Talking Taiwan

Felicia Lin
  • 5.0 (31)
  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Biweekly

Talking Taiwan is a Golden Crane Podcast Award Winner, and has been shortlisted in the 2024 International Women's Podcast Awards "Moment of Visionary Leadership" category. In 2025, it was nominated for the 12th Annual T.O. Webfest Awards in the category of "Best Ensemble Cast in a Podcast". Hosted by Felicia Lin, Talking Taiwan is the longest running, independently produced Taiwan-related podcast that covers political news related to Taiwan and stories connected to Taiwan and Taiwan's global community. To learn more about Talking Taiwan visit: www.talkingtaiwan.com

  1. Ep 347 | John Enger Cheng on his Creative Process and How Inspiration Finds you Working

    Jun 10

    Ep 347 | John Enger Cheng on his Creative Process and How Inspiration Finds you Working

    Late last year, I sat down to speak with John Enger Cheng about the early roots of his creativity in childhood, his creative process as an artist, what it means to him to be Taiwanese American and how that shows up in his art. We also talked about how he maintains a creative practice and believes that inspiration finds you working. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/john-enger-cheng-on-his-creative-process-and-how-inspiration-finds-you-working-tuf-part-2-ep-347/ In this candid conversation, John talks about his artwork that has been inducted into the permanent collection of Taiwanese Art Treasures Preserved Overseas – The Homecoming Exhibition of the Sun Ten Collection at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, which is located in Taichung   John Enger Cheng is Designer, Co-founder, and Creative Director of the design practice Winnow+Glean, and a visual artist known as @madebyenger on Instagram. You can find his work on madebyenger.com   We will be releasing a YouTube video of my interview with John for listeners who'd like to see some of the visuals referred to in this episode. You can find it soon on Talking Taiwan's YouTube channel.   This episode is sponsored by the Taiwanese United Fund (TUF). TUF is an arts and culture foundation that celebrates the cultural heritages of Taiwanese Americans. Established in 1986, the foundation's mission is to facilitate cultural exchange between the Taiwanese American community and other American cultural communities, hoping to enrich and expand our cultural experiences.     Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/john-enger-cheng-on-his-creative-process-and-how-inspiration-finds-you-working-tuf-part-2-ep-347/

    1h 9m
  2. Ep 346 | George Yin Arts Advocacy Can be a Lifelong Passion TUF Part 1

    May 30

    Ep 346 | George Yin Arts Advocacy Can be a Lifelong Passion TUF Part 1

    We sat down to speak with George Yin, Board Chair of the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation & Political Law Attorney about his interest in supporting the arts, why he thinks it's important to do so, and how so-called "non-artists" can support the arts and more specifically artists in their community. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/george-yin-arts-advocacy-can-be-a-lifelong-passion-tuf-part-1-ep-346/ This episode is sponsored by the Taiwanese United Fund (TUF). TUF is an arts and culture foundation that celebrates the cultural heritages of Taiwanese Americans. Established in 1986, the foundation's mission is to facilitate cultural exchange between the Taiwanese American community and other American cultural communities, hoping to enrich and expand our cultural experiences. In the spirit of supporting artists in their community, we also spoke with two Taiwanese American artists based in Southern California John Cheng and Jotham Hung. Stay tuned for my interviews with John and Jotham. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/george-yin-arts-advocacy-can-be-a-lifelong-passion-tuf-part-1-ep-346/

    35 min
  3. Ep 345 | Passport to Taiwan 2026: Making Our Rounds with Taiwanese Community Organizations FAPA, TCCNY & NATMA

    May 27

    Ep 345 | Passport to Taiwan 2026: Making Our Rounds with Taiwanese Community Organizations FAPA, TCCNY & NATMA

    We stepped out in the drizzling rain for this year's Passport to Taiwan on Sunday, May 24th in New York City's Union Square Park, and were happy to see that the weather hadn't put much of a damper on the number people that came out for this annual tradition. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/passport-to-taiwan-2026-making-our-rounds-with-taiwanese-community-organizations-fapa-tccny-natma-ep-345/ We made our rounds and spoke to people at some of the booths representing different Taiwanese American community organizations including the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce New York, (TCCNY) and the North American Taiwanese Medical Association (NATMA). And if doing a deep dive into historical facts related to Taiwan is your thing, we recommend you check out @formosa.forever on Instagram. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/passport-to-taiwan-2026-making-our-rounds-with-taiwanese-community-organizations-fapa-tccny-natma-ep-345/

    20 min
  4. Ep 344 | Vickie Wang (王宇平) on Who Gets to Be Taiwanese and Stand-Up Comedy Part 2

    Apr 24

    Ep 344 | Vickie Wang (王宇平) on Who Gets to Be Taiwanese and Stand-Up Comedy Part 2

    In part two of our interview with Vickie Wang (王宇平), she talked about how the COVID lockdown of 2022 in Shanghai affected her mental health, her thoughts on the Great Recall movement in Taiwan last year, how she questions her Taiwanese-ness i.e. if she's Taiwanese enough, generative propaganda, and how she got into stand-up comedy. Vickie Wang a writer, interpreter, and stand-up comedian born and raised in Taiwan. Now based in New City York she co-produces a monthly stand-up show called Wang's World Comedy. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/vickie-wang-%e7%8e%8b%e5%ae%87%e5%b9%b3-surviving-the-shanghai-covid-lockdown-part-2-ep-344/

    1h 25m
  5. Ep 343 | Vickie Wang (王宇平) Surviving the Shanghai COVID Lockdown of 2022 and Attitudes and Perceptions between Taiwanese and Chinese

    Mar 30

    Ep 343 | Vickie Wang (王宇平) Surviving the Shanghai COVID Lockdown of 2022 and Attitudes and Perceptions between Taiwanese and Chinese

    Vickie Wang (王宇平) is a writer, interpreter, and stand-up comedian born and raised in Taiwan. She's lived in Shanghai, China for nearly a decade, where she started doing stand-up comedy under censorship. Last year I sat down to interview Vickie. in part one of my interview with Vickie, we talked about the perceptions and attitudes that many Taiwanese have about the Chinese, and on the other end how the Chinese she met in China perceived the Taiwanese and Taiwan. We also talked what it was like for her to go through the strict COVID lockdown in Shanghai in 2022. Now based in New City York Vickie co-produces a monthly stand-up show called Wang's World Comedy (pronounced WAYNE) and writes a Substack called Happy Medium. Stay tuned for the second part of my interview with Vickie. She has published two Taiwan op-eds in The New York Times, one on the metoo movement, and one on what another Trump term means for Taiwan's future. She is currently working on a nonfiction book about her experience of COVID and comedy in China. Related Links:

    30 min
  6. Ep 342 | Kita Foundation: Mapping the Path for Trailblazers that Paved the Way for Taiwan's Democracy and Freedom

    Mar 17

    Ep 342 | Kita Foundation: Mapping the Path for Trailblazers that Paved the Way for Taiwan's Democracy and Freedom

    Every year we try to dedicate an episode of Talking Taiwan to 228, an important date in Taiwan's history, marking the 228 Massacre. 228 stands for February 28 1947. February 28th is now commemorated as a national holiday in Taiwan known as the 228 Peace Memorial Day. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/kita-foundation-mapping-the-path-of-the-trailblazers-that-paved-the-way-for-taiwans-democracy-and-freedom-ep-342/   However, the 228 Massacre is not confined to this single date in history. There were circumstances leading up what happened on February 28th and there were also subsequent events after February 28th which escalated into bloody violence and massacres leading to what some refer to as the March Massacre.   Under the authoritarian Chiang regime, and Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang, what followed after 228 was 38 years of martial law and the White Terror era. Anyone could be disappeared, executed or worse for just saying or doing the wrong thing, or for what was seemingly wrong in the eyes of the authorities. The people of Taiwan were horrified and terrified. For decades there was denial and suppression of 228 by authorities in Taiwan, and generations dared not speak of 228.   228 was absent from high school textbooks until relatively recently. To learn more about the specifics of 228 I invite you to listen to some of our past episodes on the topic. We recommend episodes 309, 277, 228, and 172.   In an effort to confront its authoritarian past, in recent years Taiwan has taken steps to acknowledge historical sites of injustice such as buildings where military police fired on civilians on February 28, 1947. Around this time of year, around February 28 and leading into March, it's a time to reflect on the past, and what we can learn from it.   So in the vein of reflecting on the past, this year I thought I'd share my interview with Sabrina Liu and Meng Chiang who are part of the team that makes up the KITA Foundation, an organization that was formed as an oral history project to understand who are the trailblazers that paved the way for Taiwan's democracy and freedom.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/kita-foundation-mapping-the-path-of-the-trailblazers-that-paved-the-way-for-taiwans-democracy-and-freedom-ep-342/

    1h 14m
  7. Ep 341 | Dr Shih-Fen Chen 陳時奮 A Scholar with a Responsibility to Reveal the Truth

    Feb 23

    Ep 341 | Dr Shih-Fen Chen 陳時奮 A Scholar with a Responsibility to Reveal the Truth

    Last July, we brought Talking Taiwan to the 2025 Taiwanese American Conference, West Coast. While we were there, I sat down to speak with Dr. Shih-Fen Chen (陳時奮), who's also been known by his pen name Wēngdáruì (翁達瑞). Dr. Chen is Professor Emeritus at Ivey Business School, and a Professor at Western Washington University. He's an outspoken political commentator, self-described as a scholar with a sense of responsibility to reveal the truth.   This episode is sponsored in part by the Pacific Times (太平洋時報)   Related Links:

    22 min
  8. Ep 340 | China's Alarming Gray Zone Tactics Around Taiwan and its Neighboring Nations in Asia

    Feb 7

    Ep 340 | China's Alarming Gray Zone Tactics Around Taiwan and its Neighboring Nations in Asia

    Back in April 2021 we covered news about a record breaking 25 Chinese air force aircraft including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers that entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ). At the time 25 seemed like an alarming number. It was the largest incursion by Chinese military planes into Taiwan's ADIZ to date.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/chinas-alarming-gray-zone-tactics-around-taiwan-and-its-neighboring-nations-in-asia-ep-340/   To be clear these sorts of activities had been going on long before this and long before September of 2020 which is about the time that Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense started to publicly report China's incursions.   China's People's Liberation Army has shown no signs of letting up. The PLA's gray zone tactics have also included the use of drones and balloons. Incursions by warplanes and naval ships into the airspace and waters surrounding Taiwan are now a daily occurrence. And they have completely shattered the record 25 aircraft in Taiwan's ADIZ many times over.   Major military exercises have included the Joint Sword-2024A. Three days after Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te's inauguration on May 20 of 2024, China's PLA conducted two days of military exercises in the air and sea space around Taiwan.   More recently, at the end of 2025 on December 29 and 30, People's Republic of China (PRC) military forces carried out a large-scale exercise in the air and ocean areas around Taiwan called "Justice Mission-2025."  These two days of PLA military exercises involved at least 200 warplanes.   Unfortunately these types of gray zone tactics by China have become commonplace and while they have been more widely reported on, even more troubling are the other gray zone tactics that the PRC has been levying on Taiwan, which include the presence of Chinese owned and operated oil rigs in Taiwan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and on January 16th the New York Times reported that China quietly mobilized thousands of fishing boats twice already, most recently in the first few weeks of this new year.   Quoting from the New York Times, "By January 11, they had assembled into a rectangle stretching more than 200 miles. Maritime and military experts said the maneuvers suggested that China was strengthening its maritime militia, which is made up of civilian fishing boats trained to join in military operations."   This was not the first time. A month earlier on December 25th the Times reported that "about 2,000 Chinese fishing boats assembled in two long, parallel formations on Christmas Day in the East China Sea. Each stretched 290 miles long, about the distance from New York City to Buffalo, forming a reverse L shape."   According to the New York Times, "The unusual formations were spotted by the chief operating officer of ingeniSPACE, a company that analyzes data, and were independently confirmed by The Times using ship location data provided by Starboard Maritime Intelligence.   About ingeniSPACE:   ingeniSPACE is a geospatial intelligence company integrating remote sensing data across multiple phenomenologies. We are an insight-as-a-service platform delivering all weather day-night multi-temporal understanding around the world. Our intelligence extends the "executive decision making time" that public sector and commercial leaders need to make well-informed decisions.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/chinas-alarming-gray-zone-tactics-around-taiwan-and-its-neighboring-nations-in-asia-ep-340/

    39 min
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5
out of 5
31 Ratings

About

Talking Taiwan is a Golden Crane Podcast Award Winner, and has been shortlisted in the 2024 International Women's Podcast Awards "Moment of Visionary Leadership" category. In 2025, it was nominated for the 12th Annual T.O. Webfest Awards in the category of "Best Ensemble Cast in a Podcast". Hosted by Felicia Lin, Talking Taiwan is the longest running, independently produced Taiwan-related podcast that covers political news related to Taiwan and stories connected to Taiwan and Taiwan's global community. To learn more about Talking Taiwan visit: www.talkingtaiwan.com

Information

  • Creator
    Felicia Lin
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    319
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2013-2025
  • Show Website
    Talking Taiwan

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