{"podcast":{"title":"Borders: Conversations on Global South Capital and Geopolitics","slug":"borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364","podcast_index_feed_id":7872364,"rss_url":"https://feeds.libsyn.com/610105/rss","website_url":"https://vesper.vc/borders/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/4/0/0/e/400eadebb579460216c3140a3186d450/Borders_Podcast_Cover_-20260313-d105hb3s33.png","author":"Vesper","episode_count":15,"summary":"Hosted by Mr. Andrew J. Henderson, Borders is a long-form conversation series exploring how power, capital, and influence actually move across the world. Much of the modern global economy is being shaped far beyond the traditional centers of Western media attention. Across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Latin America, new markets, institutions, and power structures are quietly taking form. Each episode features a thoughtful conversation with founders, investors, policymakers, and operators working directly inside these environments; people building companies, infrastructure, financial systems, and cultural institutions in places where the future is being negotiated in real time. Rather than debate or commentary, Borders is structured as a calm, exploratory conversation. Episodes move deliberately, allowing guests to explain how markets, incentives, and societies actually function on the ground; often revealing dynamics that rarely appear in headlines. Guests range from frontier-market investors and bank executives to infrastructure developers, reform-minded policymakers, and founders building new industries across emerging regions. Each conversati…","last_synced_at":"2026-09-16T06:18:48.996211+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364"},"episode":{"title":"Ep 4: Cyrus Janssen: The Biggest Lie About China's Middle Class","slug":"ep-4-cyrus-janssen-the-biggest-lie-about-china-s-middle-class","published_at":"2026-03-18T19:51:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364/ep-4-cyrus-janssen-the-biggest-lie-about-china-s-middle-class","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364","url":"https://ad96190b-f614-4ba6-ac31-26ffbdc6d90b.libsyn.com/ep-4-cyrus-janssen-the-biggest-lie-about-chinas-middle-class","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/ad96190b-f614-4ba6-ac31-26ffbdc6d90b/BBV_Cyrus_V4.mp3?dest-id=5317560","summary":"Mr. Henderson sits down with China analyst and investor Cyrus Janssen to examine one of the most misunderstood narratives in global economics: the supposed stagnation of China's middle class. While Western commentary often focuses on decline, debt, and demographic headwinds, the lived economic reality inside China tells a more complex story. From digital infrastructure and consumer confidence to domestic brand dominance and capital flows, structural shifts are underway that investors and policymakers cannot afford to ignore. Rather than debating ideology, this conversation analyzes systems — how people transact, travel, consume, save, and deploy capital — and what those behaviors signal about long-term power distribution. In this episode, Andrew and Cyrus discuss: ● Why China's middle class continues expanding despite persistent narratives of contraction ● The role of digital infrastructure and \"super-app\" ecosystems in reshaping daily economic behavior ● What recent equity rebounds reveal about global sentiment gaps and valuation dislocations ● Why younger Chinese consumers are reallocating spending toward experiences over status luxury ● How domestic brands are overtaking Western incumbents across coffee, EVs, technology, and travel ● The implications of rising national confidence for passports, mobility, and outward investment ● Energy production, infrastructure build-out, and China's strategic push toward consumer self-reliance Rather than predicting collapse or inevitability, this episode explores something more useful: how perception gaps create asymmetric opportunity. Follow Cyrus: Cyrus Janssen About Borders Borders is a long-form audio series hosted by Andrew Henderson, exploring how capital, power, and opportunity are reorganizing beyond the Western mainstrea…","meta_description":"Mr. Henderson sits down with China analyst and investor Cyrus Janssen to examine one of the most misunderstood narratives in global economics: the suppose…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4934,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364/episodes/ep-4-cyrus-janssen-the-biggest-lie-about-china-s-middle-class/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/borders-conversations-on-global-south-capital-and-geopolitics-7872364/ep-4-cyrus-janssen-the-biggest-lie-about-china-s-middle-class.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}