This episode, Steering Committee Member Kirsten Lydic interviews Emmy-nominated journalist Melissa Chan and global activist artist Badiucao about their near-future dystopian graphic novel “You Must Take Part in Revolution.” In this conversation, they trace the novel’s story of techno-authoritarianism, repressive government and the lengths people go to in the fight for freedom. Grounded in the novel’s poignant and gripping narrative, this conversation makes sense of surveillance, control and authoritarian creep in the United States today.
Badiucao is a Chinese Australian artist, activist and political provocateur. One of the most popular and prolific creatives from China, he confronts a variety of social and political issues in his work, often using satire to tackle censorship, authoritarianism and capitalism. He has exhibited in the U.S., Australia and throughout Europe. He has been interviewed by The Washington Post, The Guardian, Time, CNN, NBC and others. He was also profiled by The New York Times and CBS News’s “60 Minutes.” In 2020, Badiucao won the Human Rights Foundation’s Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent. He currently lives in exile in Australia. This is his debut graphic novel.
Melissa Chan is an Emmy-nominated Hong Kong and Taiwanese American foreign correspondent based between Los Angeles and Berlin. She was previously posted in China until she became the first journalist in more than a decade to be expelled by Chinese authorities in 2012. Much of her reporting examines human rights, the rise of global authoritarianism and the defense of democracies. Her work has taken her from Pyongyang to Moscow to Havana. She has written for The New York Times, where she was nominated for a Loeb Award—business journalism’s highest honor—and The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Time, The Guardian and more. As a broadcast correspondent, she has reported for VICE News Tonight and Al Jazeera. This is her debut graphic novel.
Kirsten O. Lydic is a doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and a steering committee member at the Center for Media at Risk. Her work lies at the intersection of cognitive science and community-engaged social research, using mixed methods to (a) characterize and predict processes of social change and (b) develop intervention tools to promote civic and political engagement. She is interested in both online and offline political behavior and in how they intersect. Before joining the Annenberg School for Communication, Lydic previously worked as a researcher and lab tech for four years in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College.
Music: Dawn, Royalty Free Music by Ilya Kuznetsov courtesy of Uppbeat.com
