SCOLAR Podcast

"[200M People & Zero Unicorns](https://medium.com/swlh/200m-people-zero-unicorns-building-the-next-great-startup-in-pakistan-fccef58318a4)" – so reads a title of one article about Pakistan's startup scene. It very much summarizes one of the hopes of our episode's guest – Ambareen Baig, Insights Lead at Invest2Innovate, a 3-arm Pakistani Accelerator, Venture Fund and Insights Lab.  *We talked with Ambareen over Zoom in a live mode in August;* [*video verison of this episode*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYn_Ubr9AhA) *is available on SCOLAR Academy YouTube channel.* But these two data points omit something very important in between: a booming tech scene, that has seen a [rapid growth in the last decade](https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-the-next-big-asian-market-for-tech-startups/a-52183841). With Ambareen, we have made a virtual data-rich deep dive into the key dynamics within the young, yet promising innovation ecosystem of...

## Медиа + предпринимательство = ? **Герой нашего эпизода – Артем Жданов**, наиболее известный как главный редактор & основатель русскоязычного информационного источника о Поднебесной “[ЭКД!](https://ekd.me/ekd/)” ("Это Китай, детка!”), директор по маркетингу компании [UCHINA](https://uchina.biz/), а также основатель бренда [LaowaiMe](https://laowai.me/). Артем, которого мы поймали в Шанхае, проживает в Китае уже более 8 лет и постоянно экспериментирует с форматами креативного контента, позиционируя себя (как он сам говорит) как медийный предприниматель, вещающий **“О Китае – миру!”**...

**420% growth in the number of higher education institutions in 3 decades. Which country are we talking about?** We bet Kyrgyzstan is not the one that comes to your mind first. Yet, like some other post-soviet Central Asian states, Kyrgyz Republic saw a dramatic spike in the number of HE institutions opening across the country as its government was faced with the challenges of establishing not only its Education system – but the very country itself. *But does more institutions mean better education opportunities?* *And what does it actually mean to be a good university and to produce a qualified graduate?*  *Our talk is also available on YouTube*: [*https://youtu.be/oNEwTwKc0X0*](http://https://youtu.be/oNEwTwKc0X0) Shedding light on and unpacking these & some other dilemmas for us is **Emma Sabzalieva, an International ...

**Over 90% of foreigners in China speak ZERO Chinese?** Turns out, yes. This figure was quoted by Ilya Cheremnikh, founder of Culture Yard Chinese Language School, whom we talked to two weeks ago. That weekend we decided to do something new with the SCOLAR Talk format, grabbed our tripods, microphones, cameras and phones, and set out to Beijing hutongs to talk to the Russian Israeli businessman and a Chinese language teacher, the main hero of our episode today.  Ilya's story is an interesting one: born in Russia, Saint Petersburg, he moved to Jerusalem in his childhood and reached China more than a decade ago to start a language school. We had lots of questions to ask from our guest – who was simultaneously "hosting" us in the cosy corner of the narrow-alleyed hutongs in central Beijing, where every day he is relentlessly working to reach his dream of "teac...

Welcome this show's east-most episode recorded so far! For the next half an hour, we will be looking at Eurasia from Tokyo with a rather special guest: **Professor Tomohiko Taniguchi, a speechwriter and special advisor to Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.** Professor Taniguchi also serves as a [tenured professor at Keio University](http://www.sdm.keio.ac.jp/en/voice/taniguchi.html) in Tokyo, Japan (and where Olesya, our interviewer, is based until January). Throughout his professional career, professor Taniguchi has changed his location multiple times, working as a researcher and journalist in several reputable institutions worldwide including [Nikkei Business](https://business.nikkei.com/), [Brookings Institution](https://www.brookings.edu/author/tomohiko-taniguchi/), Foreign Press Association, Princeton University and Shanghai Institute of International Studies. In 2005, professor Taniguchi joined Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and started writing speeches for then-foreign m...

Welcome to all SCOLAR Podcast listeners! The podcast team is back on the radars after the weeks of being attacked by flu & cold. Our guest today, interviewed by Sugarmaa Purevkhuu, is **Gu Xi – Chief Marketing Officer of Higgz Technology**, a 100-employee AI education company which uses adaptive technology to transform Chinese education scene and create an ecosystem for lifelong growth & learning. Gu Xi is also widely known as a co-founder of women tech community TechieCat. As part of her activities to bring more women into the tech sector, she became a member of China Tech Alliance, initiated China’s first women tech conference TechieFestival, received a Women Impact Award 2016 by Shero China, and was featured in Apple’s global campaign “Behind the Mac”. What does it feel like to work in a hectic Chinese 9-9-6 working week environment with colleagues, whose average age is only 23? How does Chinese innovation ecosystem differ from that in the West? How does coding help in a mar...

Удивились новому голосу? Правильно: у нас пополнение в ряду ведущих. В этом эпизоде за микрофоном – **Сугармаа Пүрэвхүү** из Монголии, студентка доктарануры в городе Пекин и член SCOLAR Network. Суграмее выпал уникальный шанс взять интервью у г-на **Максима Михалёва**, докторанта Института Этнографии Российской Академии Наук и соавтора книги “**Пояса и пути Евразии: В поисках человека**” во время его пребывания в Пекине, куда он прибыл по окончании его экспедиции в странах "Пояса и пути". История нашего гостя уникальна тем, что г-н Михалёв выбрал велоси...

Что из себя представляет предпринимательская среда Узбекистана? Как правительство все более экономически-открытого государства помогает молодым предпринимателям?  Мы объединяем эти две темы в одну в нашем новом эпизоде с **Абдулахадом Кучкаровым**, директором по инновациям организации **IT Park в Ташкенте**, который ранее руководил коворкинг-центрами GroundZero и пришел в IT Park после 7 лет опыта работы в области предпринимательства в Узбекистане. ![text](https://it-park.uz/wp...

Today we bring you an episode about the Taihe Institute, an independent Beijing-based research institution, and its 3rd Taihe Civilizations Forum, which gathered 200+ participants from political, academic and media circles just outside Beijing at the outset of September. SCOLAR also attended the Forum as a co-organizer of the special youth session “AGORA: Taihe vision”, together with the APEC Voices of the Future, Global Shapers Beijing Hub 2, and G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance. What does 太和 （tài hé) mean? Why, in the age of states, a young Chinese think-tank tells us to focus on the dialogue between civilisations? What does Taihe Institute do to bridge the gaps – not only between civilisations, but also between generations? Where does the youth come onto the scene, and what skills will it need to face the fast-paced global development? Exploring these and other questions with us in the first part of the episode is our guest Xinzhu (Vicky) He, Executive Director of Taihe...

Сегодня мы с вами совершим свое собственное “Путешествие на Запад” – в западно-китайский Чунцин, внимание к которому с недавних пор сильно возросло в связи с активным продвижением города как центра развития внутренних регионов Китая. Вместе с нами это сделает наша гостья, **Ольга Зелковская.** Ольга родилась в Минске, Беларусь, и окончила факультет межкультурных коммуникаций Минского государственного лингвистического университета. После этого судьба привела ее в Пекин, где она закончила магистратуру Пекинского университета по специаль...