Not so long ago, talking about Taiwan independence could earn you a lengthy prison term. That changed in the late 1990s as Taiwan embraced democracy. Taiwan independence advocates in the United States have always enjoyed mor…
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter only served one term, but those four years were rough: oil embargos, inflation, the Iran hostage crisis, and the decision to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It was an unpopu…
Drawing on an account never before told in English, we visit Taiwan in the company of French war correspondent Reginald Kann. Upon his arrival in Taihoku (Taipei), he hurries down to the city of Chiayi to investigate the aft…
Taiwan is in mourning for those lost or injured by the huge earthquake that happened on the morning of April 3rd, 2024. In this short special episode, we hear John Ross' feelings about the earthquake which this latest one is…
In the previous episode, we told you how these three rather stunning neo-classical Chinese buildings came to exist. This week, we’re looking at them through a “culture and society” lens. The massive statue of Chiang Kai-shek…
China-born architect Yang Cho-cheng 楊卓成 (1914-2006) left his magnificent mark on Taiwan with the CKS Memorial Hall, and the National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH) among his greatest masterpieces. This week, we’ve got part …
People do indeed marry ghosts in Taiwan! Formosa Files does not mean to mock or in any way be disrespectful to local traditions. Instead, we hope this episode’s two main ghost stories – one (probably) a tall tale – and the o…
In the summer of 1973, a young Mike Chinoy finagled his way onto one of the earliest trips of civilian Americans to “Red China.” He would later become CNN’s China correspondent – moving to the PRC in 1987 – and became famous…
Gyalo Thondup རྒྱལ་ལོ་དོན་འགྲུབ has had a very interesting life. Born in 1927, he’s the second-eldest brother of the current (and 14th) Dalai Lama. Brother Thondup has long been an unofficial envoy for the Tibetan leader-in-exi…
Did you know:
In 1920, ROC founder Sun Yat-sen wrote a letter in support of Israel’s nationhood aspirations? And, the ROC govt in Nanjing was the first Asian state to recognize the State of Israel in 1948?
Israel was t…
Welcome in the Year of the Dragon with this encore of a classic episode from Season Two. Eryk claims all Taiwanese/Chinese holidays are based on sad stories filled with misery, terror, and death. John disagrees. And so the t…
In the left corner, mega-multinational corporation DuPont. In the right corner, farmers from central Taiwan’s Lugang 鹿港. Ready? Fight!! To open Season Four, we have a David vs. Goliath story, made more complicated by the fac…
![S4 - [ENCORE] Happy Holidays? (And: 新年快樂!)](https://images.podpage.com/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fredwood-labs%2Fshowpage%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Feec183ab-9132-4d1c-b680-e89e44d4d948.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&w=100&s=cb0c8e2943456e89f4c8a478b16d04d7 "S4 - [ENCORE] Happy Holidays? (And: 新年快樂!)")
