ICRT BreakDown

Ep. 14: Cat Herders Day Crazy about cats? We have a feline this episode is purr-fect for you! Join hosts Tim and Paz and their guest, Davis Liao, founder of the CrazyCat Charity Association, as they talk about the charity and all things cat. Hear about what cat herding is and isn’t. Then discover whether these are cat’s meows or pet peeves: purrs like a cat, unmanageable, 呼嚕, and… cat! (“feline”...

Ep. 12: Fascinating Taiwan Passionate about Taiwan? You’re in good company with hosts Tim and Paz and their guest, Rifat Karlova (吳鳳), an actor, author, and Golden Bell Award-winning host. Hear about the first impression this naturalized Taiwanese from Turkey had of Taiwan, his ways of determining the best destinations and foods for visitors, and his ideas on how to tell the world about all Taiw...

Ep. 11: Taiwan Girls Day Join BreakDown hosts Tim and Paz, and Ingrid, the International Affairs Supervisor for the Garden of Hope Foundation, as they discuss how the foundation works toward its vision of a world free of gender-based violence. Learn who they serve, what services they offer, and how they empower girls across Asia to address the issues they face. Discover if these expressions are pe...

Ep. 11: Taiwanese Coffee Does coffee make your world go around? Join hosts Tim and Paz and their guest, Ken (學長 陳冠哲), the founder and managing director of VV Café. Learn how Ken became a coffee expert, where coffee is grown in Taiwan, what his thoughts on the different roasts are, and what makes a coffee good. Then find out whether these terms are pet peeves or cat’s meows: it’s not my cup of...

Ep. 10: Triathlon Up for some swimming, biking, and running? Get a head start by diving into this episode of BreakDown with Tim, Paz, and triathlete Sam Hsieh (謝昇諺). Hear about Sam, how he became an elite athlete, what the great benefit of exercise is for him, and how he inspires others. Learn what a triathlon is and what triathletes need to succeed. Discover the even longer endurance events th...

Ep. 9: Street Art Join Tim, Paz, and their guest, the artist, singer, TV show host, and actor Xiao Ma for a lively episode on street art. Find out what street art means to Xiao Ma, how he got started, and what helped him draw when he had no prior experience in art! Then hear whether these terms are cat’s meows or pet peeves: beauty is in the eye of the beholder; urban renewal; you don’t know what...

Ep. 8: Taiwanese Manga Artists Rendezvous with hosts Tim and Paz, and their guest, 曾建華 (Chien-hua Tseng), renowned Taiwanese manga artist, host of the podcast "漫漫話畫" (Màn Màn Huà Huà), and more! Learn about Chien-hua’s journey to becoming a manga artist, the huge Taiwan-focused project he is working on, and his thoughts on the Golden Comic Awards. Hear about the fascinating evolution of Tai...

Ep. 7: Queen of the World Returns **Nymphia Wind keeps blowing us away! Join hosts Tim and Paz, and their guest, **Chiang Wei, professional drag queen, and founder and house mother of The Haus of WOMEN, one of Taiwan’s five major drag houses. Learn about Chiang Wei’s drag persona, belief, and style, their connection to Nymphia Wind, and their thoughts on Nymphia Wind’s influence on drag here and a...

Join our hosts**, **Tim and Paz, and their guest, Dr. Kailin Wang, the organizational psychologist, consultant, and career coach who brought the MBTI to Taiwan. Learn how knowing your personality traits can have a positive influence on your career choices and job satisfaction. Hear if *devil’s advocate*, *cray*, *I like to think myself as a(n)___*, and *innate* pique Tim, Paz, and Kailin’s interes...

Ep. 5: Stock Market Taiwan’s stock market is hot, hot, hot! Join Tim, Paz, and their guest Jason Shin, Senior Research Analyst at MacroMicro, a macro investing online platform, as they discuss what factors are driving the stock market here and what some investment alternatives to stocks are, depending on your risk appetite! Then find out what go belly up, have currency, ride the wave, bulls make m...

Ep. 4: Net Zero by 2050 Hot topic alert! Join our hosts Tim and Paz and their guest, James Wang（王漢英）, Vice President and General Director of Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories at ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute). Learn what Net Zero means, what Taiwan’s strategies and efforts to achieve Net Zero by 2050 are, and how you – yes, you! – can contribute. Then find ou...

Ep. 3: 2024 Bamboo Expo and World Bamboo Congress Bamboo… so old-school, isn’t it? Well, no! Join Tim, Paz, and Dr. Ying-pin Huang, a Manager at the Industrial Technology Research Institute's Central Region Campus who works on bamboo technologies. Bamboo… technologies? Yes! There’s no bamboozling going on here! Find out about some bamboo applications that can help us achieve a sustainable world. H...

Ep. 2: Lantern Festival Baiming Carnival Get a glimpse into the fascinating Matsu Islands’ Lantern Festival with Tim, Paz, and their guest, Matsu YouTuber Chami. Chami champions Matsu’s culture and dialect on her show, 掐米亜店, and you’ll learn some words that describe features of the festival procession perfectly: 擺暝 (pē màng / pě màng), 碗燕 (uāng iěng / uang ngiěng), 拍鼓板 (phák kū pēing /...

Do you ever wonder what’s behind the delicious parade of fruit and vegetables you eat throughout the year? Join BreakDown hosts Tim and Paz and their guest Leo, host of the podcast “農遊超市Farmtour Market,” to find out. Discover how this rice farmer is showing people aspects of agriculture in interesting, creative ways. Then hear if reap what you sow, hydroponics, aquaculture, aquaponics, and duc...

Have a seat with BreakDown hosts Tim and Paz and their guest Peggy, Deputy Director of the Curatorial and Planning Center at Skills for U. Discover what Skills for U does, what the Taiwan Technical and Vocational Education and Training Conference features, why technical and vocational training and jobs are important, and what role English plays. Then learn about these terms: a jack of all trades a...

Are you a fan of Chinese-language movies? Join the crowd! Get comfortable with hosts Tim and Paz and their guest, XXY, host of XXY梗你看電影, which covers everything related to movies. Learn what differences are disguised by the common comparison of the Golden Horse Awards to the Academy Awards. Find out what the range of nominated films and people reflects, and more. Then discover some interestin...

Taiwan stands with diversity! Join BreakDown co-hosts Tim and Paz as they talk with Amy, Mooni and 咆哮蒂, co-hosts of the podcast “女同志週記lez.weekly”. Learn about Taiwan’s Pride event and its importance to the local and international LGBTQ+ communities and to Taiwan itself. Then hear about these pet peeves and cat’s meows: true colors, heteronormativity, pansexual, think without branding, and...

A fitness trainer and a history buff? Wow! What an interesting combo! Join BreakDown hosts Tim and Paz as they chat with Light and Dan, co-hosts of the podcast 走鐘運動日記. Learn fascinating details about the Asian Games happening later this month. Then find out what the following mean and if they’re cat’s meows or pet peeves: jump the gun, ever onward, DNF, PB, and PR. —Vocabulary Predecessor 前...

*配合8月航班，煙火施放時間調整至20:35* *To align with the August flight schedule, the fireworks display time has been adjusted to 8:35 PM.* Join Tim, Paz, and BreakDown guest Jerome, host of the travel podcast “旅行熱炒店”, as they discuss the fascinating history of Taipei’s Dadaocheng district, the exciting 51-day summer festival there, and some great photo tips for the festival fireworks! Then d...

Who’s wearing the yellow jersey? Join BreakDown hosts Tim and Paz and their guests Alan and Greg, a.k.a. Uncle, hosts of the Bike Talk大叔愛輪事podcast, as they discuss the Tour de France, the legendary 23-day men’s bicycle race. Then learn about their cat’s meows: hitch a ride, peloton, cycling, and the Grand Tour! —Vocabulary Conquer, courageous 攻取；征服(v.) , 勇敢的(adj.) The courageous rider...

Tim and Paz talk with 兼叔 and 阿宏, hosts of the Car 浮浪 podcast, about charging electric vehicles (EVs). What are the advantages and disadvantages? Some may not be on your radar yet! Find out if tire kicker, go the extra mile, AI, and autonomous driving are cat’s meows or pet peeves! —Vocabulary Outlet 充電插座( n.) A major challenge of owning an EV in Taiwan is finding an electrical outlet whe...

Tim and Paz talk with guests Catherine and Howard, hosts of the Morning Taiwan Glocal News daily live podcast. Glocal? That’s a mash-up of “global” and “local”. Learn about the G7 Summit in Hiroshima and its relevance to Taiwan. Discover what you think about text abbreviations, hermit mode, gaslighting, and oxymorons! —Vocabulary Delegation代表團(n.) Sidelines 場邊(n.) Taiwan does not have an offi...

Join hosts Tim and Paz and their guest, Jeane Huang, host of the podcast “On the Right Side of the Ambassador”. You’ll get a taste of what diplomatic life is like for an ambassador’s wife. You’ll learn about Thailand’s Songkran, which is drenched in tradition, and find out what this episode’s cat’s meows and pet peeves are. —Vocabulary Spouse 配偶(n.) The territory of ambassadors’ spouses is often...

Join Tim, Paz, and BreakDown guest Ted, an engineer and TechPorn podcaster, as they discuss the mind-boggling capabilities and implications of OpenAI's artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT. Learn how we can improve how we work in collaboration with AI and find out why natural language processing is compelling us to redefine how we learn. —Vocabulary Natural language input ChatGPT-4 can analyz...

In this episode, Tim talks with Shio, ICRT’s weekend DJ and You Shang-Jie (游尚傑), host of Unlock the Earth, a travel podcast. You’ll learn about Ramadan and its fascinating fasting and feasting customs. Then you’ll hear about pet peeves, cat’s meows and - you’ll hear it here first - “cat’s peeves”. — Vocabulary Sacrifice 犧牲(v.) Muslims in Malaysia sacrifice eating from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. d...