BONUS episode: The Adventures of Frank Bessac

During the Mao Zedong years, China was off-limits to Western
researchers. Some came to Taiwan as a substitute, among them
American anthropologist Frank Bessac. John chats with Michael
Aldrich, author of “Old Lhasa: A Biography,” about Bessac’s work
in Taiwan. They also recount his adventures in China, including
an epic, ill-fated, months-long escape from Xinjiang to Tibet in
1950. Listen and you’ll see why John and Michael consider Frank
Bessac (1922–2010) to be the epitome of the generation that
earned the title “the Greatest Generation.”





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