Art & Culture Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

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

Felicia Lin — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:16:17 +0000

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.

KITA Foundation: Mapping the Path of the Trailblazers that Paved the Way for Taiwan’s Democracy and Freedom Ep 342

Felicia Lin — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:34:57 +0000

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.

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.

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.

Talking Taiwan Top 5 of 2025 Award Winner – End of Year Review Ep 338

Felicia Lin — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 13:35:32 +0000

It’s time to reveal the Top 5 episodes of Talking Taiwan in 2025. What’s notable about these 5 episodes is that they are among the most popular Talking Taiwan episodes of all time.

But before revealing the Top 5 episodes of 2025, let’s take look back on 2025, which was a busy year for Talking Taiwan! We hosted the inaugural Talking Taiwan Fundraising Gala at the elegant Eichholtz showroom in New York City in April. It was truly a magical memorable night. In April we were also invited to speak at the North American Taiwanese American Women Association’s (NATWA) Annual Conference.

For sometime we’ve been watching what was happening with the Great Recall in Taiwan which ultimately led to 24 legislators being put up for a recall vote on July 26th and another seven on August 23. The world had not seen anything like this happen on a national level in a democracy! And after Felicia interviewed a group of highly dedicated recall campaigners, she learned firsthand about the grassroots mobilization efforts that resulted in over one million signatures being collected in support of the recall vote, and she felt this was a historic moment that Talking Taiwan should be in Taiwan to cover. Thanks to an anonymous donor who offered to pay for our flights back to Taiwan and others who made generous donations we were able to travel back to Taiwan for a week to cover the first recall in vote on July 26^th. We left shortly after returning from the Taiwanese American Conference- West Coast (TAC-WC) which was held in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was the first time we were invited to speak at TAC-WC about our work. While we were at the conference, we also set up an on-location podcasting studio where we interviewed several of the conference’s speakers. We look forward to releasing those episodes very soon in the New Year.

It’s been an extremely eventful year for Talking Taiwan with many ups and downs. Spending only a week in Taiwan to cover the Recall Vote in July, and trying to conduct interviews, and edit and produce them in that time period proved to be a bit unrealistic and we’ll need to pace ourselves better in the future.

It was also crushing to witness the results of the Recall Vote on July 26th with none of the 24 legislators successfully recalled from office. While still recovering from that ordeal in July, we traveled to T.O. Webfest awards in September where Talking Taiwan was nominated in the Best Ensemble Cast category. While we didn’t win, it was our second nomination after being shortlisted at the International Women’s Podcast Awards in 2024 and winning a Golden Crane Award in 2021.

As we go into the 13^th year of Talking Taiwan, I’d like take a moment to especially thank everyone who has supported Talking Taiwan over the years and made a contribution to help fund our trip to return to Taiwan to cover the Great Recall in July.

We also want to thank each and every one of all of our amazing guests for being a part of the Talking Taiwan podcast.

Special thanks to our listeners. We remain committed more than ever to producing content that matters to people who care about Taiwan.

For links to the top 5 episodes of 2025 visit our website TalkingTaiwan.com. Wishing everyone a Happy Healthy New Year 2026! I’m your host Felicia Lin.

The Charm of Tainan Taiwan’s Oldest City: A Talk with Author and Historian Jinyu Hsieh (謝金魚) Ep 337

Felicia Lin — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 13:48:55 +0000

In July of 2024, we brought talking Taiwan to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference (TAC), East Coast at Westchester University.

Jinyu Hsieh (謝金魚), one of the speakers at TAC is a writer and a historian. I sat down to talk to her about the charm of Tainan, located in southern Taiwan. It is the oldest city in Taiwan and was founded in 1624. In 2024, Tainan was celebrating its 400^th anniversary.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.

Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo: Taiwan Democracy Fighter Talks About Events Leading Up to the Kaohsiung Incident (Classic) Ep 336

Felicia Lin — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 12:08:01 +0000

To commemorate its anniversary on December 10th, we thought this would be a great time to reshare one of our most popular CLASSIC episodes, an interview we did with Taiwan Democracy fighter Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo, Ai Linda (艾琳達) in 2024 about events leading up to the HISTORIC Kaohsiung Incident.

Last year when we were in Taiwan in January for the presidential election, we were privileged to meet Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo, Ai Linda (艾琳達) in Taipei and sat down for a one-on-one interview. Few have experienced such historic events first-hand in the way Linda has, as she speaks from the doorstep of history.

Linda talked about the era and events that precipitated the Kaohsiung incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, which is widely considered the watershed moment in history that led to Taiwan’s democratization. The Kaohsiung Incident happened in December of 1979

During this interview Linda talked about how, in 1975 she had been sent to observe a trial that had been stated to be an open trial but when she arrived there, she saw that it wasn’t. In the face of intimidation by the Taiwan Garrison Command officers, she chose to speak up about the injustice she saw, and reported it to Amnesty International. To me, Linda’s self-directed action was a moment of historic defiant courage.

Thank you Linda Gail Arrigo, Ai Linda (艾琳達) for sharing your story and for advocating for the people of Taiwan.

The post Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo: Taiwan Democracy Fighter Talks About Events Leading Up to the Kaohsiung Incident (Classic) Ep 336 appeared first on Talking Taiwan Podcast.

What Taiwan Can Learn from Ukraine: A Panel Discussion Hosted by FAPA (Part 2) Ep 335

Felicia Lin — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 02:00:37 +0000

What Taiwan Can Learn from Ukraine, Part 2.

Earlier this year, on March 30, at the Taiwan Center in Flushing NY, FAPA (Formosan Association for Public Affairs) hosted a panel discussion, Lessons from the Battlefield: What Taiwan Can Learn From Ukraine. Representatives from the Ukrainian community, Razom for Ukraine and Dignitas Ukraine and FAPA discussed how NGOs can strengthen advocacy, humanitarian aid, and international collaboration.

It was a very substantive discussion that we wanted to record and share with FAPA’s permission to our listeners. This episode part two is the second half of the panel discussion. To listen to the first half of the panel discussion listen to the previous episode, episode 334.

Talking Taiwan’s 2025 Inaugural Fundraising Gala! Ep 332

Felicia Lin — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 02:39:55 +0000

Get Access to the Replay of the Talking Taiwan Gala Make a Donation at Humanitix

https://events.humanitix.com/talking-taiwan-2025-fundraising-gala

For Free Access the Replay of the Talking Taiwan Gala Give Us Your Feedback by emailing podcast@talkingtaiwan.con with the Subject Line: 12 MORE

Talking Taiwan’s inaugural fundraising gala was on April 30^th here in New York City at the elegant Eichholtz showroom in Chelsea. The gala was a celebration of Taiwanese American cuisine, culture and community.

We had Peter Lin’s AAPI Jazz Collective perform, and food catered by 886 Restaurant, DAE tea and Taiwan Beer. It was a memorable, magical night and if you’re wondering what you missed out on it, don’t worry, later on in the episode I’ll be sharing how you can watch the replay that we made of the event. We’ll also share the Humanitix link where you can make a donation to watch the replay of the Talking Taiwan Gala.

At the gala I interviewed comedian Esther Chen, Thomas Duh of DAE Tea, artist Kaarina Chu MacKenzie, and Jonny Lee, President of TAP-NY (Taiwanese American Professionals- NY chapter). And that’s what we’ll be sharing in this episode.

Author and Speaker Dr. Yang Szu Pang (楊斯棓) : Don’t Think You’re Too Small to Make a Difference Ep 331

Felicia Lin — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 13:57:56 +0000

Dr. Yang Szu Pang (楊斯棓) is an author and speaker. He has donated 100% of his books royalties to causes and organizations that he cares about. He has been invited to speak at several Taiwanese American conferences and communities across the country.

In July of 2024 he sat down to speak with at the Taiwanese American Conference East Coast which was held at Westchester University. We talked about a broad range of topics from how to be financially prepared to care of aging, ailing parents to his most recent book, It Only Takes One, where the title of the books comes from and how it’s related to Hsiao Bi-khim, the current the Vice President of Taiwan.

Special thanks for translation assistance provided by Dr. Lee-Yuan Liu.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.

Eco Art on Island: The Deer God and Wearable Art Now at Governors Island House 17 Ep 330

Felicia Lin — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 11:25:03 +0000

Wang Guo-ren’s deer sculpture called the Deer God measures well over 10 feet if you include its antlers. It’s part of Eco Art on Island by TAAC. Constructed completely of fallen pieces of wood and tree branches that have been colorfully painted, the deer seems to have magically taken up residence on the lawn outside of the Taiwanese American Arts Council House 17.

Inside of the house we spoke with Julia Hsia about her exhibit “Wear Enough” which includes artifacts made with paper and receipts.

In September we ventured over to Governors Island to meet artists in residence Wang Guo-ren and his sculpture entitled the Deer God, and Julia Hsia.

This year’s house theme is Eco Art on Island and as you hear at the beginning of the episode we were outside with the lovely sounds of nature like birds, and the more than occasional airplane flying overhead, many of which had to be edited out. Special thanks to Julia Hsia for helping to translate for Guo-ren at the beginning of the episode, before we moved indoors to interview her.

The Real Life “Love in Taipei” Story: Virtuoso Musician Couple Antoine Boyer and Yeore Kim Ep 329

Felicia Lin — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 14:21:32 +0000

In this episode, the husband-and-wife team, gypsy jazz and classical guitarist Antoine Boyer and chromatic harmonica player Yeore Kim shared about their real life “Love in Taipei” story. He’s from France and she’s from South Korea, so music was their first common language. We also talked about how they navigate their partnership as life partners and as musical partners, and their debut duet album You and I.

If you’d like to know more about Antoine you can check out Kaju’s in-depth interview with Antoine on YouTube

Art & Culture Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

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

Related Links:

KITA Foundation: Mapping the Path of the Trailblazers that Paved the Way for Taiwan’s Democracy and Freedom Ep 342

Related Links:

Talking Taiwan Top 5 of 2025 Award Winner – End of Year Review Ep 338

Related Links:

The Charm of Tainan Taiwan’s Oldest City: A Talk with Author and Historian Jinyu Hsieh (謝金魚) Ep 337

Related Links:

Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo: Taiwan Democracy Fighter Talks About Events Leading Up to the Kaohsiung Incident (Classic) Ep 336

What Taiwan Can Learn from Ukraine: A Panel Discussion Hosted by FAPA (Part 2) Ep 335

Related Links:

Talking Taiwan’s 2025 Inaugural Fundraising Gala! Ep 332

Related Links:

Author and Speaker Dr. Yang Szu Pang (楊斯棓) : Don’t Think You’re Too Small to Make a Difference Ep 331

Related Links:

Eco Art on Island: The Deer God and Wearable Art Now at Governors Island House 17 Ep 330

Related Links:

The Real Life “Love in Taipei” Story: Virtuoso Musician Couple Antoine Boyer and Yeore Kim Ep 329

Related Links: