Episode #1427
Melissa Chen
Books mentioned
The Lexus and the Olive Tree
Mentioned by Melissa Chen · at 00:30:25 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)
Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)
The Quran
Mentioned by Melissa Chen · at 00:16:19 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)
Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)
The Bible
Mentioned by Melissa Chen · at 00:18:03 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)
Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)
Harry Potter
Mentioned by Melissa Chen · at 01:00:03 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)
Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)
Enlightenment Now
Mentioned by Melissa Chen · at 01:09:06 · ▶︎ Watch this moment on YouTube (approximate)
Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)
Timestamps are segment start times from the podscripts.co transcript of the audio release (includes ad reads), so they may differ from the video by a few minutes.
Melissa Chen, NY editor for Spectator USA and managing director of Ideas Beyond Borders, discusses her upbringing in Singapore and translating Enlightenment ideas into Arabic. The conversation covers China's political influence, free speech, cancel culture, media bias, and challenges to open discourse.
What they talked about
- Singapore's strict laws and transformation
- China's authoritarianism and censorship
- Hong Kong protests and NBA incident
- Daryl Davis and leaving hate groups
- Cancel culture and free speech
- Asian-American affirmative action debate
- Translating Enlightenment works for Middle East
Data last updated · Report a mistake · How it works: mentions are pulled from public transcripts and episode descriptions, partly with AI-assisted extraction, so details and timestamps can be off.