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Podcast Episode

By Any Means Necessary: China's One Child Policy

End of Story··2 August 2026·20 min

About this episode

This episode explores China’s One-Child Policy, one of the most controversial population control policies in modern history. We examine how it was enforced, the methods used by authorities, and the profound human cost experienced by families across the country.Content Warning: This episode discusses the enforcement of China’s One-Child Policy, including forced abortions, sterilization, and the death of infants. Listener discretion is advised. SourcesOne Child: The Story of China's Most Radical Experiment by Mei FongDocumentary: One Child NationWebsites:https://www.britannica.com/topic/one-child-policy/Consequences-of-Chinas-one-child-policyhttps://www.npr.org/2021/06/21/1008656293/the-legacy-of-the-lasting-effects-of-chinas-1-child-policy#:~:text=%22The%20doctors%20would%20inject%20poison,remembers%20Lu%20Bilun%2C%20a%20resident.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-17181951https://chrissmith.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2012-07-09_continued_human_rights_attacks_on_families_in_china.pdfChang, Gordon G.“SHRINKING CHINA: A Demographic Crisis.” World Affairs 178, no. 1, (2015): 35–41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4355528Feng, Wang, BaochangGu, and Yong Cai. “The End of China’s One-Child Policy.” Studies in    Family Planning 47, no. 1 (2016): 83–86. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24720399Hsia,Tao-Tai, Author, Constance A Johnson, and Issuing Body Library Of Congress. FarEastern Law Division. Populationcontrol in the People's Republic of China. [Washington, D.C.: Far Eastern Law Division, Law Library,Library of Congress, 1985] Pdf.            https://www.loc.gov/item/2019668313/Wang,Zhihe, Ming Yang, Jiaming Zhang, and Jiang Chang. “Ending an Era of Population Control in China: Was the One-Child Policy Ever Needed?” The American Journal of   Economics and Sociology 75, no. 4 (2016): 929–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45129326Yuesheng, Sun, and Zhangling, Wei. “TheOne-Child Policy in China Today.” Journal of         Comparative Family Studies 18, no. 2 (1987):309–25.             http://www.jstor.org/stable/41601462