Podcasts, Book Talks, and Reviews of A Chinese Reformer in Exile

New Books Network Interview with Robert L. Worden and Jane Leung Larson by Li-Ping Chen

Li-Ping Chen, a visiting scholar at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Southern California, led a substantive interview with Robert Worden and Jane Leung Larson on the East Asian Studies channel of the New Books Network, posted on October 10, 2025. The interview explores how this book came together, from its inception as Worden's B.A. thesis in the late 1960s to its final completion as a collaborative project with four co-authors, beginning in 2011 and ending with publication in 2025. Worden and Larson take the listener through the chapters of the book, the impact of new archival collections in developing the book's narrative. Chen learned about A Chinese Reformer in Exile from Zhongping Chen, a major contributor to this book, who was interviewed on New Books Network in 2024 about his related book, Transpacific Reform and Revolution. 

Northwest China Council and First Saturday PDX, at Reed College, Portland, Oregon: A Chinese Reformer in America with Jane Leung Larson

Saturday, March 7, 9:30 to 11:00 AM, Reed College, Biology Building B19; 11:30 no-host lunch; registration advised: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/v7bvw67

Jane Leung Larson returns to her alma mater (Reed, 1967) and the organization she founded in 1980 (Northwest China Council) to talk about Kang Youwei and the Chinese Empire Reform Association in North America. Portland, Oregon was the lead chapter in the Northwest regional division of the United States Association, which had at least 23 chapters. Portland hosted a Western Military Academy school, a branch of Kang Tongbi's women's association, and a Mutual Defense Division (Lianweibu 聯衞部). She will explore how Kang mobilized overseas Chinese communities such as Portland to support a constitutional monarchy, modern education, and political reform in China and highlight the global dimensions of the reform movement and its impact on overseas Chinese communities.

UCLA East Asian Library Book Talk with Jane Leung Larson

December 4, 2025, 1:00 to 2:30 PM, Charles E. Young Research Library, Presentation Room 11348

Jane Leung Larson introduced A Chinese Reformer in Exile and how the Tom Leung papers expanded our knowledge of Kang Youwei's travels and activities in the United States. The UCLA Asian Library holds the papers, which were donated by Louise Leung Larson in the 1980s. UCLA China historian Andrea Goldman will comment on how she has used the papers as a teaching tool. A PDF of the PowerPoint presentation with links to the book and to the UCLA documents described can be downloaded here.

MOCA TALKS – A Chinese Reformer in Exile: Kang Youwei and the Chinese Empire Reform Association in North America with Robert L. Worden and Jane Leung Larson

October 30, 2025, 7 PM, Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre St., New York City

Robert Worden and Jane Leung Larson are in conversation with Evans Chan, whose films and opera on Kang Youwei brought them together to write A Chinese Reformer in Exile. The YouTube podcast is here. 

Reviews 

Asian American Comparative Collection Newsletter (University of Idaho, September 2025, 2, "Recommended Publications.")

Xu Zhiyuan podcast, 游荡集 (The Wanderer), February 20, 2025, "Vol.32 異鄉人的 love letters" [in Chinese]

Xu Zhiyuan, a journalist, poet and podcaster, speaks about his multi-volume biography of Liang Qichao and how he came across A Chinese Reformer in Exile and recounts his fascination with how Chinese overseas reconstruct their history.