Gish Jen Explores U.S.-China Ties in 'Thank You, Mr. Nixon'

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of President Nixon’s historic visit to China, a multi-day diplomatic tour that kickstarted efforts to normalize relations between the two countries. That event animates Gish Jen’s latest work of fiction, “Thank You, Mr. Nixon,” a collection of chronological, interrelated stories about what Jen calls the “surreal” changes that China has undergone in the last half century. We’ll talk to Jen about her book and how she thinks about the relationship between the United States and China, both the personal and the political.