I was born in China and moved to the United States around age 10. By day, I work in web development. By night (and weekends), I produce podcasts where I retell classic Chinese tales in English and make them more approachable for non-Chinese-speaking audiences.
I began producing the first of these podcasts in April 2014. Much of my knowledge of the stories I cover comes from reading them and listening to them on the radio as a kid. In fact, many Chinese from my generation have childhood memories of huddling around a radio, listening to master storytellers continuing a Chinese oral tradition that dates back nearly a millennium by bringing well-known, centuries-old tales to life. To me, podcasts seem to be the natural next iteration in that tradition and the perfect vehicle for introducing new audiences to these stories.
Here are a few interviews I have done about my podcasting:
- Interview on the Sinica Podcast (February 2, 2017)
- Interview on Podcasting Smarter (April 24, 2017)
- Interview on the Mandarin Slang Guide podcast (August 2020)
- Interview on Journey to the West: The Podcast (August 21, 2020)
- Interview on Asian Fantasy Fiction Podcast (June 2021)
- Interview on Podbean’s Storytelling Podcast Week (May 30, 2022)
- Roundtable discussion on Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast (December 31, 2022)
- Interview on the “Residents of Proserpina Park” podcast (May 20, 2024)
You can find out more about me and my day job at johnzhu.com.