Podcast Episodes
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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 nort…
3 years, 5 months ago
S2-E24 - Cats Big and Small
Virtually everyone on this island knows the famous feline folktale: "The Tiger Aunt." In this episode, we tell that tale -- relying for source materi…
3 years, 6 months ago
S2-E23 - Separated Sisters
Imagine this: It's 1949. You and your family live in Fujian, China. A friend invites you to the island of Kinmen for a short vacation. You hop on a f…
3 years, 6 months ago
A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: Manuel Tsao Talks to Eryk About the 100+ Year Old Jhuzimen Hydro Power Plant - 竹仔門發電廠
The Jhuzimen Hydro Power Plant (竹仔門發電廠) was built by the colonial Japanese authorities in 1908 -- in what's now Meinung District (美濃區), Kaohsiung Cit…
3 years, 6 months ago
Bonus Episode: "Taiwan in 100 Books" -- A Priest on Orchid Island Meets Sanmao (三毛)
In this special episode, we thank listeners and talk briefly about season two (We are now being listened to in 90 countries/regions!!), and share an …
3 years, 6 months ago
S2-E22 - USS Tang: The Most Successful US Submarine of WWII
Season 2 Episode 22
War is not glorious, and shouldn’t be glorified. But war does provide the chance to be brave, and bravery can be glorious. Such was the case of Comma…
3 years, 6 months ago
Special CURRENT EVENTS Episode: Why hasn’t the PRC invaded Taiwan?
We've gotten so many questions from Formosa Files listeners about the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan that we thought we'd do a round-up of pr…
3 years, 6 months ago
S2-E21 - Taiwan's Global Shipping Empire - EVERGREEN
Season 2 Episode 21
Go virtually anywhere in the world and you'll see them: green shipping containers with large white letters reading "EVERGREEN." The company is one of…
3 years, 7 months ago
Bonus Episode: "Taiwan in 100 Books" - A Martial Arts Hoax
In this special episode, we talk about where the inspiration for the Formosa Files podcast came from, and share an excerpt from the podcast's origin …
3 years, 7 months ago
S2-E20 - Mr. and Mrs. Giles - *Wade-Giles Chinese Romanization
Season 2 Episode 20
Why is "Kaohsiung" spelled so strangely? Shouldn't it be closer to "Gao-Shung"? (Or we could just use Hanyu Pinyin, "Gāoxióng"). Well, many names in …
3 years, 7 months ago