Langfitt, now NPR’s London correspondent, spent a decade reporting from China. To get a taste of what people there were really doing and thinking, he started a novel taxi service: offering free rides in exchange for conversations. Over the course of several years, beginning as China’s phenomenal boom began to slow, Langfitt talked to a diverse, quirky, and representative group—ranging from a zealous car dealer to a migrant worker fond of John Denver’s music to a man who managed to get his family out of the country but was unable to leave himself—who were struggling to adapt to the new reality in their country, one of unequal growth, political anxiety, and a newly empowered strongman.
Langfitt will be in conversation with Steve Inskeep, host of Morning Edition and Up First on National Public Radio, and former NPR transportation correspondent.
