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

Sept. 5, 2024

S4-E22 - Lonely Planet Travel Guidebook: Taiwan (1997-1998)

Lonely Planet travel guidebooks provided some of best info on a new destination in the pre-internet era, and the late Robert Storey (1954-2017) wrote quite a few of them... including the first four editions for Taiwan. Rober…
Aug. 22, 2024

S4-E20 – Democracy Fighter and Taiwan History Professor Gerrit van der Wees

Did you know that all the water buffalo in Taiwan are the descendants of a group of these bovines from Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies)? These poor water buffalo were put on a sailing ship by the Dutch in 1648 and …
Aug. 8, 2024

S4 – INTERVIEW: The Island: a personal account of Taiwan’s extraordinary transformation by Mark O’Neill

John chats with veteran Hong Kong-based journalist and author of The Island (2024) Mark O'Neill, who tells us what Taiwan was like in the early 1980s, when he first came to study Chinese. Despite a mysterious knife attack an…
July 11, 2024

S4 - Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Summer 2024 Musings and Announcements

In this short segment, John and Eryk first make the stunning observation that summer in subtropical Taiwan is hot. They then reflect on the "Pacific Story," an NBC radio docu-drama from 1944, an episode that was a hit with l…
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 …
April 25, 2024

S4-E8 - The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA): talking to a member of a former “terrorist” pro-Taiwan-independence group

Not so long ago, talking about Taiwan independence could earn you a lengthy prison term. That changed in the late 1990s as Taiwan embraced democracy. Taiwan independence advocates in the United States have always enjoyed mor…
April 18, 2024

S4-E8 - The U.S. Breaks Up With Taipei for Beijing (Dec. 1978)

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter only served one term, but those four years were rough: oil embargos, inflation, the Iran hostage crisis, and the decision to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It was an unpopu…
April 3, 2024

S4 - Special Episode - Remembering 921 in the Wake of 403

Taiwan is in mourning for those lost or injured by the huge earthquake that happened on the morning of April 3rd, 2024. In this short special episode, we hear John Ross' feelings about the earthquake which this latest one is…
Dec. 28, 2023

A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: Making History in Space, Taiwan Uni Team Puts Nanosatellites into Orbit - With Angel Menéndez

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…
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

[Bonus] Photographing Taiwan – Interview with Chris Stowers

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 fir…
Aug. 31, 2023

S3-E24 - Crossing the Pacific in a Junk - Trials and Tribulations (Part 2-3)

We continue the amazing tale of six men who set sail from Keelung in 1955 aboard the Free China junk to join a trans-Atlantic yacht race. They were attempting to show that an old-fashioned Chinese vessel could compete agains…
Aug. 24, 2023

S3-E23 - Across the Pacific in the Free China Junk (1955) - Part One

In 1954, a man living in Keelung 基隆 asked himself, “Could an old-fashioned Chinese junk beat modern yachts in a race on the high seas?” The answer? -- An almost unbelievable tale involving a boat that would become world-famo…
July 21, 2023

S3-E20 - John Groot and John Ross Walk and Talk Historic Tamsui 淡水 - Part Two

Tamsui (Danshui) native John Groot and Formosa Files' John Ross continue their walk and talk around the old town. They’re on the trail of the 1884 Battle of Tamsui between French and Taiwanese forces, a battle which was a ra…