Coming soon! The first major book from our new publishing venture Plum Rain Press (English translation): "Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa" by Dr. Chen Yao-chang 陳耀昌.

TAIWAN HISTORY - Formosa Files Episodes

Aug. 1, 2024

S4-E18 - Taiwan's Greatest Modern Company - TSMC (The Morris Chang story)

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…
July 4, 2024

S4-E15 - The Community Services Center: Director Adam McMillan on the history of a place that's here to help

A horrific murder of an American teenager by two other American teenagers in 1985 led to some serious soul-searching: How could the international community in Taiwan (some of whom don't speak Chinese well enough to get help …
June 6, 2024

S4-E13 - China Airlines Survives Three Major Tragedies

Three devastating crashes over an eight-year span, 1994 to 2002, with a combined 685 fatalities; a record that could easily bankrupt an airline. However, China Airlines (Taiwan's flag carrier) not only survived these horrifi…
Nov. 24, 2023

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

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 a…
Nov. 16, 2023

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

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 m…
Oct. 12, 2023

[ENCORE] The 4,300-Kilometer Chase of an Illegal Taiwanese Fishing Boat (1989)

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 t…
Aug. 17, 2023

S3-E22 - Barbie: Made in Taiwan

Seen the Barbie movie? No worries... Eryk saw it for you, and he noticed one thing they didn't mention in the film: from 1967-1987, most of the world's Barbie dolls were made in Taiwan. Factories in the tiny town of Taishan …
June 29, 2023

S3-E15 – Kaohsiung and Taiwan Celebrate Five Years of Weiwuying 衛武營國家藝術文化中心 – Part 1: The Land and the Plan

As this already-iconic structure and performance center turns five, John and Eryk have been commissioned to tell its tale: it's a 40-year saga of a century-old military base becoming a park and home to, more than arguably, o…
June 8, 2023

A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: The Team that Gave Kaohsiung the Magnificent Weiwuying Performing Arts Complex 衛武營國家藝術文化中心

Have you been to the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, 衛武營國家藝術文化中心, more commonly called Weiwuying? If not, you really should as it totally lives up to the hype, and is now the best such venue in Taiwan. You may have h…
May 25, 2023

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

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…
Aug. 21, 2022

A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: Manuel Tsao Talks to Eryk About the 100+ Year-Old Jhuzimen Hydro Power Plant - 竹仔門發電廠

The Jhuzimen Hydro Power Plant (竹仔門發電廠) was built by the colonial Japanese authorities in 1908 -- in what's now Meinung District (美濃區), Kaohsiung City. Manuel Tsao is a German national in the renewable energy business who ha…
July 28, 2022

S2-E21 - Taiwan's Global Shipping Empire - EVERGREEN

Go virtually anywhere in the world and you'll see them: green shipping containers with large white letters reading "EVERGREEN." The company is one of the biggest and best in the shipping world, while also having a hand in ai…
May 15, 2022

A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: ICRT General Manager Tim Berge

Taiwan's only English radio station, International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT) has been a part of millions of Taiwanese -- and many an expat in Taiwan's -- lives since it took over from the US military in 1979. Tim Berge, …
Feb. 7, 2022

S1-E26 - Bonus Episode - What Were the Dutch Doing in Formosa Anyway?

The Dutch were expelled from southwestern Taiwan by a pirate warlord and Ming loyalist Koxinga in 1662. Their relatively brief stay of 38 years was marked by impressive achievements and lasting impacts. But why they were the…
Jan. 9, 2022

S1-E23 - Walls of Death

In the 1980s, Japan's, South Korea's, and Taiwan’s massive fishing fleets gained notoriety for their destructive driftnet fishing. The use of giant driftnets, sometimes tens of kilometers long, threatened to turn the oceans …