As Russia’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law spreads across the region, queer spaces in Kazakhstan’s second city are disappearing – and with them, the city’s creative pulse. Check out the new audio doc/long read by Turan Tales with the amazing photos by Danil Usmanov turantales.substack.com/p/rainbow-al...

This week on the Turan Tales podcast, we focus on Tengrism, the ancient belief system which is still widely misunderstood. Joining us is @abbyscripka.bsky.social, a doctoral candidate at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History turantales.substack.com/p/episode-34...

This week on the Turan Tales podcast, we look at Kazakhstan’s new draft constitution and what it could mean for the country’s future. Joining us is Dmitriy Mazorenko, journalist and co-founder of the Superstructure research centre turantales.substack.com/p/episode-31...

Don't miss the new Turan Tales with @aga-pik.bsky.social 👏👏👏

Dushanbe has been on a path toward modernisation. New buildings, many of them Chinese-funded, have dotted the city, transforming its traditional architecture. Will Dushanbe become a new AI hub as the government wants? Listen to the new episode of Turan Tales turantales.substack.com/p/episode-30...

My latest on why Murat Adam, a prominent Kazakh lawyer, lost his license and the limits of freedom of speech in Kazakhstan thediplomat.com/2026/02/why-...

This week on Turan Tales podcast, we’re looking into the newly released 2026 Human Rights Watch report and how a shifting global order is reshaping human rights across Central Asia. Joining us is Mihra Rittmann, Senior Central Asia Researcher at Human Rights turantales.substack.com/p/episode-29...

They promised world-class education to a region shattered by the Soviet collapse. Twenty years later, Hizmet schools fell prey to Turkey’s internal conflicts - and their own secrecy. Listen to our new audio documentary on Substack or wherever you get your podcasts open.substack.com/pub/turantal...

Great listen about rich history of carpetmaking in #CentralAsia from @aga-pik.bsky.social on her Turan Tales Substack. Also check out my book Silk Mirage, where I write about enterprising Uzbeks reviving traditions that were all but stamped out in Soviet times turantales.substack.com/p/episode-28...

This week on Turan Tales, we talk about carpets in Central Asia: their history, the roles they played, and how the Soviet Union hijacked the practice of carpet making. Joining us is Anushe Dust, a Tajik-born founder and editor-in-chief of RugMag magazine turantales.substack.com/p/episode-28...

This week on Turan Tales, we’re taking a closer look at the Tajik-Afghan border. Joining us is Mélanie Sadozaï, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Regensburg whose work focuses on the Pamir region. turantales.substack.com/p/episode-27...

Tune in to my conversation with @aga-pik.bsky.social on her Turan Tales Substack about #Uzbekistan + my book Silk Mirage. We talk about everything from Mirziyoyev's reforms and their limits to former political prisoners' search for justice. And read the book! turantales.substack.com/p/episode-26...

What’s changed in #Uzbekistan since Mirziyoyev came to power a decade ago + launched the "Uzbek Spring? Many things have, some haven’t. Tune in to a deep dive into my new book Silk Mirage + #Uzbekistan on @aga-pik.bsky.social's Turan Talks podcast on Substack turantales.substack.com/p/episode-26...

This week on Turan Tales we are looking at Uzbekistan: how the country was shaped under Islam Karimov, and what has changed since Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power. Joining us is Joanna Lillis the author of "Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan" turantales.substack.com/p/episode-26...

This week on Turan Tales podcast, we’re discussing whether modern art can flourish in Central Asia. In other words: can autocracies handle free expression? Joining us is Timur Karpov, a documentary photographer, and founder of the 139 Documentary Centre open.substack.com/pub/turantal...

This week on Turan Tales podcast we're looking at the results of Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary election and how the country has changed since the 2020 revolution and the coming to power of Sadyr Japarov. Joining us is @adoolotkeldieva.bsky.social turantales.substack.com/p/episode-23...

In Poland, officials are pushing tough migration policies and even harsher rhetoric, even as Ukrainians give the country an economic boost and contain Russia on the battlefield next door. Read The Beet’s last feature story of 2025, courtesy of @aga-pik.bsky.social! meduza.io/en/feature/2...

If anyone knows the complexity of the issue it is @aga-pik.bsky.social . Don't miss this piece.👇

Read my latest story for Meduza’s the Beet about the paradoxes of Poland’s migration debate meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Poland’s open-arms policy for Ukrainian refugees has given way to a roiling migration debate deeply entangled with domestic and foreign policy issues. The Beet’s latest, from journalist @aga-pik.bsky.social. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Excellent Turan Tales on the architectural heritage of #Samarkand. @aga-pik.bsky.social has done it again. 👇

This week on Turan Tales podcast, I am joined by Diora Rafieva, an Uzbekistani lawyer and human rights activist who has been at the frontline of the fight to save Samarkand and its architectural heritage from the ongoing demolitions - and bad taste. turantales.substack.com/p/episode-22...

A few weeks ago, I sat down with @peterleonard1.bsky.social from CAPS Unlock podcast to talk about Turan Tales, doing journalism in Central Asia, and working with sounds. You can listen to it on Substack or your favourite podcast platform open.substack.com/pub/havli/p/...

Great Turan Tales podcast by @aga-pik.bsky.social about CA soldiers fighting for Russia who are POWs. Excellent investigation.

They came to Russia for work, not war. Yet thousands of Central Asian migrants now fight in Ukraine, drawn in by promises, pushed by pressure, and caught in a stark imbalance of power. Listen to the new audio documentary by Turan Tales turantales.substack.com/p/the-unlike...

In the latest episode of YurtJurt podcast, I converse with three fascinating feminist/decolonial Central Asian researchers and authors - fellow sociologist Aizada Arystanbek, political historian Kamila Smagulova, and feminist author Aisulu Toyshibek abt VOCABULARY podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/y...

In case you missed it, there is also this podcast

This week on Turan Tales podcast, we discuss whether Turkmenistan - one of the most isolated states in the world - is moving toward greater openness. Joining us is Ruslan Myatiev: a Turkmen journalist, and the founder of Turkmen news turantales.substack.com/p/is-turkmen...

Astana has risen from the steppe as a city of glass, steel, and soaring ambition - a capital built to embody a nation’s dreams. But can a dream live up to its promise? This is the first in a series of audio features by Turan Tales. Hope you will enjoy it! open.substack.com/pub/turantal...

Check out a new interview on Turan Tales with one of my favourite authors - Hamid Ismailov - about his new book “We Computers”, literature, language and longing turantales.substack.com/p/episode-17...

What does it mean to be Kazakhstani? Listen to the new episode of Turan Tales with Diana Kudaibergen -- cultural and political sociologist and Lecturer in Central Asian Politics and Society at University College London turantales.substack.com/p/what-does-...

Fascinating episode of Turan Tales podcast by @aga-pik.bsky.social on the Soviet influence on #CentralAsian music and the evolution of estrada 👏🏼🕺🏼🇺🇿 bit.ly/48xpJJV

This week, Turan Tales podcast revisits Soviet Central Asian estrada with the amazing Leora Eisenberg - a historian and a PhD student at Harvard turantales.substack.com/p/episode-15...

Central Asian ‘first daughters’ - heirs, icons, or leaders? Listen to the new TURAN TALK with Galiya Ibragimova turantales.substack.com/p/episode-14...

The Caspian Sea is shrinking, its shores littered with seal carcasses. For scientist Assel Baimukanova, each one tells the story of an ecosystem on the brink. Read or listen to Turan Tales' new long read from Aktau turantales.substack.com/p/the-girl-w...

Listen to the new episode of Turan Tales, where Selbi Durdiyeva and I look at Central Asia’s postcolonial legacy and how Russia’s centuries-long influence has shaped ways of thinking, institutions, and everyday life in the region turantales.substack.com/p/episode-13...

Over the past few weeks, Poland has been immersed in a violent anti-migrant hysteria. Read my story for @aljazeera.com on how it started and what it's all about www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

In the new episode of Turan Tales, @joannalillis.bsky.social and I delve into the mixed legacy of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's first president, who ruled the country for almost 30 years. turantales.substack.com/p/episode-12...

Tune in to Turan Tales, where I talked to @aga-pik.bsky.social about the long shadow Nazarbayev casts over #Kazakhstan even six years after he stepped down as president after 30 years in power substack.com/@turantales/no…

In the latest episode of Turan Tales, Shahida Tulaganova talks about her upcoming film "Spirit Untamed" on Bahrom Hamroev - a human rights defender who spent years supporting Central Asian migrants in Russia. He was jailed in 2022 for alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir links substack.com/home/post/p-...

Caspian Sea level decline is a rapidly developing crisis for biodiversity and people, with global implications. This satellite image timeline 2001-24 is encapsulated by the media headlines. A recent publication from our international team gives the full story 🌍🧪🦑 www.nature.com/articles/s43...

‘The Caspian Sea is shrinking. It is visible with the naked eye’. Read my latest story for @aljazeeraenglish.bsky.social www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/...

Whatever happened to Central Asia's "island of democracy"? In the new episode of Turan Tales podcast I speak with Rinat Tuhvatshin, the co-founder of Kloop, Kyrgyzstan's leading investigative media turantales.substack.com/p/episode-8-...

“Meerim remembers the price her husband paid for luring her to his house. It was 1964 and her freedom was worth 80 roubles – equivalent to a Sputnik bicycle or, with luck, a pair of black-market jeans.” Read or listen to my new long read on Turan Tales. open.substack.com/pub/turantal...