Face Off Podcast New Season About the U.S. - China Relationship

Face-Off, the award-winning podcast about the relationship between China and the U.S. launched its new season on November 18. 

Face-Off: The US vs CHINA is an inside look at the turbulent relationship between the world's two superpowers, the two men in charge, and the vital issues that affect us all. 

FACE-OFF is hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jane Perlez, former New York Times Beijing bureau chief and current fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. In each episode, Professor Rana Mitter, recently of the University of Oxford and now professor of modern China at the Harvard Kennedy School, chats with Jane on what’s at stake. 


Together, they unpack the turbulent relationship between the world’s two superpowers.

As the U.S.-China relationship continues to take center stage in global affairs, Perlez and Mitter, along with their guests, discuss the latest developments in the economies, warfare, soft power, alliances, and more to amplify the dangers of this increasingly tense and tumultuous relationship.

“We're thrilled to launch a new season of Face-Off: US vs China. It feels we are at a completely different point in the relationship: more tumultuous than ever, more wide-ranging, and more consequential. Plus, we have the two most combative leaders at the top. We'll be talking about all that with people who live the drama.”, says Jane
Perlez, host of Face Off.

Jane Perlez, a foreign correspondent for The New York Times for more than three decades, was most recently in Beijing for seven years. As bureau chief, she concentrated on Xi Jinping’s challenge to the United States — Belt and Road Initiative; the military buildup in the South China Sea; “Made in China 2025;” the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the repression of the Uighurs.

Perlez began her career as a foreign correspondent in East Africa, where she covered the famine in Somalia and the American military response; the turmoil in Ethiopia; and the civil war in Sudan. She then wrote from Central Europe, Serbia, and Kosovo; Indonesia, and Pakistan. 

After 9/11 when she was posted to Indonesia, she wrote some of the first stories about China’s reach into Southeast Asia. She was also the chief diplomatic correspondent in Washington.

Seasons One and Two received critical acclaim, including a Gracie Award as a top education podcast, and twice Signal Awarded as a top documentary podcast. Season Three will bring listeners stories highlighting the risks to both the U.S. and China as Trump and Xi Jinping, two very distinct personalities and approaches, go head-to-head.

"The Face Off podcast had a riveting effect on professors and students. Its deep analysis, pinpoint questions, and dramatic narrative kept listeners engaged and eager for more," says Len Apcar, Wendell Gray Switzer Jr. Endowed Chair in Media Literacy, Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University.

This season will recount numerous topics, including: a deep-dive into the psychology of China’s disillusioned generation and what they have in common with American Gen’Zers; China’s dramatic arms build up; an analysis of Xi's ego, tactics, and how a relationship that started with
cautious optimism turned into open hostility, and how China is winning the global robot race.

Other topics include an underreported story on sports diplomacy; Chinese warships in a fight on the high seas; why an American influencer is going viral in China, and the power broker
playing both sides of the AI revolution.

Listeners will hear from upcoming guests such as Jake Sullivan, former National Security Adviser; Alberto Moel, Robotics Scientist; Zhou Bo, a retired Chinese senior general, and Chang Che, Chinese-American writer.

Face-Off is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions.
Available on all major podcast platforms, with new episodes releasing weekly.

Over the past 50 years, Belfer Center research programs, projects, and special initiatives have worked to produce cutting-edge research and convene events critical to conversations at the time. Our work integrates insights and research of social scientists, natural scientists, technologists, and practitioners in government, diplomacy, the military, and business.

Recently, the COP30 climate conference was held in Brazil. With the current U.S. administration embracing climate denial, China then became an instrumental part of the meeting agenda and informal talks. That illustrates when one of the two superpowers bows out of global issues, the other can leverage their absence to expand their soft power. Despite what the U.S. President claims, China now leads the world in solar power and EV vehicles. Will the U.S. be a perennial also-ran? Two decades ago, China was choking on its fossil fuel emissions. Will that fate befall the U.S. as the current government goes all in on burning coal, diesel, and gasoline?

Check out Face-Off: The US vs CHINA. Find out what's really going on and how the current administration keeps getting outsmarted by the Chinese government.