The Soapbox: speaker off or get off

You know that nagging feeling that follows you through the day: what if a sixty-second mental move could dissolve it? Behavioral scientists have uncovered a practice called mental subtraction. It's not about positive thinking. It's a subtle repositioning that lets relief surface on its own. Will it work for you? / Burgers, burgers everywhere (15:30). On the show: Steve, Yushun & Xingyu

Older cities are facing a new question, where preserving buildings and streets is no longer enough. Across China, historic neighborhoods are becoming living spaces where people don't just observe the past but actually experience it. So when ancient streets meet a new generation, what is it that makes young people want to stay? On the show: Steve, Yushun & Xingyu

Temperatures have soared past forty degrees across Europe. Schools have sent children home. Outdoor work has been banned. A famous landmark closed its doors. A continent built for cold winters now bakes under relentless heat. Air conditioning seems obvious, but the solution is more complicated than installing more units. On the show: Fei Fei, Steve & Yushan

When it comes to how cities use land, what is the right formula? China is reimagining urban land use by looking inward, not outward. We are talking about turning empty warehouses into senior care centers, building vertical factories, and more. The future is about making every inch of the land we already have count. On the show: Fei Fei, Steve & Yushan

You have heard of gig work, but this is different. There are no apps and no ratings. There is just a camera strapped to your head while you fold laundry, care for children, or operate a sewing machine. Your daily life is recorded and sold to the biggest tech companies on Earth. This is the story of the invisible workforce training the machines that could one day replace them, and the trade we may not realize we are making. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun

Two decades after the Qinghai–Xizang Railway first sliced across the plateau, the tracks tell a story bigger than engineering. At 4,000 meters, they've rewired daily life, shifting supply chains, redirecting tourism, and speeding the flow of ideas. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Guo Yan

Prices are rising across the entire consumer electronics sector, yet this surge does not follow the usual pattern. The driving force is neither a raw material crunch nor a logistics breakdown. A far larger transformation is recalibrating the cost of every gadget in your home. On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushun

We tend to picture Chinese cities as endless expansion machines. But the next five years are about retrofitting, not rebuilding. The national strategy has pivoted to upgrading existing neighborhoods. By 2030, your street might not look radically different, but it could function like a completely new place. On the show: Steve, Fei Fei & Yushun

You are settled into your seat and finally relaxing. Then someone starts blasting videos without headphones. One airline says that is now a punishable offense, and the penalty could go as high as a permanent ban. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun

For millions of commuters, the daily trek is a draining puzzle of schedules and traffic jams. Now China is weaving suburban rail, subways, bikes, and roads into a smarter transportation web across its megacities. If the slog shrinks, people might reclaim more than just minutes on the clock, and when cities begin to feel closer without anyone moving an inch, the way we live and connect could move in unexpected ways. On the show: Steve, Yushan & Yushun