Barbarians at the Gate x By Their Own Compass: Emily Hahn's Shanghai

Welcome to a special episode of Barbarians at the Gate. David and Jeremiah are off this week preparing for Chinese New Year, but as a special gift to our listeners, we are cross-posting this bonus episode about the life and China travels of the American writer Emily "Mickey" Hahn. This episode is from By Their Own Compass, a podcast looking at historical travelers and past journeys co-hosted by Jeremiah with travel expert Sarah Keenlyside. Emily Hahn partied with poets (and her pet gibbon) at Shanghai soirees. Wrote biographies while dodging bombs in wartime Chongqing, and did her best to keep herself and her family alive in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong. Along the way, she became famous (some might add “notorious”) for her affairs, including with Chinese writer Sinmay Zau (Shao Xunmei 邵洵美) and the head of British intelligence in Hong Kong, Charles Boxer. Mickey lived through some of China’s most tumultuous moments. While many foreigners experienced these events, Mickey gave her readers an unvarnished look at what was happening, with a style all her own. We hope you enjoy this special bonus episode. Follow By Their Own Compass at bytheirowncompass.com or search for By Their Own Compass on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or where you get your podcasts. Links: Books referenced in the episode China to Me by Emily Hahn Nobody Said Not To Go by Ken Cuthbertson (biography of Emily Hahn) I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey by Langston Hughes The Soong Sisters by Emily Hahn Tours & Resources: Historic Shanghai - walking tours (Patrick Cranley and Tina Kanagarathnam) Further Reading: Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson by Paul French Hong Kong Holiday by Emily Hahn No Hurry to Get Home: A Memoir by Emily Hahn Mr Pan by Emily Hahn

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Barbarians at the Gate x By Their Own Compass: Emily Hahn's Shanghai is an episode from Barbarians at the Gate by Barbarians at the Gate.

This episode is 1:01:10 long.

This episode was published on Feb 10, 2026.

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