Over 1,800 Taiwanese evacuated from Middle East as tensions rise. President Lai Ching-te announces NT$24 billion drug supply resilience plan. Taiwan launches online climate course for high school students. President Lai marks 15th anniversary of Japan’s 3/11 earthquake. Taiwan’s baseball team returns home after WBC elimination. US Navy aircraft transits Taiwan Strait ahead of Trump’s China visit.

Join us for another episode where Eloise, Fil, and Hanna chat about how Taipei is shaking up Fashion Week, a 10-year-old breaking records in Paris with sustainable designs, a traveler caught with heroin in their luggage at Taoyuan Airport, and the growing support for unmarried childbearing amid debates over overpopulation and an aging society.

Are you a cinephile? As a film critic, watching films is one the things that Wanson loves to do in his free time. This week, let’s learn some Tâi-gí words related to going to the movies.   ●Words to Know: 1. 電影 tiān-iánn (n.) film 2. 戲院 hì-īnn (n.) movie theatre  3. 拍電影 phah-tiān-iánn (phr.) shoot a film 4. 主角 tsú-kak (n.) main character 5. 字幕 jī-bōo (n.) subtitles   ●Idiom  of the week: 人生親像大舞台，苦齣笑詼攏公開。 Jîn-sing tshin-tshiūnn tuā bú-tâi, khóo-tshut tshiò-khue lóng kong-khai. (Life is like a big stage – sad scenes and comedic scenes are all performed in public.)

Some emails that were missed during the Lunar New Year and World Radio Day have finally made their way to me (my apologies for the delay!). I'm happy to say that they were beautifully written. I want to emphasize once again that while listeners often praise broadcasters for creating shows and keeping radio alive, listeners themselves are just as important a part of the process! If you would like to contact us and have your message read on air, please send a letter to P.O. BOX 123, 199 Taipei, Taiwan, or email us at English@rti.org.tw. You can also reach us on social media: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram at @Rtienglish.

Tucked away in Kaohsiung is a restaurant with a story that stretches far beyond the city’s streets. Loracorlo, the only Israeli restaurant in this southern city, began with a very simple desire: a craving for the taste of home.  In this episode of Formosa Dream Chasers, we sit down with Dan Orlovsky, the founder of Loracorlo, to learn how the COVID-19 pandemic brought him to Taiwan and ultimately led him into the restaurant business. What started as a personal longing for familiar flavors slowly grew into something bigger—an idea that would take shape during one of the most uncertain times in recent history. As the world grappled with the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dan found himself navigating unfamiliar territory, turning a simple desire into a dream that would become reality. In this conversation, Dan shares how Loracorlo came to life and what it means to bring a piece of Israeli culture and cuisine to Kaohsiung. Tune in as we explore how a craving for home tu...

Since 2000, Taiwan has maintained strict import quotas on Chinese films. The Ministry of Culture limits theatrical releases to 10 titles per year. While this policy is intended to protect the local industry and democratic society from political propaganda, the selection process, which relies on a lucky draw system, has sparked debate about its fairness and efficacy. In this third and final episode of the A Screen for All series, we examine the structural and legal challenges facing Chinese cinema in Taiwan. We ask: Why does the current system allow political propaganda to slip in while blocking independent films that criticise the Chinese government? The episode features film critic and festival programmer Wonder Weng (翁煌德), who discusses the practical failures of the current lottery draw, including the recent Black Dog controversy. We are also joined by Wesley Huang (黃品惟), a cinephile and law school graduate student, who proposes a reform toward a risk-based conte...

Which of the following is not true?   a) Human-raised macaques cannot integrate into troops   b) Birdwatching can boost cognitive function   c) Former house cats are being used in deadly cat research in the U.S. Formosa Fauna is back this week to entertainingly teach you about animals both in Taiwan and abroad! Spend the next 20 minutes listening to this episode and feeding your noggin with fun facts about the animal kingdom so you can become smarter than all of your friends. In this episode:  - The monkey named Punch  - Taiwan’s orphaned monkey  - University of Missouri uses federal funding to experiment on dozens of cats  - British government’s official “Chief Mouser”  - Nine wild horses shot and killed in Arizona Want to share your own story and have it read on air? Send your story (photos welcome) to tristan@rti.org.tw! See you every week for Formosa Fauna Fridays!

Hello and welcome to today's episode featuring the talented members of Tokyo Chuo-Line: Ken, Toru, and Nori. In our previous interview, we introduced the band and discussed the type of music they create, as well as exploring some of their early songs and their creative process.  This episode highlights their latest album, which was recorded live at Revolver, and another album, cotobacarat, which marks the first time they have collaborated with Japanese singer KINAKO for vocals. To wrap up the episode, each member will describe a song from the album and share valuable insights and advice for aspiring musicians. Tokyo Chuo-Line (東京中央線) is an instrumental band that consists of Ken Ohtake on guitar, Toru Hayakawa on bass, and Noriaki Fukushima on drums.   The name of the band comes from a railway in Tokyo. There is one train running across Tokyo city, and it is called "Central line" (Chuo-Line).   Lots and lots of bars, live houses, and clubs are in the area, and 3 of us gr...