"Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy"

On this edition of ST, we look at a facet of US-China competition that doesn't get much attention, yet this facet is clearly getting more intense and more pervasive: the worldwide film industry. Our guest is Erich Schwartzel, who has reported on the movie industry for The Wall Street Journal since 2013. His very interesting new book is titled "Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy." As was noted of this work in The New York Times Book Review: "[This] is the story of the nexus that formed when Hollywood realized it needed China's cash, and China realized it could first manipulate -- and then appropriate -- Hollywood's special gifts for enchantment, coercion, lifestyle control, and inducing audiences to tear up by means of orchestral swells and Tom Hanks talking earnestly to small children.... The two stories, the humbling of Hollywood and the swelling of Chinese soft power, twist and combine across Schwartzel's masterfully organized book.... This is a fascinating book. It will educate you. Schwartzel has done some extraordinary reporting, and a lot of legwork."