Ep 304 | Our Conversation on The Translator's Daughter A Debut Memoir by Author Grace Loh Prasad
Release Date: 02/08/2025
Ep 322 | Day After Analysis of the Great Recall with Dr Linda Gail Arrigo
Talking Taiwan
On July 27th the day after Taiwan’s island wide historic recall vote of 24 Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) legislators, I sat down with Linda Gail Arrigo, Ai Linda (艾琳達) to reflect on the results of the recall vote, and the impact of the civic mobilization behind the recall effort. Related Links:
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Ep 321 | The Day of Taiwan's Historic Recall Vote
Talking Taiwan
On July 26th the day of the historic vote to recall 24 Kuomintang (KMT) legislators we were with the Shān chú wēi hài (山除薇害) recall group in Taipei at Rongxing Garden (榮星花園) Rongxing garden, which is more like a park, for a sort of watch party with about a hundred volunteer recall campaigners. The recall vote results were being televised live on a series of oversized screens that had been set up in the park. When we finally learned the results of the recall vote It was a shock. 0 of 24 legislators had been recalled. What a sad, disappointing day. I could see it...
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Ep 320 | First Day in Taiwan, Day Before The Great Recall
Talking Taiwan
On our first day in Taiwan July 25th we went into the streets of Taipei where recall campaigners from the the Shān chú wēi hài (山除薇害) recall group were doing a last minute push asking people to get out and vote for the recall of 24 KMT legislators on July 26th. Related Links: We previously interviewed 3 recall campaigners from this group- Carol, Eric and Acho in episode 316. Eric explaining the meaning behind the recall group’s name. Later that day we sat down to interview A-Mei the recall group’s spokesperson who was doxed by the Kuomintang. ...
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Ep 319 | Taiwanese Waves 2025 is Back
Talking Taiwan
Summer is upon us and I’m sure that a lot of our listeners especially those in New York will be happy to know that Taiwanese Waves will be returning to Central Park’s Summer Stage on August 3 at the Rumsey Playfield. Doors open at 5:00pm Since 2016 Taiwanese Waves has introduced Taiwanese music to audiences at Central Park’s Summer Stage. If you’re not familiar with Taiwanese Waves you’re in for a treat. In this episode I sat down with Mia, the main organizer of Taiwanese Waves and we are about to walk through and give you a taste of all of the acts that have performed at...
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Ep 318 | Meet Taiwanese YouTuber Ba Jiong 八炯
Talking Taiwan
In late June, we met up with YouTuber Bā Jiǒng (八炯) when he was in New York. If you’re not familiar with Bā Jiǒng you might want to check out 2 of his most popular videos which expose China’s United Front’s tactics to target the Taiwanese and to recruit Taiwanese influencers to attack and spread disinformation about Taiwan. Then you’ll know why he’s had death threats. Related Links: Bā Jiǒng is among those spearheading the recall of Fu Kun-chi, the KMT legislator known as “The King of Hualien.” Fu Kun-chi is 1 of 24 Kuomintang KMT legislators who will be...
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Ep 317 | The Great Recall Explained by Courtney Donovan Smith
Talking Taiwan
In Taiwan recall bids have been filed against 35 of the 39 Chinese Nationalist Party (the Kuomintang or KMT lawmakers who were directly elected to the legislative yuan in January, 2024. Recall campaigners have said that they want to restore order to Taiwan’s legislative yuan, by removing pro-China KMT legislators who have passed amendments to expand the legislature’s powers, undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order by paralyzing the constitutional court, cut budgets and made Taiwan vulnerable to infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party. Related Links: Just a few days...
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Ep 316 | The Great Recall Movement in Taiwan: A Historic Unprecedented Boots on the Ground Exercise in Democracy
Talking Taiwan
Have you heard about the great recall movement that’s happening in Taiwan? What’s it all about? Related Links: 24 lawmakers, or legislators from the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang KMT party are being put up for a recall vote. I don’t think the world has ever seen anything like this happen on a national level in a democracy- 24 lawmakers being recalled from office, and that number is likely to be even higher at the time that this episode gets released. It’s truly unprecedented! This recall vote certainly didn’t happen overnight. It was through dedicated grassroots efforts, of...
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Ep 315 | Julien Oeuillet The Voice of South Taiwan Shines a Spotlight on Kaohsiung
Talking Taiwan
Julien Oeuillet is an independent journalist, who has produced content for Radio Taiwan International and TaiwanPlus. He is the Founding Editor of IPON the Indo-Pacific Open News. Related Links: Back in November of 2024 we interviewed Julien about a broad number of topics including: How he is very much at home in Kaohsiung How he got his start in broadcasting and media What he thinks makes a good and bad journalist especially in Taiwan How he focuses on putting a spotlight on Kaohsiung and southern Taiwan through his Radio Taiwan International show, The Voice of South Taiwan...
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Ep 314 | A Conversation With Wen-Jen Deng Taiwanese Fiber Artist and Curator Ming Turner
Talking Taiwan
We recently sat down with Wen-Jen Deng one of the artists in residence at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s House 17 on Governors Island and Ming Turner, curator of Wen-Jen’s art exhibit :The Embedded Stitch- Contemporary Fiber Art, which is currently showing at Tenri Cultural Institute until June 28th Related Links: According to Deng’s curator Ming Turner, “Deng is a core member of the influential Taiwanese artist collective, Hantoo Art Group. Her early works were primarily oil paintings which incorporated embroidery and collage using traditional Taiwanese floral fabrics....
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Ep 313 | Passport to Taiwan 2025: Ben Hedges A Laowai's View of China, Ambassador Lee of TECO, and TAAC
Talking Taiwan
This past Sunday, May 26th we stopped by the annual Passport to Taiwan that’s held in New York City’s Union Square Park. The first Passport to Taiwan was held in 2002 and it’s become the largest outdoor Taiwanese American event in the entire United States. Related Links: While there I spoke with the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s (TAAC’s) Executive Director Luchia Meihua Lee, Ambassador Tom Lee of TECO-NY, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, and Ben Hedges, host of Lao Wai Kan Zhongguo also known as the A Laowai's View of China & Taiwan YouTube channel....
info_outlineGrace Loh Prasad’s debut memoir, is The Translator’s Daughter. I spoke with her about how she started off writing it and how it evolved over the two decades it took to write it.
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A lot can happen in two decades. One by one Grace started losing her family members- her brother, mother and father. Her memoir is very much about loss, not just the loss that Grace experienced of her family members, but also her lost connection to Taiwan. When Grace was just two years old her family left Taiwan and moved to the U.S. and then Hong Kong. Her parents didn’t return to Taiwan until Grace was in college in California.
I found the book moving and appreciated how Grace was able to take her grief and personal experiences and put them into this beautifully written book. If you’d like to hear Grace reading an excerpt from The Translator’s Daughter, check out the episode right before this one, episode 303.
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
· What motivated Grace to start writing her memoir
· How the memoir evolved and changed over the twenty years it took to write and complete it
· What changed in her life during those two decades
· How Grace lost her brother to cancer, her mother to Alzheimer’s and father to Parkinson’s
· The challenge of maintaining a connection with Taiwan and relatives there due to language barriers
· The unconventional style of the book which is a mix of narrative chapters and essays
· Grace’s writing process and how she put the book together
· What Grace learned in the process of writing the book
· How her family’s migrations due to her father’s work affected Grace and her brother Ted
· How to find belonging in a place that you don’t intend to stay
· How Grace feels about being a third culture kid
· How much of the writing in the book comes from Grace’s diary entries
· What Grace left out of the book
· People who have reached out to Grace about her book because they knew her father and his work translating the Bible
· Grace reflects on her father’s education and career compared to her own
· How Grace’s family’s story doesn’t fit the typical immigrant or model minority story
· The op ed Grace wrote about Taiwan’s 2000 presidential election
· How important Taiwanese Americans have been in highlighting issues in Taiwan
· How Taiwan is excluded from international organizations and events like the UN, WHO, Olympics
· The authors and books that have influenced Grace
· How her book touches on mythology, film, music, and art
· Her family’s connection to the Thornberries and Milo Thornberry who wrote Fireproof Moth: A Missionary in Taiwan’s White Terror
· Grace’s advice for someone struggling with writing their first book
· Feedback and reactions that Grace has gotten to the book
· How it’s worthwhile to make the effort to pass on specific things from one’s culture or family to children or the next generation
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