Claim OwnershipThe Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
Subscribed: 180Played: 10,232
Subscribe
© John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith
Description
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 two decades and call the island home.
Email: formosafiles@gmail.com
Email: formosafiles@gmail.com
285 Episodes
Reverse
Long before 1988, Taiwan’s beauty pageants had been mired in rumors — winners accused of marrying into political dynasties, whispers of contests doubling as “wife buffets” for the elite, and government crackdowns on such events being too frivolous in austere times. Even beauty standards themselves were contested as Western pageants favored tall frames and bold features, while traditional Chinese ideals prized delicacy, modesty, and the “melon-seed face.” By the time Miss Universe came to Taipei, the stage was set for both spectacle and controversy.Yet for Taiwan’s government, the payoff was irresistible. Hosting Miss Universe meant sixteen minutes of global airtime to present the Republic of China’s culture, heritage, and landmarks from Taroko Gorge to Yehliu’s Queen’s Head. For a country fighting for recognition, this beauty show was also showtime for “Free China.”Do us a favor: Rate, review, follow, sub, etc... it really helps!
From Chiang Kai-shek’s nuclear ambitions to the fallout from Chernobyl and Fukushima, Taiwan’s nuclear story has always been controversial. The ROC once came within months of being nuclear-bomb ready, but today, fission is gone from even civilian atomic power generation. This Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, voters face a radioactive referendum. The core question? Whether to restart the recently decommissioned Ma’anshan Nuclear Power Plant 馬鞍山核能發電廠 in Kenting, Pingtung County. After years of splitting atoms over this hot topic, a critical mass is forming in a debate that may reveal just how divided the island remains on atomic energy. Join us as we explore the chain-reaction politics of Taiwan’s nuclear dilemma and the referendum which may trigger a U-turn on uranium. FOLLOW us on social media, leave a REVIEW or comment. Thanks, it really helps.
This episode was released on August 15th, 2025, exactly 80 years after the Empire of Japan unconditionally surrendered to the Allies following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today, we bring you a largely forgotten story. In 1944, Japan launched its biggest land campaign of the war. It was called “Operation Ichi-Go (Operation #1)” – a massive push through China with half a million troops. It shattered Chiang Kai-shek’s armies, changed Allied strategy, and helped set the stage for the ROC’s retreat to Taiwan.But the spark for this offensive began not on a battlefield in China, but in what’s today Hsinchu, Taiwan. This “big picture” episode has surprise U.S. bombing raids, brutal battles, Roosevelt’s strategy meetings in Hawaii, the collapse of China’s wartime economy, and lots more twists and turns that would lead to Mao Zedong proclaiming the People’s Republic of China in 1949 – and the Republic of China retreating to Taiwan.
In the summer of 1972, Chiang Kai-shek vanished. He missed Double Ten parades. However, Madame Chiang (Soong Mei-ling), and the step-son she loathed (future president Chiang Ching-kuo) carried on as if all was well. There were no press leaks as the president of the Republic of China lay in a coma for six months. In this episode of Formosa Files, we uncover the cover-up, and tell you about an odd dinner where medical staff waited to pounce and revive the aging dictator. Plus, we meet Jeanette Kung: a cigar-smoking, men’s clothing enthusiast who might today be a gay icon of some kind, except for the fact that she possessed an…um…“challenging personality.”SUPPORT the show by rating, commenting, liking, subscribing, and following on social media.
Supreme Court judges, bus conductors, chemists, even radio stars — in this episode, we look at how women were making their mark in 1960s Taiwan. Our source is a 1963 issue of the Free China Review, published in the peak “Free China” years, when most of the so‑called “Taiwanese” women featured were actually from China. Still, even in this repressive period, you could argue women here had more chances to lead, earn, and succeed than many of their peers in the West.DO US A FAVOR and leave a review or comment (on Apple, Spotify, YT, or our website). It really helps. Thanks.
This Bits and Pieces episode blows from here to there—just like Typhoon Danas, which recently battered John’s beloved Chiayi. It’s a little chaotic, a little wild. We jump from Belgium to Yemen to 1950s Taipei, where we meet Pierre Ryckmans, a young scholar who arrived in Taiwan on a cargo ship and ended up learning brushwork from the cousin of China’s last emperor—a famously tedious teacher who refused to leave his studio to tutor Madame Chiang Kai-shek after she took up painting at 53. We wrap things up with the Generalissimo himself, who, despite a full-hour audience, somehow managed to leave absolutely no impression on Ryckmans, a man who would become a giant in the world of sinology.PLEASE – leave a review, follow & "like" on social media. Thanks!
In this episode, a young American missionary family boards a cargo ship for Taiwan in 1955. What could go wrong? Four weeks, a typhoon, and a customs nightmare later, they arrive in a land where whole-wheat flour is exotic, and blonde kids conjure crowds. Taipei in the 1950s was “fragrant,” with open sewers and “honey buckets” filled with human waste used as fertilizer. This week on Formosa Files, we bring you a missionary tale of faith, grit…and refrigerator duties. Leave a comment, follow us on social media and/or give us a rating or review – it's much appreciated and helps others discover this podcast.
Taiwanese pilots flew combat jets in Saudi uniforms over Arabian skies? Yes. This week, learn about what may seem like an unusual friendship: the close ties between Taiwan and Saudi Arabia. Bonded by oil, anti-Communism, technical exchanges, interest-free loans, and even seedless watermelons, Saudi Arabia was the only nation in the Middle East to vote “NO” on letting Red China into the UN, and they only swapped from Taipei to Beijing in 1990. This week’s episode is an oasis for those thirsting to learn more about the ROC and 沙特阿拉伯 (Shātè Ā lā bó).PLEASE follow/like/sub/etc, on IG, FB, YT or LinkedIn, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or on our website, and most importantly, tell your friends about this FREE Taiwan history podcast!
Han Cheung, the man behind Taiwan in Time, the long-running history column in the Taipei Times, returns to tell the story of Taiwan’s first pop star. Liu Ching-hsiang 劉清香 was singing Taiwanese opera in the late 1920s. A few years later, under the stage name Chun-Chun 純純, she became Japanese Formosa’s first recording star — the voice behind dozens of hits and the breakout anthem “Longing for the Spring Breeze.” Hear how Columbia Records and a savvy movie tie-in made her a household name, and learn more about the 1930s, which, when it comes to music, was perhaps the most “progressive” decade of the 50 years of colonial rule.Pics links, and info at formosafiles.com
Bo Yang 柏楊 (1920-2008) was a Chinese historian, author, dissident, provocateur, and one of Taiwan’s most controversial commentators. After arriving in Taiwan in 1949 with the fleeing KMT, he almost immediately got into trouble with the island’s new one-party regime for everything from listening to the wrong radio station to critiquing Chinese culture. His most famous work was the incendiary book, “The Ugly Chinaman.” However, surprisingly, the crime for which he was sentenced to nine years in prison on Green Island was translating a “Popeye” cartoon strip!More info, pics, and links are on our WEBSITE.
Fellow “Asian tigers” South Korea and Taiwan share strikingly similar modern histories: Chinese influence, Japanese colonization, Cold War struggles, rule by military strongmen, economic miracles, and transitions to democracy. But there are also plenty of differences, too, especially when it comes to the fate of ex-presidents! Chris Tharp, author of the newly-released Plum Rain Press novel, “The Cuttlefish,” has spent over 20 years in Korea. He and John have a fun and wide-ranging discussion about these two dynamic nations.Read reviews of “The Cuttlefish” HERE and HERE.
It has now been 30 years since the passing of Teresa Teng 鄧麗君, the legendary Taiwanese singer who transformed Asian pop music, and even influenced regional politics. But three decades have not dimmed her star. Teng remains beloved by millions across Asia and around the world. Now, to the delight of her fans, there is news of one final encore from the “Eternal Queen of Asian Pop”: a previously undiscovered Japanese-language recording has been found. The new song is reportedly set for release on June 25, 2025. To mark the occasion, we’re re-releasing this classic 2022 Formosa Files episode celebrating her extraordinary life and legacy. Enjoy!
Some people bought Tamagotchis in the '90s. Others? They paid birds to predict their future. In this week’s episode, we take a glimpse into Taiwan’s wild obsession with fortune-telling — and what it reveals about culture, comfort, and even politics. From oracle bones to rose stones, the history of Taiwanese divination has been an unpredictable ride. Go check out our website. And follow us on social media...LIKE, SUB, etc!
Some have called Taipei a “mini-Shanghai.” If true, the emphasis might need to be on the word “mini.” The population of the greater Shanghai area is nearly 30 million, some six million more than the number of people who live in Taiwan. Yet, there are some interesting similarities – which mostly aren’t accidental. When CKS and the Nationalists took control in 1945, and then made Taipei the "ROC Provisional Capital" on December 7th, 1949, the new rulers began to shape Taipei in an image modeled in many ways after Shanghai. John Ross (world traveler that he is) has never been to this sprawling city, but Mark Kitto (English actor and author, most recently of China Running Dog, lived and worked there for around a decade. Mark and John discuss the Shanghai-Taipei connection via talking about and reading from the book, Last Boat Out of China, a tale of a family fleeing Red China and “temporarily” seeking shelter in Taipei.
You've read his work (or you should); this awesome guy has been pumping out informative weekly history columns (and now YouTube videos) for close to a decade. His name is Han Cheung (learn how to pronounce that by listening to this interview), and he went from being one of the only Asian-Americans in a small town in Wyoming - where he wrote for a local newspaper about the history of that state's Wild West era - to returning to his parents' adopted home of Taiwan to write "Taiwan in Time." It's been quite a journey for Han, and in this interview, we talk about everything from history to "slow death metal" with half-Cantonese lyrics. Enjoy! PS: Sorry for the delay in release. Eryk caught some covid-adjacent flu and was unable to move. Gratefully, Eryk is feeling better, but Eryk is still referring to himself in the third person, which history shows isn't such a good idea.
In 1963, a 32-year-old American grad student in Taipei wrote a newspaper editorial complaining that Taiwanese people were great at treating friends kindly, but kind of awful in public. Within days, he had unintentionally launched a nationwide student movement for civility, morality, and self-awareness. But this student-led push for better manners would also lead to arrests, prison time, and even psychiatric detention.In this episode, we tell the strange true story of the “Self-Awareness Movement,” how it exploded from one opinion piece, and explain how it contributed (or didn’t) to Taiwan’s public behavior transformation. Listen as we go from the sharp-elbowed chaos at bank counters and bus stops of the 1960s to today’s orderly lines and the quiet pride of the MRT.SHOW NOTES, TRANSCRIPTS, pics, links, and more at formosafiles.com
For those of you who want more specific info, here is the entire conversation John Ross enjoyed with Dr. Jimmy Lee on the remarkable life of Dr. Takagi Tomoe, one of colonial Taiwan’s most influential figures.
In 1902, Dr. Takagi Tomoe arrived in newly-colonized Japanese Formosa as a seasoned Japanese medical expert sent here to battle bubonic plague – one of the many tropical sicknesses that killed thousands of local people each year. Takagi had a rare sense of empathy. Unlike many of his peers, he encouraged local students to attend his medical school (even letting them speak Taiwanese). This brilliant Japanese and German-trained doctor helped create Taiwan’s medical system – and also, in an unexpected twist, Takagi was tasked with managing the company that’s today known as Taipower. In this largely forgotten story, Taipei physician Dr. Jimmy Lee joins John Ross to tell the story of how Dr. Takagi became one of colonial Taiwan’s most influential figures.
PLEASE NOTE: Formosa Files 中文版 has a new, separate feed. Hear it HERE, or on our website. Thanks! This week, Formosa Files digs into two wild and almost totally forgotten killings from Taiwan’s Cold War years. First up: a soldier named Li Wei, a former POW, sets his army barracks on fire in the middle of the night and opens fire on his fellow soldiers. The whole thing gets swept under the rug. No local news coverage. It’s been basically erased from memory.Then there’s Taiwan’s deadliest school shooting: the Lixing High School Massacre. A fired sports coach shows up at school with a pistol and a grudge. He kills the principal, teachers, and even goes after the principal’s family. This one made the headlines at the time, but somehow, almost nobody talks about it today.Both happened in 1962, when Taiwan was still under martial law and the government kept a very tight lid on the media. With help from researcher and Formosa Files Chinese version co-host Eric Hsu, we dug through old court records and tracked down as much truth as we could find.
Your name carries history, identity, and sometimes in Taiwan, salmon? In this episode, we explore Taiwanese/Chinese naming traditions: family names, generational names, courtesy names, and how colonization, politics, and even sushi promotions have shaped them. From the chaos of post-war name changes to the viral “Salmon Naming Incident” of 2021, join Formosa Files for a fascinating and funny audio journey into what our names say about us.It's worth checking out our WEBSITE as that's where you'll find show notes, transcripts, photos, images, info, links and more.
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States
Excellent podacst! Finally, Taiwan's colorful history has been put into podcast form. The topics each week are well researched, with personal anecdotes from the hosts; whose love and knowledge of Taiwan is very evident. Great for people living here in Taiwan, but also educational and entertaining for those who've never been.