Country Driving

The ‘But China!’ Dilemma Driving the A.I. Race

The Ezra Klein Show, 15 September 2026. The book comes up at 1 hr 6 min in.

Matt Sheehan recommends Country Driving as the work of a New Yorker correspondent he calls a godfather figure for his generation of journalists who went to China. He values its micro-level portraits of Chinese society, says Hessler inspired him to become a journalist, and laments that this kind of textured, on-the-ground reporting is missing from policy discussions today.

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