February 3, 2026· 51 min

The Surprising Similarity Between the US and Chinese Internets

Yi-Ling Liu

Speaker Breakdown

HostTracy Alloway(1,961 words)

M:55%

HostJoe Weisenthal(2,838 words)

M:55%

GuestYi-Ling Liu(4,041 words)

M:54%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic43%

huge, totally, very

Engagement61%

you, your, i'm

Memory Aids100%

so, like, look

Repetition100%

like (177x), know (91x), internet (68x)

Parallelism73%

So if you need a last minute p..., So have you heard the story ab..., And I'm Tracy Alloway....

Sound Patterns89%

90 question(s), alliteration: "when work", alliteration: "adobe acrobat"

Formulaic Phrases4%

at the end of the day, i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging10%

could, probably, maybe

Passive Voice7%

be simplified, is called, was used

Abstract Nouns23%

management, business, presentation

Subordination7%

because, since, although

Sentence Length33%

Avg: 13.2 words/sentence

Word Complexity50%

management, business, empower

Academic Markers0%

Impersonal Style39%

614 personal pronouns found

Descriptive Style100%

luckily, automatically, family

Description

In the 90s, there was a lot of talk about how the Internet would be a liberalizing force in the world. Bill Clinton famously predicted that it would be impossible for China to lock down the Internet, and that this would have profound effects on domestic politics. Of course that didn't come true -- China has done a remarkable job of controlling what gets behind the firewall. But then furthermore, the Internet hasn't had the liberalizing effects in the US either. On this episode of the podcast, we speak to Yi-Ling Liu, the author of the fascinating new book The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet. The book traces the rise of the Chinese Internet, and how its users navigate the "dance" between freedom and censorship. She talks about the early visions for the Internet in China, and how over time it became a hotbed of nationalism. We discuss what's similar and different, and also what happens when users in both countries are given the opportunity to easily make contact withe each other on social media. Read more: China AI Hardware Firms Trump Internet Giants in Growth Outlook Subscribe to the Odd Lots NewsletterJoin the conversation: discord.gg/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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