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Pioneering in Ordinary Life

·July 6, 2021·15 min read

New Bloom/No Man is an Island editor Brian Hioe interviewed Lance and Stuart Chen-Hayes, who recently published 兩個爸爸. This follows up on an interview conducted following the publication of Double Dads One Teen in English in 2019. Lance is Taiwan’s first out gay dad and their nonbinary teen, Kalani, became the first Taiwanese citizen with two father’s names on both an international birth certificate and an international marriage license Read More

Having Faith in a Secular World

Books English Life

·July 20, 2021·6 min read

Joshua E. Livingston’s Sunrays on the Beachhead of the New Creation, a book with 54 short stories with black and white graphic illustrations that serve the tales beautifully and integrally, deals with what it means to have faith (specifically Christian faith), and what it takes to have faith when our daily reality is decidedly secular. When secularism is practically a religion, what does it mean to believe, be spiritual, and attempt to see beyond ourselves? Does life have no meaning beyond what we are capable of understanding? Read More

What Disappears During an Outbreak

English Life

·July 23, 2021·3 min read

It’s likely that a lot of bars or nightclubs will disappear during the current outbreak—particularly smaller establishments that eke out a living with what few customers they have Read More

Taiwanese Celebrities Come Under Fire from Chinese Netizens for Congratulating Olympics Athletes

English Life

·August 3, 2021·4 min read

Singer-songwriter Jolin Tsai and television host Xiao S, whose real name is Dee Hsu, are among the Taiwanese celebrities to have come under fire after expressing support for Taiwanese athletes at the Olympics. This proves the latest sporting incident in which identity issues between Taiwan and China have been flagged, with scrutiny occurring over posts on platforms banned in China Read More

Democratic Experiments in Action

Books English Life

·September 24, 2021·3 min read

Deliberative Democracy in Taiwan: A Deliberate Systems Perspective by Mei-Fang Fan is a useful look at contemporary democracy in the Taiwanese context. Read More

The KMT Does Not Know How to Wear Pants

English Life

·September 28, 2021·3 min read

The jokes started in 2018 after legislator Apollo Chen and then-chair Wu Den-yih appeared in a publicity photo together, awkwardly posing with their fists. If this wasn’t bad enough their pants went all the way above their waists, in a grandfatherly fashion. The image sparked a seemingly endless number of memes Read More

心得：《疫病與社會的十個關鍵詞》

Books Chinese Life

·October 1, 2021·1 min read

劉紹華是一名醫療人類學學者，長年在中國與臺灣研究衛生管理。從2002年起，她在中國四川涼山以民族誌方式研究涼山彞族的愛滋、毒品與流動青年的現象，深入分析社會變遷與國家衛生政策的關係。劉紹華從她對愛滋病與麻風的研究而深知，疫病、污名歧視、人權以及政治的互相關聯。在2020年出版的書籍《疫病與社會的十個關鍵詞》裡，她從正在肆虐全球的COVID-19疫情切入，以多年積累的知識提醒讀者，這一波疫情所引發社會、人權及政治的困境與爭執，並非新穎之事，反而是歷史中反覆再現的問題。劉紹華舉各種例子描述在面對疫情的過程中，不可淡忘的歷史教訓。本書的特點在於，剖析國家所採取的、看似理所當然的政策，如「防疫大作戰」等口號標語或高舉前線醫療人員為「道德模範」，探討其未料的後果，以及其掩蓋社會基層問題的企圖。 Read More

Terry Gou and the Flying Apsara Chihuahua Happiness Society

English Life

·October 15, 2021·5 min read

Animal memes increasingly seem to be an integral part of Taiwanese politics Read More

Burying Taiwan’s History by Digging It Up

English Life

·November 5, 2021·4 min read

Several dozen people gathered outside of a small temple at the Nanshan Public Cemetery in Tainan on the afternoon of October 15th. The event, which was a guided tour of the cemetery, was organized by a group of local residents and academics who have devoted themselves to calling for the cemetery’s preservation. Namely, the Tainan city government is planning on demolishing the cemetery for redevelopment, though technically the cemetery is undergoing an evaluation as to its cultural value Read More

The Cultural Politics of Medigen

English Life

·November 9, 2021·4 min read

In retrospect, it was probably inevitable that Taiwan’s domestically developed and manufactured vaccine, Medigen, would encounter difficulties in public reception Read More

Please, No More Sneakers from Enes Kanter

English Life

·November 12, 2021·7 min read

Enes Kanter, the center for the Boston Celtics, made viral tweets earlier this week with photos of sneakers in support of Taiwan, having tweeted photos of custom sneakers that read “Free Tibet” and “Free Uyghur” in the past Read More

The KMT Enters the Metaverse…With Chiang Kai-shek NFTs

English Life

·January 18, 2022·3 min read

The latest of the KMT’s desperate attempts to appeal to people proves a funny one–Chiang Kai-Shek NFTs. More specifically, a recent initiative of the KMT to try and raise funds for the party has been turning a decorative saber owned by Chiang Kai-shek into an NFT Read More