『Liminal Space 临界之间』のカバーアート

Liminal Space 临界之间

Liminal Space 临界之间

著者： C^2 Collective
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Liminal Space dives deep into the messy beauty of living between cultures, identities, and ideologies—especially at the crossroads between China and the West. Hosted by Susan Su and Matthew Lu, two Third-Culture kids in China, we bring you "the good, bad, and the weird" with an insider’s nuance. Each episode, we feature guests navigating their own cultural in-betweenness. Tune in for fresh perspectives and honest dialogue that reveals what lies hidden in life's edges and overlaps. 临界之间 Liminal Space 探索跨文化、跨身份、跨意识形态生活中的“灰色地带”与“缝隙之美”。节目由 Susan Su 与 陆马休 Matthew Lu 主理——两位在中国和美国成长、生活、反思的“第三文化人”。我们关注中国与西方之间的张力与融合，也关注那些生活在转变之中的人：漂泊者、创作者、跨文化专业人士、正在寻找方向的年轻人。这里没有标准答案，只有诚实的对话、细腻的观察，以及那些藏在边缘与重叠处的、往往更真实的东西。 每一期，我们邀请一位正在穿越“临界空间”的嘉宾，聊身份、选择、迷惘与重构，带来新鲜视角与深度思考。 播客视频会同步更新至： https://www.youtube.com/@liminalspacepod 节目文字稿存档： https://liminalspace.transistor.fm/© 2026 C^2 Collective 社会科学
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  • Rochester Buddhist Kid to a Beijing Lifer: Gideon Goldfeder on Two Decades of Reinvention in China

    Rochester Buddhist Kid to a Beijing Lifer: Gideon Goldfeder on Two Decades of Reinvention in China
    2026/05/27
    In this episode, we sit down with Gideon Goldfeder—American educator, longtime Beijing resident, and self-described old Beijinger—to trace a life built on curiosity, adaptability, and an almost accidental commitment to China.Gideon's story begins in Rochester, New York, where growing up Buddhist and Jewish in a predominantly white suburb made him an outsider long before he ever left the country. That early experience of not quite fitting in (economically, religiously, culturally) becomes the quiet throughline of everything that follows. At the University of Chicago, a graduate-level course on the mind-body dichotomy in the Yijing pulls him toward cultural studies and, eventually, toward China. An intensive summer at Tsinghua is his first encounter with the country, and it's enough to make staying feel more natural than leaving.What follows is less a career path than a series of genuine experiments: conducting on-the-ground HIV/AIDS research in rural China, teaching oral English to Tsinghua freshmen with names like Bacon and Shampoo, DJing Beijing's underground club scene as DJ Meaty, running beer pong nights at Pyro during the peak of foreign student culture, co-founding Monk Media to document the rise of Chinese rap and street culture, and eventually finding his footing as one of Beijing's most respected education consultants, all while raising two mixed-race daughters in one of the world's most mono-ethnic societies.Underneath the breadth of experience, this conversation keeps returning to a single persistent question: what does it mean to belong to a place that will never fully claim you? Gideon is candid about the permanent outsider status that comes with being visibly foreign in China, about the invisible privileges and quiet isolations that accompany it, and about what it means to build a life and a family across cultures anyway. His answer, shaped by decades of Buddhist practice and hard-won pragmatism, is less about resolution than about learning not to need one.Key ThemesGrowing up as a cultural and religious outsider in suburban AmericaThe intersection of language, identity, and cultural understandingHIV/AIDS in China: blood-selling scandals, policy disconnect, and the mechanics of protestThe golden era of foreign student life in Beijing and its gradual disappearanceStreet culture, media, and the challenge of building creative companies in ChinaThe transition from generalist hustler to specialist consultantRaising mixed-race children in a mono-ethnic societyPermanent foreignness, code-switching, and the limits of belongingKey TakeawaysImmersive language learning isn't just about fluency—it's about accessing an entirely different way of thinking.Chinese governance is more pragmatic and locally complex than Western narratives tend to allow.Feeling like an outsider early in life can become a long-term asset for navigating unfamiliar environments.Building a career in China often means embracing informality, relationship culture, and gradual trust—not credentials.Creative media work is far more labor-intensive than it appears from the outside.Consulting rewards depth and relationships in ways that tutoring and content creation simply don't.Raising children across cultures forces a reckoning with identity questions that can't be fully resolved in advance.Living well across cultures requires choosing not to let friction accumulate into resentment.Chapters00:00 Exploring Liminal Spaces: Introduction 01:15 Meet Gideon Goldfeder 03:22 Growing Up in Rochester: Outsider from the Start 08:04 Buddhism, Judaism, and a Hippie Mom in New York 12:00 Discovering Cultural Studies at UChicago 17:51 First Time in China: Tsinghua and the Smell of a Student Canteen 25:48 How to Actually Learn Chinese 27:33 HIV/AIDS Research and the Mechanics of Chinese Public Policy 36:52 Pragmatism, Protest, and What Western Narratives Miss About China 41:30 Life After Graduation: Teaching, Hustling, Finding Footing 50:41 DJ Meaty and the Beijing Club Scene 55:55 Beer Pong Nights and the Golden Age of Foreign Students 58:47 Building Monk Media: Street Culture, Rap, and Tattoos 68:16 Why Making Good Video Is Brutally Hard 70:44 The Shift to Education Consulting 76:26 Becoming a Girl Dad in Beijing 79:30 Permanent Foreignness and the Limits of Belonging 85:27 Code-Switching, Passing, and the Privilege You Didn't Ask For 89:39 Dating and Marrying Across Cultures 95:25 Wisdom for the Path Less Traveled 99:52 Recommendations: Flowers That Actually Smell GoodThis podcast is brought to you by C^2 Collective, a multicultural nonprofit community empowering young people across China and beyond to think curiously, connect across cultures, and create positive change | see https://csquared-collective.com/ | We host events, run a social innovation network, and publish the Curation^2 newsletter @ https://imablur.substack.com/Music by Megan TanArt by Cindy Zhang本期嘉宾：Gideon Goldfeder——美国教育顾问、北京资深居民、...
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    1 時間 25 分
  • Third Culture Kid to Third Space Builder: Ruby Pak on Identity, Friction, and Designing Belonging in Shanghai

    Third Culture Kid to Third Space Builder: Ruby Pak on Identity, Friction, and Designing Belonging in Shanghai
    2026/04/15
    In this episode, we sit down with Ruby Pak—hospitality entrepreneur and third-culture operator—to trace a life shaped by constant movement across systems, cities, and expectations.Ruby’s story begins in Hong Kong and stretches across Beijing, Vancouver, the UK, and now Shanghai—a trajectory that exposes the subtle frictions of growing up between cultures. From language barriers and social exclusion in school to the quiet recalibrations required in each new environment, her upbringing becomes less about belonging to a place and more about learning how to adapt without losing a sense of self.That tension carries into her early career, where she enters the world of luxury marketing only to confront the realities of office hierarchy, toxicity, and misalignment. What follows is not a clean pivot, but a gradual unraveling—one that leads her toward entrepreneurship in Shanghai’s hospitality and fitness scene. Through building Hasa House, Ruby begins to rethink what a “space” can be: not just a business, but an ecosystem for wellness, community, and self-reinvention.Along the way, we explore how cultural identity evolves across geographies, why career paths rarely move in straight lines, and how moments of discomfort—social, professional, or internal—can become catalysts for clarity. At its core, this conversation asks: What does it mean to build a life that feels coherent when your experiences are anything but?Key ThemesMulticultural upbringing across Hong Kong, Beijing, Canada, the UK, and ShanghaiIdentity formation under conditions of constant transitionLanguage, exclusion, and social integration in different school systemsCareer disillusionment and confronting workplace toxicityEntrepreneurship as a response to misalignmentBuilding hybrid spaces that blend hospitality, fitness, and wellnessResilience, self-awareness, and redefining success on personal termsKey TakeawaysGrowing up across multiple cultures can sharpen adaptability, but often complicates a stable sense of identity.Experiences of exclusion—especially through language—leave lasting imprints on confidence and belonging.Early career environments can reveal misalignment more clearly than they provide direction.Leaving a toxic workplace is often less about escape and more about reclaiming agency.Entrepreneurship is frequently born from frustration with existing systems rather than pure ambition.Physical and social spaces can be intentionally designed to support both individual and collective well-being.Clarity around one’s values tends to emerge gradually, often through periods of discomfort and transition.Chapters00:00 Exploring Liminal Spaces in Identity and Culture00:49 Meet Ruby Pak: From Tradition to Reinvention02:39 Growing Up Between Cities: Hong Kong and Beijing05:26 Cultural Shock and Early Adaptation09:06 Language, Exclusion, and School Life12:50 Structure, Conformity, and Education Systems15:31 Moving to Canada: A New Cultural Lens18:17 Fitting In vs. Standing Apart22:57 Navigating the Canadian Education System26:59 College Decisions and Identity Formation31:23 Reflections on University and Early Ambitions35:57 Time in the UK and Career Direction40:23 Entering the Professional World44:49 Workplace Challenges and Personal Growth48:01 Choosing People Over Prestige55:18 Building a Restaurant from Scratch01:06:17 Introducing Hasa House01:16:14 Lessons for the Next Generation01:26:25 Coffee Across Three CitiesLinks:福和光酒家 Fook Wo Kwong RestaurantHasa House RedbookHasa House InstagramHasa House (WeChat Account): Your Oasis in the CityThis podcast is brought to you by C^2 Collective, a multicultural nonprofit community empowering young people across China and beyond to think curiously, connect across cultures, and create positive change | see https://csquared-collective.com/ | We host events, run a social innovation network, and publish the Curation^2 newsletter @ https://imablur.substack.com/Music by Megan TanArt by Cindy Zhang从第三文化小孩到第三空间的创造者：Ruby Pak谈身份、摩擦与在上海“设计归属”在这一期节目中，我们邀请到Ruby Pak——餐饮创业者，同时也是一位典型的“第三文化成长者”，一起梳理一段在不同制度、城市与期待之间不断迁移的人生轨迹。 Ruby的故事始于香港，延展至北京、温哥华、英国，最终落脚上海。这一路跨越的不只是地理空间，更是文化与身份的反复碰撞。从校园中的语言障碍与被排斥的经历，到在不同环境中不断进行的自我校准，她的成长逐渐不再围绕“属于哪里”，而是转向如何在变化中保留自我。这种张力延续到了她的职业早期。进入奢侈品营销行业后，她很快直面职场中的等级结构、隐性规则与不健康的工作环境。她的转变并非一次果断的跳跃，而更像是一种缓慢的“松动”与重构，最终将她带入上海的餐饮与社交健身领域...
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    1 時間 33 分
  • From China's Education System to Startup Side-Quests: Gab Liu on Curiosity, Culture, and Career Detours

    From China's Education System to Startup Side-Quests: Gab Liu on Curiosity, Culture, and Career Detours
    2026/03/23
    In this episode, we sit down with Gab Liu—entrepreneur, cultural observer, and prolific side-project builder—to explore how a life lived across systems shapes the way you see opportunity.Gab grew up navigating Beijing’s highly structured education system before finding intellectual and personal freedom in the U.S. at Oberlin and Wellesley. That experience of moving between worlds—Chinese and American, institutional and experimental—eventually shaped a career path that refuses to stay in one lane: venture capital, banking, consulting, and an ever-growing portfolio of side ventures ranging from an incense brand to a matchmaking platform.Along the way, we talk about creativity under pressure in China’s education system, the hidden hierarchies inside traditional workplaces, and why curiosity and resourcefulness often matter more than a perfectly planned career path. We also dive into Gab’s creative outlets—music, fencing, and podcasting—and how side projects can become laboratories for identity, experimentation, and reinvention. At its core, this conversation asks a deceptively simple question: How do you build a life that remains open to experimentation while navigating systems that reward stability?*To get this episode uploaded on the Xiaoyuzhou platform, we had to redact two short remarks at around 39:30 and 1:03:40. If you'd like to watch/listen to the unabridged version please navigate to (Youtube) From China's Education System to Startup Side Quests: Gab Liu on Curiosity, Culture, and Career Detours or (Substack) From China's Education System to Startup Side Quests: Gab Liu on Curiosity, Culture, and Career DetoursKey ThemesGrowing up inside China’s education system and its effect on creativityCross-cultural transitions between Beijing and American liberal arts collegesEntrepreneurship through experimentation and side projectsCareer shifts across venture capital, consulting, and financeCultural hierarchies and workplace dynamics in ChinaBuilding niche businesses that translate culture across marketsCreative outlets as a counterbalance to professional lifeCuriosity, resilience, and designing a non-linear careerKey TakeawaysEarly exposure to different systems can shape how people approach risk and opportunity.Creativity often emerges at the margins of rigid institutions.Side projects can function as “labs” for identity, experimentation, and new ideas.Understanding cultural hierarchy is essential for navigating traditional work environments.Cross-cultural experiences can reveal unexpected market opportunities.Career paths rarely unfold in a straight line; adaptability often matters more than planning.Creative pursuits—music, sport, or art—can anchor personal growth during periods of transition.Chapters00:00 Exploring Liminal Spaces: Introduction to the Podcast00:43 Meet Gab Liu: A Multifaceted Entrepreneur02:13 Early Life and Education: Growing Up in Beijing08:39 Transitioning to High School: Challenges and Changes13:01 Finding Freedom: A Year of Exploration Before College15:58 College Experience: From Oberlin to Wellesley25:25 Navigating Career Paths: Returning to China Post-COVID29:31 Career Choices and Early Experiences31:46 Insights from Venture Capital34:50 The Role of Background in Success36:42 Transitioning from VC to Consulting38:45 Work Culture in Traditional Chinese Companies41:56 Starting a Side Business: Incenzo46:28 Marketing Cultural Products to Western Audiences50:47 Investing in a Matchmaking Platform54:44 Navigating Traditional Work Environments01:00:51 Navigating Workplace Dynamics01:03:43 Future Aspirations and Side Hustles01:07:03 Cultural Bridges and Business Models01:09:01 Creative Outlets and Personal Growth01:13:46 Advice for the Uncertain01:18:13 Podcast Recommendations and Closing ThoughtsGab's Incense Startup: https://incenzo.co (Get 25% off with the code "Liminal25" at checkout!)Gab's music projects: https://soundcloud.com/gab-liuChinese matchmaking platform: YuuSii 名校社交 (search on WeChat)Email for Business Inquiries: gabriellagoode@gmail.comInstagram/ WeChat: gabgoodeThis podcast is brought to you by C^2 Collective, a multicultural nonprofit community empowering young people across China and beyond to think curiously, connect across cultures, and create positive change | see https://csquared-collective.com/ | We host events, run a social innovation network, and publish the Curation^2 newsletter @ https://imablur.substack.com/Music by Megan TanArt by Cindy Zhang从中国教育体系到创业副项目：Gab Liu谈好奇心、文化与非线性职业路径 在这一期《Liminal Space》中，我们邀请到 Gab Liu——创业者、文化观察者，以及“副业实验家”，一起聊聊：当一个人的人生横跨不同制度与文化时，会如何改变他看待机会、风险与人生路径的方式。Gab 在北京长大，早年经历了中国高度结构化的教育体系。后来，他前往美国，在 Oberlin 和 Wellesley ...
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    1 時間 25 分
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