The Taiwanese masters of genital weightlifting
6/15/202623 min
While researching our series on Taiwan, we stumbled across one of the strangest stories ever filed for ABC's Foreign Correspondent. In 2005, while covering the aftermath of Taiwan's disputed presidential election, reporter Eric Campbell investigated a bizarre practice that its followers claim dates back centuries. In this episode, Matt and Eric revisit that remarkable report and reflect on Eric's almost three decades reporting from the world's most contested places.
Eric's report on Yin Diao Gong: https://www.instagram.com/reels/Cgg1xWGlxb4/
Al Jazeera report on the South China Sea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMTjsB5SVs&pp=ygUkc291dGggY2hpbmEgc2VhOiBlc2NhbGF0aW5nIHRlbnNpb25z
Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.
Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[upbeat music] ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Tammy Shipley believed someone was out to hurt her. I thought someone was after me and I wanted to just be safe. She's put under 24-hour surveillance. I tried to get in contact multiple times.
Speaker 20:17
I just need to make a phone call. Nobody knows where I am.
Speaker 10:20
And then something strange happens.
Matt Bevan· Host0:23
She just drank and drank and had something like 20 liters of pure water.
Speaker 20:26
Ambulance emergency.
Eric Campbell· Guest0:28
I've got a woman unconscious.
Speaker 10:29
Tammy's story. Search Background Briefing on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.
Matt Bevan· Host0:35
This podcast was produced on the lands of the Awabakal and Gadigal people. [upbeat music] G'day, Matt Bevan here. This is If You're Listening. We've just finished our four-part series on Taiwan, and while researching this series, Adair Sheppard, who helped me write the series, stumbled across an incredible piece [laughs] of reporting, one that showed truly extraordinary commitment to the craft from ABC foreign correspondent Eric Campbell.
Eric Campbell· Guest1:09
I'm gonna regret this.
Speaker 11:10
[laughs] I think.
Eric Campbell· Guest1:11
[laughs] It rather hurts. Um, I think probably 2.5 kilos is my limit, uh, at this early stage. No, no, no, [laughs] no, no, no, no. No, please. No, please. Please.
Matt Bevan· Host1:20
Unfortunately, we never found a place for this remarkable piece of television in our series on Taiwan, so we've decided that it deserves an episode all