About
Formosa Files is the world's biggest and highest-rated Taiwan history podcast. We use an engaging storytelling format and are non-chronological, meaning every week is a new adventure - and, you can just find a topic that interests you and check out that episode...skip stuff that isn't your thing. The hosts are John Ross, an author and publisher of works on Taiwan and China, and Eryk Michael Smith, a journalist for local and global media outlets. Both Ross and Smith have lived in Taiwan for over two decades and call the island home. Email: formosafiles@gmail.com
Creator
John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith
host
Reviews
Episodes(3)
George Kerr and Formosa Betrayed (with Prof. Jonathan Benda) – S5-E52
American George H. Kerr was the most important Western eyewitness and chronicler of the February 28 Incident of 1947, the violent uprising and brutal crackdown that shaped Taiwan’s modern politics and identity. Kerr first lived in Taiwan in the late 1930s, when the island was a colony of Japan. Duri
"China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read" by Scholar and Podcaster Lee Moore – S5-E51
John talks to Lee Moore about his 2025 book China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read, which focuses on four important China-related stories that often make headlines: Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong. In this conversation, Lee and John focus on Taiwan befor
New Year Special – The Taiwan Joss: The Shadow and the Pirates – S5-E50
新年快樂 (Xīnnián kuàilè) from Formosa Files! As we head into the Year of the Horse, we have something different: pirates in the Taiwan Strait, both factual and fictional. We look at a Japanese woman who became a notorious pirate leader in the 1930s. And we follow the Shadow, a mysterious crime-fighter