This is how I see it foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/24/t...

Finished reading: Radicalized: Four Tales of Our Present Moment by Cory Doctorow 📚 These were four short stories. While originally published in 2019, they all feel extremely relevant in 2025. My favorite was Unauthori... https://jeffbell.blog/2025/12/07/finished-reading-radicalized-four-tales.html

"This was, not surprisingly, a controversial matter. During the war, during the congressional debates over the treaty with Spain, and during the heated election of 1900, the question of empire was argued at high volume. In essence... https://jeffbell.blog/2025/11/27/this-was-not-surprisingly-a.html

Balloons Puff and Twist into an Elaborate Inflatable Ensemble by Masayoshi Matsumoto — Colossal Stunning balloon animals.

A Tale of Two American Cemeteries Bound Together by the Long History of American Racism "Soldiers who had fought to destroy the United States and establish an independent slaveholding republic were given more respect and honor than the... https://jeffbell.blog/2025/11/15/a-tale-of-two-american.html

Amazing reporting on forced demolitions in Samarkand from Katie Putz in the Diplomat. I hope someone picks up the corruption angle, but I understand how dangerous that is, particularly for the sources inside. The tie between construction and corruption is frequent. thediplomat.com/2025/11/destr...

With the passing of new anti-LGBTQ propaganda law in Kazakhstan (I think it’s a done deal and will be signed off on by the senate and President), we’re in a strange situation where Tajikistan has the least homophobic legislation in Central Asia.

Central Asia is adapting its entire ideological agenda to impress one man: Donald Trump. The recent C5+1 summit was a new high point in US-Central Asian ties. But is this rapprochement real, or just risk? 🧵🧵🧵

A couple of good write-ups of Trump’s summit with Central Asian leaders by longtime journalists in this beat www.rferl.org/a/central-as... thediplomat.com/2025/11/when...

I wonder if there's any reason why this administration in particular would be interested in developing new business relationships in an extractive industry in a region known for very flexible business practices 🤔 www.rferl.org/a/trump-rare-ea...

THE YAED APPLE

While we're asking for recommendations, can anyone recommend literature on the interplay between post-colonial conditions and kleptocracy? I'm thinking about finally going to grad school and want to follow some hunches. Central Asia-specific would be great, but I'm interested in anywhere.

I can't decide if politics get a lot better or a lot worse when the bubble pops. Regardless, it will continue to be a wild ride. www.theatlantic.com/technolog...

Anyway: it’s an American tradition. www.startribune.com/trump-admini...

In mid-August, 71% of D.C. residents said local police should not be assisting in federal immigration enforcement, as part of a @washingtonpost.com poll. "People are feeling gaslit right now," @robertwhitedc.bsky.social says, when the extent to which MPD is cooperating is unclear to the public.

@leilaseiitbek.bsky.social is such a hero, and it's so tragic to see the way the world is treating its refugees. The world needs many more people like her. freedomforeurasia.org/leila-s...

a reminder that this banger political rap about protests and dictatorship in Kazakhstan exist: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oILU...

When Canada’s public broadcaster asks: “is America becoming a police state?”

How can I get this bike? I must have it.

Didn't Tokayev just call climate change a fraud? masto.ai/@euractiv/1154473824...

In which I realized for the first time that the Russian word for nightmare, кошмар, comes from French. mostlysignssomeportents.tumbl...

Central Asia is now an unbroken series of dictatorships

Devastating to see. Kyrgyzstan, and everyone at both of these media, deserves better.

Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure are having a ripple effect on prices in Centeal Asia substack.com/@havli/note/...

This interview by @vlastkz.bsky.social with Karakalpak activist Akylbek Muratbai goes into great detail about what being a Central Asian activist is like at a time when democratic states are turning away from the concept of refugee protection vlast.kz/english/6671...

Tucked away in the North London neighborhood of Palmers Green is a former church that was recently turned into a mosque and Uyghur cultural center. It’s got an unusual owner.

Feeling very frustrated to acknowledge that I probably should check LinkedIn more often.

#Kazakhstan: Instead of penalizing Bakhytzhan Toregozhina for her human rights work, Kazakh authorities shld recognize her posts for what they are: an important public record of rights violations in Kazakhstan that the government itself should be working to address. www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that labubus are just knock off cheburashki.

The man who leads the U.S. military is proud of the people who killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the U.S. military.

Where can I get this as an EBike?

Kyrgyzstan’s new media law hands sweeping control to the government, raising fears of censorship and shrinking space for independent journalism. www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...

Human rights defender from #Kazakhstan Bakhytzhan Toregozhina fined for social media post via Front Line Defenders www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/bakh...

Look at these mosaics

Facts Will Not Save You hegemon.substack.com/p/facts-will...

Tapestry by @iconfactory.com is one of my favorite ways to consume socal media, but it really needs a better way for power users to manage many feeds into timelines. I'm hoping the upcoming Mac app will solve this problem.

Kazakhstani Human Rights Activist Found Guilty of Spreading Disinformation Bakhytzhan Toregozhina has been outspoken in her support of political prisoners vlast.kz/english/6588...

🧵 (1 of 6) Community members recently placed memorial ghost bikes in honor of friends and loved ones. This includes new memorials for loved ones who were killed while bicycling sometime in the past year and a half, plus previous memorials that were in need of care and replacement. ❤️‍🩹 #BikeDC

Occasionally I come across an article in the foreign press that’s strikes me as so important that I want to share it with you. The following was originally written by an Israeli professor of law named Orit Kamir. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/a-betrayal-of-the-victims-of-the

Incredible perversion of the purpose and the standing interpretation of the act

As I detailed in WHITE FLIGHT, segregationists in Atlanta absolutely loved public services -- buses and trolleys, parks and pools, golf courses and tennis courts, etc. -- right until they were forced to desegregate and "stolen" from them. They abandoned them and built up private alternatives.

Helsinki's population is about 690,000 in the city itself. Washington DC's population is about 690,000 in the city itself. Helsinki chose to prioritize the lives and health of its people. Mayor Bowser's Washington DC chooses to prioritize cars. A better world is possible.

Kyrgyzstan bans online porn, but more worryingly the government imposes a monopoly on the internet, requiring all international internet traffic to go through a state-owned company www.reuters.com/business/med...

Wake up. It's 2007. • Games don’t have in-app purchases • Software isn’t sold as a subscription • GenAI art doesn’t exist • Desktop apps look like this