Ronnie Cheng Interviews Michael Luo, Author of Strangers in the Land

Summary

On July 10, 2025, journalist and author Michael Luo sat down with host Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show to discuss his new book, Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built America. Luo, the editor of The New Yorker’s website, offers a sweeping historical narrative that traces Chinese immigration to the U.S. and how it has been shaped by xenophobia, violence, and legal exclusion. Chieng brought his usual wit to the interview, making it entertaining as well as educational.

Luo explained that his motivation for writing the book came from a personal desire to understand his family’s place in America and the broader Asian American experience. The interview touched on how early Chinese immigrants, who arrived in the mid-1800s to work in gold mines and on the transcontinental railroad, were met with intense hostility. That hostility ultimately culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first major federal law to ban a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States.

Luo discussed the striking parallels between 19th-century anti-Chinese sentiment and modern-day rhetoric about immigration and nationalism. “The way politicians… talk about immigrants today could be just torn from the nineteenth century,” Luo observed.

Luo emphasized that understanding this history is critical for modern America. “Asian American history is American history,” he said, noting that the struggles, contributions, and resilience of Chinese immigrants are deeply woven into the country’s identity.