NOW WHO'LL TELL US WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON?:

Sadly, the excellent Rob Gifford is leaving his China post for NPR to take over the London desk. They did a great tribute to his work of the past few years on Here and Now yesterday. The excerpts from past stories will surely make you want to listen to them and they've got a convenient archive. His On the Road in China series is also on-line. In this broadcast they play a hilarious clip from report where he's reporting from a church service but ends up being pressed to deliver the sermon when the preacher doesn't show up. As they discuss the moment he reveals why his reports have had so much more savor and depth than the junk on business pages, which can never get past the mere idea of a billion customers/cheap laborers....