French President Emmanuel Macron praised Taiwan’s experience combating misinformation, calling it worthy of emulation by the French system. On Saturday, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry thanked Macron for his words, noting how disinformation and foreign interference are increasingly important global issues for democratic countries around the world.

This week, Amanda and Hanna are tackling: the Cloudflare outage and what (if anything) it means, a New York Times opinion debate that blamed women for “ruining the workplace”, and finally what it says about 2025 that Cambridge's “word of the year” is PARASOCIAL. Read along with us: Cloudflare outage: 1. Cloudflare Outage Disrupts X, ChatGPT and Thousands of Sites (Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly, Observer), 2. Why It Feels Like Your Favorite Websites Keep Going Down (Lisa Eadicicco, CNN) Did women ruin workplaces?: 1. Opinion | Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace? (Ross Douthat and Victoria Chamberlin, The New York Times) , 2. Women of Vanity Fair Consider Ross Douthat’s Question: Did Women Ruin the Workplace? (Vanity Fair) Word of the year: 1. Parasocial - that one-sided feeling you really know a celebrity - is Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year (Sky News), 2. Cambridge Dictionary’s 2025 Word of the Year: ‘Parasocial’ - an ‘unhealthy’ modern phenomenon (Dav...

Sarah and Naia are back in the studio to get geeky about video games!  What's so special about Eve Online?  Listen to find out!

Tropical Storm Fung-Wong reached southern Taiwan last week, becoming the first typhoon to make landfall in the past 58 years. With Taiwan’s weather changing so dramatically lately, let’s learn a few words to describe it. ●Words to Know: 1. 落雨 lo̍h-hōo (v.) raining 2. 好天 hó-thinn (n.) a sunny and comfortable day 3. 風真透 hong tsin thàu (phr.) really windy 4. 寒 kuânn (adj.) cold 5. 熱 lua̍h (adj.) hot ●PHRASE of the week: 鳳凰風颱 hòng-hông hong-thai Fung-Wong (Phoenix) typhoon

Join us for today's Status Update, with more reception reports, interesting questions, and greetings from various countries! 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.

Last week, we sat down with writer and Bandung Pop Darlings author Irfan Muhammad to trace the beginnings of his journey from Indonesia, where we learned how stepping away from a journalism career to pursue further studies opened the door to a new life in Taiwan. Today's episode continues with Irfan highlighting the diverse Indonesian communities living in Taiwan, the different perspectives they bring, and how their experiences influence the narratives they connect with. He also reflects on the work he’s doing to bridge Indonesian and Taiwanese cultures—amplifying voices, building understanding, and creating space for shared stories. Join us as we continue the conversation with Irfan Muhammad.

This week, we’re talking about the first English-language printed book, The Cairo Conference, and finally, the invention of the computer mouse! And we’ve got some great tunes to pair them with as well!

Ang Lee, the Oscar-winning Taiwanese director, directed "Brokeback Mountain," the 2005 classic film about two gay cowboys love story. Two days ago, Wanson got the chance to watch the screening of the movie and hear Ang Lee’s talk at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. Tune in, as Wanson shares how he was deeply moved by this beautiful and compelling story. If you would like to share your feedback, please send your words or voice notes to: wanson@rti.org.tw You can also find Wanson on Instagram (@wansonscafe) and YouTube (阿善Café/Wanson's Café)

The Formosan flying fox is the largest bat in Taiwan, with a wingspan that can stretch close to one meter — about the length of a standard baseball bat or the width of a medium-sized hawk in flight. These fascinating creatures are likely making a comeback in Hualien as sightings have increased.  Formosa Fauna is back this week to entertainingly educate 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 we talk about:  – Formosan flying fox making a comeback in Hualien  – Recycled food waste banned for pigs in Taichung  – Eurasian otter cub populations growing stronger in Kinmen  – Young malnourished Formosan black bear captured  – Scientist of the week: Charles Johnson Maynard  – The common octopus  – Handling a dog's fear of the groomer and vet ...and so much more. Want to share your own sto...

Listen to this episode expressing Michelle's gratitude for all you listeners out there!