Taiwanese spymaster, 'murder of century,' Nixon groveling to Mao, and more from Formosa Files Formosa Files co-founder shares popular stories told on the Taiwan historical podcast

In an interview on June 1, Smith, who is also the ICRT Southern correspondent, talked about the inspiration for the show and its very first episode about a fake Formosan. He also shared excerpts of tales about Mao Zedong's (毛澤東) famous Taiwanese spymaster, the "murder of the century," the last Japanese soldier to hold out from WWII, and Richard Nixon's fruitless groveling to Mao. According to Smith, the book "Taiwan in 100 Books" was the impetus for the show, which is advertisement-free thanks to sponsorship by a foundation started by a former mayor of Kaohsiung. The show's first episode covered the story of a European man who was able to fool the courts of London for a time into believing he was a native of Formosa.