Shows / The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Formosa Files is the world's biggest and highest-rated Taiwan history podcast. We use an engaging storytelling format and are non-chronological, meaning every week is a new adventure - and, you can just find a topic that interests you and check out that episode...skip stuff that isn't your thing. The hosts are John Ross, an author and publisher of works on Taiwan and China, and Eryk Michael Smith, a journalist for local and global media outlets. Both Ross and Smith have lived in Taiwan for over…
Episodes
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Bits and Pieces: Patriots, Traitors and New Plum Rain Press Books – S6-E23
The 1683 Battle of Penghu is over, but there’s plenty more to say after our last episode. Eryk reads some victory poetry by the Kangxi Emperor. John is not a…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesThe 1976 Double Ten-Day Bombings – S6 [Bonus]
In October 1976, three innocent-looking dictionaries were mailed to senior officials in Taiwan. Hidden inside each was a homemade bomb. Two exploded, and one…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesVIDEO - The 1976 Double Ten-Day Bombings – S6 [Bonus]
In October 1976, three innocent-looking dictionaries were mailed to senior officials in Taiwan. Hidden inside each was a homemade bomb. Two exploded, and one…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files1683: The Battle of Penghu – S6-E22
In July 1683, more than 400 warships clashed around the Penghu Islands in one of the greatest naval battles in Chinese history. Qing admiral Shi Lang had come…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesVIDEO - 1683: The Battle of Penghu – S6-E22
AI images used are illustrations and most are not historically accurate. In July 1683, more than 400 warships clashed around the Penghu Islands in one of the…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesTaro Ice, Turnips and Pig’s Feet: Eating with President CCK – S6-E20
Long before social media, Taiwan had an unlikely food influencer: Chiang Ching-kuo (CCK), son of President Chiang Kai-shek. During his frequent inspection…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesVIDEO - Taro Ice, Turnips and Pig’s Feet: Eating with President CCK – S6-E21
NOTE: Shorter, audio only version also available Long before social media, Taiwan had an unlikely food influencer: Chiang Ching-kuo (CCK), son of President…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesChen Chu, Part 2: Tragedy, Triumphs, and the Transformation of Kaohsiung – S6-E20
In 1986, after more than six years behind bars, Chen Chu was released on parole. She immediately doubled down on Taiwan’s democratic struggle. In Part Two, we…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesTaiwan’s Volunteer Bridge Builders: The Chiayi Ant Army – Snack 09
In 1960s rural Taiwan, crossing a river could be deadly. After children drowned on their way to school, a small group of charity workers in Chiayi decided to…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files[Encore] Searching for Black Gold in Taiwan – S6
We’ve got a new “snack” for you on Sunday, but today we’re revisiting an episode from 2022. Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s two expeditions of 1852–1854 pried…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesChen Chu, Part 1: The Prisoner Who Would Lead Kaohsiung – S6-E19
Long before becoming a three-time mayor of Kaohsiung, Chen Chu (陳菊) spent decades in Taiwan’s democracy movement. Born into a farming family in Yilan in 1950…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesThe Princess and the Policeman – S6-E18
In 1911, Baike Daole, the daughter of a powerful Atayal chief in the mountains of central Taiwan, was pressured to marry the Japanese policeman Shimoyama…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesTaiwan’s First Sex Change (1953-1955) – S6-E17 (Not suitable for minors)
NOTE: This is our first episode to be labeled “explicit,” not due to bad language, but because it includes reasonably direct anatomical references. It may be…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesSky Cop TC Brown Returns – S6-E16
TC Brown returns to Formosa Files – and to Taiwan – after 53 years away. A former U.S. Air Force security policeman stationed at CCK Air Base in Taichung for…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesThe Fake Fishmonger – Snack 08
In the early hours of morning, Eryk and John head to a market in Taichung. Actually, they let Lin Kai-lun do that and all the other hard work. Lin is a…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesSnakes of Taiwan (with Gerrut Norval) – S6-E16
Does a “triangular head” mean danger? Did the wartime Japanese release experimental snakes on Yangmingshan? Do you really collapse after a hundred steps if a…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesKeelung to Ishigaki Ferry: Taiwan’s Forgotten Yaeyama Stories – Snack 07
To celebrate the new Yaima Maru ferry service connecting Keelung with the Yaeyama Islands, Taiwan’s nearest neighbors, we uncover stories of Taiwanese migrants…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesThe Dragon Boat Festival Story: Qu Yuan, Myth, and History – S6-E15
Looking for the true story behind the Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Jie)? There’s much more to it than dragon boat races and sticky rice dumplings (zongzi).Many…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesFootball in Taiwan: From Missionaries to Mulan – S6-E14
As we head into the 2026 World Cup, we take a look at Taiwan’s surprisingly rich football heritage. Although a minor sport today, there have been periods of…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesThe Great Formosa Tsunami Mystery – Snack 06
The disaster was so terrible, so deadly that shocking reports of it reached as far away as Europe; they claimed that in 1782, Taiwan had been devastated by a…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
VIDEO: Should Taiwan Change its Time Zone? A Chat with Sasha B. Chhabra – S6-E13
Who owns Taiwan’s time? Taipei-based political commentator and author of Formosa Review substack Sasha B. Chhabra helps us wind back the history of Taiwan’s…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Should Taiwan Change its Time Zone? A Chat With Sasha B. Chhabra – S6-E13
Who owns Taiwan’s time? Taipei-based political commentator and author of Formosa Review substack Sasha B. Chhabra helps us wind back the history of Taiwan’s…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesA German in Dutch Formosa: Caspar Schmalkalden – S6-E12
In the mid-1600s, Caspar Schmalkalden left war-ravaged Europe to work as a soldier and surveyor for the Dutch. After spending time in Brazil, he sailed to…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Taekwondo in Taiwan: From the Marines to Olympic Gold – Snack 05
Taekwondo may be Korean, but few places have embraced it as enthusiastically as Taiwan. Introduced in the 1960s for the military, the fast-kicking martial art…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
The Tanaka Memorial: A Secret Blueprint for World Conquest – S6-E11
In the 1930s, a mysterious document known as the Tanaka Memorial shocked the world. Supposedly written by Japanese Prime Minister Baron Tanaka, it outlined a…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesBridges of Taiwan – S6-E10
John Ross and special guest John Groot celebrate the opening of the remarkable Danjiang Bridge in Tamsui (Danshui). They explore the bridges that transformed…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Chen Shu-chu: Taiwan’s Vegetable Vendor Philanthropist – Snack 04
In this Mother’s Day edition, we celebrate the extraordinary life of Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊), a humble vegetable seller from Taitung who quietly donated millions of…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Taiwan Ghosts: Haunted Hotels, Trickster Spirits, and Vengeful Widows – S6-E9
Ghosts of all kinds – wandering spirits, water ghosts looking for substitutes, mountain demons, and many more; welcome to the strange supernatural world of…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesGuns in the Mountains: Taiwan’s Indigenous Firepower – S6-E8
We head into the mountains to tell the story of the deep relationship between Taiwan’s Indigenous communities and firearms. The warriors’ incredible skill and…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesPing-Pong with Mao in Taiwan: The Chairman (1969) – S6-E7
Join us as we step into the strange Cold War world of The Chairman, a forgotten 1969 spy thriller starring Hollywood great Gregory Peck. The movie, which was…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
The Celebrity Forensics Expert: Henry Lee – Part 2 – S6-E6
It’s 1965, and Henry (27) and Margaret (26) Lee have moved to the USA. She’s working as a schoolteacher, and he’s trying to make ends meet however he can…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Shoes, Graves, and Fingerprints: Henry Lee in Taiwan – Part 1 – S6-E5
To mark the recent passing of Henry C. Lee (李昌鈺), one of the world’s most famous forensic scientists, we examine his extraordinary life. In Part 1, we’re in…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Bonus episode: Taiwan’s Sugar Railways (with Prof. Dafydd Fell) -S6
John talks with Professor Dafydd Fell of SOAS University about "The Twilight Years of Taiwan’s Sugar Railways", his new book co-written with Wang Xiang, a…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Taiwanese Tea in America, American Spies in Formosa – S6-E4
In 1904, colonial Taiwan tried to impress America with oolong tea at the St. Louis World’s Fair. Just five years later, two American spies disguised as South…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Wasabi – Green Fire from the Mountains – Snack 03
That little green blob of spicy paste beside your sushi and sashimi has an amazing backstory. The notoriously fussy plant is grown in the mountains of Taiwan…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
The Extraordinary Life of Huang Chin-tao (Part 2) – S6-E3
Huang Chin-tao (黃金島) was never a household name, but his life story is the story of modern Taiwan. In this concluding episode, we follow Huang from the 2.28…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Huang Chin-tao: a History of Taiwan Through One Man’s Life (Part 1) – S6-E2
This is part one of the extraordinary life story of Huang Chin-tao (黃金島 Huáng Jīndǎo). In fact, he seemed to live not one life but many; he was a Japanese…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Chopsticks – The “Quick Little Boys” of East Asia – Snack 02
What do Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam have in common? Chopsticks. In the second Formosa Files Snack, Eryk and John explore the cultural story behind…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Taiwan’s Forgotten Horse History: Cowboys, Cavalry, and the Racing Craze – S6-E1
Horses have never played a big role in Taiwan’s history – or have they? Eryk and John start Season Six of Formosa Files and celebrate the Year of the Fire…
The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa FilesThe Taiwan "Tugou," or Mountain Dog – Snack 01
Their lineage is ancient. They are loyal, smart, and great hunting companions. But Taiwan’s native dog almost went extinct, and today it’s hard to say how many…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Rambling Review of Season Five, and Introducing the Formosa Files "Snack"
Looking back over S5, the adjective "fascinating" is repeatedly used by both John and Eryk, who struggle for words a bit to describe their gratitude to…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
George Kerr and Formosa Betrayed (with Prof. Jonathan Benda) – S5-E52
American George H. Kerr was the most important Western eyewitness and chronicler of the February 28 Incident of 1947, the violent uprising and brutal crackdown…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
"China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read" by Scholar and Podcaster Lee Moore – S5-E51
John talks to Lee Moore about his 2025 book China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read, which focuses on four important China-related…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
New Year Special – The Taiwan Joss: The Shadow and the Pirates – S5-E50
新年快樂 (Xīnnián kuàilè) from Formosa Files! As we head into the Year of the Horse, we have something different: pirates in the Taiwan Strait, both factual and…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Wanderings Through Formosa (1898) – Part 3 – S5-E49
In the final episode, the pace picks up as we follow Austrian traveler Adolf Fischer on his 1898 journey through Japanese-ruled Taiwan. He heads into the…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Wanderings Through Formosa (1898) – Part 2 – S5-E48
In Part 2, we continue in the footsteps of the cultured Austrian traveler Adolf Fischer on his 1898 journey in Japanese-ruled Taiwan. From the commercial…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
German Wanderings Through Formosa (1898) – Part 1 – S5-E47
The first in a special three-part series, this is a Taiwan travel account never before told in English. Formosa Files has had Streifzüge durch Formosa (1900)…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Taiwan’s Motorcycle Daredevil: Lu Ch’ing-an (呂慶安) – S5-E46
From “Muddy Ditch” in Chiayi County, Lu Ch’ing-an (1944–2011) rose to national fame as Taiwan’s Father of Motorcycle Stunts. The story starts with an…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
The CIA Plan to Remove CKS (Part 2): S5-E45
The Cold War is heating up as the CIA continues to build a “Third Force” – a democratic alternative to both Mao’s Communists and Chiang Kai-shek’s…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
The CIA Plan to Remove President Chiang Kai-shek (Part 1): S5-E44
Standard histories tell us that after fleeing to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek became America’s staunch Cold War ally – an immovable figure with an iron grip on…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S5 - [Remastered Encore] Ghost of Green Island: the SS President Hoover Shipwreck (1937)
Before this encore, a quick announcement: we are looking for (human) artists for a 2027 calendar project. If you're interested, get ahold of us. Thx! The SS…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Shih Ch’ien: Taiwan’s “Father of Beggars” – S5-E43
Shih Ch’ien (施乾) is a young, well-educated Taiwanese man with a coveted government job in the Japanese colonial administration. But he turns his back on this…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
War Against Wuxia: Jin Yong, Banned Books, and Taiwan’s “Rainstorm Project” – S5-E42
Wuxia (武俠) novels are martial-arts stories full of swordsmen and swordplay, secret techniques, and chivalrous outlaws. Think Robin Hood crossed with Taoist…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Opium Paste and Stamped Silver: Early Japanese Rule in Taiwan – S5-E41
When Japan took control of Taiwan in 1895, it inherited a financial mess: a chaotic mix of chopped silver, copper cash, and foreign coins. The new colony also…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
AUDIO ONLY - Taiwan’s Funeral Strippers: “Dancing for the Dead” – S5-E40
THIS IS AUDIO-ONLY. A LONGER VIDEO VERISON IS AVAILABLE. This episode may not be suitable for minors. Yes, funeral strippers are real, and their story is far…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Taiwan’s Funeral Strippers: “Dancing for the Dead” – S5-E40
Note: This episode may not be suitable for minors. Yes, funeral strippers are real, and their story is far more complicated than the headlines. With…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Shulinkou Air Station – Part 3: Taiwan and the Gulf of Tonkin – S5-E39
We end our Shulinkou trilogy by tying together the surprisingly interconnected Taiwan–U.S.–Vietnam story. It’s July 1964, and two U.S. Navy destroyers are in…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Shulinkou Air Station – Part 2 – S5-E38
We continue the story of the Shulinkou Air Station and the American military in the early 1960s. We tackle Taiwan’s infamous gravel-truck killers (urban legend…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Shulinkou Air Station – Part 1 of 3 (early 1960s) – S5-E37
It was one of Taiwan’s most secretive Cold War outposts: Shulinkou Air Station (樹林口空軍情報站), a joint-service U.S. intelligence base perched on a misty plateau…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Special Episode: A Farewell to Dr. Chen Yao-chang, and a Look at His Novel “Three Tribes”
Pioneering researcher, physician and historical novelist Dr Chen Yao-chang passed away at the age of 76 on November 17. He will be deeply missed by family and…