The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files
by John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith
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Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
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Total monthly reach
Estimated from 5 chart positions in 5 markets.
By chart position
- 🇯🇵JP · History#1711K to 10K
- 🇹🇼TW · History#2910K to 30K
- 🇭🇺HU · History#112500 to 3K
- 🇭🇰HK · History#143500 to 3K
- 🇲🇾MY · History#174500 to 3K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
3.8K to 15K🎙 Daily cadence·326 episodes·Last published today - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
13K to 49K🇹🇼61%🇯🇵20%🇭🇺6%+2 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
5K to 20K
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Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
From 21 epsHosts
Recent guests
Recent episodes
Snakes of Taiwan (with Gerrut Norval) – S6-E16
Jun 25, 2026
Unknown duration
Keelung to Ishigaki Ferry: Taiwan’s Forgotten Yaeyama Stories – Snack 07
Jun 21, 2026
Unknown duration
The Dragon Boat Festival Story: Qu Yuan, Myth, and History – S6-E15
Jun 18, 2026
Unknown duration
Football in Taiwan: From Missionaries to Mulan – S6-E14
Jun 11, 2026
29m 38s
The Great Formosa Tsunami Mystery – Snack 06
Jun 7, 2026
10m 52s
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/25/26 |  Snakes of Taiwan (with Gerrut Norval) – S6-E16 | Does a “triangular head” mean danger? Did the wartime Japanese release experimental snakes on Yangmingshan? Do you really collapse after a hundred steps if a hundred-pacer bites you? Herpetologist Gerrut Norval joins John Ross to talk snakes. They focus on Taiwan’s six important venomous species: the green bamboo viper, Chinese cobra, many-banded krait, Russell’s viper, Taiwan habu, and the famous hundred-pacer. The biggest surprise for John was learning about the wild population of Burmese pythons on Kinmen. Be sure to visit the Formosa Files website for pictures and names of the snakes mentioned. | — | ||||||
| 6/21/26 |  Keelung to Ishigaki Ferry: Taiwan’s Forgotten Yaeyama Stories – Snack 07 | To celebrate the new Yaima Maru ferry service connecting Keelung with the Yaeyama Islands, Taiwan’s nearest neighbors, we uncover stories of Taiwanese migrants there in the Japanese colonial era. On jungle-clad Iriomote Island, some suffered brutal conditions in the coal mines. On nearby Ishigaki, Taiwanese settlers helped transform the island’s agriculture. They developed its pineapple industry and also introduced water buffalo, whose descendants can be seen today pulling tourist carts. | — | ||||||
| 6/18/26 |  The Dragon Boat Festival Story: Qu Yuan, Myth, and History – S6-E15 | Looking for the true story behind the Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Jie)? There’s much more to it than dragon boat races and sticky rice dumplings (zongzi).Many know the standard origin story of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, but Formosa Files uncovers the less-tidy roots of the holiday. The Dragon Boat Festival date falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month; once feared as the dangerous "Month of a Hundred Poisons." Discover how people responded with temple rituals, protective herbs, and even arsenic-laced wine.John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith also chat about what marks the arrival of summer in modern Taiwan, from peak mango season to the blooming of the yellow golden shower and red flame trees right around when schools celebrate graduations. Plus, Eryk shares ancient wisdom from Ben-Hur ("Row well, and live" – 1959) as he recounts his own dragon boat racing glory. | — | ||||||
| 6/11/26 | Football in Taiwan: From Missionaries to Mulan – S6-E14✨ | football heritageTaiwan history+4 | — | ROC national teamMulan women’s football team | TaiwanTainan+1 | footballTaiwan+6 | — | 29m 38s | |
| 6/7/26 | The Great Formosa Tsunami Mystery – Snack 06✨ | tsunamiTaiwan history+3 | — | — | TaiwanEurope | Formosatsunami mystery+5 | — | 10m 52s | |
| 6/4/26 | VIDEO: Should Taiwan Change its Time Zone? A Chat with Sasha B. Chhabra – S6-E13✨ | Taiwan's time zonehistory of clocks+4 | Sasha B. Chhabra | Formosa Review | TaiwanTaipei+2 | Taiwantime zone+5 | — | 25m 49s | |
| 6/4/26 | Should Taiwan Change its Time Zone? A Chat With Sasha B. Chhabra – S6-E13✨ | Taiwan's time zonehistory of clocks+4 | Sasha B. Chhabra | Formosa Review | TaiwanTaipei+2 | Taiwantime zone+5 | — | 24m 37s | |
| 5/28/26 | A German in Dutch Formosa: Caspar Schmalkalden – S6-E12✨ | Dutch colonizationTaiwan history+3 | — | Dutch | FormosaBrazil+3 | Caspar SchmalkaldenDutch Formosa+5 | — | 29m 38s | |
| 5/26/26 | Taekwondo in Taiwan: From the Marines to Olympic Gold – Snack 05✨ | TaekwondoTaiwan+3 | — | TaiwanJordanian royal guard | — | TaekwondoTaiwan+3 | — | 11m 16s | |
| 5/21/26 | The Tanaka Memorial: A Secret Blueprint for World Conquest – S6-E11✨ | Tanaka MemorialJapanese history+4 | — | Japanese Imperial Palace | ManchuriaChina+2 | Tanaka MemorialJapanese Prime Minister+5 | — | 28m 43s | |
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| 5/14/26 | Bridges of Taiwan – S6-E10✨ | bridgesTaiwan history+3 | John Groot | TaiwanCentric.com | TaiwanTamsui+3 | Danjiang BridgeXiluo Bridge+5 | — | 28m 49s | |
| 5/10/26 | Chen Shu-chu: Taiwan’s Vegetable Vendor Philanthropist – Snack 04✨ | philanthropyTaiwan history+4 | — | Time magazine | TaiwanTaitung | Chen Shu-chuTaiwan+5 | — | 10m 23s | |
| 5/7/26 | Taiwan Ghosts: Haunted Hotels, Trickster Spirits, and Vengeful Widows – S6-E9✨ | ghost storiesTaiwanese folklore+3 | — | — | Taiwan | ghostsTaiwan+6 | — | 29m 40s | |
| 4/30/26 | Guns in the Mountains: Taiwan’s Indigenous Firepower – S6-E8✨ | Taiwan's Indigenous communitiesfirearms+4 | — | Qing dynastyJapanese army+2 | — | TaiwanIndigenous peoples+6 | — | 28m 33s | |
| 4/23/26 | Ping-Pong with Mao in Taiwan: The Chairman (1969) – S6-E7✨ | Cold Warspy thriller+4 | — | The Chairman | TaiwanTaipei+1 | The ChairmanGregory Peck+6 | — | 23m 52s | |
| 4/16/26 | The Celebrity Forensics Expert: Henry Lee – Part 2 – S6-E6✨ | forensicscriminal justice+3 | — | New Haven University | — | forensicsHenry Lee+3 | — | 39m 10s | |
| 4/9/26 | Shoes, Graves, and Fingerprints: Henry Lee in Taiwan – Part 1 – S6-E5✨ | forensic sciencebiography+3 | — | — | TaiwanKinmen+1 | Henry C. Leeforensic scientist+6 | — | 27m 19s | |
| 4/5/26 | Bonus episode: Taiwan’s Sugar Railways (with Prof. Dafydd Fell) -S6✨ | Taiwan historysugar railways+3 | Prof. Dafydd Fell | SOAS UniversityThe Twilight Years of Taiwan’s Sugar Railways | — | Taiwansugar railways+5 | — | 37m 17s | |
| 4/2/26 | Taiwanese Tea in America, American Spies in Formosa – S6-E4✨ | Taiwanese teaAmerican spies+4 | — | oolong teaU.S. Army | TaiwanAmerica+2 | Taiwantea+5 | — | 32m 03s | |
| 3/29/26 | Wasabi – Green Fire from the Mountains – Snack 03✨ | wasabiTaiwan history+3 | — | — | TaiwanChiayi County+1 | wasabiTaiwan+5 | — | 8m 53s | |
| 3/26/26 | The Extraordinary Life of Huang Chin-tao (Part 2) – S6-E3✨ | Huang Chin-taoTaiwan history+4 | — | Heaven Does Not Block All Roads | TaiwanNantou | Huang Chin-taoTaiwan+6 | — | 25m 50s | |
| 3/19/26 | Huang Chin-tao: a History of Taiwan Through One Man’s Life (Part 1) – S6-E2✨ | Taiwan historyHuang Chin-tao+4 | — | Anna Beth KeimHeaven Does Not Block All Roads | — | Huang Chin-taoTaiwan history+4 | — | 28m 08s | |
| 3/15/26 | Chopsticks – The “Quick Little Boys” of East Asia – Snack 02✨ | chopsticksEast Asia culture+3 | — | kuàizichopsticks | TaiwanChina+3 | chopsticksTaiwan+7 | — | 8m 53s | |
| 3/12/26 | Taiwan’s Forgotten Horse History: Cowboys, Cavalry, and the Racing Craze – S6-E1✨ | horse historyTaiwan+4 | — | — | Taiwan | Taiwanhorse history+5 | — | 30m 56s | |
| 3/5/26 |  The Taiwan "Tugou," or Mountain Dog – Snack 01 | Their lineage is ancient. They are loyal, smart, and great hunting companions. But Taiwan’s native dog almost went extinct, and today it’s hard to say how many “pure breeds” are left, if any. These medium-sized dogs, with pointy ears and a love for running, were not long ago the underdogs. But they’ve made a remarkable comeback and are finally getting their day -- a story worth sinking your teeth into. Enjoy Formosa Files’ very first “snack episode.” Next week… Season Six begins. | — | ||||||
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Chart Positions
5 placements across 5 markets.
Chart Positions
5 placements across 5 markets.