Taiwan Talk

Director and filmmaker Eric Rettstadt joins us on Taiwan Talk this week to discuss his new short movie "Tank Fairy" which stars Taiwan drag queen Marian Mesula. The film has enjoyed screenings at a number of prestigious film festival across the US. It tells the story of a fabulous gas delivery agent that meets a schoolboy in Taipei City and turns his world upside down.

Isabella Tan is a young filmmaker raised in Taiwan and Malaysia, also having spent some time making films in the U.S. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi chats with Isabella about her experiences in the film industry, and Asian representation in front of and behind the cameras. You can find Isabella's Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/its.bellatan/ And her Vimeo page here: https://vimeo.com/isabellatan Thanks for listening!

Quincy Davis is a professional basketball player for the New Taipei Kings, and has been a crucial player on Taiwan's national basketball team. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi speaks with Quincy about his experience becoming a Taiwanese citizen, playing basketball for Taiwan around the world, and inspiring the younger generations of Taiwan to try their hands and feet at sports. You can see some of Quincy's games on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PLEAGUEofficial You can follow Quincy on Instagram: @q.davis3 And check out his restaurant for some amazing vegan food! https://www.facebook.com/uncleqvegan/ Thanks for listening!

Academia Sinica's Shashank Keshavmurthy is a coral reef specialist who has lived in Taiwan for more than a decade. ICRT's Hope Ngo speaks to Keshavmurthy about the lethal combination of climate change and relentless human interest that's threatening the coral reefs around Xiaoliuqiu. Thanks for listening.

Tobie Openshaw is a filmmaker, photographer, and advocate for Taiwan's next generation of visual storytellers. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi chats with Tobie about his work with Taiwan's indigenous stories, his experience documenting the Sunflower Movement in 2014, and the hurdles that young filmmakers have to overcome in getting their work into the world. Join Tobie's group "Filmmaker Nights Taipei" for some valuable insight into filmmaking: https://www.facebook.com/groups/607185949394560 Thanks for listening!

Emily Wu is the CEO and co-founder of Ghost Island Media, one of Taiwan's most popular podcast networks. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi chats with Emily about Ghost Island Media's first shows, her work in Taiwan's media industry, and the future of podcasts in Taiwan. You can find a list of Ghost Island Media's shows on their website: https://ghostisland.media/ On on their instagram: @ghostislandme Here's a link to one of their English shows, "Waste Not Why Not", on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gQASkmr41ITwHegixRwE8 And check out their recent audio documentary in Chinese, 【一年的告白】： https://open.spotify.com/show/0wyy0JpqXvy2cPtGTaA0GC Thanks for listening!

Priya Lalwani-Purswaney, also known as 李眉君, is a professional interpreter of Chinese, English, and Hindi, and an organizer of Indian cultural events in Taiwan. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi speaks with Priya about her experience growing up in Taiwan, her work as a simultaneous interpreter, and her role as a cultural bridge between India and Taiwan. You can find Priya's Translation and Interpreting Services here: https://www.facebook.com/PriyaTranslator/ Check out the events and support group "Indians In Taiwan", which Priya founded and manages: https://www.facebook.com/IndiansInTaiwan/ Thanks for listening!

Liam Fanning is organizing the upcoming "Taipei Shorts IV", the fourth installment of a series of short plays, going on stage in early January 2022! ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi speaks with Liam about writing, directing, and acting, as well as how Taipei Shorts is keeping English- and multi-language theater alive in Taiwan. Find tickets to Taipei Shorts here: bit.ly/taipeishorts Find out more about Taipei shorts online: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/219116397022862 Instagram: @taipeishorts And find Liam on Instagram: @liamfliamfliamf Thanks for listening!

Jim Geddes is the founder and bandleader of the Taipei Professional Orchestra Big Band, as well as a freelance musician and woodwind instrumentalist extraordinaire. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi speaks with Jim about the TPO Big Band, gathering musicians in a pandemic, and his background on Broadway. You can find the TPO Big Band's new album here: https://tpotaipei.bandcamp.com/album/tpo-live-at-yuchen-cinema-studios Follow TPO for more info on performances around Taiwan: Instagram: @tpotaipei Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TPOTaipei Thanks for listening!

Satoki Matsushita is an astrophysicist who has worked with international projects like the Event Horizon Telescope and the Greenland Telescope Project, which have contributed to humanity's first imaging of a black hole, millions of lightyears from Earth. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi speaks with Satoki about his research on black holes, his work with telescopes around the world, and his personal journey of learning astrophysics. CORRECTION NOTE: In the interview, Satoki mentions the use of an "S.I.S.", which should be a "superconductor-insulator-superconductor", not a "semiconductor". Thanks to Satoki for clarifying in post! You can read about Satoki in Chinese here: https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/2441505 More info on the Event Horizon Telescope: https://eventhorizontelescope.org/ And a short documentary on the Greenland Telescope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkSSk5zEVC0 Thanks for listening!

Bonnie Lin and Angela Hsiung are professional street dancers, and are directing an immersive dance performance called "Lili", which is set to open for the weekend of December 11th and 12th. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi speaks to Bonnie and Angela about their show Lili, immersive dance, training during the pandemic, and their experiences with street dance. Follow them on instagram: Lili: @lili20210717 Bonnie: @ahbong_moveon Angela: @angelahsiung Thanks for listening!

Mark Hsu, found of outsourcing service provider and consulting agency 11th Fleet joins the podcast this week to talk about his organisation and the new, decentralised business environment that organisations around the world are slowly starting to adopt.

Brian Hioe is a founding member of New Bloom Magazine, and a regular correspondent for news agencies including Taiwan Plus and ICRT. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi speaks to Brian about his recent contribution to an extensive feature story on Taiwan by HBO's "Last Week Tonight", hosted by John Oliver, which is some of the most mainstream coverage of Taiwan by the U.S. in recent years. You can find more from Brian on New Bloom: https://newbloommag.net/ And you can follow Brian on social media: https://twitter.com/brianhioe Thanks for listening!

French filmmaker Aurelien Jegou joins us on this week's episode of Taiwan Talk to discuss his love of Taiwanese cinema, and two of the short movies he has produced since moving to Taiwan over five years ago. You can find more information about Aurelien's work at www.aurelien-binggan.com.

Eddy Gonzalez is the owner of the restaurant "Eddy's Cantina" in Taipei, where he hosts the weekly live show "Eddy LIVE". ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi chats with Eddy about running a restaurant through the pandemic, what he's learned from hosting a live show, and how to turn a Wednesday into a Friday. You can see his show on YouTube every Wednesday at 7 PM: https://www.eddy.live/ And you can follow him on Instagram: Eddy LIVE: @eddy.live.tw Eddy's Cantina: @eddyscantina Thanks for listening!

LGBTQ advocate and business-owner Olivia Wu joins us on Taiwan Talk this week to talk about her organization The Light Program. The organization offers holistic healing services and is involved in community-building activities in Taiwan. Olivia has also helped organize Asia Rainbow Ride - a biking event to raise money for LGBTQ charities.

Ray Ko is a freediving instructor on the island of Xiaoliuqiu, off the coast of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi speaks with Ray about the different kinds of diving, ocean stories, sea life, and pushing the limits of one's own diving potential. You can find more info on diving lessons with Ray here: https://www.freedivenomadtaiwan.com/ Follow Ray on instagram: @freedivenomad And check out his educational podcast on diving, called: Total Beginner Freedive Podcast Thanks for listening!

This final episode in the Renewable Energy and Taiwan series features representative of Siemens Taiwan Anthony Tam, who talks about the company’s Smart City concept for sustainable energy usage. Anthony discusses the three key Smart City initiatives of “grid edge”, smart buildings, and smart electrification, and explains where these have been implemented in Taiwan and around the world.

Sarah Chang is an action film star turned podcaster, and host of "The Kungfu Momma Show". ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi chats with Sarah about her show, parenting experts, bringing the tenets of martial arts into everyday life, normalizing Asian representation in film, and her experiences on all sides of the cameras and microphones. You can hear more on the Kungfu Momma Show podcast: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gqwx6udyAczkDLh7B0hWr Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kungfu-momma-show-功夫媽媽秀 You can follow Sarah on other platforms as well: Instagram: @starringsarahchang YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/starringsarahchang/ And you can learn more about film acting and production with Sarah here: https://scene8studio.wixsite.com/home Thanks for listening!

Seqalu is a TV series focusing on a critical piece of Taiwan's history, at the crossroads of indigenous culture and foreign influence. ICRT's Trevor Tortomasi speaks with Seqalu's director Jui-Yuan Tsao (曹瑞原), as well as starring actors Andrew Chau (周厚安) and Chien-Wei Huang (黃健瑋). This episode is the full bilingual interview, with all responses presented in their original languages. Seqalu is available on Netflix in Taiwan… Check it out when you get the chance! Thanks for listening!