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TAIWAN HISTORY - Formosa Files Episodes

The 1980s saw huge economic growth in Taiwan, but the island was marred by pollution, corruption and other ills that come with economic success. Still, many in Taiwan view the 1980s as a golden age of relative political peace, and financial prosperity.
BONUS Episode: Linda Gail Arrigo's Verdict on Shih Ming-teh 施明德
Jan. 18, 2024

BONUS Episode: Linda Gail Arrigo's Verdict on Shih Ming-teh 施明德

Linda Arrigo has been in Taiwan for many years, working as a human rights activist, as an important member of the early team of fighters who risked life and limb for a democratic Taiwan, and more recently, worked with the Ta…
S3-E39 - Taiwan’s Most Famous Red Light District: Taipei’s Combat Zone
Jan. 4, 2024

S3-E39 - Taiwan’s Most Famous Red Light District: Taipei’s Combat Zone

“Blatant sex capital of Asia, where vice is legal and the price is right,” was how one book described Taipei in 1969. Listen as Taipei-based journalist David Frazier takes us through the history of Taipei’s first foreign-ori…
[ENCORE] The 4,300-Kilometer Chase of an Illegal Taiwanese Fishing Boat (1989)
Oct. 12, 2023

[ENCORE] The 4,300-Kilometer Chase of an Illegal Taiwanese Fishing Boat (1989)

Taiwan loves seafood, and boats from this island trawl for yummy ocean offerings thousands of kilometers away from our shores. Taiwanese fishing vessels are very good at what they do, but they weren't always so good in how t…
S3-E25 - The Free China Junk Story - Part 3: Victory!
Sept. 1, 2023

S3-E25 - The Free China Junk Story - Part 3: Victory!

Today John Ross and Chris Stowers (a man who has first-hand knowledge of what it's like to sail on an old-fashioned sailing boat) end our three-part series on the amazing voyage of the Chinese junk (built possibly in the 189…
S3-E24 - Crossing the Pacific in a Junk - Trials and Tribulations (Part 2-3)
Aug. 31, 2023

S3-E24 - Crossing the Pacific in a Junk - Trials and Tribulations (Part 2-3)

We continue the amazing tale of six men who set sail from Keelung in 1955 aboard the Free China junk to join a trans-Atlantic yacht race. They were attempting to show that an old-fashioned Chinese vessel could compete agains…
S3-E23 - Across the Pacific in the Free China Junk (1955) - Part One
Aug. 24, 2023

S3-E23 - Across the Pacific in the Free China Junk (1955) - Part One

In 1954, a man living in Keelung 基隆 asked himself, “Could an old-fashioned Chinese junk beat modern yachts in a race on the high seas?” The answer? -- An almost unbelievable tale involving a boat that would become world-famo…
S3-E22 - Barbie: Made in Taiwan
Aug. 17, 2023

S3-E22 - Barbie: Made in Taiwan

Seen the Barbie movie? No worries... Eryk saw it for you, and he noticed one thing they didn't mention in the film: from 1967-1987, most of the world's Barbie dolls were made in Taiwan. Factories in the tiny town of Taishan …
S3-E17 – The Wrongful Execution of Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶) and the Death Penalty in Taiwan
July 6, 2023

S3-E17 – The Wrongful Execution of Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶) and the Death Penalty in Taiwan

Among the too many killings committed in the lawless year of 1997 was the execution of 21-year-old Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶), a soldier convicted of a horrific crime after a forced confession. Chiang went to his death maintaini…
[Encore] Taiwan's Orangutan Craze and the Terrors of the Tiger Trade
Jan. 12, 2023

[Encore] Taiwan's Orangutan Craze and the Terrors of the Tiger Trade

You're hiking in the hills of Taichung in the early 1990s and suddenly come across ... an orangutan? What's more, this massive great ape is um ... in need of some, um ... "affection," and gets handsy. An unlikely scenario, r…
S2-E33 - Taiwan's Musical Garbage Trucks - And the Sounds of the 1990s!
Nov. 10, 2022

S2-E33 - Taiwan's Musical Garbage Trucks - And the Sounds of the 1990s!

Many new arrivals to Taiwan are perplexed to hear music from an "ice cream" truck playing almost every day, until they discover that those tunes mean it's time to take out your trash. Today, we've got the history of musical …
S2-E21 - Taiwan's Global Shipping Empire - EVERGREEN
July 28, 2022

S2-E21 - Taiwan's Global Shipping Empire - EVERGREEN

Go virtually anywhere in the world and you'll see them: green shipping containers with large white letters reading "EVERGREEN." The company is one of the biggest and best in the shipping world, while also having a hand in ai…
S2-E4 - Searching for the
March 31, 2022

S2-E4 - Searching for the "Motherland"

Western-style adoption (as in a couple taking a baby home from an orphanage) has not been and is still not very common in Taiwan. But there are plenty of local ways kids find new homes here, including a now-abandoned, rather…
S1-E23 - Walls of Death
Jan. 9, 2022

S1-E23 - Walls of Death

In the 1980s, Japan's, South Korea's, and Taiwan’s massive fishing fleets gained notoriety for their destructive driftnet fishing. The use of giant driftnets, sometimes tens of kilometers long, threatened to turn the oceans …
S1-E21 - The
Dec. 23, 2021

S1-E21 - The "Best" Hijacking in History?

The word "stalemate" defined relations between Taiwan and China in the 1970s and early 1980s. Neither side wanted to legitimize the other with "official" talks so ideas such as postal and travel links, as well as the most im…
S1-E13 - The Orangutan Craze
Nov. 11, 2021

S1-E13 - The Orangutan Craze

As one of the four "Asian Tigers," Taiwan's economy roared in the 1980s, but free-flowing money came with downsides such as the exploitation of wild animals, including tigers.