Summary: The Internet was expected to help democratize China, but has instead enabled the authoritarian state to get a firmer grip. So begins The Economist's special fourteen page report on the state of the Internet in China, a survey that paints the country's online communities as canaries in gilded cages of sorts, and touches on everything from what censorship tells us about who really wields power in China, to more broader patterns of innovation and investment in China's high-tech industry. Given our longstanding predilection for tech gossip, we are delighted to be joined on Sinica this week by none other than Gady Epstein, author of the Economist's fourteen page survey and our resident expert on general techniques for nailing jello to the wall. And if you're interested on the Internet in China be sure to listen up: we promise is a wide-ranging and fun discussion touching on many of the pieces in The Economist, along with some insider gossip about what points the Economist decided were simply too much to print. Like Sinica? If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to give us your take on things in the comment section, or write us at sinica@popupchinese.com. We also invite you to download this show as a standalone mp3 file, or subscribe to the Sinica podcast via RSS by opening iTunes, selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" file menu, and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Enjoy!
