BEIJING — A lesbian coming to terms with her sexuality, a village covering up abuses and a dissection of the three-child policy — an explosion of Chinese podcasts are wrestling with social issues considered taboo under the country’s strict media controls.
More than 7,000 new podcasts came online last year with an audience tipped at nearly 10 million — a small but fast-growing group in the world’s largest market for web audio content.
While podcasting has long been part of western media appetites, it has just started gaining ground in China’s tightly managed media ecosystem, serving up counter-narratives and critical social analysis.
For student Cheng Yifan, who …
Keep on reading: Podcasts burst onto China youth scene