No Man Is An Island

Navarro Podcast Proves a Bizarre Fever Dream About Taiwan’s Defense

·April 18, 2023·3 min read

A recent podcast by former Trump administration official Peter Navarro about Taiwan, entitled “How Taiwan Must Prepare for War, Imperial China Prepares Pearl Harbor 2.0”, proves a bizarre example of how MAGA Republicans imagine war scenarios between Taiwan and China. The podcast was released for Navarro’s regular podcast, “Taking Back Trump’s America" Read More

Cannabis Decriminalization Advocates Rally on Ketagalan Boulevard

English Events Life

·April 15, 2023·2 min read

Cannabis decriminalization advocates held a demonstration and fair on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building today. Organizers claimed 2,000 were in attendance. While the demonstration was to mark 420, the rally took place instead today because of the weekend. This is the fifth time such a demonstration has been held in Taiwan, with last year’s demonstration called off due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic Read More

Perhaps the Confusion is the Point: China’s Strategic Ambiguity in Drills

English Life

·April 13, 2023·3 min read

China continues to present mixed signals after the end of the three days of live-fire drills that it announced on Saturday Read More

Sounds from the Future and Politics in the Space Created Around Music: An Interview with Simon Reynolds

English Interviews Music

·April 8, 2023·29 min read

New Bloom's Brian Hioe and Florence Yi-Hsun Huang interviewed Simon Reynolds about his views on contemporary music and reflections on his seminal work on electronic music, Energy Flash, a quarter decade after its publication. Reynolds was visiting Taipei for a series of talks at C-LAB entitled "A Future Slowly Cancelled" Read More

“Bad Education” Proves A Capable Directorial Debut for Kai Ko

English Film

·April 3, 2023·3 min read

Actor Kai Ko's directorial debut, Bad Education, is a capable film with many merits. Though still entertainment fare at the end of the day, much is to be praised about the movie, which like many hit Taiwanese movies in past years has a script penned by novelist Giddens Ko Read More

“Day Off” Depicts the Relation Between a Mother and Her Children During a Time of Transition

English Film

·March 31, 2023·3 min read

Day Off, which has won accolades for lead actress Lu Hsiao-fen, proves a heartfelt depiction of the relationship between a mother and her children during a time of transition Read More

Baboon Escape Saga Ends with Shooting Death, Criticisms of Zoo for Pinning Blame for Shooting on Indigenous Hunter

English Life

·March 28, 2023·2 min read

The saga of a baboon spotted variously in the past few weeks in Pingjhen District in Taoyuan came to a dramatic end yesterday after the animal was tranquilized by authorities in the afternoon. Subsequently, however, the baboon was reported as having been discovered to have gunshot wounds Read More

The World is Your Oyster: Walking Down The Memory Lane Of Hong Kong’s Social Movements

English Film

·March 25, 2023·9 min read

Starting from the Umbrella Movement in 2014, the outpouring of political creativity in fields ranging from independent documentaries, films, animations, comic books, performing art, and novels has brought Hong Kong to the spotlight, especially in Taiwan Read More

Music as a Source for Self-Healing: An Interview with LVRA about ‘soft like steel’

English Interviews

·March 22, 2023·4 min read

Brian Hioe spoke with LVRA about their new EP, 'soft like steel,' which is out today. 'soft like steel' is a release on Eastern Margins, and positions itself on the margins of both club and pop music Read More

“A Camp Unknown” Sheds Light on a Forgotten Period in Taiwan’s History

English Film

·March 18, 2023·3 min read

The PTS documentary "A Camp Unknown" (彼岸他方), directed by Awei Liu, proves an insightful look at a forgotten period in Taiwanese history. The documentary examines refugee camps for Chinese Vietnamese refugees that existed in Taiwan from 1977 to 1988 Read More

“Goddamned Asura” Aims for Humanistic Social Commentary

English Film

·March 15, 2023·3 min read

Taiwanese film in the last decade seems to have been fixated on depicting random acts of violence committed by troubled youth. This is due to the impact of real-world events such as the “Little Lightbulb Murder” in 2016 and the Cheng Chieh subway stabbing in 2014–but also due to the in-depth media reporting on these incidents that followed Read More

“Marry My Dead Body” Proves A Well-Intended and Capably Shot if Problematic LGBTQ Crime Caper

English Film

·March 11, 2023·4 min read

Marry My Dead Body is an entertaining and capably executed, if a bit breezy, buddy cop comedy with LGBTQ themes. The outlandish premise–featuring a straight, initially homophobic police officer whose attitudes gradually change through interactions with a gay ghost that he becomes haunted by–certainly proves memorable Read More