Ian Johnson

Aug 17, 2024 | newyorker.com | Ian Johnson

On the western outskirts of Las Vegas, far from the casinos, tourists, and strip malls, the Spring Mountains rise from the scorching valley, an ethereal vision of red-striped sandstone. When the heat allows, Gao Ertai, who is eighty-eight, ventures onto his back porch to observe the mountains and sometimes lets his mind wander to another desert: the wastelands of China’s Gansu Province, where he was exiled for two decades and witnessed some of the worst crimes of the Mao era.

Jun 20, 2024 | ian-johnson.com | Ian Johnson

For the past three years I’ve been a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, where I finished my book Sparks on dissent in today’s China, while also working on policy issues. It’s been a great experience: I got the chance to work with collegial, interesting thinkers; I moved back to the United States for the first sustained period of time in nearly 30 years; and our family had stability after I was turfed out of China in 2020 and we faced the uncertainties of the Covid era.

Jun 12, 2024 | wonkhe.com | Ian Johnson |Steven White |Ed Bickle

A recent Wonkhe and Solutionpath report and a subsequent article from Rachel Maxwell and Steve Briggs have shown just how vital academic support functions are in higher education. These reports highlight the need for specialised relational skills to connect students and their institutions. The Wonkhe research indicates that academic support functions are increasingly stretched in UK universities. Institutions rely heavily on personal tutors, and hope that timely use of data can fill the gap.

May 6, 2024 | chinafile.com | Sim Chi Yin |Ian Johnson

A rower glides a boat down the Fushi River near the “Widow’s Bridge,” one of the killing grounds of the 1967 massacre in Dao county. Li Dongde, a school teacher, stands at the execution grounds where his father, Li Jingxi, was shot by militiamen in August 1967. “This is where he was killed and his body lined up with others,” he said quietly before standing for this portrait.

Apr 9, 2024 | thescarboroughnews.co.uk | Ian Johnson

CEO Sleepout has raised millions of pounds to help tackle the UK's spiralling homelessness problem, and has asked business leaders from across North Yorkshire to grab a bag and brave the elements at the charity's sole fundraiser in the region later this month.