YouSaid · the spoken record

Ai Weiwei

lines on the record
63
first
2026-03-23
most recent
2026-03-23
sittings or episodes
1
sources
podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

  1. “That same year ranged three top leaders all that same year, Zhou and Lai and Judo. At that time I was swimming in a park, then I heard the sound of the radio. That time is no television. So that means the sky collapsed for Chinese. This is like a holy person suddenly disappeared. So there's a few years of vacancy there. Nobody knows what to do. And of course, Deng Xiaoping follows come up. Basically Deng Xiaoping comes as some kind of military cope. Because they size the who's supposed to be in the government, you know, mouse, wife, and other group, cut four of the.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “That's a big moment. Actually, one incident happened in 1971 when Cherman Mao had official, how do they say, Samo Wang would become a person at his position as Lin Byo, which is highest top military leader. His airplane dropped in Mongolia when he tried to escape. Then that is about internal politics, how can Communist Party, the second person? Just trying to escape. Then the next year, you know, Nixon comes. That is changed or is such a very wild education beyond any dream can happen that time. And by 76 Mao, that”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “This capitalism is an enemy not only for this country, for we learned from Korex about capitals, we learned from Vladimir Ili Chileen, you know, the imperialism end of capitalism. I read those books. I read the communist manifesto when I was 10. how this could be this paper tiger, United States, which Chairman Mo called United States just a paper tagger, really come to China. And shake hands and hugs with top leaders, drink a mau, and they are so happily together. It seems like their families. So that is my first education about international politics.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “Period time basically, there's a time for huge political change. First, Nixon comes to China. And then everybody's shocked because Nixon is our top enemy suddenly appeared in Beijing. You know, Chemo happily received him. Then you realize, oh my God, what have been building our mind is all can be changed just within one second.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “Also, I don't know what's the difference between artists and activists, but anyhow, I survived by doing my work now. And it's not such a good profession. I would not encourage anybody to do that. You know what happened to me is purely chance and miracle. I cannot repeat it because the time, because my history, my position, and because my I don't know, because what because all mistakes I made, I become a so-called artist.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “To understand him, we really have to read his poetry, which I cannot read because the books had been destroyed. But for my daily sense about him, he's an honest man. He's a very naive type. He can be happy any moment and he's not someone complain all the time. Even he does the most difficult job. He would tell me, you see, I'm 60 years old. I never know even who cleaned my toilet before. Now I clean for them. Nothing wrong with it. And he tell my mom, of course, my mom used to live in very high position with him to say we have just to think we were born here. So I think he's a man with a big heart and very kind.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “What developed in me is to see how mass can be easily so dumb and have no possibility to search for any truth. That builded on me from very early age, you can see everyone is blind, everyone acts stupidly, and everyone thinks they are right.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “Doesn't really know he has any crime, but he has to say he's anti-revolutionary. And most people think he's no voice because people doesn't even know how a poet can commit a crime. So yeah, it's just everything is so blind and of course this is basically a human condition at that time.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “He has to appear in this very remote poor village, but it's kind of semi-military type. That means if Russian invaders, that time Russian is number one enemy because it's getting so close and have a huge amount of soldiers restored next to the border of China. So every day we are preparing to defend ourselves from Russian. We even learned a few Russian words to say raise your hands. Why not kill you if you just raise your hand so all those Russian language? It doesn't sound true, but we have to live in the village. My father have to confess his so-called crime in front of those never-educated farmers.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “He is completely disappeared, been sent to the most remote area. That area is in the ancient China. They would send all the poet or distant to. That means you will never come back. So I think it's not bad policy. Then kill them, you know.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Communist in Yan, which is how to say cradle for communists, and later established new China, then he was in the very high position, probably highest position in literature and most renowned poet or patriotic, anti, mostly colonial and imperialism, then being criticized as rightist. So the year 1957 when he was exiled, I was born. That's a short story.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “And to answer my father, he was born 10 years later, 1910, growing up as a poet and studied in Paris. And right after he went back in his early 20s, he'd been sentenced for six years for some kind of subversion of state power. That state was nationalistic. So after years of some kind of refugee because the Japanese invade China and have such a strong impact in China, so he has to run in trying to find a place to be teacher or editor for literary man. That's only job probably at that time, but he could never really reach that point. He joined the revolution.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “My father was born 1910, which is 10 years after a nation's invade China, which of course, which a nations, England, French. Italy, Germany, Russian, Japanese, and Austria. They forced China to open up its market. That effort started from 1840, the first open war, and the second open war, so English have three times Invade China force China to open up. So this is a very interesting moment. Your head of state still in China and this time much friendly.”

    2026-03-23 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 181. Ai Weiwei: China, Censorship, and Dissidence Through Art · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source