The Taiwan Take
The Taiwan Take
Playlist by The Taiwan TakeA current affairs podcast on Taiwan and the world. Every episode, we invite a journalist to a conversation with an expert to get the big picture context of what we need to know. These are global issue…Follow the podcast:
58 clip(s) in playlist
“Zero Day Attack”: a TV show on Chinese invasion of Taiwan
We speak to Hsin-mei CHENG, producer of the 2025 television series “Zero Day Attack” (零日攻擊) - a 10-episode drama that imagines Taiwanese internal divide and cohesion after the Chinese PLA have launched an invasion of Taiwan. She speaks about her experience developing the show and the challenges o…
34:30
The Great Recall of 2025: Nathan Batto “Frozen Garlic” (Academia Sinica)
On July 26th, a third of Taiwan will vote on recall referendums (大罷免) for 24 legislators throughout Taiwan. Our guest is Nathan F. Batto, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica. Taiwan watchers also know him as the writer of Frozen Garlic wordpress on T…
34:40
How China's reshaping the global cybersecurity and digital norms (Article 19)
Michael Caster (Head of Global China Programme) and I-Chen Liu (Asia Programme Officer) are researchers from the international non-profit organization ARTICLE 19, whose report “Cybersecurity with Chinese Characteristics” (2025) outlines PRC’s influence over cybersecurity norms in 3 Indo-Pacific cou…
38:31
On classical music and healing: Mimi Yu (cellist, author of “The Unforgetting Body”)
Mimi Yu (尤虹文) is the author of three memoirs, including the 2019 title “The Unforgetting Body” in which she details her recovery from depression. Yu is a cellist who has worked with musicians like Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Katz, and Robert Levin. She played cello while at The Juilliard Schoo…
43:17
Jimmy Lai is China's most feared critic: Mark L. Clifford (author of "The Troublemaker")
Jimmy Lai, the 77-year-old media tycoon of British citizenship, has been detained for over five years, mostly in isolation. He is one of over 1,500 political prisoners in Hong Kong. Today's interview contains a clip of a conversation between Jimmy Lai and Natan Sharansky from November 20, 2020, on…
51:11
Borders, politics, and identity through nature writing: Jessica J. Lee (author of "Dispersals") (Live on April 11, 2025)
British-Canadian-Taiwanese writer Jessica J. Lee (李潔珂) is the author of three books of nature writing, Dispersals(2024), Two Trees Make a Forest(2019), and Turning (2017), the children’s book A Garden Called Home (2024), and co-editor of the essay collection Dog Hearted (2023). She has a PhD in Env…
50:39
Former Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on collective weakness and a new world order
Anders Fogh Rasmussen is former Prime Minister of Denmark (2001-2009) and Secretary General of NATO (2009-2014). He’s Chairman of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation. We sat down with Rasmussen this week at Yushan Forum, the annual summit organized by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and th…
23:44
Ukraine War, 3 years: Mariia Makarovych (Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine)
Mariia Makarovych is Head of the East Asian Office of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine. Today, we discuss the on-going peace negotiations, the role of civil society organizations the past three years, society preparedness prior to 2022, Russian propaganda since 2014, and today, the role of …
59:03
“The Battle for Taiwan” by Jonas Parello-Plesner (Live on Feb 19, 2025)
Jonas Parello-Plesner is Executive Director of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation. He’s the author of the book, “The Battle for Taiwan”. “The Battle for Taiwan” (“Kampen om Taiwan”) was first published in Denmark in 2023 as the first book on Taiwan for the Danish audience. The English edition …
1:02:20
Alejandro Mayoral Baños on RightsCon 2025 (Access Now)
Alejandro Mayoral Baños is the Executive Director of Access Now, an international NGO focusing on digital human rights. Access Now is the organizer of RightsCon - world’s largest digital human rights summit. The 2025 edition is set to take place in Taipei from February 24 to 27, 2025, where more …
54:50