1993 I volunteer for a one-year exchange program in Japan, where people work themselves to death—a phenomenon called karooshi—and are said to want to be Shinto when born, Christian when married, and Buddhist when they die. I conclude that most people are really confused about life.

It was in there that I drew up three lists. The first was for the issues I thought I understood. I also wrote how best I thought I could explain them. The next list was for elements of the story I was really struggling to understand, let alone explain. The third was, for the moment, blank. Here I would put other aspects of the story that I didn’t u

“Who are ‘Chinese audiences’?” Most big-city, 35-and-younger Chinese and college students are well aware that they can’t access major western networks, and it’s a common talking point on the internet. There’s a lot of low-level grumbling about it, but it’s an atmosphere of annoyance rather than outrage. Part of the reason for this is that there ar