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TAIWAN HISTORY - Formosa Files Episodes

April 10, 2025

S5-E8 - Taiwan’s Stock Market Bubble – And the Crash of 1990

Shortly after the Lunar New Year of 1990, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (the Taiex) hit a peak of almost 12,500. Eight months later it had fallen to a low of about 2,500 – an 80% collapse, and one of the worst stock market crashes of all time! In this week’s Taiwan history Formosa Files episode, we’re …

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Dec. 13, 2024

S4-E34 - Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA 黃仁勳

He’s a rockstar in Taiwan; swarmed by the media as he grabs a snack at a local night market while wearing his trademark leather jacket – there’s almost no chance you’ve never heard of him: Jensen Huang 黃仁勳, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia is now probably the most famous person of Taiwanese heritage in…

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Aug. 29, 2024

S4-E21 - Beggar Boy - an incredible tale of resilience

Lai Dongjin 賴東進 was born into a “beggar family.” His dad is blind, his mom has a mental illness. He has 11 siblings! Many born into such a disadvantaged position would throw up their hands, blame fate, and quit the fight for life. But Lai refused to surrender – no matter how high the odds. His 2000…

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Aug. 1, 2024

S4-E18 - Taiwan's Greatest Modern Company - TSMC (The Morris Chang st…

The person who did most of the work creating the company people around the world almost immediately associate with Taiwan has no ancestors from this island, was not born here, didn't go to school here, and only came here for the first time when he was almost 40 years old. But, of course, Morris C…

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Feb. 22, 2024

S4-E3 - The 1973 Qijin Ferry Tragedy - 旗津渡輪

Twenty-five young women and girls drowned after a severely overloaded ferry capsized in 1973. The deaths spurred changes in public transport safety in Kaohsiung, and the victims became part of a social debate over women's rights.

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Feb. 1, 2024

S4-E1 - The Lugang Rebellion (鹿港 1986)

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 fact that the Davids in this tale weren't sure what weapons they could get awa…

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