August 7, 2025· 44 min

Joseph Torigian on Xi Zhongxun and Elite Chinese Communist Party Politics

Joseph Torigian

Orality

Model

63%

Mixed oral/literate (blogs, casual essays)

Speaker Breakdown

HostTracy Alloway(1,560 words)

M:94%

HostJoe Weisenthal(1,119 words)

M:29%

GuestJoseph Torigian(4,856 words)

M:28%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic32%

literally, completely, obviously

Engagement49%

you, our, your

Memory Aids100%

listen, now, like

Repetition100%

about (68x), what (67x), like (63x)

Parallelism96%

And I'm Tracy Alloway...., And all the various characters..., And I never, like, know what a...

Sound Patterns92%

85 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"

Formulaic Phrases4%

you know what, i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging9%

may, probably, relatively

Passive Voice8%

were often, been even, was forged

Abstract Nouns26%

investment, recommendation, community

Subordination9%

because, while, hence

Sentence Length38%

Avg: 14.6 words/sentence

Word Complexity50%

investment, analyze, anticipate

Academic Markers0%

Impersonal Style51%

451 personal pronouns found

Descriptive Style85%

literally, completely, apply

Description

The Chinese Communist Party is probably one of the most difficult entities in the world to grasp due to its opacity of its inner workings. A new book from Joseph Torigian, a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover History Lab and an associate professor at American University, sheds light on the entity by examining the life of Xi Zhongxun, the father of Xi Jinping. The elder Xi was one of the earliest and important players in the revolution, and his life trajectory -- having spent 16 years out of power during the Cultural Revolution -- offers a lens into how the party operates. On this episode, we discuss Xi Zhongxun's life, the constant pressure to stay on the correct line, and what his struggles might tell us about how his son rules China today. Read more: China Draws Red Lines on US Chip Tracking With Nvidia Meeting The AI Showdown: How the US and China Stack Up Only Bloomberg - Business News, Stock Markets, Finance, Breaking & World News subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox each week, plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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