Into Asia
Hosted by journalist Chang Che and editor Ian Buruma, Into Asia explores how China, Japan, and Korea are reshaping the world. From memory politics to AI and demographic decline, they connect history and current affairs to reveal the new role Asia will play in the twenty-first century.
Into Asia
Anti-Semitism and East Asia
In the September 29, 2025, issue of The New Yorker, the writer Ian Buruma reviews two books that trace the uses and abuses of anti-semitism from late-19th century France to present-day US campus politics. Long before right-wing Israeli politicians to evoke the term to deflect criticism of the war in Gaza, anti-semitism reflected a persistent worldview: that a shadowy group of powerful Jews often stood behind the workings of a complicated world.
For over a century, that idea has found converts in East Asia. In this episode, Ian and I talk about how beliefs about Jewish power manifested in Chinese and Japanese life from the 20th century to the present.
Related Links:
"The Uses and Abuses of Anti-Semitism" by Ian Buruma