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FORMOSA FILES, the best podcast about the history of Taiwan, is sponsored by The FRANK CHEN FOUNDATION (陳啟川先生文教基金會) www.frank-chen.org.tw
Hosted by John Ross (author, co-founder of publisher Camphor Press) and Eryk Michael Smith (writer, broadcaster, journalist). Both Ross and Smith have lived in Taiwan for well over 20 years and call the island home.
Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
Bo Yang 柏楊 (1920-2008) was a Chinese historian, author, dissident, provocateur, and one of Taiwan’s most controversial commentators. After arriving in Taiwan in 1949 with the fleeing KMT, he almost immediately got into trouble with the island’s new one-party regime for everything from listening to…
Fellow “Asian tigers” South Korea and Taiwan share strikingly similar modern histories: Chinese influence, Japanese colonization, Cold War struggles, rule by military strongmen, economic miracles, and transitions to democracy. But there are also plenty of differences, too, especially when it comes …
It has now been 30 years since the passing of Teresa Teng 鄧麗君, the legendary Taiwanese singer who transformed Asian pop music, and even influenced regional politics. But three decades have not dimmed her star. Teng remains beloved by millions across Asia and around the world. Now, to the delight of…
Some people bought Tamagotchis in the '90s. Others? They paid birds to predict their future. In this week’s episode, we take a glimpse into Taiwan’s wild obsession with fortune-telling — and what it reveals about culture, comfort, and even politics. From oracle bones to rose stones, the history of …
Some have called Taipei a “mini-Shanghai.” If true, the emphasis might need to be on the word “mini.” The population of the greater Shanghai area is nearly 30 million, some six million more than the number of people who live in Taiwan. Yet, there are some interesting similarities – which mostly are…
You've read his work (or you should); this awesome guy has been pumping out informative weekly history columns (and now YouTube videos ) for close to a decade. His name is Han Cheung (learn how to pronounce that by listening to this interview), and he went from being one of the only Asian-Americans…
