In this episode we sit down with Steffen Rimner, Assistant Professor in the History of International Affairs at University College Dublin. He has taught at Utrecht University, Harvard University, and Columbia University, and held affiliations at Yale University, the University of Oxford, Waseda University, and the University of Tokyo (Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia).

Prof. Rimner's work covers a wide range of topics connected with China and Japan and their place in the world. We discussed his recent book Opium's Long Shadow (Harvard UP 2018), which traces how opium went from a freely traded product to an illicit item, tightly controlled by governments across the world.

As you'll see from our discussion, the origins of global drug control have strong resonance with the present. The world is still dealing with many narcotic crises, and by understanding how it all began, we can carve out a better pathway forward.

You can find Steffen Rimner's work on Google Scholar.

Thanks to Adam Pisarkiewicz for the music.

https://www.zacharymazur.com/