The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files

• Calculating Fate: Taiwan’s Fortune-Telling Fever of the ’90s – S5-E16

  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!

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• Shanghai–Taiwan Connections, Part 1: Mark Kitto on Helen Zia’s “Last Boat” — BONUS EPISODE

  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.  

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  24:47
• Taipei Times “Taiwan in Time”– Han Cheung, the man behind the excellent weekly history newspaper column – A FORMOSA FILES INTERVIEW

  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.

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• Bad Manners & Book Crimes: How an American Op-Ed Sparked Taiwan’s Self-Awareness Movement – S5-E15

  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

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  30:21
• EXTRA FOR HARDCORE LISTENERS! Hear the entire story of Japanese doctor Takagi Tamoe in this unedited, 27-minute version

  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.

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  27:20

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