Talking Taiwan

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: When Gus, the producer of Talking Taiwan suggested that I do an interview with David Frazier, co-founder and Festival Director of the Urban Nomad Film Festival, which first started in Taipei in 2002, I was intrigued. And after speaking with David about Urban Nomad, I found myself wishing that I'd be in Taipei at the time of the festival! We talked about how the Urban Nomad Film Festival is more than just a film festival. In the past it has featured poetry readings, live bands, exhibits, parties, and a host of other interactive events. At a glance, the Urban Nomad is part film festival, part music festival. But it is more than that. The goal of the festival's organizers has been to create a community-oriented event. David explained that the festival was inspired by punk rock’s DIY ethic, and described the Urban Nomad Film Festival as participatory event and “a live art project.” Learn where the name of the festival “Urban Nomad” came from, the fascinating evolution of the festival and what it takes to run a festival like this. The Urban Nomad Film Festival is definitely something worth checking out if you’re in Taipei in the spring. To learn more, visit their website: www.urbannomad.tw Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: How the festival has evolved since it first started in 2002 Where the name of the festival “Urban Nomad” came from What the Urban Nomad Film Festival is What it takes to run a festival like the Urban Nomad Film Festival The people and supporters of the festival Highlights from past Urban Nomad Film Festivals The New York connection to the Urban Nomad Film Festival The types of films that premier at the Urban Nomad Film Festival   Related Links: www.urbannomad.tw (Urban Nomad Film Festival website) www.facebook.com/UrbanNomad.tw (Urban Nomad Film Festival Facebook page)

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: I love talking to entrepreneurs and small business owners. It’s always interesting to learn how they started and have continued to build their businesses. For this episode I had the pleasure of speaking to Michael Forncrook about how he started a craft beer business in Taiwan. We spoke at great length, and what a lot of listeners don’t know is that we do most our podcasts long distance, via Skype. For this interview I was in New York, and Michael was in central Taiwan. It might not come as a surprise that we’ve the occasional technical glitch, but it happened a record number of times during my interview with Michael. We actually had to hang up and reconnect four times! So I want to thank Michael for sticking it out with me and for supporting Talking Taiwan. We had such a fascinating conversation about a range of topics including what type of beer is healthier, the steps to brew beer at home, gypsy brewers, and advice for expats wanting to start a business in Taiwan.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: How and why PB Craft hosts beer brewing classes Beer brewing in Taiwan and Asia Michael’s company PB Craft The B2B agricultural food marketplace, that Michael is developing. He describes it as the Aliba or B2B Amazon for food products and beverages Can beer be considered healthy and what kind of beer is healthier? The benefits of beer spas How to brew beer at home Unique craft beer flavors What is a gypsy brewer? The craft beer industry in Taiwan and Asia. The challenges of running a business with your spouse Advice for expats interested in starting a business in Taiwan Entrepreneurship in Taiwan   Beer Brewing Steps:   Related Links: http://www.pbcraft.com (B2B beer and beverage consulting and materials supplier) http://www.diybeersupply.com.tw (B2B online store) http://AgriGoGo.com (new BB Agriculture Marketplace) 金鼎軒自釀啤酒 DIY Beer Supply Home Brew Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/%E9%87%91%E9%BC%8E%E8%BB%92%E8%87%AA%E9%87%80%E5%95%A4%E9%85%92-DIY-Beer-Supply-Home-Brew-483634355030591/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Ed Yen is a Taiwanese music producer, music executive, entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, audio engineer, theater designer, film score, commercial composer, A&R manager and vocal coach. He is the Executive Producer of Taiwan Music Express and CEO Of GCA.

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:   For this episode of Talking Taiwan, I stopped by the CMJ 2014 Taiwan Music Express press conference to interview Dwagie (大支), one of the hip hop artists who will be performing at the CMJ Music Taiwan Night Showcase in October. Dwagie is known for writing about social issues and most notably has collaborated with the Dalai Lama.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:   Where Dwagie’s name comes from and what it means Dwagie’s early musical influences How Dwagie grew up listening to the music of Nas How Dwagie will be collaborating with Nas How Dwagie has met and worked with the Dalai Lama Many of Dwagie’s songs are about social issues like Facebook and the Sunflower Movement Why Dwagie writes songs about social issues Dwagie has written songs about stray animals and is a vegetarian Dwagie’s experience and involvement with the Wild Strawberries Movement and Sunflower Movement How the Sunflower Movement has impacted Taiwan’s society Who Dwagie will be collaborating with next Dwagie’s advice to aspiring musicians   Related Links: To view all related links for this article, click link below: https://talkingtaiwan.com/tt050-dwagie/  

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Around the time of the Sunflower Movement in 2014, which was a protest in response to Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou attempting to force passage of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (a trade pact between Taiwan and China), the Taiwan Voice Facebook page quickly became a major source of news about the movement. Students and activists occupied Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (Taiwan’s parliament) from March 18-April 10, 2014. Sophie Ping-Ya Hsu spoke about how the Taiwan Voice Facebook page got started, her involvement in it and its impact.     Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·       How the Taiwan Voice Facebook page got started ·       How Taiwan Voice started in part to support the students who occupied the Legislative Yuan on March 18, 2014 ·       Sophie’s background and connection to Taiwan ·       How Sophie got involved in the Taiwan Voice and met the others in the group ·       How the Taiwan Voice Facebook page was getting a thousand likes per day ·       Sophie’s contribution to running the Taiwan Voice Facebook page was as an editor, she scanned through Chinese-language social media posts for information and news ideas, to coordinate with English translators and to post to the Taiwan Voice Facebook page ·       Sophie recruited people to help run the Taiwan Voice Facebook page ·       The core group that started Taiwan Voice Facebook were 10-15 individuals ·       Initially news and information related to social justice issues were posted to the Facebook page without any filtering ·       How Taiwan Voice made an impact in creating awareness about Taiwan over social media ·       How Taiwan Voice helped to gather momentum from abroad for the Sunflower Movement ·       How Taiwan Voice was a quick source of news about Taiwan   Related Links:   Taiwan Voice Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TaiwanVoice   Sunflower Movement: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_Student_Movement   Legislative Yuan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Yuan   Ma Ying-jeou: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Ying-jeou

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Eric Tsai and Jenny Wang on Outreach for Taiwan talk to host Felicia Lin about Outreach for Taiwan.

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Here is an interview with Author Ed Lin on his Book, Ghost Month. Ed Lin talks about his latest novel - Ghost Month - which is his 5th book featuring Detective Robert Chow. The story centers around a mysterious murder that occurs in Taipei, Taiwan, during the 7th month of the lunar calendar. Mr Lin also talks about the writing process and his experiences as a novelist.

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Here is an interview with Echo Lin on Anti-Nuclear Protests in Taiwan. Echo Lin explains her role as Secretary General of the Environmental Jurist Association, an international group of legal professionals concerned about the lack of legislative frameworks that protect our planet from ourselves. She specifically discusses the controversies surrounding Taiwan's 4th Nuclear Power plant and why this remains a hot-button issue even nearly 30 years after it was approved by Taiwan's Legislative Yuan.

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Borcheng Hsu talks about the 13th Passport 2 Taiwan Festival at Union Square in New York City. P2TW has grown to over 60 booths (1/3 are authentic Taiwanese food you cannot find in the US outside of someone's home) and how cultural groups are now being flown in direct from Taiwan. Mr Hsu also talks about the future of the event, and how it could be traveling to a city new you someday soon!

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Here is an interview with Tony Chang on the Sunflower Movement.