As Taiwan prepares to phase out dolphin performances by 2026, a TaiwanPlus report examines what happens to captive dolphins after the shows end. The discussion explores animal welfare, captivity limits, conservation education, and the emotional challenges of reporting on animals that cannot return to the wild.

Joey Chou speaks with TaiwanPlus Tech and Business Desk reporter Ai Chi about a new World Inequality Report that places Taiwan among the world’s most unequal developed economies.

Reporter Sandie Chi tells us about an unlikely culinary success story: a small gelato workshop in Changhua whose creators went on to win the world’s top gelato prize in Italy.

Bryn Thomas talks about the Qingshan King Festival, one of Taipei’s oldest and most distinctive religious traditions. Centered in the Wanhua district—Taipei’s earliest urban settlement—the festival honors the Qingshan King, a tutelary deity believed to protect the neighborhood from illness and misfortune.

Joey speaks with TaiwanPlus business and tech reporter Ai Chi about Taiwan’s first hydrogen refueling station in Kaohsiung. They explain why the rollout targets buses and heavy trucks, how “blue hydrogen” is produced from natural gas, and why cost, safety, and logistics will determine whether hydrogen can help Taiwan meet its 2050 net-zero goals.

Joey sits down with TaiwanPlus local politics and sports reporter Leslie Liao to unpack the “Shanghai Brothers” controversy in China’s new baseball league. They explore fan backlash, plagiarism suspicions, CTBC Brothers’ response and why cross-strait politics inevitably seep into Taiwan’s pro baseball. The conversation ends on Leslie’s own favorite CPBL teams.

This episode visits the life and legacy of Peng Wan-ru, the DPP’s first Women’s Affairs director, whose 1996 murder galvanized Taiwan’s modern feminist movement. Joey Chou sits down with reporter Tiffany Wong to trace the events that led to landmark domestic violence and sexual assault laws, examining how advocacy, tragedy and social change reshaped Taiwan’s path toward gender equality.

In this episode of Reporter’s Notebook, Joey Chou talks with TaiwanPlus tech and economics reporter Chris Gorin about one of Taiwan’s biggest policy debates of the year: tariffs and the emerging “Taiwan model” for US trade negotiations. Chris breaks down what the government actually means by this new term — from private-sector–led projects to industrial clusters and talent training — and why Taiwan’s science-park ecosystem is so hard to replicate abroad. The two also unpack how to communicate complex economic ideas to a general audience, and where AI and semiconductor coverage is headed next.

TaiwanPlus reporter Lery Hiciano takes us behind the scenes of an early-morning trip to the northeast coast to cover President Lai Ching-te overseeing reservist drone training. The program is part of a broader push to strengthen Taiwan’s defenses as pressure from China grows. Lery walks us through why drones are becoming central to Taiwan’s plans, what it means to train reservists to operate them, and what he saw (and learned) while reporting on the ground.

There’s less than a year to go before Taiwan holds its next local elections on Nov. 28, 2026, and campaigns are already starting to take shape. In today’s Reporter’s Notebook, local politics desk lead Tiffany Wong breaks down what’s at stake—and how both ruling and opposition parties are talking about making it easier for voters to cast ballots.