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Why Chinese women made Sherlock Holmes a gay icon

Posted

January 10, 2026

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Why is Sherlock Holmes a gay icon in China? Jiehao Chen, co-host of the Drum Tower podcast, and Joel Budd, our senior affairs editor, discuss the famous detective’s popularity among Chinese women and what his prominence in slash fiction reveals about deeper anxieties surrounding love, marriage, and gender roles in contemporary China.

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Asian tourists are returning to Britain. But they look different

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Guests & Subjects Covered

Sherlock HolmesChina Jiehao ChenDrum TowerJoel BuddChina ListenBritain ButTheEconomist Sherlock China

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