US-China podcasts
The Phelan United States Centre's US-China Seminar Series explores the current state and future of relations between China and the US in the 21st century.
Speakers in the series also give podcast interviews as part of our interviews for The Ballpark.
Latest US-China Podcasts
US-China relations in an era of illiberalism with Dr Scott Kennedy
2 February 2026To talk about the current state of US-China relations, in October 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Scott Kennedy, Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
Autocracy 2.0: How China’s Rise Reinvented Tyranny with Dr Jennifer Lind
17 November 2025To discuss China’s technological rise in the context of its autocratic government, in October 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Jennifer Lind, Associate Professor of Government at Dartmouth College and a leading expert on the international relations of East Asia, about her new book, Autocracy 2.0 How China’s Rise Reinvented Tyranny.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
Further reading and other ways to listen
US-China strategic competition with Professor Evan Medeiros
3 November 2025To discuss China’s strategic competition with the US, and how it is evolving under the Trump administration, in September 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Evan Medeiros, the Penner Family Chair in Asian Studies and the Cling Family Senior Fellow in US-China Relations at Georgetown University.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
Further reading and other ways to listen
The Origins of the US-China Chip War with Dr John Minnich
14 April 2025In March 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr John Minnich, Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at LSE about why semiconductors are so important in the global economy, and why the US is willing to go to what Dr Minnich terms, economic war, over them. They also discussed how the semiconductor trade is framed as a national security issue in the US and China, and how President Trump may approach the ‘chip-war’ in coming months.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
Further reading and other ways to listen
US-China strategic stability with Dr Nicola Leveringhaus
24 March 2025The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has brought the spectre of potential nuclear conflict back into the public consciousness for the first time in decades. But what’s behind the potential for nuclear conflict and what issues are at stake for nuclear powers other than the US and Russia, like China? To discuss these and other questions on the current state of global nuclear tensions and development, in March 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Nicola Leveringhaus of King’s College London.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
Further reading and other ways to listen
US-China relations under the new Trump administration with Professor Minxin Pei
24 February 2025To discuss US-China relations with the return of Donald Trump, in February 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Minxin Pei, the Tom and Margot Pritzker ’72 Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College. They also spoke about China’s surveillance state and the concept of preventative repression, and how China might respond to US escalation on trade.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
Further reading and other ways to listen
The Evolution of American Chip Controls on China with Dr Douglas Fuller
6 January 2025In December 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke Dr Douglas Fuller, Associate Professor in the Department of International Economics, Government and Business at Copenhagen Business School. They spoke about how the Chinese high-tech and semiconductor chip industry has evolved and the recent history and effectiveness of US chip controls towards China. They also discuss how the US has achieved a multilateral consensus for the implementation of chip controls, and whether these are likely to remain in place in the new administration of Donald Trump.
Listen to the episode[Spotify]
Further reading and other ways to listen
China and technology export controls with Professor Michael Mastanduno and Dr Jennifer Lind
9 December 2024In October 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Michael Mastanduno, Nelson A. Rockefeller Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, and Dr Jennifer Lind, Associate Professor of Government at Dartmouth College. They spoke about US export controls against China and about their history and effectiveness.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
Further reading and other ways to listen
China’s evolving approach to economic security with Professor Yeling Tan
11 November 2024In October 2024 the LSE Phelan US Centre spoke to Yeling Tan, Professor of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. They spoke about how China understands economic security and its evolving economic strategy, and how public attitudes in China towards international trade influence the country’s trade policy.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
Further reading and other ways to listen
China Policy: The Limits of Transatlantic Convergence with Dr Mathieu Duchâtel
19 March 2024In February 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Mathieu Duchâtel, Resident Senior Fellow and Director of International Studies at Institut Montaigne about transatlantic convergence between the EU and the United States on China policy. They also discussed the fault lines between the EU and US on China policy, and how China has responded to these divergences, including on Taiwan policy.
The Future of US-China Competition with Dr Ashley Tellis
22 January 2024In January 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Ashley Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about how the US has engaged with China economically in recent decades. They discuss how the US’ strategy towards China has shifted across recent presidencies, the effectiveness of ‘friendshoring’ policies, and decoupling and de-risking relationships between China, the United States, and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Why China Hawks are Wrong with Professor William Wohlforth
18 January 2024In 2023, the Phelan US Centre spoke to spoke to William C. Wohlforth, Daniel Webster Professor in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College, about the United States’ role as the world’s unipolar power. They also discuss the rise of China and what this means for the international role of the United States, and his upcoming book, with Jill Kastner, on great power subversion.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
The Rise and Fall of the EAST with Professor Yasheng Huang
2 June 2023In March 2023, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Yasheng Huang, Epoch Foundation professor of global economics and management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management about his new book, The Rise and Fall of the EAST, which will be published by Yale University Press in August 2023. They also discussed Chinese technological development over the last three decades, and the challenges China currently faces in developing and maintaining its talent and human capital to support innovation.
Listen to the episode [Spotify]
Professor Yasheng Huang's latest book is The Rise and Fall of the EAST(Yale University Press, 2023)
How China Derailed its Peaceful Rise with Professor Susan Shirk
21 March 2023In January 2023, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Susan Shirk, Research Professor and Chair of the 21st Century China Center at UC San Diego about her new book, Overreach: How China Derailed its Peaceful Rise.
Professor Susan Shirk's' latest book is Overreach How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise (Oxford University Press, 2022)
Professor Jessica Chen Weiss on China and the International Order
21 February 2023In November 2022, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Jessica Chen Weiss, professor of government at Cornell University, about China and the future of the international order. They also discussed President Biden’s approach to China, and the future of US-China relations.
Professor Jessica Chen Weiss' latest book is Powerful Patriots: Nationalist Protest in China's Foreign Relations (Oxford University Press, 2014)
China’s Belt and Road with Professor Taylor Fravel
13 February 2023In November 2022, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Taylor Fravel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about China’s Belt and Road Initiative. They discussed the history and recent developments of the Belt and Road Initiative, the political implications of this project, and the US’ responses to it.
Professor Taylor Fravel's latest book is Active Defense: China's Military Strategy since 1949 (Princeton University Press, 2019)
Professor Rana Mitter on historical analogy in US-China relations
6 February 2023On 27 September 2022, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Rana Mitter of the University of Oxford about China’s changing national narrative. They also discussed nationalism in China and the ways China has engaged in revisionist history with regards to its conception of the current international order.
Professor Rana Mitter's latest book is China’s Good War How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalism(Harvard University Press, 2020)
Interviews in this series are conducted by the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson. The Ballpark podcast is produced by Avan Fata.
We’d love to hear what you think of our podcasts and videos – you can send us a message on Twitter @LSE_US, or email us at uscentre@lse.ac.uk.
Our theme tune is by Ranger and the "Re-Arrangers", a Seattle based gypsy jazz band.