Music and Politics From China to the UK: A British Expat on Social Media and Real Life Abroad: S5E10

Send us Fan MailBefore social media became nonstop political warfare, moving abroad often meant building creative communities online from scratch. James spent 14 years outside the UK, first in the Czech Republic and later in China, where blogs, expat forums, mixtapes, and early music podcasts helped him stay connected across cultures. Now back in England, he reflects on how dramatically online life changed between 2002 and 2016. We talk about Prague’s early expat blogging scene, podcasting before it went mainstream, China’s surprisingly open early internet years, the rise of the Great Firewall, reverse culture shock, Brexit-era social media tension, and the story behind Centuries of Sound, his podcast creating mixtapes for every year of recorded sound history.Original publication date: July 18, 2020📬 Traveling abroad long-term? Traveling Mailbox gives you a permanent US mailing address you can access from anywhere: https://travelingmailbox.com/geopats/?ref=3422📸 Instagram reels from my past and present life abroad: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/🎥 Daily video clips from my life abroad: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew🎙️Start your own podcast. The podcast host I recommend most often is Buzzsprout. Use this link and get a bonus when you upgrade: https://www.buzzsprout.com/geopats📬 Weekly podcast discoverability tips to help your older episodes keep getting found:  https://podcaststeph.substack.com/