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
S3-E28 - More Bits and Pieces: Ox Ditches and an Unsinkable Warship
Remember those two Polish cargo ships and one oil tanker from the USSR seized by the ROC Navy in the 1950s? Well, the story has one highly interesting extra…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E27 - When Taiwan (ROC) Blockaded China (PRC)
After retreating to Taiwan, the ROC ordered a naval blockade of China, which lasted officially until 1979. There were interceptions and attacks by the ROC…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E26 - Taiwan as part of the Philippines? Or a British or German colony? “What Ifs” of Formosan History -- With Michael Turton
Taiwanese history would have been very different except for a few pivotal moments. “Sure,” you might be thinking, “that's true everywhere.” However, the “what…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E25 - The Free China Junk Story - Part 3: Victory!
Today John Ross and Chris Stowers (a man who has first-hand knowledge of what it's like to sail on an old-fashioned sailing boat) end our three-part series on…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
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…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-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…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
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…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E21 - Blockading Taiwan
China's People's Liberation Army/Navy has been practicing for a possible blockade of Taiwan with ships, planes, and drones. This week, Formosa Files looks at…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Bonus Episode: 2-28: A Bad Beginning
In this special episode, we hear Eryk reading from chapter five of John’s “Taiwan in 100 Books.” The topic is 2-28, an event named after a date: February 28…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
[ENCORE] The Empire's Last Solider (29 Years, 3 Months, and 16 Days)
The last Japanese "holdout" of World War II was an Indigenous Amis Taiwanese named Attun Palalin, but in Japanese Formosa, he was Nakamura Teruo (中村 輝夫)…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
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…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E19 - Two Johns Take a "Walking Tour" in Historic Tamsui 淡水 - Part One
Strategically located near the mouth of the Tamsui (Danshui) River, the port town of Tamsui has a long, rich history. The Spanish built a fort here in the…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E18 - Getting Arrested in Taiwan - With Lawyer Ross D. Feingold
Formosa Files and Taipei-based lawyer Ross Feingold very much hope you never get arrested in Taiwan, or anywhere else for that matter. But should this…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E17 – The Wrongful Execution of Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶) and the Death Penalty in Taiwan
Among the too many killings committed in the lawless year of 1997 was the execution of 21-year-old Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶), a soldier convicted of a horrific…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Bonus Episode: AIT/K: The American Institute in Taiwan - Kaohsiung Branch
It's the Fourth of July! Happy 247th Birthday, America! It's estimated that around 80,000 U.S. nationals live and work in Taiwan; most, however, do so in the…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E16 – Kaohsiung and Taiwan Celebrate Five Years of Weiwuying 衛武營國家藝術文化中心 – Part 2: Struggles & Victories!
John and Eryk have been commissioned to tell the tale of Weiwuying as this new Kaohsiung landmark turns five: in part two, we've got challenges galore to…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
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 & 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…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Bonus Episode: Eryk Calls John for a Meanderingly Interesting Chat
Now that we're well into Formosa Files season three, your co-hosts add some background to stories we've told, try to clear up misconceptions about the ROC’s…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E14 - The Three “Pearl Harbors” of the Chinese Communist Party - with Ian Easton
Author of The Final Struggle, Ian Easton, sits down for a long chat with Eryk about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It's remarkable how close to extinction…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: The Team that Gave Kaohsiung the Magnificent Weiwuying Performing Arts Center 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 Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
[Encore] Mao's Taiwanese Spymaster
The Taiwan News recently did a feature on Formosa Files (link below), and in the article, this episode from 2021 is mentioned. We thought we'd re-release it…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E13 - The Flag of Taiwan (?)
You'll see the "Blue Sky, White Sun, and Red Earth" flag everywhere across Taiwan, and each year, streets are lined with this banner to celebrate Double Ten…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
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…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E12 - American Luxury Cruise Ship Runs into Green Island (1937)
The SS President Hoover was a ship ahead of its time, with innovative engine designs, air conditioning in all cabins, and space for almost a thousand…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
[Encore] Taiwan’s “Iron Man of Asia” - The Amazing CK Yang (楊傳廣)
Decathlete athletes are special. The sport is TEN events: sprint 100 meters, then 400 meters, then race 1500 meters; then comes 110 meters with hurdles you…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E11 - Steve McQueen and "The Sand Pebbles" (1966)
The Sand Pebbles, which tells the story of the USS San Pablo, a US Navy gunboat operating in China in the 1920s, was shot in northern Taiwan over the winter of…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E10 - Lord of Formosa - Part Two: Coyett VS. Koxinga
Joyce Bergvelt's book Lord of Formosa is a novel, but she's an author who has extensively studied the Dutch colonial period and the main characters involved…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Bonus Episode: Answering the Mail
Join us as we try to answer some questions we've gotten, such as "What is Whisby and... just why?" You'll also discover Eryk's shameful secret (he loves betel…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E9 - Nixon and Kissinger Grovel in China, and Taiwan’s “China” Days are Numbered
Long hailed as a “historic diplomatic breakthrough,” the reality is that US president Richard Nixon's 1972 trip to China has been rather oversold. Yes, the…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E8 - Early Photos of Taiwan - by John Thomson - 1871
Some of the earliest photos we have of Taiwan were taken by a British photographer who visited the southwest of the island in 1871. Taking pics back then was…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E7 - Lord of Formosa and the VOC - Part One
Arguably the single most important event in Taiwan’s history – and certainly the most dramatic story – was the arrival in 1661 of warlord and Ming loyalist…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E6 - Gladys Aylward, Ingrid Bergman, and the Inn of the Eight Happinesses (八福客栈)
Eight happinesses? If you’ve heard of or seen the famous movie about the remarkable British missionary Gladys Aylward, you’ll know that the film (which was…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E5 - Local Language Loanwords: A Lovely Hot Pot of Fujianese, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, English, and More
All languages borrow words from other languages. These “loanwords” often come with fascinating historical backstories, their adoption the result of encounters…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E4 - Madou, Tainan 麻豆: Pomelos and Priestesses
Today, the district of Madou (麻豆區) in Tainan City is home to about 43,000 people. It has a pleasant small-town feel, an economy mainly based on agriculture, in…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁: The Early Years - S3-E3
Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was a highly controversial two-term ROC president (2000–2008). How “A-Bian” studied and fought his way out of rural poverty to the highest…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E2 - Mel Gibson Makes a Movie in Taiwan (1979)
Ever heard of the film "Attack Force Z"? No? Don't worry... almost no one has. Filmed in Taiwan, this WWII story featured both Mel Gibson and Sam Neill, long…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S3-E1 - Storm Stories: Tales of Typhoons in Taiwan
With their fearsome winds and dramatic downpours, typhoons have long been a part of Taiwan's history. Join Formosa Files for a look at a few notable typhoons…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E40 - The Two Generalissimos - Francisco Franco and Chiang Kai-shek
Relations between the R.O.C. (Taiwan) and Spain have never been as close as Taiwan's ties to, for example, the United States. But back in the days when Taiwan…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
[Encore] Japan Puts Paiwan Indigenous Taiwanese on Display at London Expo (1910)
At the turn of the 20th century, Japan was on a roll. After taking Formosa and Penghu from Qing China in 1895, Japan beat mighty Russia in 1905. Eager to show…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E39 - Kaohsiung to Kenting Road Trip (1875)
The southern peninsula of Taiwan was a "ship graveyard" for a very long time as unseen rocks and reefs gashed holes in the sides of vessels and left them…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
[Encore] Taiwan's Orangutan Craze and the Terrors of the Tiger Trade
You're hiking in the hills of Taichung in the early 1990s and suddenly come across ... an orangutan? What's more, this massive great ape is um ... in need of…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Bonus Episode: Among the Headhunters of Formosa - From Taiwan in 100 Books, by John Ross
This week we have another snippet from the audiobook of John's 2020 book, Taiwan in 100 Books. This extract tells the tale of Janet Montgomery McGovern, a…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E38 - Dating in Taiwan
No, we're not talking about romantic adventures; in this episode, the "dating" we're discussing is the days, months, and years kind. Why is it about to become…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Bonus Episode: The Forgotten President 嚴家淦
Eryk calls John for a chat about Yen Chia-kan (嚴家淦, Yan Jiagan) the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for three years following the death of Chiang…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: Dr. Dafydd Fell from SOAS takes us on a Mini-Deep Dive into Taiwan's Alternative Political Parties
We generally don't discuss politics very much on this podcast, but, when one of the world's most well-established international experts on politics in Taiwan…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E37 - A Cunning Count Contemplates Colonizing Formosa
Ever heard of Count Maurice Benyovszky? He's not well known in Taiwan, but after this Polish-Slovakian-Hungarian semi-nobleman had a chance encounter with this…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E36 - Annette Lu – from Prison to the Presidential Office
A fighter for women's rights, human rights, freedom of speech, and democracy, you can disagree with Annette Lu's politics (or with some of her very…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E35 - Colonial Tourism: Japanese Visit their Model Colony, While Tokyo Brings Indigenous Taiwanese to “The Motherland” to Show Off “Civilization”
We travel back to 1920s Taiwan, first in the company of Terry’s Guide to the Japanese Empire and then follow a Tokyo travel bureau itinerary for Japanese…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E34 - "Galloping Oxen" - Emperor Kangxi’s Jesuit Mapmakers in Taiwan
Between the late 1600s and mid-1800s, there was no Western presence on Taiwan. There were, however, a couple of special Western visitors of whom the…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: Tobie Openshaw on the Saisiyat Story of Taiwan's "Little People"
The Saisiyat Indigenous people in Hsinchu and Miaoli counties have a famous story about magical “little people” or “dwarfs” called the Koko’ ta’ay. The legend…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E33 - Taiwan's Musical Garbage Trucks - And the Sounds of the 1990s!
Many new arrivals to Taiwan are perplexed to hear music from an "ice cream" truck playing almost every day, until they discover that those tunes mean it's time…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E32 - “Defectors from the PRC to Taiwan, 1960-1989: The Anti-Communist Righteous Warriors” - Part Two
Picking up on last week's conversation between the University of Southern California East Asian Studies Center's Li-ping Chen and author Andrew D. Morris -- a…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E31 - “Defectors from the PRC to Taiwan, 1960-1989: The Anti-Communist Righteous Warriors” - Part One
Formosa Files is delighted to announce a very special episode in collaboration with the University of Southern California’s East Asian Studies Center and the…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E30 - The Mysterious Death in Taipei of India's Most Controversial Nationalist
Unlike Mahatma Gandhi, fellow Indian pro-independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose advocated taking up arms against the British. WWII presented a golden…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E29 - The "Most Powerful Witness" to Modern Taiwan's History: Wu Zhuo-liu (吳濁流) - Part One
Sadly, the bloodshed and sorrow that began on February 28, 1947 (228) is the foundational story of post-Japanese Taiwan. Wu Zhou-liu (吳濁流), an ethnically-Hakka…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Bonus Episode: A Look Back and a Peek Forward
As Formosa Files gets ready to end Season 2 and move into Season 3 (fingers crossed), John and Eryk pick season highlights, answer listener questions, talk…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E28 - (Not So) Happy Holidays
Eryk said to John, "All the traditional festivals celebrated in Taiwan have sad -- or even horrific -- backstories!" John said, "Really? Hmm... I doubt that."…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E27 - Ghost Planes and the Japanese Fighter Pilot who Became a God
John loves aviation stories and in this episode we've got two: the first raises some serious questions about an oft-told "ghost plane" tale, while the second…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E26 - Taiwan's First Civilian Martyr: Teacher Lin Ching-chuan (林靖娟)
Preschool teacher Lin ran back into a burning bus six times, saving as many kids as she could, before succumbing to the flames on her seventh rescue attempt…
- The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
S2-E25 - Searching for Black Gold in Taiwan
Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s two expeditions of 1852–1854 pried open Japan. Less well known is that one of the American ships visited Keelung in northeastern…