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

May 23, 2024

S4-E12 - The Dalai Lama Visits Taiwan (1997)

John chats with Michael Aldrich, author of “Old Lhasa: A Biography,” about relations between Taiwan and Tibet (specifically the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala, India). Despite Taipei and Dharamshala sharing a com…
March 14, 2024

S4-E5 - Ghost Brides

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…
Feb. 29, 2024

S4-E4 - The Interesting Tale of When the Dalai Lama’s Brother Came to Taiwan

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…
Dec. 7, 2023

S3-E36 - Wu Li-pei (吳澧培): A Taiwanese-American Immigrant Story, Part One

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 an…