Art & Culture – Talking Taiwan Podcast

Books for Taiwan Founder Amy Lin Changes Lives One Book at a Time | Ep 357

Felicia Lin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:03:12 +0000

We were invited to help out with book packing for an organization called Books for Taiwan, which was spearheaded by Amy Lin (賴淑娟). In July the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce in New York gave Amy the Community Spirit Award and we are sharing her inspiring story in this episode. The concept behind Books for Taiwan, is pretty straightforward. They collect children’s books and ship them to schools, organizations and businesses in Taiwan.

Books for Taiwan collects books that are stored at a warehouse donated to them located in New Jersey and volunteers gather regularly throughout the year to pack up books to be put on pallets and shipped over to Taiwan. Books for Taiwan has been around for over 20 years and they have already shipped over 1.3 million books to Taiwan.

In this episode you’ll learn how you can get involved and help out with this meaningful project. We’ll list how you can donate to and learn more about Books for Taiwan below in our related links section.

Taiwanese Waves Celebrates its 10th year Anniversary at SummerStage in NYC’s Central Park | Ep 356

Felicia Lin — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 21:12:29 +0000

This year Taiwanese Waves is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and will be back at SummerStage in New York City’s Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield on Sunday August 16th. Doors open at 5:00pm. When Taiwanese Waves debuted in 2016, it set an all-time record for the highest single-day attendance at SummerStage. And since then it’s continued to introduce audiences to Taiwanese Music.

This year’s lineup includes Golden Melody Award regulars 9m88, YELLOW and ØZI.

You’ll also be hearing the psychedelic sounds of Mong Tong and from Taiwanese American singer-song writer Chance Emerson, and finally New York’s Chinatown Records will spin tracks from past Taiwanese Waves alumni.

Akio Yaita (矢板明夫) Outspoken Taiwan Advocate: In Taiwan I Can Make a Bigger Contribution | Ep 355

Felicia Lin — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 10:19:09 +0000

While we were at last year’s Taiwanese American Conference West Coast in July of 2025 which was hosted in San Francisco Silicon Valley, we sat down with Akio Yaita (矢板明夫), the keynote speaker of the conference. As a senior journalist at Sankei Shimbun Akio has covered Beijing and Taipei. He’s been a strong advocate for Taiwan. In 2024 Akio obtained citizenship in Taiwan and founded the Indo-Pacific Strategy Thinktank.

As we were working on translating and editing our interview with Akio we were disturbed to learn that on July 6th Akio was assaulted after a speaking engagement in Taichung. While Akio was in the lobby of a hotel, a Chinese man approached him and punched him in the face. The man, surnamed Liao (廖) was later arrested at the Taichung International Airport. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council described the attack as the “first case of transnational repression” in Taiwan since China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law took effect on July 1. After the attack Akio has said that he will not be intimidated.

What timing it’s turned out to be for us to be sharing our interview with Akio Yaita now. You’ll get know about his backstory and how you can follow him and his work.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Pacific Times.

Celebrating TAAC’s 10th Anniversary: Island Reverence on Governors Island House 17 | Ep 354

Felicia Lin — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:35:15 +0000

The Taiwanese American Arts Council is celebrating its 10^th anniversary and third year as an organization in residence on Governors Island. Island Reverence is the theme of this year’s residency. I recently sat down to interview three of the artists in residence at TAAC’s house 17 on Governors Island: Chia-Che Tsou, Dena Paige-Fischer, and Leon Chuang. Chia-Che has a fascinating story about how he ended up becoming an artist. Dena and Leon both coincidentally grew up with parents who are artists. Dena and Leon’s artwork are currently on view at TAAC house 17 on Governors Island until August 2.

We will be releasing a YouTube video of my interview with Chia-Che, Dena, and Leon 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.

Birdy Explores Universal Themes of Freedom, Limitation and Identity Relevant to Taiwan | Ep 353

Felicia Lin — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:16:25 +0000

We were at the dress rehearsal of BIRDY, one Hung Dance’s most critically acclaimed productions, which will be premiering in New York at NYU Skirball on July 17 & 18^th. BIRDY explores the relationship between freedom, limitation, and identity through a distinctive movement language inspired by Tai Chi, traditional Peking opera and contemporary dance.

We sat down to speak with Lai Hung-Chung, Choreographer and Artistic Director of Hung Dance about his artistic vision for BIRDY and Wei-Ping Chen the dance company’s Operations Director. Lai told us that the themes of freedom, limitation, and identity not only reflect his personal struggles but also relate to Taiwan’s situation.

Hung Dance is an award-winning Taiwanese contemporary dance company founded in 2017. The troupe’s name comes from the Chinese character 翃 (Hóng), meaning to fly.

Cony Hsieh Kaohsiung Pride President Focuses on LGBTQ+ Issues and Reforming Taiwan’s Military | Ep 350

Felicia Lin — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:48:09 +0000

Happy Pride month! Cony Hsieh is President of the Kaohsiung Pride Parade Association. We recently spoke with Cony about her experience as a lesbian woman serving in Taiwan’s military, and how she hopes her research on gender issues in the military can help push for reform in Taiwan’s military.

She’s also a podcaster and her podcast 微叛逆ê副駕 (which has been translated as “The Slightly Rebellious Co-pilot”) is about LGBTQ+ life experiences and gender issues in the military. She once created 28 days of podcast episodes covering a range of LGBTQ+ experiences for Pride Month!

Cony has a master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of Gender Education at National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Related Links:

Get Exclusive Access to the REPLAY VIDEO of the 2026 Talking Taiwan Gala by making a contribution of $50 or more: https://events.humanitix.com/talking-taiwan-2026-fundraising-gala

Cony Hsieh’s podcast 微叛逆ê副駕 (which has been translated as “The Slightly Rebellious Co-pilot): https://podcasts.apple.com/tw/podcast/%E5%BE%AE%E5%8F%9B%E9%80%86%C3%AA%E5%89%AF%E9%A7%95/id1547207923?l=en-GB

Kaohsiung Pride: https://www.instagram.com/khpride/

What Led to Taiwan’s Same Sex Marriage? Ep 83

What Led to Taiwan’s Same Sex Marriage? Ep 83: https://talkingtaiwan.com/what-led-to-taiwans-same-sex-marriage-ep-83/

Taiwan Hosts WorldPride 2025: Our Conversation with Darien Chen and Amazin LeThi Ep 162

Taiwan Hosts WorldPride 2025: Our Conversation with Darien Chen and Amazin LeThi (Episode 162): https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwan-hosts-worldpride-2025-our-conversation-with-darien-chen-and-amazin-lethi-ep-162/

What Caused the Cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025? Our Discussion with David Yu Ep 220

What Caused the Cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025? Our Discussion with David Yu Ep 220: https://talkingtaiwan.com/what-caused-the-cancellation-of-worldpride-taiwan-2025-our-discussion-with-david-yu-ep-220/

General Yu (于北辰): Former 4-Star General of Taiwan Army Shifts from KMT to Independent Ep 256

General Yu (于北辰): Former 4-Star General of Taiwan Army Shifts from KMT to Independent (Episode 256): https://talkingtaiwan.com/general-yu-%e4%ba%8e%e5%8c%97%e8%be%b0-former-4-star-general-of-taiwan-army-shifts-from-kmt-to-independent-ep-256/

Nymphia Wind Brings Taiwan’s Betel Nut Beauty Culture to the New York Pride March | Ep 349

Felicia Lin — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 06:57:10 +0000

This year’s Taiwan Pride Float at the New York City Pride March was inspired by Taiwan’s Betel Nut Beauty culture. The concept and design was conceived by Nymphia Wind, who was already an established drag queen in Taiwan when she won RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 in 2024.

Nymphia dedicated her win to Taiwan and that same year Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen congratulated Nymphia and invited her to perform at the presidential office. In 2024 Nymphia also appeared on the Taiwan Pride Float at the New York City Pride March. In 2025 Nymphia performed at the Paris Cultural Olympiad.

Right before the New York City Pride March on Sunday, June 28th, we were invited to an event where Nymphia shared her creative vision behind this year’s Taiwan Pride float. We also had a chance to meet the other betel nut beauties Yolanda Mesula and Tina Banana, who would be joining Nymphia on the float. After Nymphia’s initial comments, I did have a chance to ask her a question and to get some other soundbites.

Jotham Hung: Ceramic Artist and Educator on Finding Meaning and Fulfillment in Living a Creative Life – TUF Part 3 | Ep 348

Felicia Lin — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 06:35:29 +0000

Jotham Hung is a ceramic artist and educator based in Southern California reflecting on his early experiences with art. Late last year I sat down to speak with Jotham about his evolution and journey to becoming a full-time educator artist and he shared the dark moment that led to his creative process which has resulted in pieces that reflect the themes of deconstruction & reconstruction, damage & repair.

If you think you’re not creative, don’t write yourself off. Jotham believes everyone is an artist and has the potential to be creative.

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.

John Enger Cheng: On his Creative Process and How Inspiration Finds You Working TUF Part 2 | Ep 347

Felicia Lin — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:49:27 +0000

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.

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.

George Yin: Arts Advocacy Can Be a Lifelong Passion – TUF Part 1 | Ep 346

Felicia Lin — Sat, 30 May 2026 12:26:28 +0000

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.

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.