Throughline · July 23, 2026 · 37m

The architect of modern China

This episode examines how China transformed from an impoverished nation into a global superpower, focusing on the leadership of Deng Xiaoping after 1978. Guests Kerry Brown and Dan Wang discuss Deng's strategy of controlled capitalism and market reforms, which turned China into the world's factory and reshaped its socio-economic and political systems in under a decade.

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Highlights

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Deng Xiaoping's Market Reforms and China's Rise

Under Deng Xiaoping's leadership beginning in 1978, China adopted a strategy of controlled capitalism and economic opening, rapidly becoming the world's factory.

Claude ChatGPT Gemini

References

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Xi: A Study in Power — Kerry Brown — Guest Kerry Brown's book on China's current leader

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Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future — Dan Wang — Guest Dan Wang's book on China's technological ambitions

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