Taiwan’s Ghost Island Media cooks up food podcast with AIT

臺灣鬼島之音與 AIT（美國在臺協會）合作製作美食播客

'The AIT Podcast' introduces food from Boston, New Orleans, San Jose, Orange County, New York City

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese podcasting company Ghost Island Media and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) held a launch event on Friday (May 26) for a new podcast collaboration focused on something close to everyone’s stomach — food.

The new series, "The AIT Podcast," brings together AIT officers, Taiwanese American communities, Taiwanese in America, and Americans in Taiwan to talk about food and culture, Ghost Island Media co-founder Emily Wu (吳怡慈) said. The first season focuses on food from five cities or regions in the U.S.: Boston, New Orleans, San Jose, Orange County, and New York City.

The first episode centers on Boston and has Taiwan GM of Uber Eats Chai Lee (李佳穎) as its special guest. Lee, who studied at Wellesley College and Harvard, talks about clam chowder and being an international student in Boston, providing insight to younger Taiwanese who are preparing to study in the U.S.

Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin joins the show for its episode on New Orleans. Lin discusses the music, food, and resilience of the city in his segment with AIT officers.

For the Orange County episode, AIT talks with Mai Bach, owner of vegan restaurant Ooh Cha Cha in Taiwan, who talks about growing up Vietnamese American in Orange Country, which has the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam.

Heading over to New York City, Jane Chen and Alex Denner, co-founders of Empress Hot Sauce, share stories of mixed cultures and palettes in the Big Apple, where Chen lived as a Taiwanese and Denner grew up as an immigrant. They also talk about their goal of bringing Taiwanese ingredients to the world by way of hot sauce.

Last but not least, Taiwanese TV and radio host Dennis Nieh (聶雲) talks about the food scene in San Jose as an immigrant to California. Nieh also talks with AIT about fishing in San Jose.

AIT Cultural Affairs Officer Luke Martin said the goal of the podcast is to help connect Taiwan and the U.S., and while topics like cross-strait issues and military developments are very important, food is something everyone gets. Another reason for the series is to show that American food is diverse and more than just burgers.

Meanwhile, AIT Public Diplomacy Officer Julienne Lauler said she recently visited several high schools around Taiwan and when she asked students what American culture meant to them, while some did tell her democracy and freedom, most said burgers and McDonald’s. Lauler said she hoped the new podcast would show people that American food is diverse and draws influence from many different cultures.