PJ Vogt

I'm PJ Vogt.

No question too big, no question too small.

President Trump met last week in China with President Xi Jinping.

They talked only a bit about one of the biggest points of contention between our two superpowers, the one I was listening for, Taiwan.

Taiwan is an independent democracy 100 miles southeast of China's coast.

China wants to take Taiwan for itself, but the U.S.

for decades has stood in the way.

Taiwan also happens to be where almost all of the high-quality graphics chips driving the AI race are made.

If either country controlled Taiwan, the AI race would be fundamentally over.

That is most of what I knew about Taiwan before this week's episode.

I knew about it as an object in two other countries' designs.

I didn't know much more about the place itself.

How did Taiwan become a democracy?

How did Taiwan end up manufacturing all those high-tech chips?

How did an island this tiny become one of the most important places in the world?

So I did what I do these days when I'm curious.

I asked Garrett Graham, our show's senior producer, to find me one of America's foremost experts on Taiwan and also to select someone who's a really good storyteller.

It took him all of two days.

So now I'm going to recreate for you the journey we took from Search Engine Studios, a guided tour through modern Taiwan's history.

Do you mind just saying your name and what you do professionally?