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PODCAST

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files

John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith

Formosa Files is the world"s biggest and highest-rated Taiwan history podcast. We use an engaging storytelling format and are non-chronological, meaning every week is a new adventure - and, you can just find a topic that interests you and check out that episode...skip stuff that isn"t your thing. The hosts are John Ross, an author and publisher of works on Taiwan and China, and Eryk Michael Smith, a journalist for local and global media outlets. Both Ross and Smith have lived in Taiwan for over two

history

All Episodes

00:29:48

S3-E41 - Shih Ming-teh 施明德 – “Taiwan’s Mandela”

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2024/01/17

Shih Ming-teh 施明德 died on the morning of his 82rd birthday, January 15th, 2024. This Taiwan democracy champion spent a combined 25.5 years in Taiwanese prisons for “sedition;” what the one-party state called his activism. Shih would live to see Taiwan blossom into a free society, and received recognition for his role in the long, hard fight. But in the last decades of his life, Shih's reputation took a beating - leaving a stain on his legacy. Despite this, “Nori,” as he was called by friends and

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00:22:57

S3-E40 - Sold to a Bargirl at the Age of Five (1955)...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2024/01/11

Nancy Chen Baldwin's early life – when she was sold by her parents to a bargirl for US$100 – might sound like something out of a novel set in the Middle Ages. But the old practices of selling, “lending,” giving, and unofficial adoption of children persisted in Taiwan until relatively recent times. Nancy, in many ways, was one of the lucky ones; she wasn't sold to a brothel, as some other young girls were back in the post-war years when Taiwan was desperately poor. But her tale of suffering,

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00:24:55

S3-E39 - Taiwan’s Most Famous Red Light District:...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2024/01/04

“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-oriented red light district, an area of girlie bars and nightclubs that was, and still is, known as the “Combat Zone.” Frazier explains how this infamous entertainment zone formed around nearby US military bases, the history of prostitution in modern Taiwan, and how a bar zone

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00:21:49

A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: Making History in Space,...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/12/28

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) PhD candidate Angel B. Menéndez came to Taiwan from his native Guatemala on a full scholarship provided by the Taiwan government. For Taiwan, this was a wise financial choice as Menéndez first studied mechanical engineering, then Mandarin, and then became involved in the historic achievement of a Taiwanese space program; not with the official Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), but with a team of researchers at Tainan's NCKU. In 2017, they put a “nanosatellite” into

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00:29:20

S3-E38 - Merry Constitution Day! (and a Happy New Year)

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/12/21

December 25th. A special day celebrating the birth of... the Constitution of the Republic of China. Once a holiday that rather conveniently overlapped with Christmas, today you don't get the day off in Taiwan. So, to relieve the pain of being forced to work on Christm... um... Constitution Day, John and Eryk bring you some festive cheer by recounting the history of the ROC Constitution, examining each and every amendment, and reading it in the original Mandarin. Just kidding. John gives Eryk an

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00:24:30

S3-E37 - Wu Li-pei (吳澧培): A Taiwanese-American...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/12/14

In the 1960s and 1970s, many tens of thousands of Taiwanese went into self-exile; most of them headed to the United States. The people who became Taiwanese-Americans did so for a variety of reasons, but it's probably fair to say most were seeking opportunities more readily available in a democratic, free society. Taiwan in the 1960s and '70s was a place where freedom of expression -- be it in art or politics -- was severely limited. One of these exiles was Wu Li-pei (吳澧培), a Taiwan

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00:16:17

Bonus Episode: SAVE THE BIRDS! ~ The origin story of...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/12/11

Frank C. Chen was the mayor of Kaohsiung from 1960 to 1968. The foundation that bears his name is the reason we have Formosa Files. Paul Chen is one of Frank Chen's sons (b. 1944), and in 1979, he established the Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society. Why? Well, he and his dad were once avid hunters, and Paul Chen kept noticing there were fewer and fewer birds, and set out to do something about it. Today, Mr. Lin Kun-hai 林昆海 is the society's General Secretary, and in this bonus episode, we hear from

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00:26:47

S3-E36 - Wu Li-pei (吳澧培): A Taiwanese-American...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/12/07

A generation of Taiwanese left (or you might say “fled”) Taiwan in the 1960s and 70s, with most going to the United States. Some went to school there and stayed, while others emigrated as they saw no future for themselves and their families in the then one-party ROC state. This Taiwanese diaspora was a boon for America; intelligent, hard-working, educated people, many of whom went on to contribute greatly to the American economy and US culture. However, some of these exiles dreamed of a day when

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00:29:49

[ENCORE] Henry Kissinger (and president Nixon) Go to...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/11/30

Henry Alfred Kissinger died on November 29, 2023 at the age of 100. This incredibly controversial figure was a massive player in US politics and policies during the last four decades of the 20th century. Among the most consequential choices Kissinger facilitated was the switch in diplomatic recognition by the United States from Taipei (the ROC) to Beijing (the PRC), a decision later followed by most of the world's nations. To mark his passing, we're rereleasing our "Nixon Goes to

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00:23:16

S3-E35 - Bits and Pieces (of Stinky Tofu 臭豆腐) and a...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/11/24

Although Eryk is as sick as a dog, both he and John are in very high spirits, and not just because, once again, they get to chat about stinky tofu. In this "bits and pieces" episode there's some jumping around, a look back and a look ahead. But most importantly, we tease an exciting new development! No, Formosa Files isn't going into the Chou Doufu business, but rather... Well, find out by listening to the show. We hope by now you know that formosafiles.com is a must-visit for

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00:25:22

S3-E34 - Fabulous Foods of Formosa (and Stinky Tofu 臭豆腐)

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/11/16

Taiwan is a food-lover's paradise, with tasty treats, delicious dishes, scrumptious suppers, marvelous morsels... a versatile, vast variety of fabulous foods. John and Eryk aren't really down with the whole clichéd, “let's make stuff about foreigners eating stinky tofu” phenomenon, but we decided to do a food episode, topped with some yummy yarns from yesteryear. Hear the origin story of the locally globally-famous Chiayi turkey rice, the 15-star gourmet Din Tai Fung restaurant chain,

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00:26:04

S3-E33 - Tales of Tokyo and Taiwan

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/11/09

This week we're looking at Tokyo, and telling a few tales that connect events in that major world city to people, places, and things in Taiwan. ポッドキャストをお楽しみください Visit Formosafiles.com for pictures, links and more.

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00:25:12

S3-E32 - Hakka Author Wu Zhuoliu (吳濁流), Part 2 -...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/11/02

Writer Wu Zhuoliu 吳濁流 (1900-1976), sadly, never saw Taiwan blossom into a democracy. But he left us with some of the most important works ever written about 20th-century Taiwan. Among these is the autobiography “The Fig Tree”, whose early chapters mirror the events in his acclaimed novel “Orphan of Asia.” In S2-E29, we covered Wu’s younger years as in Japanese colonial Taiwan, his grandfather’s tales of a cultured, ancient China and the influence these ideas had on Wu. We told the story of Wu’s time

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00:24:49

WELCOME TO THE PODCAST! - The "White Formosan" - S1-E1

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/10/31

Formosa Files has gained a lot of new listeners of late, and many seem to begin listening from where they first encounter the program. But there are lots of great episodes from seasons 1-2 and, as this one is the one that started it all, we're rereleasing a new edit of Season One, Episode One: “The White Formosan.” Our sound quality and editing skills have improved greatly (um... we hope you agree) since the launch of the podcast in late 2021, but we hope our enthusiasm and love for telling

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00:21:06

A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: Manga Artist Mark Crilley...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/10/26

Mark Crilley is one of the top 10 American manga artists, and he has a new graphic novel out called LOST IN TAIWAN (2023). Formosa Files caught up with Mark, who spilled the beans on why he was here in the late 1980s and early 1990s, what he loved (and what he loved a bit less) about Taiwan. After listening to this fun interview with Eryk and Mark Crilley, you’ll want to get a copy of LOST IN TAIWAN; it'll make you laugh, could be used as ESL material, and, like for Eryk, might just reignite

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00:24:44

[ENCORE] Golf in Taiwan: A Surprisingly Long History

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/10/23

Hear the tale of Japanese colonial officials discovering golf as the "new cool thing for elites" -- and ordering a course built in just a few hours. Plus, the story of Lu Liang-huan (呂良煥), a man from a poor family who worked his way up from being a caddy to an impressive 2nd place win at the 1971 British Open. NOTE: We are re-releasing this episode in celebration of the 62nd anniversary of the Kaohsiung Golf and Country Club 高雄高爾夫俱樂部, a public course and oasis of nature, trees, and birds

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00:24:54

S3-E31 - The “Tea Thief” - Robert Fortune's Very...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/10/19

Tea was domesticated in China, and the knowledge of how to grow it, harvest it, and process it was a closely guarded secret. After basically becoming addicted to the beverage, the British needed to find a way to grow their own tea, as buying it from China was eating up their silver reserves. So, missions of “tea espionage” were conducted, most notably by a Mr. Robert Fortune, who had the good fortune to be able to visit Taiwan on a whirlwind trip. He only spent a day on the island, but he wrote

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00:25:45

[ENCORE] The 4,300-Kilometer Chase of an Illegal...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/10/12

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 they did it. The use of drift nets, so-called "walls of death" that entangle species like sea turtles and dolphins, drew international ire. Taiwan boats also did a lot of fishing in waters they weren't supposed to be in. By 1989, the US Coast Guard had had enough

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00:28:17

[Bonus] Photographing Taiwan – Interview with Chris...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/10/12

John chats with photographer Chris Stowers. In 1988, Chris sailed a traditional Indonesian boat on an epic sea voyage (a trip described alongside the three-part series on the Free China junk, S3-Ep23-25). This led to his first story and photos being published, and the beginning of his career in photography. He came to Taiwan on a political photo shoot in 1991 and made it his home base for covering Asia later that decade. Work and wanderlust have taken Chris to over 70 countries, and his pictures

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00:26:51

S3-E30 - When the Russians Bombed Taipei (and other...

The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files ·

2023/10/06

Here's something we bet you didn't know: in 1938, Soviet pilots in Soviet planes (disguised to look like ROC Air Force planes) bombed the main airfield in Taihoku (now the Songshan Airport 臺北松山機場 in Taipei City). We've got that story and more as this week John and Eryk get a bit geeky and delve into some of the stories behind the planes we saw during recent visits to the Gangshan Aviation Education Exhibition Hall (航空教育展示館). Visit formosafiles.com for lots of great pics, links and

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