China's 'snowflake generation'

The podcast explores the emerging sense of despair among Chinese millennials and Zoomers facing intense work and life pressures. It examines the concepts of "Tang Ping" (lying flat) and "Neijuan" (involution), reflecting a desire to opt out of unending competition. Karoline Kan, a Beijing-based journalist and author of "Under Red Skies," explains how these terms highlight a widening generation gap, as young people question the traditional social contract of working hard for a better life. The conversation covers the 996 working culture (9 am to 9 pm, six days a week) and the government's response to declining birth rates, revealing a conflict between the state's need for a productive workforce and the younger generation's desire for individual fulfillment and less materialistic lifestyles.