Episodes

S3-E13 - The Flag of Taiwan (?)

June 1, 2023

You'll see the "Blue Sky, White Sun, and Red Earth" flag everywhere across Taiwan, and each year, streets are lined with this banner to celebrate Double Ten Day on October 10th. But is it really the flag of Taiwan? Who desig…

Bonus Episode: Way of the Warrior - Martial Arts Master Chris Bates

May 25, 2023

Ever daydreamed about traveling to East Asia and studying under the great martial arts masters? American Chris Bates did just this, first coming to Taiwan in 1976 to study Mandarin and train in martial arts. Follow Chris’ jo…

S3-E12 - American Luxury Cruise Ship Runs into Green Island 綠島 (1937)

May 18, 2023

The SS President Hoover was a ship ahead of its time, with innovative engine designs, air conditioning in all cabins, and space for almost a thousand passengers. But just seven years after being commissioned, the ship ran ag…

[Encore] Taiwan’s “Iron Man of Asia” - The Amazing CK Yang (楊傳廣)

May 11, 2023

Decathlete athletes are special. The sport is TEN events: sprint 100 meters, then 400 meters, then race 1500 meters; then comes 110 meters with hurdles you have to jump, then it's on to the long jump, the high jump, pole vau…

S3-E11 - Steve McQueen and "The Sand Pebbles" (1966)

May 4, 2023

"The Sand Pebbles," which tells the story of the USS San Pablo, a US Navy gunboat operating in China in the 1920s, was shot in northern Taiwan over the winter of '65-'66. The movie was directed by Robert Wise, of "The Sound …

S3-E10 - Lord of Formosa - Part Two: Coyett VS. Koxinga

April 27, 2023

Joyce Bergvelt's book Lord of Formosa is a novel, but she's an author who has extensively studied the Dutch colonial period and the main characters involved. Lord of Formosa, therefore, might be closer to a history book than…

Bonus Episode: Answering the Mail

April 20, 2023

Join us as we try to answer some questions we've gotten, such as "What is Whisby and... just why?" You'll also discover Eryk's shameful secret (he loves betel nuts!), and hear John's opinion on re-introducing the extinct clo…

S3-E9 - Nixon and Kissinger Grovel in China, and Taiwan's “China” Days are Numbered

April 13, 2023

Long hailed as a “historic diplomatic breakthrough,” the reality is that US president Richard Nixon's 1972 trip to China has been rather oversold. Yes, the brief Mao-Nixon meeting did start a thaw in relations, but Nixon may…

S3-E8 - Early Photos of Taiwan - by John Thomson - 1871

April 6, 2023

Some of the earliest photos we have of Taiwan were taken by a British photographer who visited the southwest of the island in 1871. Taking pics back then was far from “point and shoot.” It was “get inside portable darkroom, …

S3-E7 - Lord of Formosa and the VOC - Part One

March 30, 2023

Arguably the single most important event in Taiwan’s history – and certainly the most dramatic story – was the arrival in 1661 of warlord and Ming loyalist Koxinga (鄭成功 Zheng Chenggong). After a fierce struggle, Koxinga evic…

S3-E6 - Gladys Aylward, Ingrid Bergman, and the Inn of the Eight Happinesses (八福客栈)

March 23, 2023

Eight happinesses? If you’ve heard of or seen the famous movie about the remarkable British missionary Gladys Aylward, you'll know that the film (which was originally set to be shot in Taiwan) was called “The Inn of the Sixt…

S3-E5 - Local Language Loanwords: A Lovely Hot Pot of Fujianese, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, English, and More

March 16, 2023

All languages borrow words from other languages. These “loanwords” often come with fascinating historical backstories, their adoption the result of encounters by traders, scholars, and adventurers; and the result of colonial…

S3-E4 - Madou, Tainan 麻豆: Pomelos and Priestesses

March 9, 2023

Today, the district of Madou (麻豆區) in Tainan City is home to about 43,000 people. It has a pleasant small-town feel, an economy mainly based on agriculture, in particular, a citrus fruit called the pomelo ( 柚子). Back in the …

S3-E3 - Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁: The Early Years

March 2, 2023

Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was a highly controversial two-term ROC president (2000–2008). How “A-Bian” studied and fought his way out of rural poverty to the highest office, thus bringing 55 years of continuous KMT rule to an end,…

S3-E2 - Mel Gibson Makes a Movie in Taiwan (1979)

Feb. 23, 2023

Ever heard of the film "Attack Force Z"? No? Don't worry... almost no one has. Filmed in Taiwan, this WWII story featured both Mel Gibson and Sam Neill, long before they became major Hollywood stars. Gibson later called the …

S3-E1 - Storm Stories: Tales of Typhoons in Taiwan

Feb. 16, 2023

With their fearsome winds and dramatic downpours, typhoons have long been a part of Taiwan's history. Join Formosa Files for a look at a few notable typhoons that have hit Taiwan in more recent times, as well as some interes…

Rage Against the Machine – Formosa Files VS. ChatGPT

Feb. 9, 2023

In this fun Season Two finale, John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith battle with the AI phenomenon ChatGPT. Who knows more about Taiwanese history, John or the scarily omnipotent AI chatbot which may soon render humans obsolete? …

S2-E40 - The Two Generalissimos - Francisco Franco and Chiang Kai-shek

Feb. 2, 2023

Relations between the R.O.C. (Taiwan) and Spain have never been as close as Taiwan's ties to, for example, the United States. But back in the days when Taiwan was ruled as a one-party state, there were more connections than …

[Encore] Japan Puts Paiwan Indigenous Taiwanese on Display at London Expo (1910)

Jan. 26, 2023

At the turn of the 20th century, Japan was on a roll. After taking Formosa and Penghu from Qing China in 1895, Japan beat mighty Russia in 1905. Eager to show the world its newfound economic strength – and to highlight the s…

S2-E39 - Kaohsiung to Kenting Road Trip (1875)

Jan. 19, 2023

The southern peninsula of Taiwan was a "ship graveyard" for a very long time as unseen rocks and reefs gashed holes in the sides of vessels and left them stranded, or on the seafloor. The Western powers and Qing authorities …

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

Jan. 12, 2023

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…

Bonus Episode: Among the Headhunters of Formosa - From Taiwan in 100 Books, by John Ross

Jan. 5, 2023

This week we have another snippet from the audiobook of John's 2020 book, Taiwan in 100 Books. This extract tells the tale of Janet Montgomery McGovern, a feisty anthropologist who managed to cut through the red tape and off…

S2-E38 - Dating in Taiwan

Dec. 29, 2022

No, we're not talking about romantic adventures; in this episode, the "dating" we're discussing is the days, months, and years kind. Why is it about to become the year 112 in Taiwan? Why is 2023 not just the year of the rabb…

Bonus Episode: The Forgotten President 嚴家淦

Dec. 22, 2022

Eryk calls John for a chat about Yen Chia-kan (嚴家淦, Yan Jiagan) the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for three years following the death of Chiang Kai-shek in 1975. Who was C.K. Yen, and why isn’t he better known?…