Episode notes
Barbara Demick is a journalist, an essayist, and is the author of both "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" and "Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town." During our conversation, Barbara talks about how she became interested in North Korea, the founding of North Korea in 1945, how its society is structured, its ability to isolate its citizens from the outside world, its famine in the 1990's, the defectors she met who became the key characters in her book, and whether its leadership are true-believing Communists or primarily hungry for power.
She also talks about her more recent book, "Eat the Buddha," which details the Chinese history and relationship with Tibet, the day-to-day lives of ordinary Tibetan citizens, what happened in 1958, Tibetan acts of self-immolation, and the influence of the ...
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