All Things China.
The Barboza Files. Episodes 3 and 4.
Below are the final two episodes of our extended conversation with David Barboza.
To reiterate:
David began his career as an intern at The New York Times. He worked his way up, emerging as one of the paper’s very best business reporters/foreign correspondents. From 2004-2012, he was The Times’ Shanghai Bureau Chief. A few years later, he left The Times and co-founded The Wire Digital, Inc.
The Wire Digital is a New York-based news and data platform focused on China and global supply chains. It consists of a digital weekly news magazine, called The Wire China, and a data and software analytics platform named WireScreen.
Over the course of his journalistic career, David has won two Pulitzer Prizes, one Polk Award, and produced or helped produce some truly extraordinary reports on how business and finance works in China.
In Episode #3, David talks about a story that was jointly “produced” by The Wire China and The New York Times. The story itself was the product of a year-long investigation into the relationship between Xiao Jianhua, a corrupt investor tied to China’s political elite, and Jack Ma, China’s most successful and revered entrepreneur. David’s explains how the story was put together and its significance. It’s a window into how business and finance works in China.
(Episode #3, David Barboza, 12/2024)
In Episode #4, David begins by telling us about his first reportorial assignment in China. It was 2004. He went to Sock City. Sock City was a (small) city built entirely around the business of manufacturing socks. They made tens of millions of socks in Sock City. Every year. Year after year. That’s all they did.
When David went to the factory, they had a sign welcoming him: “Welcome David Barboza of The New York Times.” They showed him everything. He could go wherever he wanted to go at the factory and in Sock City.
Those days are long gone.
So we talked about what happened between 2004 and 2024; what changed, what emerged.
It’s always a pleasure to talk to people who know what they’re talking about. As you will hear, David knows a lot about China.
(Episode #4, David Barboza, 12/2024)
Ed. Note: All four episodes of what we’re calling “The Barboza File” are available on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, iHeart and other podcast platforms.