229 Topic

Susan Bird is a TED resident speaker and the host of Conversation360 Podcast, which looks at how Asia and the west are interacting by interviewing people from all walks of life who are involved in crossing cultures in some way. She tells ShaoLan that the idea behind hosting these conversations is to allow people to understand each other’s different cultures and ways of thinking, which in turn leads to better understanding and deepened exchange.

The Chinese word for “topic” is 主題. The original meaning of the first character 主 means “master” or “lord,” but can also less formally mean “the person in charge” or “the host.” 題 is the character for “title,” which can be a person’s title, or it can be the title of an article, or even a question, so the “master title” is the “topic.”