{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Buddhist Studies","slug":"new-books-in-buddhist-studies-851606","podcast_index_feed_id":851606,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/LIT8948303572","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/religion-faith/buddhist-studies/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/b391c9ba-ecf5-11e8-908d-53b9e7cf016b/image/a37eb6d9dc7eaa5c9949983662b71010.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":416,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies","last_synced_at":"2026-06-27T14:21:55.893820+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-buddhist-studies-851606"},"episode":{"title":"Yasmin Cho, \"Politics of Tranquility: The Material and Mundane Lives of Buddhist Nuns in Post-Mao Tibet\" (Cornell UP, 2025)","slug":"yasmin-cho-politics-of-tranquility-the-material-and-mundane-lives-of-buddhist-nuns-in-post-mao-tibet-cornell-up-2025","published_at":"2025-12-15T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-buddhist-studies-851606/yasmin-cho-politics-of-tranquility-the-material-and-mundane-lives-of-buddhist-nuns-in-post-mao-tibet-cornell-up-2025","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-buddhist-studies-851606","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK5857945786.mp3?updated=1765754300","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK5857945786.mp3?updated=1765754300","summary":"Politics of Tranquility: The Material and Mundane Lives of Buddhist Nuns in Post-Mao Tibet (Cornell University Press, 2025) concerns the Tibetan Buddhist revival in China, illustrating the lives of Tibetan Buddhist nuns and exploring the political effects that arise from their nonpolitical daily engagements in the remote, mega-sized Tibetan Buddhist encampment of Yachen Gar. Yasmin Cho's book challenges two assumptions about Tibetan Buddhist communities in China. First, against the assumption that a Buddhist monastic community is best understood in terms of its esoteric qualities, Cho focuses on the material and mundane daily practices that are indispensable to the existence and persistence of such a community and shows how deeply gendered these practices are. Second, against the assumption that Tibetan politics toward the Chinese state is best understood as rebellious, incendiary, and centered upon Tibetan victimhood, the nuns demonstrate how it can be otherwise. Tibetan politics can be unassuming, calm, and self-contained and yet still have substantial political effects. As Politics of Tranquility shows, the nuns in Yachen Gar have called forth an alternative way of living and expressing themselves as Tibetans and as female monastics despite a repressive context. ------------------ Jing Li teaches Chinese language, literature, and cinema. Her research focuses on rural China, independent filmmaking, and digital media cultures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies","meta_description":"Politics of Tranquility: The Material and Mundane Lives of Buddhist Nuns in Post-Mao Tibet (Cornell University Press, 2025) concerns the Tibetan Buddhist…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3209,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-buddhist-studies-851606/episodes/yasmin-cho-politics-of-tranquility-the-material-and-mundane-lives-of-buddhist-nuns-in-post-mao-tibet-cornell-up-2025/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-buddhist-studies-851606/yasmin-cho-politics-of-tranquility-the-material-and-mundane-lives-of-buddhist-nuns-in-post-mao-tibet-cornell-up-2025.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}