Self-Empowerment Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Taiwan American Voices Remembered on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11 | Ep 362

Felicia Lin — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:40:34 +0000

This year marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11. September 11, 2001 when four commercial passenger airplanes were hijacked by terrorists linked to the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda. Two of the planes struck the World Trade Center in New York City causing the twin towers to collapse and a third plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The passengers and crew of the fourth plane fought the hijackers, and the plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Close to 3,000 people were killed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Several different figures have been published, but according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum 2,977 people were killed.

Do you remember where you were when 9/11 happened?

I remember where I was on September 11, 2001, when I heard that the World Trade Center twin towers in New York had collapsed after being struck by two hijacked planes.

I was actually in Taiwan and all alone in my parent’s apartment in Kaohsiung. I had relocated to Taiwan from New York, just a few months before 9/11. The way I found out about the whole thing was a phone call from my Mom telling me what had happened. I remember being in disbelief and immediately turning on the TV and seeing CNN reporting on it.

25 years have passed since that tragic day.

What happens when there’s a generation of Americans who have no recollection of 9/11? That’s something that my guest on this episode, David has thought about. David found a personal connection to 9/11 through the personal stories of the Taiwanese who died on 9/11. His hope is that by sharing the stories of the Taiwanese who lost their lives on 9/11, younger Taiwanese Americans can find a connection to 9/11.

Puma Shen (沈伯洋) DPP Taipei Mayoral Candidate’s Vision for Taipei City: Our FULL INTERVIEW | Ep 361

Felicia Lin — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 14:00:29 +0000

The last time that Taipei elected a mayor from the Democratic Progressive Party was Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 1994. At the time it seemed like some kind of a breakthrough because Taipei is known to be a Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang stronghold. During his tenure as mayor of Taipei, Chen Shui-bian had a very high public approval rating of over 70% to nearly 80%. In spite of this he was not reelected for a second term. Instead, the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was elected mayor of Taipei. Now nearly 30 years have passed and none of the DPP mayoral candidates have been able to get elected in Taipei since. Will this year’s DPP candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) be able to break the spell?

In this episode you’ll learn about more about who Puma Shen is and what his vision for Taipei City is.

Puma is an Associate Professor at National Taipei University’s Graduate School of Criminology, Co-Founder of Doublethink Lab, Co-Founder of Kuma Academy, and this year’s Taipei City mayoral candidate for Democratic Progressive Party.

Meet Puma Shen (沈伯洋): The Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Running for Taipei Mayor | Ep 360

Felicia Lin — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 01:12:47 +0000

In July Puma Shen (沈伯洋) who’s currently a Legislator in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan came to the U.S. for an eight-day trip. Puma is an Associate Professor at National Taipei University’s Graduate School of Criminology, Co-Founder of Doublethink Lab, Co-Founder of Kuma Academy, and this year’s Taipei City mayoral candidate for Democratic Progressive Party.

It’s been nearly 30 years since Taipei has elected a DPP mayor and Puma most definitely has an uphill battle because Taipei voters usually vote for politicians from the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang. According to a poll released by Taiwan Brain Trust in May, the incumbent Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) led DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) by more than 20 points.

Puma gave a talk when he was in New York on July 24th and many people showed up to hear him speak. We were at his talk and wanted to share some translated highlights from it. We recorded Puma’s entire talk on July 24th and it’s on Talking Taiwan’s YouTube channel if you’d like to watch it. Incredibly the video now has over 60,000 views!

More exciting news for us…

I’ve been following Puma’s career since he founded Doublethink Lab in 2019, so I was excited to finally have a chance to sit down with him for an interview just 2 days after he officially registered as the DPP candidate for Taipei Mayor. We will share a short clip from the interview at the end this episode before we release the entire interview soon.

Ashton Yeh: 13-Year Old Taiwanese Imaginative Artist Does Exhibitions Around the World | Ep 359

Felicia Lin — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 12:59:37 +0000

Earlier this year, in March we met and interviewed 13-year-old artist Ashton Yeh right before the opening of his debut exhibition in New York. Born in Taiwan Ashton moved to Japan to immerse himself in his passion for animation and Japanese Manga. He has already had successful solo shows in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and the Philippines. Ashton’s artwork is a vibrant portal of monsters, pop-culture-inspired creatures, and imaginative worlds.

We had a lot of fun meeting and speaking with Ashton. What a creative and expressive young man he is! Ashton gave us a personal walkthrough of his exhibit, telling us about the stories and ideas behind each of his pieces of artwork, so if you’d like to see and hear even more about Ashton’s artwork, be sure to visit Talking Taiwan’s YouTube channel where we’ll be sharing that video.

Vincent Hsu (徐崇育) Award-Winning Taiwanese Jazz Bassist Composer Bridges Cultures through his Musical Works | Ep 358

Felicia Lin — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:36:22 +0000

Vincent Hsu (徐崇育) is a Taiwanese bassist, composer and the leader of Vincent Hsu & Soy La Ley Afro-Cuban Jazz band. We sat down to speak a few days before his concert, Spirits from Both Sides. The concert was held on August 15th at Flushing Town Hall with Vincent and Arturo O’Farrill- a six-time GRAMMY Award winner and two-time Latin GRAMMY Award winner. Hsu planned to premiere a big-band arrangement of his Taiwanese Trilogy Music Suite (台灣人三部曲), at the August 15th performance.

We talked about the parallels between Taiwanese folk culture and Afro-Latin spiritual beliefs and how his musical composition, Taiwanese Trilogy Music Suite, draws inspiration from Taiwanese Hakka writer Chao-Cheng Chung (鍾肇政).

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.

Self-Empowerment Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Taiwan American Voices Remembered on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11 | Ep 362

Related Links:

Puma Shen (沈伯洋) DPP Taipei Mayoral Candidate’s Vision for Taipei City: Our FULL INTERVIEW | Ep 361

Related Links:

Meet Puma Shen (沈伯洋): The Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Running for Taipei Mayor | Ep 360

Related Links:

Ashton Yeh: 13-Year Old Taiwanese Imaginative Artist Does Exhibitions Around the World | Ep 359

Related Links:

Vincent Hsu (徐崇育) Award-Winning Taiwanese Jazz Bassist Composer Bridges Cultures through his Musical Works | Ep 358

Related Links:

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

Related Links:

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

Related Links:

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

Related Links:

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

Related Links:

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

Related Links: