S2 E17: American Factory: When Two Worlds Collide

If you want to support us, consider donating monthly to our Patreon project: _________________________________________________________________________The much requested episode on “American Factory” is finally here! In this episode, hosts Diaoiao, Juan and Afra are joined by guests Master Zhu and Zhang Zhe to talk about the critically-acclaimed documentary produced by Michelle and Barack Obama’s “Higher Ground Productions.” “American Factory” is a documentary that touches on multiple grand themes of our time: globalization, manufacturing, automation and inevitable tensions between a rising China and a perceived “formerly great” United States. Here’s what we talked (nerded out) about: How is the doc received in China and in the States? How does the doc portray American and Chinese company cultures respectively? Accurate? What are the complicated economic and political drivers behind Fuyao’s investment in Dayton, Ohio? Why does it make sense for Fuyao to extend its supply chain in the U.S.?What’s the difference between FDI in advanced economies vs. FDI in developing economies? We talked about Chinese companies experience in Africa. Why are the Obamas interested in this particular topic? What does Higher Group Productions want to achieve? What role does the union play in the U.S.? What is the history behind its influence?What are the most surreal scenes in this doc to us.From “MAGA” to “MATH,” what do the messages of Donald Trump and Andrew Yang have in common? We talk about automation and the future of work. The articles we mentioned in this episode: “Chinese boss, American factory” by Master Zhu for Initium “Beyond controversy—China’s real presence in Zambia” by Zhang ZheSo, this is quite a dense one! But we are so excited to share this with you. All five people in this episode have split our lives living in China and the U.S. and we share the feeling of “code-switching every other second” while watching this documentary. We hope you enjoy our discussion and tell us what you think of the show. You can find us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, CastBox or wherever you listen to podcasts. Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0ZGoogle play: goo.gl/KjRYPNSpotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRBSoundcloud:https://bit.ly/2FqToIwRSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rssPocket Cast: http://pca.st/nLidOvercast: https://bit.ly/2SL7MNJSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs)