Taiwan Music Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

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

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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.

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

Working in the Intersection of Ceramics Sound and History: Taiwanese American Maker Eugenie Chao Ep 326

Felicia Lin — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 07:05:20 +0000

In this episode of Talking Taiwan we sat down to speak with Eugenie Chao who describes herself as Taiwanese American maker, educator, and musician who works in the intersection of ceramics, sound, and history. Her exhibit at the Taiwanese American Arts Council House 17 on Governors Island aptly named Listening Vessels, features ceramic objects turned musical instruments created by Chao and is on display until September 7th.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

What came first for Eugenie music or working with clay?
What made her combine ceramics with music?
Where did that idea come from?
How did she get interested or start working with clay?
Eugenie’s musical training and what instruments she plays?
What was her early artwork like?
How her artwork has evolved over time?
What does it mean to work at the intersection of ceramics, sound, and history?
What is her creative process is like?
How sound affects her artwork?
How she decides the size of the objects she creates?
The challenges involved with making large scale pieces vs pieces that can be made by hand
How does the size of an object affects the sound it makes
The ceramic instruments from ancient cultures that inspire her, how she discovered them and what was their purpose
What inspires you? Where do you get your inspiration?
Eugenie’s connection to Taiwan
How Eugenie considers herself a maker and not an artist
What can we expect to see and experience from Eugenie’s Listening Vessels exhibit at the TAAC house on Governors Island
The most ambitious or challenging piece of work that Eugenie has made
How Eugenie deals with a creative block
Eugenie’s future projects can we expect to see from you?

Taiwanese Waves 2025 is Back! Ep 319

Felicia Lin — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:00:12 +0000

Summer is upon us and I’m sure that a lot of our listeners especially those in New York will be happy to know that Taiwanese Waves will be returning to Central Park’s Summer Stage on August 3 at the Rumsey Playfield. Doors open at 5:00pm

Since 2016 Taiwanese Waves has introduced Taiwanese music to audiences at Central Park’s Summer Stage. If you’re not familiar with Taiwanese Waves you’re in for a treat. In this episode I sat down with Mia, the main organizer of Taiwanese Waves and we are about to walk through and give you a taste of all of the acts that have performed at Summer Stage in the past nine years. You’ll also get to hear a preview of what to expect at this year’s concert.

Taiwan on the Margins of CSW 69: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress at Taiwan Main Stage Ep 307

Felicia Lin — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 10:48:23 +0000

If you’ve listened to our most recent episode of Talking Taiwan, you’ll know that the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women or CSW69 is now taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York. It began on March 10th and runs until March 21st.

On March 12th the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York (TECO-NY) hosted an event called “Taiwan Main Stage: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress on the margins of CSW 69.” This smartly worded event title is undoubtedly a soft reference the fact that Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, and therefore on the margins of CSW69.

We were there at TECO-NY’s fully packed event on the 12th where we heard from Po-Chun Sophiyah Liu and Chia-Hui Lu. Sophiyah is Ambassador-at-Large for Sports Diplomacy of Taiwan, and she is Taiwan’s first female umpire. Chia-Hui Lu is a classical musician, cross disciplinary artist and an associate professor at National Taiwan University of Arts.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

How Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations
Sophiyah Liu’s remarks at TECO-NY’s event called “Taiwan Main Stage: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress on the margins of CSW 69”
How the Global Sports Mentoring Program that set Sophiyah on the path to sports diplomacy
How when Sophiyah won the IOC and UN Women: Women and Sport World trophy in 2019, a special arrangement was made for her to enter the UN building to receive the award
When Sophiyah was invited to attend the UN Global Sport Program working group which met in a conference room in the United Nations building but when it came time to attend the meeting, she was told she couldn’t enter the UN building because she has a passport from Taiwan
Sophiyah’s thoughts on the controversy over questions about the gender eligibility of female boxer Lin Yu-ting at the Paris Olympics
Sophiyah’s thoughts on gender eligibility testing in sports
Chia-Hui Lu’s remarks at TECO-NY’s event called “Taiwan Main Stage: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress on the margins of CSW 69”
The technology, AI training and experimentation involved in creating the real-time music recognition system that captures melodies from Chia-Hui’s piano playing and transforms it into a surreal visual story
The mission and past projects of the Egret Cultural and Education Foundation
How the Egret Cultural and Education Foundation’s cross art productions combine theater, music, dance, technology, culture, and history
How the Egret Cultural and Education Foundation was published books about Taiwan’s history, nature, music, and art

Passport to Taiwan 20th Anniversary Catching Up with Rapper Dwagie and Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry Ep 285

Felicia Lin — Sun, 02 Jun 2024 08:33:48 +0000

On May 26^th we stopped by the annual Passport to Taiwan in New York City’s Union Square Park and I caught up with a few of our past guests, Taiwanese hip hop and rap artist, Dwagie who performed at this year’s Passport to Taiwan, and Lisa Cheng Smith who was also there with her Yun Hai co-founder Lillian Lin her co-founder. Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry 雲海 offers a selection of premium ingredients for Taiwanese and Chinese cooking online and at their shop located in Brooklyn.

I spoke Dwagie about his thoughts on the protests that have been happening around the legislative yuan in Taipei. Stay tuned for our next episode which will cover the protests around the legislative yuan that started around May 17^th.

I also spoke to Lillian and Lisa, co-founders of Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry about what it was like to have President Tsai Ing-wen visit their shop in Brooklyn, and a few of their products including their qq dragon T-shirt and dried mango.

To learn more about Dwagie check out episode 50 of Talking Taiwan and to learn more about Yun Hai check out episode 135.

FireEx 10th Anniversary Sunflower Movement: Sam Yang Tells How “Island’s Sunrise” Became Its Anthem Ep 278

Felicia Lin — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:40:59 +0000

Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Sunflower Movement, with FireEx.

Ten years ago, on the night of March 18, 2014 students and activists broke into Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan in an effort to block the passage of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, a trade agreement between Taiwan and China. The day before, on March 17, the Kuomintang (KMT) had attempted to force through passage of the trade agreement in the Legislative Yuan, without giving it a clause-by-clause review.

The occupation of the Legislative Yuan lasted over 20 days, until April 10^th and Fire EX.’s song Island’s Sunrise became the anthem of the movement, which came to known as the Sunflower Movement.

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Sunflower Movement, I sat down and spoke with Sam Yang, the lead singer of the band Fire EX. about how the opportunity to write the song Island’s Sunrise came about. As it turns out there’s a New York connection to the story and an exhibit and event to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Sunflower Movement be taking place in New York on March 15 and running until April 15. Sam and I also spoke about where he gets his musical inspiration and how the band nearly broke up in 2015, the same year that Island’s Sunrise was named Song of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards.

Fire EX. now has its own music production company and since 2017 they have been organizing something called Fireball Fest. The band is now on a North American tour and most notably will be performing at this year’s South by Southwest in Austin Texas. We’ll share their tour dates below.

This interview was a real treat for me because I happened to be in Taiwan in 2014 when the Sunflower Movement happened. I remember all of the events that unfolded and being so moved when I heard the song Island’s Sunrise. Special thanks to Katie Wei for her translation and May Wu for her help in making this interview possible. Katie Wei is a singer-songwriter who writes music to inspire and heal herself and others; she describes her music as pop style with soulful infusion, and can be found on Instagram @creativesoulkw

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

How Sam got interested in music
How Fire EX. got started and where its name comes from
Fire EX.’s musical influences
Sam’s path to becoming a full-time musician
Sam’s advice for young aspiring musicians
How the opportunity for Fire EX. to write a song for the Sunflower Movement happened
The New York connection to the story of how Fire EX. was asked to write a song for the Sunflower Movement
How there will be a month-long exhibit in New York to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Sunflower Movement from March 15-April 15 at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York City
March 18, 2014 the night students and activists broke into and occupied the Legislative Yuan
The March 23, 2014 attempt to occupy the Executive Yuan
The rallies that happened worldwide on March 30, 2014 in support of the students and activists’ actions to block the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement
How students who occupied the Legislative Yuan often listened to Fire EX.’s song Good Night Formosa before falling asleep
Why students of the Taipei National University of the Arts approached Sam to writ a song for the Sunflower Movement
Sam’s approach to writing the song Island’s Sunrise
How Sam decides to write songs in Holo Taiwanese or Mandarin Chinese
Sam’s thoughts on the differences and challenges of the twenty-somethings who were involved in the Sunflower Movement vs. the twenty-somethings who just voted in Taiwan’s recent election (January 13, 2024)
How Sam’s sense of social activism was influenced by his roommate Wu Zhining (吳志寧) whose father Wu Sheng (吳晟) is a famous Taiwanese poet
How Fire EX. almost broke up in 2015
The Fireball Festival
How Fire EX. will be touring in North American in March and performing at South by Southwest in Austin, TX
One of the most touching things that Sam has heard from one of the band’s fans
What we can expect from Fire EX. in the future, a concert in Taipei on June 15 and Fireball Festival at the end of November

Background of Taiwan Presidential Candidates 2024: Political Analyst Courtney Donovan Smith’s Rundown for Upcoming Election Ep 271

Felicia Lin — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 03:18:53 +0000

This episode is about the background of Taiwan Presidential Candidates in 2024 for the upcoming election.

Talking Taiwan is taking the show on the road back to Taiwan on the Talking Taiwan Election Tour and we traveled down to Taichung on January 7^th to meet up in person with political commentator Courtney Donovan Smith, to do some pre-election coverage. We talked about the backgrounds of the three presidential candidates Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) nominee, Lai Ching-te (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the Kuomintang (KMT) nomineeand their running mates, the opposition unity ticket between the Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party that fell apart.

At one time it looked like Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election could have been a four-way race but Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn who withdrew from the presidential race. To learn more about the candidates and their policies be sure to check out episode 270 with Courtney about the presidential debate. After the election results are in, we will bring Courtney back to share his post-election results analysis with us.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

The background of TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je
How Taiwan has a lot of politicians with medical backgrounds
The background of DPP presidential candidate Lai-Ching-te
The DPP campaign video” On the way” featuring Tsai Ing-wen, Lai Ching-te and Bi-khim Hsiao
The background of KMT presidential candidate Hou You-yi
Hou You-yi’s background as a police officer
The background of Jaw Shau-kong the KMT vice presidential candidate
The background of Bi-Khim Hsiao the DPP vice presidential candidate
The background of Cynthia Wu the TPP vice presidential candidate
Some of the controversies and allegations involving the presidential candidates
What happened to Terry Gou founder of Foxconn who withdrew from Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election

Jilliyeah: Taiwanese Pop Singer at Passport to Taiwan Ep 259

Felicia Lin — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 22:54:53 +0000

As Kaju announced that I’d be interviewing Jilliyeah in the Talking Taiwan podcasting booth at Passport to Taiwan in New York City’s Union Square Park, he mentioned the memorable acceptance speech that Jilliyeah made at last year’s Grammy awards on behalf of the Taiwanese designers who won the Best Recording Package Grammy award for the album Pakelan.

A lot has happened for her since then. Now she’s in the U.S. working on her career as a singer and musician.

I’m looking forward to having her back on Talking Taiwan for a more in-depth interview.

She’s been hard at work releasing her new singles. To learn more about her follow her on Instagram at Jilliyeah. You can also find her music on most streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music or SoundCloud.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Her performance at the Passport to Taiwan
Her music career in Taiwan
How she used to sing primarily in Hakka in Taiwan and the difference between singing in Hakka vs. English
Jilliyeah’s connection to Taiwan
What she misses the most about Taiwan
What Jilliyeah has been working on lately
How Jilliyeah studied opera when she was in university
What vocal exercises she does

NYC ART BRIDGE: How TAAC and CHATogether are Winning at Achieving Emotional Wellness Through Art Ep 258

Felicia Lin — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 10:55:51 +0000

The Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC) and the Yale CHATogether Group have collaborated on the NYC Art Bridge program. Several of the artists in residence at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island, Building 7B, which has affectionately come to be called the Taiwan house, have participated in the NYC Art Bridge program and created artwork for it. In this episode I will be speaking to Luchia Meihua Lee, the Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council, Dr. Eunice Yuen, Founder and Director of CHATogether, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Child Study Center, and LuLu Meng one of the artists in residence at the Taiwan house who participated in the NYC Art Bridge program. We previously had Dr. Eunice Yuen on Talking Taiwan in episode 93 to talk about CHATogether (Compassionate Home Action, Together).

There will be a closing ceremony for the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island this Saturday, October 28 at 2:00pm. As a special treat Talking Taiwan’s very own Executive Producer Kaju will be performing as the artist Rad Jet at the closing ceremony with a special guest, Rico Jones, six time Downbeat Magazine Award Winner,Tenor Saxophonist. If you are in the New York area we hope to see you there at Building 7B located in Governors Island’s Nolan Park.

Luchia Meihua Lee, Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council

Eunice Yuen, MD, PhD. Founder and Director of CHATogether, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Child Study Center

LuLu Meng, one of the artists in residence at the Taiwan house who participated in the NYC Art Bridge program

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

The concept behind NYC Art Bridge and its connection to CHATogether
How NYC Art Bridge connects mental health with the arts
How graphic media, illustration and other visual art can be used as tools to discuss mental health
Through NYC Art Bridge there have been talks with the community, AAPI artists, a community art exhibition
The two community NYC Art Bridge events that have been held on April 29 at the Queens Community College and on September 16 at the Taiwan house (on Governors Island)
The CHATogether component of the NYC Art Bridge events and how it facilitated discussion among the audience
The three parts of NYC Art Bridge: 1) an art exhibit 2) workshop, artist talks, role play, conversation with mental health professionals 3) artist interviews
The purpose of the artist interviews
How NYC Art Bridge serves to bridge artistic work with child and family mental health
How art can be a powerful form of expression or communication without words
How CHATogether use theater as a medium to destigmatize mental health and make people feel more comfortable to talk about mental health
How CHATogether has components of drama therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy
How CHATogether and NYC Art Bridge will be presented at AACAP (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry) on October 25 and what will be presented there
Pages from the graphic novel, Healing the Whole Family are displayed at the Taiwan house
The graphic novel, Healing the Whole Family, that was based on a New York Times article written by CHATogether member Grace Chiang
The illustration artwork of Elaine Shin (a psychiatry resident from, Northwestern University) is displayed at the Taiwan house
LuLu Meng, one of the artists in residence at the Taiwan house who also participated in NYC Art Bridge
How LuLu went from being a chemical engineer to an artist
LuLu’s background and childhood in Taiwan
LuLu’s family portrait artwork piece
LuLu’s NYC Art Bridge interview and what it revealed
The artwork LuLu created for NYC Art Bridge
LuLu’s reflections and thoughts about the CHATogether workshop on April 29 at the Queens Community College
LuLu’s artwork that has been displayed at the Taiwan house and what inspired LuLu to create them
What being an artist means to LuLu
The closing ceremony of the Taiwan house (Building 7B in Governors Island’s Nolan Park) will feature a performance by Talking Taiwan’s very own Executive Producer Kaju, who will be performing as the artist Rad Jet at the closing ceremony with a special guest, Rico Jones, six-time Downbeat Magazine Award Winner, Tenor Saxophonist

Taiwan Music Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Talking Taiwan’s 2025 Inaugural Fundraising Gala! Ep 332

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

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Working in the Intersection of Ceramics Sound and History: Taiwanese American Maker Eugenie Chao Ep 326

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

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Taiwanese Waves 2025 is Back! Ep 319

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Taiwan on the Margins of CSW 69: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress at Taiwan Main Stage Ep 307

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

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Passport to Taiwan 20th Anniversary Catching Up with Rapper Dwagie and Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry Ep 285

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FireEx 10th Anniversary Sunflower Movement: Sam Yang Tells How “Island’s Sunrise” Became Its Anthem Ep 278

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

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Background of Taiwan Presidential Candidates 2024: Political Analyst Courtney Donovan Smith’s Rundown for Upcoming Election Ep 271

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

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Jilliyeah: Taiwanese Pop Singer at Passport to Taiwan Ep 259

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

NYC ART BRIDGE: How TAAC and CHATogether are Winning at Achieving Emotional Wellness Through Art Ep 258

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links: