than any civilization in history choose to put strict restraints on freedom of expression? Why do millions of young Chinese professionals—fluent in English and devoted to Western pop culture—consider themselves "angry youth" dedicated to resisting the West's influence? How are Chinese from all strata finding meaning after two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth?

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About your hosts

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Melissa Brenneman

Melissa listens to hours of podcasts on most days. She started the habit with the intention of taking long walks, but podcasts proved to be more addicting than exercise. She records, edits and mixes podcasts for the library.
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Alan May

Alan May works as a librarian at Lawson McGhee Library. He holds an MFA in creative writing and a Master's of Library and Information Studies, both from the University of Alabama. In his spare time, he reads and writes poetry. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in New Orleans Review, The New York Quarterly, The Hollins Critic, The Idaho Review, Plume, Willow Springs, and others. He has published three books. His latest, Derelict Days in That Derelict Town: New and Uncollected Poems, is forthcoming in 2025.