E55: Why China's Universities Will Become Harvard

"Upstream" with Erik Torenberg

This week on Upstream, we’re releasing an episode from Turpentine’s show Live Players with Samo Burja. Erik and Samo discuss China’s universities and the future of China’s elites. Access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

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This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [e-mail].

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💥 Access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

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Recommended Podcast: Company Breakdowns

Each episode of Company Breakdowns dives into S-1s and series B-and-beyond companies, interviewing founders and investors to break down the companies. First episode is on Rubrik - which just IPO'd. Coming up this season: Databricks, Reddit + more,

Spotify

Apple

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X / TWITTER:

https://twitter.com/SamoBurja (Samo)

https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg (Erik)

https://twitter.com/Upstream__Pod (Upstream)

https://twitter.com/TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00:00) - Episode Preview

(00:00:57) - Universities as an example of US-China parallel evolution

(00:02:53) - Academia during The Cultural Revolution

(00:04:00) - The elite Chinese universities

(00:06:00) - Signaling theory of education

(00:06:30) - What the increase in educated leaders means for China’s ruling class

(00:07:52) - China as America’s mirror

(00:08:30) - China’s “woke”

(00:11:29) - How Xi wants China to not fail in the same way the Soviets did

(00:12:50) - Crackdown on university students

(00:14:46) - Sponsor: Squad | Turpentine

(00:15:00) - Rise of student activism in the US

(00:19:05) - The translation of regional/ethnic inequalities into ideological ones

(00:22:30) - The political ideological paradox generates an opportunity to organize young people

(00:24:30) - Role of gender in divergent politics and the East Asian “woke”

(00:27:12) - Chinese feminism

(00:34:58) - The formation of elites in US and China

(00:36:40) - Materialist focused education in China vs legal focused education in US

(00:39:47) - Printing university degrees is like printing money by devaluing degrees

(00:40:19) - Fight over Harvard Extension School

(00:42:20) - Will American universities have as much power in the next 10 years as they do now?

(00:46:05) - What positive and negative changes will China see in the near future?

(00:47:00) - Silicon Valley in China

(00:49:09) - The shift in leadership from businessmen to academia in China

For guest or sponsorship inquiries please contact [e-mail]