Erich Schwartzel, the guest in Episode 4 of New Lines’ Wider Angle podcast, is a journalist and author of “Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy.” In this episode, he joins Riada Asimovic Akyol for a discussion about movies as powerful tools of influence used by world powers in competition for cultural dominance. The implications reach far beyond the entertainment industry.

Schwartzel powerfully explains the history of China’s interest in American films, which grew together with its political influence on the global stage. With smart investments like technology transfer and other long-term strategy advances, Chinese entrepreneurs and officials succeeded in making Hollywood officials, just like many U.S. companies, allow the Chinese regime’s political preferences to guide their business decisions.

Listeners of this episode can also learn about the different aspects of a complicated race for cultural influence between the U.S. and China in other countries around the world and how successful China has been in exporting movies and shows overseas. At the same time, other political and economic initiatives that China has been undertaking, like the Belt and Road initiative, contribute to its assertiveness in altering various countries’ geopolitical positioning. 

Listen to the conversation to hear a wider angle of China’s blend of authoritarianism and capitalism as a challenge to Western liberal democracy through the ongoing battle for cultural preeminence and China’s dissemination of its movies.