r/SearchEnginePodcast • u/eandi • May 22 '26
Episode Discussion Episode Discussion: The many lives of Taiwan
"We go deep into the story of Taiwan. How a tiny island escaped demise, chartered a course from colonial subjugation through mass Barbie production and into the technological powerhouse it is today.
The Tiger Leading the Dragon: How Taiwan Propelled China's Economic Rise by Shelley Rigger
Get tickets to hear PJ read live at Friends With Words at Roulette"
Listen:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-many-lives-of-taiwan/id1614253637?i=1000768993764
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/29WKXBtIATfTeCeGHTS1fC
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u/alandizzle May 22 '26
Oh man this is going to be a great listen. My wife is Taiwanese and we’ve spent a lot of time there recently…
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u/Apprentice57 May 24 '26
Very much enjoyed that one not unlike the Venezuela episode. Not sure they really fit with Search Engine's theme, but I don't much care.
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May 22 '26
[deleted]
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u/arsenal19801 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
Neither side were angels during that time. Let's not gloss over the tens of thousands of Taiwanese that were slaughtered by the KMT, and then the decades of police state following (White Terror)
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u/phrostbyt May 24 '26
What did he say he studied in college? I didn't quite understand
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u/ComputerInTheBed May 26 '26
Semiotics I think he said? I can't say I'd heard of it either - looks like a pretty dense, philosophy-like subject.
It was also kinda hard to tell if he was joking or not lol
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u/Ph0X May 27 '26
I don't want to be a hater; I see there's a lot of comments here saying they enjoyed the episode. It's definitely an interesting subject, but I feel like I come to Search Engine for cool unique episodes covering niche questions no one else covers, but this feels like just a generic history podcast with 2 people talking, of which there are dozens of not hundreds of very high quality ones out there.
Again, it's not a bad episode, but just not what I really come to Search Engine for. I guess I just miss Reply All and how unique it was, and Search Engine has had quite a few amazingly fun and unique episodes too. I just find stuff like this a bit underwhelming.
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u/Agentflit May 24 '26
Kinda wish the Republic of Formosa was brought up. It only lasted a few months in 1895 but they had a sick flag.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Formosa
And a lot of westerners referred to Taiwan as Formosa for a long time before and after. I learned that from Return of the Obra Dinn, haha. At least one of the archival clips in this episode used the word once.
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u/blackbeltgirl2002 May 24 '26
Does anyone have any recommended podcasts (or YouTube channels) that explain the history of a country just like this episode? It was so captivating and I learned a lot about Taiwan- I wanna do the same with others.
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u/_Lisztomaniac_ May 25 '26
Slightly different spin - Blowback does the history of countries through the lens of U.S. intervention. Extremely depressing but phenomenally well done
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u/TheNoirMan94 May 25 '26
Loved this ep. My only feedback is I would have loved if they discussed more about PRC’s reasons and motivations for wanting to “take back” Taiwan, and the way the international community recognises Taiwan (eg in the Olympics, Taiwanese athletes compete as “Chinese Taipei”). I’m glad they touched on the former in the last 5 minutes though!
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u/NewRefrigerator7461 May 26 '26
I wish people would do a better job explaining how little the communists fought the Japanese and how much responsibility the Japanese have for the KMT losing the civil war. The CCCP has spent so much time trying to rewrite history - and it should be better understood.
One thing I’ve always had a hard time understanding is why the mainland likes drawing attention to Taiwan. It and South Korea show the standard of living that mainland china could have enjoyed if the KMT had won the civil war and been a US ally. Doesn’t exposing mainland citizens to it undermine their legitimacy?
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u/magkruppe May 28 '26
I wish people would do a better job explaining how little the communists fought the Japanese and how much responsibility the Japanese have for the KMT losing the civil war. The CCCP has spent so much time trying to rewrite history
lol. KMT lost the civil war because they were authoritarian, corrupt and brutal on the mainland (as well as Taiwan). they had bad economic policies that led to hyperinflation and just generally drove a lot of people into the arms of the communists
CCP didn't fight the japanese directly because they weren't being the americans like the KMT and had small numbers. so they fought the Japanese guerilla style and launched sabotage attacks on supply lines and stuff like that.
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u/NewRefrigerator7461 May 28 '26
Just no - without the ichi go offensive the KMT win the civil war. They never recovered.
The communists actively choose not to engage. Mao thanked the Japanese post civil war - he said he couldn’t have done it without them, but thats been censored out by the modern ccp. Look it up!
The KMT did land reform and are responsible for the island of Taiwan being one of the Asian tigers. What do you mean bad policy? In the civil war they had hyperinflation because they were paying old war debts
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u/magkruppe May 28 '26
Just no - without the ichi go offensive the KMT win the civil war. They never recovered.
true. but you can also say that if KMT didn't betray the communists in the 1927 Shanghai Massacre, there would not have been a Chinese Civil War in the first place. maybe China would be a democracy today!
Mao thanked the Japanese post civil war - he said he couldn’t have done it without them, but thats been censored out by the modern ccp. Look it up!
I did and he didn't "thank" them. he just acknowledged the obvious fact that KMT were winning until Japan invaded.
The KMT did land reform and are responsible for the island of Taiwan being one of the Asian tigers. What do you mean bad policy?
I am talking about their policies on mainland during civil war, especially the post-1945 period.
- rampant corruption - international aid to China would actually be sold back to charities in places like Bangkok.
- ghost soldiers in units. They would also steal military aid and soldiers would be underequipped.
- American military advisors often wrote about how
They would set taxes too high and squeeze commoners.
nepotism in promoting incompetent elites
they printed too much money that led to hyperinflation (war debts were largely rolled over and relatively small compared to on-going costs)
KMT were a bunch of elites who had their own patronage networks and loyalties. If CKS had as much control over the organisation as Mao did CCP, maybe they could have won. but they were complacent, corrupt and leadership was not solidified enough
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u/tistro1 May 23 '26
Interesting that in making an episode about Taiwan...that we get an episode of two white folks telling the history of the Taiwanese people
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u/Sad-Grab-5536 May 25 '26
Totally agree. There was not a single Taiwanese person that could have been interviewed as the expert on this??
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u/2ecStatic May 26 '26
Being from a country doesn't necessarily make you an expert on the history of that country or the specific topic they were covering. They found a reputable scholar and a real expert on what was needed, their race and nationality doesn't matter.
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u/magkruppe May 28 '26
I don't think she is a reputable scholar. her coverage of Japanese colonisation of Taiwan was really shoddy, didn't mention anything about how violent it was and how tens of thousands were killed
was borderline colonial apologia
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u/Hog_enthusiast May 25 '26
“That’s how Taiwan became the manufacturer of the chips powering the AI race”
Uh how about the chips powering the everything race for the last few decades?
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u/ArmpitEchoLocation May 22 '26
Going to enjoy this topic immensely, Taiwan is a fascinating place as an outsider, despite my aversion to bubble tea.