Podcast
Turan Tales
Hosted by Agnieszka Pikulicka · EN
Turan Tales is a weekly podcast covering underreported stories of people, politics and social change in Central Asia by journalist and author Agnieszka Pikulicka
turantales.substack.com
turantales.substack.com
17episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Iya’s lifelines: A Jewish journey to survival in Central Asia
3w ago00:38:03Tap to summarizeIn the 1940s, Tashkent became an unlikely centre of Yiddish culture as Eastern European Jews were evacuated to Soviet Central Asia during World War II. Yet the story has remained largely forgotten. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 38: Inside Turan. The Persian legacy in Central Asia
May 100:44:05Tap to summarizeThe word Turan, which appears in the title of this podcast, has Persian linguistic and literary origins -- something we’ll be talking about today. We’ll look at Persian influences in Central Asia, how the language spread across such faraway lands, why Persian culture became so fashionable, and how this influence eventually faded. Joining us is Ruben Nikoghosyan, a lecturer in Middle, Classical, and Modern Persian language and literature at the Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature, which he founded. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 37: What has become of Russia's Wartime exiles in Central Asia?
Apr 2400:44:11Tap to summarizeThis week, we look at Russian wartime migration into Central Asia: how it unfolded, what motivated Russians to choose the region as their destination, how they rebuilt their lives there, and how this movement has reshaped Central Asia.Joining us is Yan Matusevich, a journalist and Ph.D. candidate in cultural anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His doctoral research focuses on the experiences of Russian exiles who have relocated to Central Asia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 36: Why is crypto growing in Central Asia - and who benefits?
Apr 1600:38:15Tap to summarizeThis week, I would like to ask you a very big favour: please fill in a listeners’ survey about Turan Tales to help us improve.For those of you with a Substack account, here is a Substack survey: https://turantales.substack.com/publish/stats/surveys/6783588For those who don’t have one, there's a Google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15cvn9Y3HIAbuDdvmyvnFWrNcgcrDNSYVhnn7aUg-zyE/editAs for this week’s episode, we focus on a fascinating story of cryptocurrencies in Central Asia. Which countries--and why--have opened up to cryptocurrencies? Why is Kyrgyzstan building its own cryptocurrency? And can the crypto market help develop green energy?Joining us is Hugo Estecahandy, a researcher with the Geopolitics of the Datasphere project and coordinator of the “Digital Materialities” working group at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 35: Who is crying for Tashiev? The end of Kyrgyzstan's ruling duo
Apr 900:43:26Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we look at the fall of Kyrgyzstan’s ruling duo: President Sadyr Japarov and security chief Kamchybek Tashiev. We discuss how they came to power, why their alliance may be breaking down, and what this tells us about power, patronage, and regional divides in Kyrgyzstan. We also ask who is mourning Tashiev’s fall.Joining us is Aksana Ismailbekova, a Kyrgyz anthropologist and research fellow at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO), and the author of Blood Ties and the Native Son and Migration and Welfare Austerity (2017). Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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Rainbow Almaty: The end of a queer dream
Apr 300:34:23Tap to summarizeAs Russia’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law spreads across the region, queer spaces in Kazakhstan’s second-largest city are disappearing – and with them, the city’s creative pulse. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 34: Tengrism in Central Asia. From ancient belief to cultural phenomenon
Mar 2600:43:37Tap to summarizeThis week, we focus on Tengrism, the ancient belief system of the Eurasian steppe that has faced centuries of change, from the rise of Islam to Soviet suppression.While its rituals remain part of Central Asian culture and are seeing renewed interest, it is still widely misunderstood.What exactly is Tengrism? And why did Kazakhstan refuse to register it as an official religion?Joining us is Abigail Scripka, a doctoral candidate at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam, Germany, who studies Tengrism in Kazakhstan with a particular focus on the period of perestroika. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 33: Lessons on independence from the former Soviet republics
Mar 1900:41:44Tap to summarizeMy guest today was born in 1991, the same year the Soviet Union collapsed.A few years ago, he set out to explore what’s happened to the countries it left behind, and whether life beyond Russia’s shadow has brought the freedom and prosperity many hoped for.His name is Joe Luc Barnes, and you might recognise his voice from our audio documentaries.His new book, Farewell to Russia: A Journey Through the Former USSR, is out now in the UK and the US. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 32: Kazakh women across centuries. From the yurt to digital resistance
Mar 1200:39:36Tap to summarizeLast Sunday, March 8th, Turan Tales celebrated turning one with its first live podcast and a community gathering in Almaty. We sat down with Kazakh podcaster and feminist Aisulu Toyshibek to talk about women’s rights in Kazakhstan and how the situation has changed over the centuries and in the last few decades.Here is our talk. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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Episode 31: Why is Kazakhstan rewriting its Constitution?
Mar 500:40:24Tap to summarizeThis week we look at Kazakhstan’s new draft constitution and what it could mean for the country’s future. Our guest is Dmitriy Mazorenko, journalist and co-founder of the Superstructure research centre. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe
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