Podcasts about Bishkek

This episode we continue to follow the monk Xuanzang on his path along the silk road.  From Gaochang, he traveled through the Tarim Basin, up over the Tianshan Mountains, to the heart of the Western Gokturk Qaghanate.  From there, he traveled south, through the region of Transoxania to Bactria and the land of Tukhara.  He pushed on into the Hindu Kush, witnessing the stone Buddha statues of Bamiyan, and eventually made his way to the land of Kapisa, near modern Kabul, Afghanistan.  From there he would prepare to enter the Indian subcontinent: the home of the historical Buddha. For more discussion and some photos of the areas along this journey, check out our podcast blog at https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-121   Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 121: Journey to the West, Part 2   The cold winds blew through the travelers' doubled up clothing and thick furs.  Cold, wet ground meant that even two sets of boots were not necessarily enough after several days.  The frozen mist would often obscure everything except for the path immediately in front, hiding the peaks and making the sky a uniform white. In many places, the path would be blocked by rock, ice, or snow—the remnants of an avalanche, which could easily take an unsuspecting traveler.  And there was the elevation.  Hiking through the mountains, it was easy enough to reach heights of a mile or higher, and for those not accustomed to that elevation the thin air could take a surprising toll, especially if you were pushing yourself.  And the road was no less kind to the animals that would be hauling said travelers and their gear. And yet, this was the path that Xuanzang had agreed to.  He would continue to push through, despite the various deprivations that he would be subjected to.  No doubt he often wondered if it was worth it.  Then again, returning was just as dangerous a trip, so why not push on?   Last episode we introduced the monk Xuanzang, who traveled the Silk Road to India in the 7th century and returned to China.  He brought back numerous sutras to translate, and ended up founding a new school, known as the Faxian school—or the Hossou school in Japan.   As we mentioned last time, Xuanzang during his lifetime met with students from the archipelago when they visited the continent.  The records of his travels—including his biography and travelogue—are some of the best information we have on what life was like on the silk road around this time. In the last episode, we talked about Xuanzang: how he set out on his travels, his illegal departure from the Tang empire, and his perilous journey across the desert, ending up in Gaochang.  There, King Qu Wentai had tried to get him to stay, but he was determined to head out.  This episode we are going to cover his trip to Agni, Kucha, and Baluka—modern Aksu—and up to the Western Gokturk Qaghanate's capital of Suyab.  From there, we'll follow his footsteps through the Turkic controlled regions of Transoxania and into Tukhara, in modern Afghanistan.  Finally, we'll cover the last parts of his journey before he reached the start of his goal:  India. From Gaochang, Xuanzang continued on, through the towns he names as Wuban and Dujin, and into the country of Agni—known today as the area of Yanqi—which may also have been known as Wuqi.  The route was well-enough known, but it wasn't necessarily safe.  At one point, Xuanzang's caravan met with bandits, whom they were fortunately able to pay off.  The following night they encamped on a river bank with some merchants who also happened to be traveling the road.  The merchants, though, got up at midnight and headed out, hoping to get to the city early so that they could be the first ones to the market.  They only made it a few miles down the road, however, before they encountered more bandits, who slaughtered them and took their goods.  The following day, Xuanzang and his retinue came upon the merchants' remains lying in the road and saw the aftermath of the massacre. This was an unforgiving land, and the road was truly dangerous, even for those who traveled it regularly.  And yet Xuanzang was planning to travel its entire length until he reached India. So with little alternative, they carried on to the royal city of Agni. Agni, or Yanqi, sits on the southwestern edge of the basin, west of Bositeng lake, on the border between the Turfan basin and the larger Tarim Basin.  The name is thought to be a Tocharian—or Turfanian—name for the city, which is also known as Karashr. According to the biography by Huili, Xuanzang and his party didn't stay long in Agni.  Apparently Agni and Gaochang were not exactly on friendly terms, and even though the King of Agni and his ministers reportedly came out to greet Xuanzang and welcome him to their city, they refused to provide any horses.  They spent a single night and moved on. That said, Agni still made an impression on Xuanzang.  He noted how the capital was surrounded by hills on four sides, making it naturally defensible.  As for the people, he praises them as honest and straightforward.  They wore clothing of felt and hemp cloth, and cut their hair short, without hats or any kind of headwear.  Even the climate was pleasant, at least for the short time he was there.  He also notes that they used a script based on India—likely referring to the Brahmic script, which we find in the Tarim basin. However, as for the local lord, the King of Agni, he is a little less charitable.  Xuanzang claimed he was brave but “lacked resourcefulness” and he was a bit of a braggart.  Furthermore, the country had “no guiding principles or discipline and government orders are imperfect and not seriously implemented.”  He also mentioned the state of Buddhism in the country, noting that they were followers of Sarvastivada school, a Theravada sect popular along the Silk Road at the time.  Xuanzang was apparently not too pleased with the fact that they were not strict vegetarians, including the “three kinds of pure meat”.  From Agni, Xuanzang continued southwest, heading for the kingdom of Kucha.  He seems to have bypassed the nearby kingdom of Korla, south of Agni, and headed some 60 or 70 miles, climbing over a ridge and crossing two large rivers, and then proceeding another 200 miles or so to the land of Kucha. Kucha was a kingdom with over one hundred monasteries and five thousand monks following a form of Theravada Buddhism.  Here, Xuanzang was welcomed in by the king, Suvarnadeva, described as having red hair and blue eyes.  While Xuanzang was staying in Kucha, it is suspected that he probably visited the nearby Kizil grotto and the Buddhist caves, there, which include a painting of King Suvarnadeva's father, King Suvarnapuspa, and his three sons. You can still visit Kucha and the Kizil grottos today, although getting there is quite a trek, to be sure.  The ancient Kuchean capital is mostly ruins, but in the Kizil caves, protected from the outside elements, you can find vivid paintings ranging from roughly the 4th to the 8th century, when the site was abandoned.  Hundreds of caves were painted, and many still demonstrate vibrant colors.  The arid conditions protect them from mold and mildew, while the cave itself reduces the natural bleaching effect of sunlight.  The paintings are in numerous styles, and were commissioned by various individuals and groups over the years.  They also give us some inkling of how vibrant the city and similar structures must have been, back when the Kuchean kingdom was in its heyday. The people of Kucha are still something of a mystery.  We know that at least some of them spoke an Indo-European language, related to a language found in Agni, and both of these languages are often called Tocharian, which we discussed last episode.  Xuanzang himself noted that they used Indian writing, possibly referring to the Brahmi script, or perhaps the fact that they seem to have used Sanskrit for official purposes, such as the inscription on the cave painting at Kizil giving the name of King Suvarnapuspa.  The Kucheans also were clothed in ornamental garments of silk and embroidery.  They kept their hair cut, wearing a flowing covering over their heads—and we see some of that in the paintings. Xuanzang also notes that though we may think of this area as a desert, it was a place where rice and grains, as well as fruit like grapes, pomegranates, plums, pears, peaches, and almonds were grown.  Even today, modern Xinjiang grows some absolutely fantastic fruit, including grapes, which are often dried into raisins. Another point of interest for Xuanzang may have been that Kucha is known as the hometown of none other than Kumarajiva.  We first mentioned Kumarajiva back in episode 84.  Kumarajiva was one of the first people we know of who translated many of the sutras from India that were then more widely disseminated throughout the Yellow River and Yangzi river basins.  His father was from India and his mother was a Kuchean princess.  In the middle of the 4th century, when he was still quite young, he traveled to India and back with his mother on a Buddhist pilgrimage.  Later he would start a massive translation project in Chang'an.  His translations are credited with revolutionizing Chinese Buddhism. Xuanzang was initially welcomed by the king, his ministers, and the revered monk, Moksagupta.  They were accompanied by several thousand monks who set up tents outside the eastern gate, with portable Buddha images, which they worshipped, and then Xuanzang was taken to monastery after monastery until sunset.  At one of the monasteries, in the southeast of the city, there were several tens of monks who originally came from Gaochang, and since Xuanzang had come from there, they invited him to stay with them. The next day he met and feasted with the King, politely declining any meat, and then went to the monastery in the northwest to meet with the famous monk: Moksagupta.  Moksagupta himself had made the journey to India, and had spent 20 years there himself.  It seems like this would have been the perfect person for Xuanzang to talk to about his plans, but instead, the two butted heads.  Moksagupta seems to have seen Xuanzang's Mahayana faith as heretical.  He saw no reason for Xuanzang to travel all the way to India when he had all the sutras that anyone needed there in Kucha, along with Moksagupta himself.   Xuanzang's response seems to have been the Tang dynasty Buddhist version of “Okay, Boomer”, and then he went ahead and tore apart Moksagupta's understanding of his own sutras—or so Xuanzang relayed to his biographers.  We don't exactly have Moksagupta's side, and, let's face it, Xuanzang and his biographers are not necessarily reliable narrators.  After all, they followed Mahayana teachings, which they considered the “Greater Vehicle”, and they referred to the Theravada teachings as the “Hinayana” or “Lesser Vehicle”.  Meanwhile, Theravada Buddhists likely saw many of the Mahayana texts as extraneous, even heretical, not believing them to actually be the teachings of the Buddha. It must have been winter time, as the passes through the mountains on the road ahead were still closed, and so Xuanzang stayed in Kucha, spending his time sightseeing and meeting with various people.  He even went back to see Moksagupta, but the older monk shunned him, and would get up and exit the room rather than engaging with him, so they had no more conversations. Eventually, Xuanzang continued on his way west, following along the northern rim of the Tarim basin.  Two days out from Kucha, disaster struck.  Some two thousand or so Turkish bandits suddenly appeared—I doubt Xuanzang was counting, so it may have been more or less.  I imagine that memories of what had happened to the merchants near Agni must have gone through Xuanzang's mind.   Fortunately, for him, they were fighting over loot that they had pillaged from various travelers, and since they couldn't share it equally, they fell to fighting each other and eventually dispersed. He travelled for almost 200 miles after that, stopping only for a night at the Kingdom of Baluka, aka Gumo—the modern city of Aksu.  This was another Theravada Buddhist kingdom.  Xuanzang noted tens of Buddhist temples, and over 1000 Buddhist monks.  The country was not large—about 200 miles east to west and 100 miles north to south.  For reference that means it was probably comparable in size with Kyushu, in terms of overall area, or maybe the size of Denmark—excluding Greenland—or maybe the US state of Maryland.  Xuanzang described the country as similar to Kucha in just about every way, including the written language and law, but the spoken language was different, though we don't get many more details. From Baluka, he crossed northward through the Tianshan mountains, which are classified as an extension of the Pamirs known as the Ice Mountains.  Had he continued southwest, he would have hit Kashgar and crossed over between the Pamir and Tian Shan ranges into the Ferghana valley, but instead he turned north. We don't know exactly why he took this perilous option, but the route that may have been popular at the time as it was one of the most direct routes to the seat of the Western Gokturk Empire, which he was currently traveling through. The Tian Shan mountains were a dangerous journey.  Avalanches could block the road—or worse.  Xuanzang describes the permanent ice fields—indeed, it is the ice fields and glaciers of the Tian Shan that melt in the summer and provide the oasis towns of the Tarim Basin with water, even to this day.  In Xuanzang's day, those glaciers were likely even more prevalent than today, especially as they have been recorded as rapidly disappearing since 1961.  And where you weren't on snow and ice, the ground was probably wet and damp from the melt.  To keep warm, you would wear shoes over your shoes, along with heavy fur coats, all designed to reduce exposure. Xuanzang claims that 3 or 4 of every 10 people didn't survive the crossing—and that horses and oxen fared even worse.  Even if these numbers are an exaggeration, the message is clear:  This was a dangerous journey. After about seven days, Xuanzang came out of the mountains to the “Great Pure Lake”, the “Da Qing Hai”, also known as the Hot Sea or the Salt Sea, which likely refers to Issyk Kul.  The salt content, along with the great volume of water it possesses, means that the lake rarely freezes over, which is likely why it is seen as “hot” since it doesn't freeze when the fresh water nearby does.  This lake is the second largest mountain lake in the world, and the second deepest saltwater lake.  Traveling past the lake, he continued to Suyab, near modern Tokmok, in Kyrgyzstan, just west of the modern capital of Bishkek.  This was an old Sogdian settlement, and had since become the capital of the Western Gokturks.  Sogdians—like Xuanzang's guide, Vandak—were integral to the Gokturk kingdom. Their language was the lingua franca of the Silk Road, and at the time of the Gokturk Khaganate, it was also the official court language, and so when Xuanzang appeared at the court of the Great Khagan of the Western Gokturks, it was likely the language of diplomacy. When we think of Turkic people, many in the English speaking world think of Turkiye, and perhaps of the mighty Ottoman empire.  Some may think of Turkmenistan, Kazhakstan, Kyrgyzstan, or Uzbekistan, among others.  And of course, there are the Uyghur people in Xinjiang.  All of these people claim roots in the ancestral Turkic homeland in the Altai mountains, which sit largely in western Mongolia, north of China's Xinjiang region.  Much like the Xiongnu and the Mongols, they were pastoral nomads, moving their herds across the steppes, often covering great distances.  They would regularly move through different regions, perhaps returning each season, though sometimes not returning for years at a time.  They were often seen as barbarians by settled people living in cities, and yet their goods and horses were highly prized. Nomad and sedentary lifestyles would often collide.  Farmers would turn pastureland into fields, and when the nomadic people returned on their circuits, they would find walls and fences where there was once open land, and the people there would claim to “own” the land, a concept often foreign to people who were always on the move.  Nomadic people, such as the Gokturks, were not necessarily keeping vast libraries of records about themselves and their histories, and so much of what we get comes from external sources, which do not always have incredibly reliable narrators.  To many of the settled agriculturalists, groups like the Turks were marauders who raided their villages and farms.  They were a great bogeyman of the steppes, which required the firm hand of strong defenses to keep out—or so their opponents would want people to think. While they were known for their warfare, which incorporated their mobility, but they were keenly interested in trade, as well.  They understood the value of the trade routes and the various cities and states that they included in their empire.  Thus, the Sogdians and the Gokturks seem a natural fit: the Sogdians were more settled, but not entirely so, as demonstrated by their vast trade networks.  And the Sogdians also were part of the greater central Eurasian steppe culture, so the two cultures understood each other, to a degree.  They are even depicted similarly in art, with slight differences, such as long hair that was often associated with Turks over the Sogdians.  In some areas of the Gokturk empire, Sogdians would run the cities, while the Gokturks provided military aid and protection. Xuanzang's description of the people of Suyab, or the “City of Suye River”, doesn't pick out anyone in particular, and he even says that it was a place where traders of the Hu, or foreign, tribes from different countries mingle their abodes.  He mentions the people here as being called Suli, which is also the name given to the language—this may refer to “Sogdian” in general.  They write with an alphabet that is written vertically rather than horizontally—this may refer to a few scripts that were written this way, possibly based off Syriac or Aramaic alphabets that were adapted to Sogdian and other Iranian languages, but it isn't clear. We are told that the people dressed in felt and hemp clothing, with fur and “cotton” garments.  Their clothes fit tightly, and they kept their hair cut short, exposing the top of their heads—though sometimes they shaved it completely, tying a colored silk band around the forehead. He goes on to describe these people as greedy liars, possibly a reference to the mercantile nature of many of the people at the time. Something to note: The Turks of this time had not yet encountered Islam, which was just now starting to rise up in the Middle East.  The Prophet Muhammad is said to have been born around the end of the 6th century CE and was preaching in the early 7th century, though his teachings would begin to spread outward soon enough.  But that means that the Gokturks were not an Islamic empire.  Rather, their own traditions seem to have focused on the worship of Tengri, an Altaic personification of the universe, often simplified as a “sky god”.  Tengrism can be found amongst the Xiongnu, Mongols, and others, and it was the national religion of the Gokturks themselves, but there were many who also adopted other religions that they encountered, including Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Buddhism.  In fact, Xuanzang notes that the Turks he met in Suyab would not sleep or sit on beds made of wood because wood was thought to contain the spirit of fire, which he says they worshipped.  That sounds similar to Zoroastrian beliefs, where fire is associated with Ahura Mazda, who is also worshipped as a sky god.  These may have been beliefs inherited from their Eastern Iranian Sogdian partners. In Xuanzang's biography, we are given more details about his visit to Suyab.  Apparently, as he was headed to the city, he met a hunting party, which we are told was the retinue of Yehu Khan.  Hunting was an important part of life on the steppes, and it continued to be a favorite sport of the Gokturk nobility. Yehu Khan—possibly Yagbhu Khan, though that is up for some debate—is described as being dressed in a green silk robe, with his hair exposed, and wearing  a turban of white silk about ten feet long that wrapped his forehead and hung behind his back.  His “hunting” expedition wasn't just a couple of the guys.  It included about 200 officials, all with plaited hair and dressed in brocade robes—they weren't exactly out there roughing it.  He also had his soldiers, dressed in furs, felt, or fine woolen clothes, and there were so many cavalry that they stretched out of sight.  The Khan seemed pleased to meet Xuanzang, but his hunt was expected to last another couple of days, at least, so he sent an attendant named Dharmaja to take Xuanzang back to wait for the Khan to return. Three days later, Xuanzang was given an audience.  The khan was seated in a large yurt.  Xuanzang noted the seeming incongruity between the khan, sitting there in the tent, decorated with golden flowers, with the officials dressed in magnificent brocade garments sitting in two long rows in front of him and the armed guards behind him, compared to the simple felt walls of the tent. A ”yurt” is a common feature of nomadic life on the steppes.  It wasn't exactly a single person operation to haul them around, but they can be taken down and put up with relative ease.  And while yurts could be relatively simple, there are examples of much more elaborate structures.  There is little reason they couldn't be made larger, perhaps with some extra support.  In later centuries, there are examples of giant yurts that seem like real construction projects.  Use of tents, even in a city, where they had permanent palace buildings, was likely a means of retaining the nomadic steppe traditions, even while enjoying the benefits of city life. Whom exactly Xuanzang met with is a matter of debate.  His records seem to indicate that it was Tong Yabghu Qaghan of the Western Gokturk Khaganate, but other sources say that Tong Yabghu Qaghan died in 628, and the earliest Xuanzang could have been meeting with him was 630, two years later, so if that is the case, he must have met with Tong Yabghu's son, Si Yabghu Qaghan.  It is likely that Xuanzang, who was dictating his accounts years after, mentioned the Qaghan and then, when they looked up who it was, they simply made a mistake.  Remember, Xuanzang would have had everything translated through one or two languages.  He did know what he saw, however, and he recounted what he remembered. Tong Yabghu Qaghan oversaw the height of the Gokturk Qaghanate, and appears to have favored the Buddhist religion, though there were many different religions active in their territories at the time.  They oversaw an extremely cosmopolitan empire covering huge swaths of central Eurasia, including the lucrative silk road.  Xuanzang notes that at the court there were individuals from Gaochang and even a messenger from the Han—which is to say the Tang Empire.  One wonders if Xuanzang—or anyone at that time—realized just how tenuous the Khan'sposition was.  After Tong Yabghu's death, the Qaghanate would decline, and less than a decade later it would fall to the Tang dynasty, who took Suyab and made it their western outpost.  In fact, Suyab is thought to have been the birthplace, over a century later, of a young boy who would find a love of poetry.  That boy's name was Li Bai, or Ri Haku, in Japanese. He would become one of the most famous poets in Chinese history, and his poems were even known and studied in Japan.  And it was largely through Japanese study of Li Bai's poems that his works came to the English speaking world: first through Ernest Fenollosa, who had studied in Japan, and then by the celebrated Ezra Pound, who had used Ernest's notes to help with his own translations of the poems. This was, though, as I said, over a century after Xuanzang's journey.  At the time of our story, the Qaghan was throwing a feast, including Xuanzang and all of the foreign envoys.  Xuanzang comments on the food and drink—his hosts provided grape juice in lieu of wine, and cooked a special vegetarian feast just for him, while the other guests ate a feast of meat, such as veal, lamb, fish, and the like.  There was also the music of various regions along the Silk Road, which Xuanzang found to be catchy, but of course not as refined as the music he was used to, of course.  After dinner Xuanzang was asked to expound upon the Darma, largely about the basic principle that you should be kind to one another—I doubt he was getting into the deep mysteries of Buddhist philosophy. Xuanzang stuck around the court for three more days, during which time the Qaghan tried to get him to stay, but Xuanzang insisted that he had to make it to India.  And so the Qaghan relented.  He found men in his army who could translate for Xuanzang along his journey, and had letters of introduction written to at least as far as the state of Kapisa, in modern Afghanistan. And so, armed with the Qaghan's blessing and a fresh translator, Xuanzang struck out again.  They headed westward for over one hundred miles, eventually reaching Bingyul, aka the Thousand Springs.  This is the area where the Qaghan and his court would spend his summers, and the deer in the area were protected under his orders, so that they were not afraid of humans—which sounds similar to the situation with the deer in Nara.  Continuing on another fifty miles or so—the distances are approximate as Xuanzang's primary duty was not exactly to map all of this out—Xuanzang arrived at the city of Taras, in modern Kazakhstan, another place where the cultures of the Silk Road mixed and mingled.  Xuanzang didn't have much to say about Taraz, apparently, though it is one of the oldest cities in Transoxania, founded near the beginning of the Common Era.  A few miles south of there, Xuanzang reportedly found a village of re-settled ethnic Han that had been captured by the Gokturks and settled here.  They had adopted the dress and customs of the Turkic people, but continued to speak a version of Chinese. Southwest of that he reached the City of White Water, likely referring to Aksukent.  This is the same “Aksu” as the city in Xinjiang, both of which mean “White Water” in Turkic, but this one is in the south of Kazakhstan.  Xuanzang found the climate and products an improvement over what he had experienced in Taras.  Beyond that, he next arrived at the city of Gongyu, and then south again to Nujkend, and then traveling westward to the country of Chach, aka Tashkent.  Both Nujkend and Chach were large cities in nations of smaller, mostly autonomous city-states, which made up a lot of the political geography of Transoxania. I would note that Xuanzang's notes here are much more sparse than previously.  This may be because these were outside of the Tarim basin and therefore of less interest to individuals in the Tang empire.  Or perhaps he was just making his way more quickly and not stopping at every kingdom along the way. From Tashkent, he continued southeast to the Ferghana valley—the country of Feihan.  Oddly, this country doesn't appear in Xuanzang's biography, even though the Ferghana Valley seems to have been fairly well known back in the Tang Empire—it was known as the home of some of the best horses, which were one of its first major exports.  In fact, the Han dynasty even mounted a military expedition to travel to Ferghana just to obtain horses.  Xuanzang is oddly silent on this; however, he does talk about the fertile nature of the land.  He mentions that their language here is different from the lands he had been traveling through up to this point, and also points out that the people of the Ferghana valley were also visibly different from others in the area. From the Ferghana valley, Xuanzang headed west for about 300 miles or more to the land of Sutrushana—perhaps referring to the area of Ushrusana, with its capital of Bunjikat.  This country was also largely Sogdian, and described as similar to Tashkent.  From there, he traveled west through a great desert, passing skeletons, which were the only marker of the trail other than a view of the far off mountains.  Finally, they reached Samarkand, known as the country of “Kang” in Chinese, which was also the term used to mark Sogdians who claimed descent from the people of Samarkand. Samarkand is another of the ancient cities of Central Asia, and even today is the third largest city in modern Uzbekistan.  Human activity in the region goes back to the paleolithic era, and the city was probably founded between the 8th and 7th centuries BCE.  Samarkand was conquered by Alexander the Great, and during the Achaemenid Empire it was the capital of Sogdiana.  During Xuanzang's visit, Samarkand was described as an impenetrable fortress with a large population. For all of his travel, Samarkand was the first place Xuanzang notes as specifically not a Buddhist land.  In fact, there were two monasteries, suggesting that there had been Buddhists, but if any monks tried to stay there then the locals would chase them out with fire.  Instead, they worshipped fire—likely meaning Ahura Mazda and Zoroastrianism.  This leads to a story that I have to wonder about, given the reliability of our narrators. It is said that Xuanzang was met by the King with arrogance, but after staying the night Xuanzang was able to tell the King about Buddhism and its merits.  The king was intrigued, and asked to observe the Precepts, and treated Xuanzang with hospitality and respect.  So when two of Xuanzang's attendants went to the monasteries to worship, they were chased out with fire.  When the king heard about this, he had the people arrested and ordered their hands to be cut off.  Xuanzang could not bear to witness such suffering, however, and he intervened to have them spared.  So instead the king had them flogged and banished from the city.  Ever since then, all the people believed in Buddhism. Some parts of this strike true.  It was likely that the king would entertain this strange wanderer who had arrived with letters from the great Qaghan—that may have even explained why Xuanzang had been encouraged to make the dangerous journey to Suyab in the first place, so that he could obtain such permission.  And it would not be strange for the king to listen to his teachings.  If Xuanzang's attendants were attacked, that would have been a huge breach of hospitality, and however the King felt about it, he no doubt had to do something about it.  And so all of that sounds somewhat believable.  Does that mean everyone suddenly converted to Buddhism?  I don't know that I'm quite willing to go that far.  It is also likely that there were Buddhists there already, even if the majority religion was Zoroastrianism. From Samarkand, Xuanzang traveled farther southwest, to the country of Kasanna, which seems to have been the edge of what we might call Sogdiana.   According to his biographers, however, there was a little more to all of this.  Rather, he headed west to Kusanika.  Then he traveled to  Khargan, and further on to the country of Bukhara, and then to Vadi.  All of these were “An” in Chinese, which was the name element used for Sogdians from this region.  He then continued west to the country of Horismika, on the other side of the Amu Darya, aka the Oxus River of Transoxanian fame. From there he traveled further southwest, entering into the mountains.  The path here was often such that they had to travel single-file, and there was no food or water other than what you brought with you.  Eventually they came to a set of doors, known as the Iron Gate.  This was a Turkic fortress.  It was no doubt fortuitous that he had come from his meeting with the Qaghan, and likely had permission to pass through.  From there, they entered the country of Tukhara. As we noted in Episode 119, Tukhara was in the region of Bactria.  It was bordered by the Pamir range in the east, and the Persian empire in the west.  There were also the Great Snow Mountains in the south, likely referencing the Hindu Kush. Tukhara had been conquered by the Gokturks just within the past couple of decades, and Xuanzang notes that the country had been split into largely autonomous city-states as the local royalty had died without an heir many years before.  With the Gokturk conquest, it was now administered by Tardu Shad, the son of Tong Yabghu Qaghan.  “Shad” in this case was a local title. Here, Xuanzang's narrative gets a little dicey, especially between his biography and his records.  The records of the Western Regions denotes various countries in this area.  It is unclear if he traveled to all of them or is just recounting them from records he obtained.  He does give us at least an overview of the people and the region.  I would also note that this is one of the regions he visited, again, on his return trip, and so may have been more familiar with the region than those areas he had passed through from Suyab on down. For one thing, he notes that the language of the region was different from that of the “Suli”, which appears to refer to the Sogdians.  This was the old territory of the Kushan empire, and they largely spoke Bactrian.  Like Sogdian, it was another Eastern Iranian language, and they used an alphabet based largely on Greek, and written horizontally rather than vertically.  They also had their own coins. This region had plenty of Buddhist communities, and Xuanzang describes the cities and how many monasteries they had, though, again, it isn't clear if he actually visited all of them or not.  These are countries that Li Rongji translates as “Tirmidh”, “Sahaaniyan”, “Kharuun”, “Shuumaan”, etc. It does seem that Xuanzang made it to the capital city, the modern city Kunduz, Afghanistan. Xuanzang actually had something specific for the local Gokturk ruler, Tardu Shad.  Tardu Shad's wife was the younger sister of King Qu Wentai of Gaochang, whom we met last episode.  Qu Wentai had provided Xuanzang a letter for his younger sister and her husband.  Unfortunately, Xuanzang arrived to learn that the princess of Gaochang had passed away, and Tardu Shad's health was failing.  It does seem that Tardu Shad was aware of Xuanzang, however—a letter had already come from Qu Wentai to let them know that Xuanzang was on his way.  As I mentioned last episode, letters were an important part of how communities stayed tied together.  Of course, given the perils of the road, one assumes that multiple letters likely had to be sent just in case they didn't make it.  The US Postal Service this was not. Tardu Shad, though not feeling well, granted an interview with Xuanzang.  He suggested that Xuanzang should stick around.  Then, once the Shad had recovered from his illness, he would accompany Xuanzang personally on his trip to India.  Unfortunately, that was not to be.  While Xuanzang was staying there, he was witness to deadly drama.  Tardu Shad was recovering, which was attributed to the recitations by an Indian monk who was also there.  This outcome was not exactly what some in the court had wanted.  One of the Shad's own sons, known as the Tagin prince, plotted with the Shad's current wife, the young Khatun, and she poisoned her husband.  With the Shad dead, the throne might have gone to the son of the Gaochang princess, but he was still too young.  As such, the Tagin Prince was able to usurp the throne himself, and he married his stepmother, the young Khatun.  The funeral services for the late Tardu Shad meant that Xuanzang was obliged to stay at Ghor for over a month. During that time, Xuanzang had a seemingly pleasant interaction with an Indian monk.  And when he finally got ready to go, he asked the new Shad for a guide and horses.  He agreed, but also made the suggestion that Xuanzang should then head to Balkh.  This may have meant a bit of backtracking, but the Shad suggested that it would be worth it, as Balkh had a flourishing Buddhist community. Fortunately, there was a group of Buddhist monks from Balkh who happened to be in Kunduz to express their condolences at the passing of Tardu Shad, and they agreed to accompany Xuanzang back to their hometown, lest he end up getting lost and taking the long way there. The city of Balkh is also known as “Baktra”, as in “Bactria”, another name of this region.  A settlement has been there since at least 500 BCE , and it was already an important city when it was captured by Alexander the Great.  It sits at the confluence of several major trade routes, which no doubt were a big part of its success.  Xuanzang's biography notes that it was a massive city, though it was relatively sparsely populated—probably due to the relatively recent conquest by the Gokturks, which had occurred in the last couple of decades.  That said, there were still thousands of monks residing at a hundred monasteries in and around the city.  They are all characterized as monks of Theravada schools.  Southwest of the city was a monastery known as Navasamgharama, aka Nava Vihara, or “New Monastery”.  Despite its name, the monastery may have actually been much older, going back to the Kushan emperor Kaniska, in the 2nd century CE.  Ruins identified as this “New Monastery” are still visible south of Balkh, today. The monastery is described as being beautifully decorated, and it seems that it had a relic—one of the Buddha's teeth.  There are also various utensils that the Buddha is said to have used, as well.  The objects would be displayed on festival days.  North of the monastery there was a stupa more than 200 feet in height.  South of the monastery was a hermitage.  Each monk who studied there and passed away would have a stupa erected for them, as well.  Xuanzang notes that there were at around 700 memorial stupas, such that they had to be crammed together, base to base. It was here that Xuanzang met a young monk named Prajnaakara, who was already somewhat famous in India, and well-studied.  When questioned about certain aspects of Buddhism, Xuanzang was impressed by the monk's answers, and so stayed there a month studying with the young monk. Eventually, Xuanzang was ready to continue on his journey.  He departed Balkh towards the south, accompanying the teacher Prajnakara, and together they entered the Great Snow Mountains, aka the Hindu Kush.  This path was even more dangerous than the trip through the Tian Shan mountains to Suyab.   They eventually left the territory of Tukhara and arrived at Bamiyan.  Bamiyan was a kingdom in the Hindu Kush, themselves an extension of the Himalayan Mountain range.  It Is largely based around valley, home to the modern city of Bamyan, Afghanistan, which sits along the divide between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.  Today it is a major center for individuals of the Hazara ethnic group, one of the main ethnic groups in Afghanistan, which is a multi-ethnic state that includes, today, the Pashtun, Hazara, Tajik, and Uzbek people, along with a number of smaller ethnic groups.  Today they largely reside in the mountainous areas of the Hindu Kush. Bamiyan made an impact on our protagonist.   Their language was slightly different from that in Tukhara, but using the same—or similar enough—writing system.  Buddhism was thriving in the capital, and we are told of a rock statue of the standing Buddha, over a hundred feet in height, along with a copper statue of the standing Buddha nearby.    There was also another reclining Buddha a mile or two down the road.  There were multiple monasteries with thousands of monks, and the ruler of that kingdom received Xuanzang well. Xuanzang wasn't the first monk to travel to Bamiyan from the Middle Kingdom—in this he was, perhaps unwittingly, on the trail of the monk Faxian.  Faxian likely did not see these statues, though, as we believe they were built in the 6th and early 7th century—at least the stone Buddha statues.  They were a famous worship site until February 2001, when the Taliban gave an order to destroy all of the statues in Afghanistan.  Despite this, they were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. Fortunately, we have images from before their destruction.  These statues were a blend of Greco-Buddhist and Gandharan art styles—appropriate as it stands between the Hellenistic area of Tukhara and the ancient region of Gandhara—including the modern city of Kandahar and into the Indus Valley region of Pakistan. Continuing east through the mountains, Xuanzang eventually came out at the kingdom of Kapisa.  This may have had its capital around modern-day Bagram, north of modern Kabul, but the country seems to have been quite large.  Kapisa over saw some tens of other countries, and it is thought that at one time its influence extended from Bamyan and Kandahar to the area of modern Jalalabad.  Their language was even more different than that of Tukhara, but they were still using the same writing system.  The king of Kapisa is said to have been of Suli ethnicity—which would seem to indicate that he was Sogdian, or at least descended from people of the Transoxanian region.    Xuanzang notes that the ruler, as rough and fiery as he is described—as a true warlord or similar—he nonetheless made a silver image of the Buddha, eighteen feet in height, every year.  He also gave charity to the poor and needy in an assembly that was called every five years.  There were over one hundred monasteries and some 6000 monks, per Xuanzang's recollection, and notably, they were largely following Mahayana teachings. For the most part the monks that Xuanzang had encountered on this journey were Theravada—Xuanzang refers to them as “Hinayana”, referring to the “Lesser Vehicle” in contrast to Xuanzang's own “Mahayana”, or “Greater Vehicle”.  “Theravada” refers to the “way of the elders” and while Mahayana Buddhism largely accepts the sutras of Theravada Buddhism, there are many Mahayana texts that Theravada Buddhists do not believe are canonical.  We discussed this back in Episode 84. There was apparently a story of another individual from the Yellow River being sent as a hostage to Kapisa when it was part of the Kushan Empire, under Kanishka or similar.  Xuanzang recounts various places that the hostage, described as a prince, lived or visited while in the region.  Xuanzang's arrival likely stirred the imagination of people who likely knew that the Tang were out there, but it was such a seemingly impossible distance for most people.  And yet here was someone who had traveled across all of that distance.  One of the monasteries that claimed to have been founded because of that ancient Han prince invited Xuanzang to stay with them.  Although it was a Theravada monastery, Xuanzang took them up on the offer, both because of the connection to someone who may have been his countryman, but also because of his traveling companion, Prajnakara, who was also a Theravada monk, and may not be comfortable staying at a Mahayana monastery. Xuanzang spends a good deal of ink on the stories of how various monasteries and other sites were founded in Kapisa and the surrounding areas.  He must have spent some time there to accumulate all of this information.  It is also one of the places where he seems to have hit at least twice—once on the way to India, and once during his return journey. The King of Kapisa is said to have been a devotee of Mahayana Buddhism.  He invited Xuanzang and Prajnakara to come to a Mahayana monastery to hold a Dharma gathering.  There they met with several leading figures in the monastery, and they discussed different theories.  This gathering lasted five days, and at the end, the king offered Xuanzang and the other monks five bolts of pure brocade and various other gifts.  Soon thereafter, the monk Prajnakara was invited back to Tukhara, and so he and Xuanzang parted ways. And it was about time for Xuanzang to continue onwards as well.  From Kapisa, he would travel across the “Black Range” and into Lampaka.  This may refer to the area of Laghman or Jalalabad.  Today, this is in modern Afghanistan, but for Xuanzang, this would have been the northwestern edge of India.  He was almost there. And so are we, but we'll save his trip into India for next episode. Until then thank you for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

December 20th 2024 Yuriy recounts the chaos of the 2010 Kyrgyzstan revolution, culminating in a surprising interview with the interim president. Dressed in a dusty pair of cargo pants and a T-shirt featuring a stoned frog, our hero makes an unexpected impression that you won't want to miss. You can email Yuriy, ask him questions or simply send him a message of support: fightingtherussianbeast@gmail.com    You can help Yuriy and his family by donating to his GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-yuriys-family   Yuriy's Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy   Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat  Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/  ----more---- TRANSCRIPT: (Apple Podcasts & Podbean app users can enjoy accurate closed captions)     It is December 20.  Let me tell you the promised story about the Kyrgyz president and the stoned frog. It happened in 2010. That year in April, there was a revolution in Kyrgyzstan corruption in power, poverty among the people, interethnic and inter-regional conflicts- all of these had been building up for a long time and finally exploded. I was sent there to cover the events. I remember arriving in the capital, Bishkek, just as the revolutionaries were seizing the large presidential administration building. The staff had set fire to a pile of documents in the basement and the tons of burning and paper filled everything with smoke.  The then president fled quickly to his homeland in southern Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan is divided in half by the Tien Shan mountain range. People from the south often don't get along well with those from the north and vice versa. The geography kept them separated and politicians often exploited this division for their own benefit, pitting people from different regions against each other. Long story short, after the revolution triumphed in the capital, the events shifted to the south where the ousted president was trying to consolidate power with the help of local elites and actual mafias. Naturally, I went there too.  Those were very tense weeks. I came under fire several times, was arrested by local security services on suspicion of collaborating with Al-Qaeda and the house I initially stayed in was burned to the ground. In short, it was the kind of real field journalism that makes the profession worth pursuing.  While I was running around the south the new interim government was established in the capital. A journalist friend of mine from Bishkek called to say that the new interim president just appointed by Parliament, wanted to give her first interview to my media outlet. At the time, I worked for an outlet, highly respected in Central Asia. I found a driver willing to take me to Bishkek, and off we went. The president's office agreed the interview would be the next day. That gave me time to recover a bit, wash my clothes and prepare questions.  But just as I checked into my hotel- I still remember its name, 'Dostuk' which means friendship in Kyrgyz- they called me to say plans had changed. Madame President Rosato BWA expected me in an hour.  The hotel was 40 minute walk from the interview location, leaving me almost no time. After several weeks in the fields, I had no clean clothes left. Well, almost none. The only clean item was a T-shirt I'd randomly packed. Someone had given it to me as a gift. I'd never have bought it myself. It featured the word 'Amsterdam' and a stoned frog holding a joint. With no other options. I put it on.  I thought I might buy something more appropriate on the way, but every shop was either looted or boarded up. So I arrived at the president office wearing the frog t-shirt and dusty cargo pants. The sophisticated and elegant woman tried her best to hide any surprise at my appearance, but trust me, it was nearly impossible not to be surprised. So I laid my cards on the table immediately, explaining what I had just arrived from the south an hour earlier after spending a lot of time observing events that nearly turned into a civil war. I told her I had no opportunity to find more appropriate clothing.  We've went out of the way the interview began. But for the first hour it was not me asking the questions, instead, Madame President was asking me about what had been happening in the south. By then the stoned frog didn't bother her anymore.

China's presence in Central Asia has been growing for 30 years. China is now a leading trade and security partner, foreign investor, and source of everyday goods available in markets and bazaars across Central Asia. The Central Asia Barometer recently released the results of a survey conducted over the course of several years that analyzes the opinions of Central Asian citizens toward various spheres of interaction with China, including the presence of Chinese workers in Central Asia. The results are surprisingly positive. Joining host Bruce Pannier are Kasiet Ysmanova, director of the Central Asia Barometer and a survey research practitioner based in Bishkek; Frank Maracchione, a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent, working on Sinophobia in the Global South; and Irna Hofman, a rural sociologist specializing in social and agrarian change in Central Asia who has followed China's presence in rural Tajikistan ethnographically for some 15 years.

TRACKLIST : Stiven Escarraga - Ozymandias (Dubman F. remix) Frink - B mind Franco Bianco & Nacho Benedetti - El fuego y el combustible (Mike Shannon remix) Hertz Division - Jukebox advice Danniel Selfmade - Observers Jeronimo Watson - Higher plane Donald Tapia - Gods will (Promise Land remix) Ron Ractive - Rotary grey Petr Sovel - Morgonc Marakelle - Circulum Jungle Punk - World of glass Vangelis Kostoxenakis - The day beyond

Show description - DJ / producer Adriana Ray Hailing from the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek, currently Based in DUbai Adriana unique perspective on the genre has resulted in a flourishing discography of masterfully produced records for labels such as Plazma Records , Sinedie Underground, Music4clubbers and Lazuli Records.Over her 14 year-long DJing career, Adriana Ray” has brought her authentic style of melodically tribal sound to countless stages across the globe, including Lebanon, Bahrain, Oman, China, where she resided for 2 years and Dubai, where she has called home for the past 9 years. During this time, she served as the official DJ for the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi delivering a host of performances at Dubai's iconic P7 Arena. ⚡️ Like the Show? Click the [Repost] ↻ button so more people can hear it!

In this week's episode of The Fig, I am thinking of all the things I miss about being back in the States…but also feeling like Beyonce here in Bishkek. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicfigment.substack.com/subscribe

Being at the core of the Internet places the DNS under a lot of pressure. New forms of DNS abuse emerge each year, disputes over domain names persist, and all the while, the Internet just keeps getting bigger. Mikhail Anisimov from ICANN talks about the coordinated effort involved in meeting these challenges and shares his views on DNS in Central Asia.As one of the organisations at the core of the Internet that works to coordinate the supply of Internet numbers and domain names, ICANN plays a vital role in helping to support and develop the DNS. Our guest Mikhail has been ICANN's Stakeholder Engagement Senior Manager for Eastern Europe and Central Asia since 2020, so we thought who better to talk to about DNS, DNSSEC, and its ongoing development in Central Asia.Show notes:02:18 - Wikipedia entry on DNS03:30 - You can learn lots about ICANN on their website04:10 – There's a list of all the root DNS servers and their operators on the IANA website. The RIPE NCC operates K-root.05:12 – Statdns has this useful list of DNS related RFCs08:40 – New gTLD program09:10 – FAQ on the next round of the new gTLD15:30 - The 8th Central Asian Internet Governance Forum took place on 21-22 June 2024.15:51 – ICANN's Domain Name Security Threat Information Collection and Reporting (DNSTICR) project16:02 - …and the broader Domain Abuse Activity Reporting (DAAR) project19:07 - Calling Time on DNSSEC by Geoff Huston22:19 – Dan Kaminsky in the Internet Hall of Fame28:00 – ICANN page on DNSSEC33:21 – The next Central Asia Peering and Interconnection Forum, CAPIF 3, takes place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, from 24-25 September 2024.40:42 – Read Chris Buckridge's Fragmentation: Still the Internet's Big Bad here on RIPE Labs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We made it to Bishkek! In this week's episode of The Fig, we've got a heat wave, delayed flights, power outages, and car engine failure. But hey! We're here! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicfigment.substack.com/subscribe

What does urban sprawl sound like in a traffic-choked city? This recording is of a street intersection in a residential part of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The whistle is from a policeman who has been instructed to stand amidst the traffic so as to over-ride the traffic lights, because the traffic lights can't deal with the volume of urban traffic.  Bishkek is typical of many cities, in experiencing both a dramatic increase in population (from 600,000 at the end of the Soviet Union to an estimated 1.5 million today) and a huge increase in the number of private cars, the result of rural to urban migration and the growth of peri-urban migrant districts.  The result is that 'probki' (traffic jams) are a constant of city life and 'traffic chaos' a constant topic of conversations. Attempts to encourage the public to switch to public transport have been hindered by botched reforms, an insufficient number of buses, and the wide distances that people have to cover to get to the city proper. Recorded by Madeleine Reeves. Part of the Migration Sounds project, the world's first collection of the sounds of human migration.  For more information and to explore the project, see https://www.citiesandmemory.com/migration IMAGE: Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

"This field recording made me think of different layers of migration - firstly, the population's general tendency to move to the capital from other parts of the country. Secondly, the people moving between the parts of the city. Thirdly, an internal migration - drifting away from the traffic jam to a dreamlike space where the environmental sounds are muffled and become a flow of thoughts and memories. "While working on this piece, I migrated from the digital medium to the analogue and back. I recorded separate frequency bands of the original audio on a 4-track tape, added subtle effects and kept bouncing the tracks (combining two or three tracks on one) until the original material became indiscernible as if creating a parallel lane of traffic leading elsewhere, away from the busy street.  "Then I recorded electric bass layers as a counterpoint to the whistle blows of the traffic managing policeman. But a melody never develops; the guitar imitates the monotony of the shrill tones and plays with their irregularity. And so the policeman's whistle morphs into a musical instrument, the traffic becomes a wave. A kid's voice brings you back to the reality. Does it though? Are there any tigers around? And what does “control the traffic” mean?"  Bishkek traffic control reimagined by Gundega Graudina. Part of the Migration Sounds project, the world's first collection of the sounds of human migration.  For more information and to explore the project, see https://www.citiesandmemory.com/migration IMAGE: Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Founded over a century ago, Kyrgyz National University in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, is renowned for hosting one of Central Asia's largest Chinese culture and language institutions, the Kyrgyz-Chinese Institute. This institute has graduated thousands of students from Central Asia, the Caucasus, Russia, and beyond, who come to learn Chinese language and culture, earning bachelor's, master's, and even PhD degrees. During a recent campus tour, we met a number of students there with fascinating stories about their personal connections to China.

A puzzle of meandering conversations and funny situations from the streets of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on the theme of trust. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zanre5/message

Want to work abroad and travel the world? Tune in for helpful tips from global career expert and nomadic entrepreneur, Mike Swigunski, who's been traveling and working abroad since 2011. From working at universities to working online in tech to buying online businesses, Mike has worked a plethora of jobs while traveling to 100+ countries. Mike is also the best-selling author of Global Career: How to Travel & Work Remotely Forever (which you can download for free in the resources below). If you're curious about how to find in-person jobs in a foreign country or find a remote job that lets you travel full or part-time, don't miss Mike's expert tips and advice!   Special Offers: Find a remote job with FlexJobs and get 2 weeks of access for just $2.95 Save up to 80% on domestic and international flights with FareDrop   Topics Discussed: How Mike started living and working abroad. Mike's remote revenue streams. How to find a remote job that lets you travel the world. Tips for finding in-person/local jobs in a foreign country. The key mindset shift you need to make to work abroad. Places where Mike struggled to adapt to the culture. Pros and cons of solo travel vs. group travel. Cost of living and traveling in Kazakhstan. Living in Georgia as an expat. Making friends abroad. How your identity changes when you move abroad. Maintaining relationships with family while living abroad. Crazy travel stories: The digital nomad mansion in Thailand & Getting trapped in Morocco. Hacks for booking cheap flights.   Questions Answered: What remote jobs have you had? Can I afford to live and work abroad? Out of all the countries you've lived and worked in, which gave you the most culture shock? How different is Australian culture from American culture? Is your friend circle in Georgia a mix of foreigners and locals? Where do you feel the most at home? When do you go back to the US and for how long? What are the most overrated destinations in the world? What's on your bucket list?   Episode Resources:  Watch Mike's TEDx Talk: How to Travel & Work Remotely Forever Get Mike's FREE Audiobook: Global Career Online Business Marketplace: Empire Flippers Try WWOOFing Flight Tracking/Booking Apps: TripIt, Flighty Recommended Travel Headphones: Jabra Elite 75t Earbuds, Jabra Elite 8 Active Earbuds Erick Prince, The Minority Nomad: @minoritynomad   Related Podcasts: Ep 116: 7 Reasons Why I'll Never Renounce My US Citizenship Ep 121: 8 Things That Happen When You Travel Full-Time Ep 194: Learning Languages Faster and Coping with Culture Shock in Colombia Ep 207: Tech CEO's Zoom Call Gone Viral – My Take and Advice for Remote Workers Ep 244: 8 Digital Nomads Explain How They Make Money While Traveling Ep 248: Female Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Make Money Online Ep 255: Living in Europe, Side Hustle Struggles, and Remote Work Real Talk - Live Call with Kristin Ep 259: How To Save Thousands of Dollars Per Year With Housesitting Ep 260: The One Thing 97% of Expats Don't Do   Related Videos: 10 Moving Abroad Mistakes (that you're probably making) 7 Things To Know BEFORE You Move Abroad What I Dislike About Living Abroad After 20 Years in 60 Countries How I See the US After Living Abroad for 15 Years [CULTURE SHOCK] 10 Ways Moving Abroad Will Change Your Life   Travel Destinations Mentioned: Bergamo, Italy Gwangju, South Korea Macao, China Bondi Beach, Australia Auckland, New Zealand Kyrgyzstan Almaty and Bishkek, Kazakhstan Ko Samui, Thailand Lviv, Ukraine Prague, Czechia Malta   Connect with Guest, Mike Swigunski: Visit his website Follow on Instagram Subscribe on YouTube   Connect with Kristin and Support the Show: *   Become a Patron *   Buy a Coffee *   Follow on Instagram *   Join the Facebook Group *   Leave a 5-Star Review *   Subscribe on YouTube   See the show notes pages on BadassDigitalNomads.com or TravelingwithKristin.com/podcast for detailed notes and transcripts.

"Its label take over month still with T records and this week we have another special quest mix lined up, ARIINA, a versatile DJ and producer hailing from the vibrant city of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, brings a fresh perspective to the techno genre. With an illustrious career spanning over 13 years, ARIINA has curated a rich discography, showcasing her masterful production skills on esteemed labels such as Gain Records, Plazma Records, Music4clubbers, Lazuli Records, and Berlin Techno. Recognized for her exceptional talent, ARIINA has shared the stage with techno luminaries like The Yellow Heads, Juliet Fox, and Nusha, leaving an indelible mark on the global techno scene. " Tracklist "1. Konrad_Italy - Cromie Intro: Released on the label Unrilis (Beatport) (Beatport). 2. Jay Lumen - The Lights (Original Mix): Released on Footwork (Slaps). 3. ARIINA - ID: The label information for ARIINA's track was not found. 4. Kaiserdisco - In The Music: Released on KD Music (Slaps). 5. Audio State - ID: The label information for Audio State's track was not found. 6. Konrad - Move Your Body (Original Mix): Released on AnalyticTrail (Slaps). 7. Hertz - Timballe: Released on Sway (Slaps). 8. Emergency - Marco Faraone: Released on Rekids (Slaps). 9. Chase - Unsertain: The correct title is likely ""Uncertain - Chase"" and it is released on Unrilis (Slaps). 10. Pablo Say - I Lost My Mind: Released on Codex Recordings (Slaps). 11. Coyu - Snow In Ipanema (Original Mix): Released on Suara (Slaps). 12. Felix Kröcher - Imagination: Released on We Are The Brave (Slaps). 13. Sera J - Bodies Don't Lie: Released on Outburst Records (Slaps). 14. Wehbba - No Sleep: Released on Drumcode (Slaps). 15. ARIINA - ID: The label information for ARIINA's track was not found. 16. Cherrymoon Trax - The House Of House (1994 Remix by Thomas Schumacher): Released on Bonzai Classics (Slaps). 17. Lucass P - My House: Released on Redlof Records (Slaps)."

In this episode of Nomadic Diaries, titled Expat Families - Surviving Alone Overseas,  Rhoda Bangerter and Doreen Cumberford delve into the emotional and logistical complexities faced by expats and split families living abroad. Rhoda shares her firsthand experiences tackling the challenges of maintaining stability and coherence in family life while being separated from her husband by vast distances because of work commitments. Here are three of the top strategies for managing such situations:Self-Inclusion in Decision-Making:Rhoda emphasizes the importance of including oneself in the family decision-making process. By including oneself in this process, families can ensure that they take care of every member and don't sideline anyone's well-being. After all families are teams!Building a Support Network:Establishing a strong local support system can provide practical help and emotional comfort. Rhoda advises connecting with local expat communities or similar groups who understand the challenges of living abroad.Build A Sense of Belonging:Getting involved in local communities initiatives and activities builds connection. Being  involved in the local community can also improve one's quality of life and provide a sense of belonging, which is often missing in expat life.Emphasizing Self-Care:Both discussed the critical role of self-care and recognizing one's own needs. It's important for individuals to maintain their physical and emotional health to be fully present for their families, and how effective are we at doing this?Utilizing Resources:Rhoda mentions her book, 'Holding the Fort Abroad', which offers guidance and support to solo parents in long-distance relationships. Resources like these can provide valuable insights and strategies for managing life abroad.Rhoda Bangerter is a Speaker, Split Location Consultant, and the Author of “Holding the Fort Abroad”. She was raised in a multicultural home and is married to a Swiss. They currently live in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Her husband has travelled for work their whole marriage including two years when he was based in Kabul.https://www.instagram.com/amulticulturallife/Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2618040678441348Linkedin Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhodabangerterAmazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Holding-Fort-Abroad-Surviving-parenting/dp/1838167013/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37GH17SNJAVES&keywords=holding+the+fort+abroad&qid=1700724444&sprefix=holding+the+fort+abroa%2Caps%2C311&sr=8-1Please dont forget to like, comment and subscribe to Nomadic Diaries!Support the Show.Where stories might wander but purpose finds it's home!!!

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron just completed an official trip to all five Central Asian states. For Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, this was the first time a British foreign secretary had ever visited. In this episode of the Majlis podcast, we look at Cameron's Central Asia tour, what he was offering to his hosts, and what he was able to accomplish during the trip. Joining host Bruce Pannier are guests Aijan Sharshenova, a research fellow at the Bishkek-based think tank Crossroads Central Asia; Ben Godwin, the head of analysis at PRISM Political Risk Management, who lived and worked in Kazakhstan for seven years and continues to monitor events there; and Luca Anceschi, professor of Central Asian studies at Glasgow University and author of several books on Central Asia.

After an arduous journey to Bishkek for the first leg of the AFC Cup Inter-Zone Final against Abdysh-Ata, Central Coast Mariners are looking to become the first Australian club to reach the AFC Cup final. Flying the flag for Southeast Asia as the ASEAN Zone champions, the Mariners are hot favourites ahead of the return leg in Gosford. Ryan Walters is joined by A-Leagues broadcaster James Dodd to dissect the opening leg and look ahead to this week's return leg and whether the Mariners can create history for Australian clubs in Asia.

я очень рада представить этот третий англоязычный эпизод на подкасте - разговор с моим хорошим другом и основателем одной из моих любимых кофеен FLASK (Almaty and Bishkek), а также ресторана Chicken Star. Чихун делится своей историей - действительно оглядывается назад и соединяет точки в истории, которые привели его из Южной Кореи - через США, Аргентину, Коста-Рику, Кыргызстан - в Алматы. Chihoon shares a story of how his life path has unfolded: a life-altering near-death experience at the age of 14 and how it led him on a spiritual journey military service and his first job as a bank security guard, and what it means to do our best overcoming societal pressure: his experience of getting a Master's degree in the US and learning English language discovering passion for art, Spanish, tango and photography the support Chihoon was receiving from people the story of preparing his first exhibition, moving to NYC and selling his first paintings moving to Central Asia, founding Chicken Star and FLASK and the challenges Chihoon faced in the process the power of embodying values, showing up as your authentic self and commitment to enhancing people's joy through service at the end of the episode, Chihoon answers Aziz's question and poses his question to the jazziam audience and to the next guest. happy listening, jazziamen Chihoon Jeong, a South Korean native, has traversed cities like Boston, Buenos Aires, Brooklyn, Bishkek, and currently resides in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In 2015, he launched CHICKEN STAR, a modern Korean restaurant, and FLASK, a specialty coffee shop in Bishkek, later expanding to Almaty in 2019. His goal is to enhance global joy daily. CHICKEN STAR focuses on providing a joyful experience through top-tier food and artistic ambiance, while FLASK promotes community bonding through quality coffee and art. Emphasizing quality, service, innovation, artistry, and social responsibility, his establishments host diverse events like art exhibitions, workshops, and charity initiatives. Beyond entrepreneurship, Chihoon actively engages in artistic and cultural projects across Central Asia, such as producing the film "After the Rain" to reshape cultural values in Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, he collaborates on ballet performances and is involved in the fashion industry through the brand "FUZZZ" and the modeling agency "BOOST," dedicated to promoting Central Asian talent globally. Links: Chihoon Jeong on Instagram FLASK Almaty on Instagram FLASK Bishkek on Instagram Chicken Star (Bishkek) on Instagram

Le service de renseignement norvégien a ce lundi rendu public cette analyse dans son rapport annuel : la Russie serait en passe de « prendre militairement le dessus en Ukraine grâce notamment à un réservoir d'hommes plus grand ». Pour garnir les rangs de son armée, Moscou continue de recruter chaque mois des dizaines de milliers d'hommes, toujours présentés comme des volontaires. Reste que pour remplir les quotas fixés, la police n'hésite pas à recourir à tous les moyens et notamment à intimider une population vulnérable : les quelque 6 millions de migrants d'Asie centrale présents sur son sol. De notre envoyée spéciale à Bishkek,Marché d'Osh à Bishkek, un des plus grands d'Asie centrale. Sur les étals, des vêtements, du miel, de la viande de cheval. On pourrait flâner des heures au son de l'accordéon, joué entre les immenses travées débordantes de marchandises. Régulièrement pourtant, une voix monocorde diffusée au haut-parleur recouvre la musique. C'est une petite annonce en kirghiz : plombiers, électriciens, carreleurs... la Russie, répète régulièrement la voix, offre des salaires attractifs à Moscou et dans sa région, il suffit d'appeler un numéro de téléphone.Avec une économie dopée aux dépenses militaires et en surchauffe, le pays manque de bras et semble prêt à beaucoup pour les attirer. C'est nouveau, et pourtant ça coince, même dans un pays comme le Kirghizstan où le chômage frappe. À quelques pas du marché, dans une des nombreuses agences spécialisées dans le transport des travailleurs vers la Russie pour une somme modique (l'équivalent de 80 euros pour trois jours de voyage en bus, soit presque trois fois moins cher que l'avion), deux hommes tuent le temps dans un local vide. Depuis un an et demi environ disent-ils, ils ont 50 % de clients en moins. « C'est à cause de ce conflit avec l'Ukraine » explique l'un d'eux.  « Beaucoup de migrants ont peur et sont rentrés à la maison. Ils reviendront en Russie quand cette guerre sera terminée ».De quoi ont-ils peur exactement? Il vaut mieux ne pas trop insister, que ce soit avec ces deux hommes ou avec d'autres : dans ce pays au pouvoir de plus en plus proche de Moscou, une très grande prudence est de mise en public sur les relations avec la Russie, et les bouches sont souvent closes. Les réseaux sociaux, eux, parlent encore. Y circulent des vidéos abondamment relayées de boucles Telegram en chaînes Youtube. Comme celle-ci qui a fini par atterrir sur « Kabar news », un média très regardé en Asie centrale. Filmée au téléphone dans ce qu'on devine être de loin et dans l'urgence, il s'agit de l'arrestation d'un migrant dans la rue dans une rue de Moscou.Extrait :Policier : « pourquoi tu es venu ici (NDLR en russie)? pour voler ?Migrant : pour travaillerPolicier : pour travailler ? alors sois gentil et va servir dans l'armée.. Pourquoi tu souris en coin ? Y'a quelque chose que t'aimes pas ici ?Le policier hausse ensuite le ton : Alors ?  Pourquoi tu es venu ? pour voler ? non ? donc je répète: tu es venu en Russie, alors maintenant tu vas au bureau d'enregistrement et d'enrôlement militaire et tu vas défendre la patrie. Compris? Allez tu montes vite dans cette voiture.Cette vidéo, c'est Islam qui l'a montrée à RFI. Elle date d'il y a un an et demi, mais il l'a toujours sur son téléphone. Bonnet sur la tête, regard malin et ton posé, à 23 ans il est revenu il y a tout juste quelques mois dans son village pas très loin de la capitale kirghize. Il venait pourtant au bout de deux ans et demi de travail acharné de réussir son parcours professionnel dans la capitale russe. Un début en livrant à pied de 7h à 22h, avant de pouvoir s'offrir un vélo, puis une voiture, et enfin en organisant lui-même les livraisons pour deux restaurants.Recrutements forcésConcentré sur son travail, Islam a longtemps cru pouvoir ignorer la guerre en Ukraine, avant qu'elle ne le rattrape. Dès les premiers jours de la mobilisation partielle, le jeune homme débrouillard entend ces femmes dans les escaliers des immeubles qu'il livre pleurer au téléphone le départ d'un mari, d'un père ou d'un frère. Surtout, il voit dans le restaurant dont il assure les livraisons le personnel recevoir les convocations. « Les Kalmoukes, les Bouriates. toutes les minorités ethniques. Pas le patron qui lui était slave » note Islam.Il entend aussi dès cette période les premières histoires de rafles de migrants par la police qu'on se mumure sur les chantiers et dans les dortoirs. « A la mosquée, à la prière du vendredi, ils peuvent t'attraper, te tordre le bras et t'emmener au commissariat. Ils vont partout où les migrants se rassemblent, les stations de métro, les chantiers, les appartements indiqués par les voisins. A tout le monde, ils demandent de signer pour l'armée, mais à ceux qui n'ont pas de papiers légaux, ou encore ceux qui vivent d'argent facile comme le commerce de la drogue, ils mettent tout particulièrement la pression. Ils leur donnent ce choix : « soit tu vas rejoindre l'armée, soit tu vas pourrir en prison ».En Russie la colère des femmes ou mères de mobilisés qui veulent leur retour du front, après avoir été pendant de longs mois sous le boisseau, peut désormais s'exprimer, même très encadrée, même si des journalistes venus assister à leurs gestes de protestations ont été arrêtés quelques heures et d'autres menacés de perquisition à leur domicile. Mais la détresse des familles de migrants enrôlés ou sur le point de l'être rencontre un écho bien plus faible, presque inaudible.Encore plus en Asie centrale, dans les familles de ceux qui jusqu'ici vidaient les poubelles, déneigeaient les rues et les toits ou trimaient sur les chantiers ou dans les cuisines des restaurants en Russie. Combien sont-ils à être allés se battre en Ukraine sous uniforme russe ? À partir de sources ouvertes, plusieurs médias ont fait ce calcul : on compterait ainsi une trentaine de Kirghizes, dont 17 qui auraient été enrôlés chez Wagner. Il est fort probable qu'on parle là de la partie émergée de l'iceberg : tous les corps ne sont pas revenus, tous les proches n'ont pas de nouvelles, tous surtout n'ont pas les moyens de faire des recherches. Au Kirghizstan, ces hommes recrutés viennent souvent du Sud du pays, de provinces où on vit dans une grande pauvreté. Contactées par RFI, les familles de soldats décédés détaillent par ailleurs un même scénario qui suggère que les migrants seraient le plus souvent envoyés immédiatement en première ligne : un enrôlement, un entraînement rapide, et un décès express.« Dites à vos fils de ne surtout pas y aller » C'est ce qui est arrivé à Jadalshbek, l'oncle adoré de Nurlan, qui lui vivait en Russie depuis de longues années. Jadalshbek avait fait son service comme tankiste dans les dernières années de l'Union soviétique. Pendant des années, l'oncle devenu binational et vivant dans la région de Vladimir et le neveu, Kirghiz mais travaillant régulièrement en Russie, s'étaient perdus de vue. Quand Nurlan le retrouve enfin, il est fou de joie. Il dit aujourd'hui « ne pas avoir prêté attention à toutes ses paroles », dont celles-ci qu'on entend martelées toute la journée en Russie à la télévision : « il faut aller défendre la patrie ». L'oncle, malgré les supplications de toute la famille, finit par signer pour l'armée en octobre 2022. Son dernier appel, raconte Nurlan, est pour dire qu'il est furieux d'avoir été incorporé dans l'infanterie au lieu de conduire un char. Trois semaines plus tard, il est déclaré mort. « L'argent de l'armée n'est jamais arrivé pour son enterrement », dit Nurlan, « ce sont les habitants de son village en Russie qui se sont cotisés pour lui rendre un dernier hommage ». Muré dans sa peine, Nurlan, s'exprime d'un ton égal et ne manifeste pas de colère, refuse de donner son avis sur la décision de Vladimir Poutine de lancer son offensive en Ukraine, mais lâche quand même « J'ai toujours pensé que la Russie était une grande puissance et une nation juste. Aujourd'hui, je ne sais plus ».D'un village perdu en province, une mère, elle, sanglote au téléphone. Son fils « qui aimait la guerre et voulait un passeport russe » dit-elle, a signé pour Wagner en mars 2023. Entraînement à Krasnodar, envoi sur le front de Bakhmut, mort en deux semaines. Le choix de son fils de signer pour la compagnie de mercenaires pour aller en Ukraine, elle refuse de le juger : « il est mort, ça ne sert plus à rien, et je ne fais pas de politique » dit-elle. Mais aux mères d'hommes tentés de suivre le même chemin, elle n'a qu'un seul message à envoyer : « dites à vos fils de ne surtout pas y aller ».La vie contre un passeport russeEn septembre 2022, quand il a décidé la mobilisation partielle, Vladimir Poutine a aussi signé un décret : un accès simplifié à la citoyenneté russe pour avoir signé un contrat d'au moins un an et « servi dans la zone de l'opération spéciale au moins 6 mois ». Ce passeport russe, il faisait souvent rêver parmi les migrants, mais Islam lui se fait très tranchant : « Si tu veux un passeport russe, donne-nous ta vie. C'est ça que ça veut dire. "va à la guerre", et si tu as de la chance, tu reviendras sans jambes et sans bras, mais tu vivras en Russie en héros. »Islam note d'ailleurs que l'ambassade de son pays se montre « très réactive » quand des cas d'enrôlement lui sont signalés.Les autorités de ces ex-républiques d'Union soviétique, qu'elles soient très proches de la Russie ou plus distancées sont en effet très opposées à l'implication de leurs citoyens dans la guerre menée par la Russie en Ukraine. Le Kazakhstan, le Kirghizstan et l'Ouzbékistan ont ainsi chacun adopté des lois interdisant à leurs ressortissants de s'enrôler dans une armée étrangère. Au Kirghizstan, braver cette loi c'est risquer dix ans derrière les barreaux. Le pays interdit aussi d'aller dans les territoires de l'Ukraine annexés par la Russie en 2022. Message du pouvoir très souvent entendu dans les échanges au Kirghizstan : « ce conflit n'est pas le nôtre ». Même si cette remarque est très souvent assortie de ces mots « mais ne comptez pas sur moi pour dire un seul mauvais mot contre la Russie ». Dans une Russie où le pouvoir veut éviter une nouvelle mobilisation qu'il sait impopulaire, la chasse aux migrants pourtant continue, la plupart du temps dans un silence épais. Azda TV, une chaîne d'opposition tadjike, a pourtant tenté de le briser en se faisant le relais la semaine dernière de l'appel désespéré du chef de la communauté tadjike dans la région de Samara. Il raconte notamment avoir été convoqué par les autorités régionales. Message : tous les hommes de 25 à 60 ans ayant la double nationalité ont jusqu'au 1er mars pour signer un contrat avec l'armée. Si ce n'est pas fait, si le nombre d'hommes qui s'inscrit n'est pas jugé suffisant, alors la police elle-même viendra les chercher sur les marchés, les chantiers, dans les ateliers. La menace d'expulsions massives de familles entières aurait aussi été formulée.La Russie communique régulièrement sur les chiffres de combattants recrutés, se félicitant de « l'afflux de volontaires ». Le ministre de la Défense, Sergueï Choïgou, a ainsi déclaré la semaine dernière qu'en 2023, environ 490 000 personnes sont entrées sous contrat ou sont devenues volontaires dans l'armée russe. Le ministère de la défense prévoit aussi d'augmenter le nombre de soldats contractuels à 745 mille en 2024 et de porter à terme la taille des- effectifs combattants à 1,5 million de personnes.À lire aussiRussie: ceux qui refusent d'enfiler l'uniforme

Welcome to Episode #104 of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast! My conversation with Roman Chernousov, a yoga teacher from Kyrgyzstan, was fascinating as we took a deep dive into the history of yoga in Kyrgyzstan and how it was illegal because of how the government knew that it was such a powerful practice. Trust me, this story sounded like a movie!  We also talked about Roman's travels to Tibet and how he studied not just yoga but Kung Fu and Qi Gong as well. I hope that this conversation surprised you, delighted you, and made you more curious about yoga in Kyrgyzstan. So if you're looking to tune into a podcast episode that is all about yoga in Kyrgyzstan then this is the conversation for you. Support the podcast: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/wildyogatribe⁠ Tell me more about Roman Chernousov Roman Chernousov, yoga teacher from Kyrgyzstan followed a diverse athletic background in childhood and young adulthood, including wrestling and wushu. However, Roman found solace and healing in yoga and qigong after a serious illness in 1998. His extensive training, ranging from traditional Tibetan practices in Northern Tibet to courses in India and St. Petersburg, led him to develop the YogaMix system. Since 2007, Roman has been passionately imparting his knowledge, conducting yoga retreats, and shaping future yoga teachers through comprehensive courses, viewing yoga not merely as a profession but as a cherished lifestyle and a continuous path of self-development. What to expect in the Yoga In Kyrgyzstan episode of the Wild Yoga Tribe Podcast Discover the rich tapestry of yoga in Kyrgyzstan through the eyes and experiences of Roman Chernousov, a yoga teacher from Kyrgyzstan. Roman's connection with yoga began at the age of five when his father, defying the ban on yoga in the '70s and '80s, introduced him to the practice using books. These clandestine teachings revealed a world of asanas and breathing techniques, setting the foundation for Roman's lifelong relationship with yoga. Growing up with a passion for wrestling and Kung Fu, Roman found strength, discipline, and resilience in these pursuits. He emphasizes how these disciplines shaped his character, instilling in him the importance of daily practice, a lesson he later passed on to his yoga students. Roman's yoga journey took a profound turn after a severe illness in 1998. Facing physical traumas from martial arts, he turned to yoga and Qigong for recovery. Undeterred by the initial challenges, Roman's daily practice gradually restored strength, leading him to develop the Yoga Mix System—an amalgamation of various yoga styles and influences. Over the years, the yoga community in Kyrgyzstan has flourished. From a mere handful of practitioners, there are now over 200 yoga teachers in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, alone. Roman's dedication to teaching and the growing interest in yoga reflect a remarkable transformation of yoga in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan, once shrouded in secrecy, is now a thriving hub for yoga practitioners, fostering growth, healing, and unity. For the skimmers - What's in the yoga in Kyrgyzstan episode? The story of how yoga was illegal in Kyrgyzstan What is the YogaMix system? Influences of Wrestling, QiGong, and Kung Fu The underground era of yoga in Kyrgyzstan and the rise of yoga in Kyrgyzstan  Yoga as a Healing Journey Connect with Roman Chernousov https://instagram.com/yoga_ro_om Want more? Head on over to my website  https://wildyogatribe.com/thepodcast/ Questions? Comments? Let's get social! https://www.instagram.com/wildyogatribe/ https://www.tiktok.com/@wildyogatribe https://www.facebook.com/wildyogatribe https://twitter.com/wildyogatribe Everything you need is just one click away! Check out all the resources here: https://linktr.ee/wildyogatribe Use my special link YOGA to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wildyogatribe/message

Анвар Бугазов, преподаватель из семьи преподавателей. Работает в Кыргызско-Российском университете в г. Бишкек, Кыргызстан. Профессор, за 40 лет ему приходилось заниматься разными вещами, но профессию он никогда не менял. В настоящее время, как и всякий профессор обязан вести занятия с аспирантами, магистрантами, студентами, и конечно, научно-исследовательскую работу. Anvar Bugazov, a teacher from a family of teachers. Works at the Kyrgyz-Russian University in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Professor, for 40 years he had to do different things, but he never changed his profession. Currently, like any professor, he is obliged to conduct classes with graduate students, undergraduates, undergraduates, and of course, research work. ================================SUPPORT & CONNECT:Support on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/denofrich⁠Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/denofrich⁠Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/mark.develman/⁠YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/denofrich⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/den_of_rich/⁠Hashtag: #denofrich© Copyright 2023 Den of Rich. All rights reserved.

A playful and sober exploration of the concept of "the future" from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan as we enter the year 2024. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zanre5/message

The government's announcement of a new tax regime for local bazaars and markets sparked an unexpected backlash, with protests erupting in towns and cities across Kyrgyzstan. President Sadyr Japarov's government has made it difficult for people to gather and criticize the authorities' actions; the merchants' protests ended a long period without any large demonstrations. What was behind this public display of dissatisfaction, and what does it say about the culture of protest in Kyrgyzstan, a country that has seen three presidents chased from power as a result of street demonstrations? Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the issue are Asel Doolotkeldieva, nonresident fellow at George Washington University; and Medet Tiulegenov, senior research fellow at the University of Central Asia in Bishkek.

On October 25, Kyrgyzstan's draft law on noncommercial organizations was adopted by parliament in its first reading. The bill has been criticized by domestic and international rights groups, but if it passes through two more readings it will become law. There is another controversial bill on media that will be reviewed soon by parliament. Both draft laws are close copies of similar laws in Russia that the Kremlin used to silence critical voices. Even without these laws being in effect, the activities of independent media outlets, and other groups, are already increasingly restricted in Kyrgyzstan. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss how Kyrgyzstan's laws are being used to pressure media and civil society organizations are Jasmine Cameron, senior legal adviser for Europe and Eurasia with the American Bar Association's Justice Defenders Program; and Aibek Askarbekov, a Bishkek-based lawyer specializing in political, civil rights, and noncommercial law.

Kyrgyz voices explore the topic of Russian colonization and how it manifests through perceptions of the Kyrgyz and Russian language in the capital. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zanre5/message

Денис Мосин. 36 лет. Родился в городе Бишкек. Высшее образование отсутствует. В 2007 году переехал в Москву. Работал в студиях Nimbler, Aero, агентстве Red Keds, руководил студией Nile, после этого 10 лет был сооснователем и дизайн-директором агентства Sensitive Brands. В 2019 закрыл агентство и вышел в Яндекс. На данный момент отвечает за промышленный дизайн умных устройств компании Яндекс. Лауреат премий Red Apple, Белый квадрат, ADCR, ADCE, EFFIE, Red Dot. 10 лет преподавал в школе ИКРа и занимался корпоративным консалтингом. Denis Mosin. 36 years. Born in the city of Bishkek. There is no higher education. In 2007 he moved to Moscow. He worked in the Nimbler and Aero studios, the Red Keds agency, and headed the Nile studio, after which he was a co-founder and design director of the Sensitive Brands agency for 10 years. In 2019, he closed the agency and entered Yandex. Currently, he is responsible for the industrial design of smart devices at Yandex. Winner of the Red Apple, White Square, ADCR, ADCE, EFFIE, and Red Dot awards. He taught at the IKR school for 10 years and was engaged in corporate consulting. FIND DENIS ON SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook | Instagram ================================SUPPORT & CONNECT:Support on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/denofrich⁠Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/denofrich⁠Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/mark.develman/⁠YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/denofrich⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/den_of_rich/⁠Hashtag: #denofrich© Copyright 2023 Den of Rich. All rights reserved.

A woman outside Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, was savagely attacked by her ex-husband in late September, and will be permanently disfigured as a result. Since the attack, many troubling facts have emerged about lenient treatment by Kyrgyz courts of men who commit violent acts against women, and police who don't seem interested in acting on complaints of domestic violence. How is the legal system failing women and girls in Kyrgyzstan, and why does the situation seem so resistant to change? Joining host Bruce Pannier to look at this problem are guests Aksana Ismailbekova, a research fellow at Leibniz-Zentrum-Moderner Orient; Adina Masalbekova, a nonresident EUCAM research fellow at the Centre for European Security Studies; and Leila Seiitbek, chairwoman of the NGO Freedom for Eurasia and a member of the working group advocating for a global Every Woman treaty to end all forms of violence against women and girls.

En in China is er een run op keukenzout. (00:37) Westerse nervositeit over Oekraïens offensief Oekraïne meldt successen aan het zuidelijke front in de oorlog tegen Rusland. Het komt op een moment dat het Westen juist de Oekraïners achter de broek aan zit. Topmilitairen uit het VK en de VS vinden dat de oorlogsstrategie anders moet. We bespreken de laatste ontwikkelingen met Tom Simoens, luitenant-kolonel, verbonden aan de Koninklijke Militaire School in Brussel.  (11:01) Kirgistan: de post-Sovjet generatie Ingeklemd tussen de andere ‘-stans' en grote buur China ligt Kirgistan, een land met hoge bergketens, eindeloze vlaktes én, in de hoofdstad Bishkek, een levendige nachtcultuur. Journalist en fotograaf Thijs Broekkamp verhuisde naar Bishkek en sprak maandenlang met jongeren uit het hele land. Hoe kijken zij aan tegen de vele Russische vluchtelingen, de conservatieve president en de band met Rusland? En waar kan je in Bishkek een beetje behoorlijk de techno club in duiken? (20:55) Buitenland Uitgelicht: China In China is onrust ontstaan in verschillende supermarkten, en dat heeft alles te maken met een controversiële beslissing van buurland Japan. Daarover China-watcher Manya Koetse.  Presentatie: Sophie Derkzen

Follow my transit from Cape Town, South Africa to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and explore the intriguing topic of seatbelts from the backseat of a Yandex taxi in Bishkek.   --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/zanre5/message

Kyrgyzstan's relations with Russia have been on a rollercoaster since the Kremlin launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022. At first, Kyrgyzstan seemed to support the Russian invasion but backtracked when it became apparent the war would go on for months or years. Signs still pointed to Kyrgyzstan siding with Russia until recently, when Russian officials started to publicly criticize Kyrgyzstan's move to make Kyrgyz the language of state business and its decision to charge two Kyrgyz citizens for joining the fight in Ukraine as members of Russian mercenary forces. What is the state of Kyrgyz-Russian ties 18 months into Russia's war in Ukraine? Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss this are guests: Bakyt Beshimov, a former member of the Kyrgyz parliament and currently a Global Studies and International Relations lecturer and professor at Northeastern University; Emil Joroev, PhD, a Bishkek-based independent political observer; and Medet Tiulegenov, Senior Research Fellow at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek.

Resource scarcity has severely disrupted daily life across Central Asia this summer. Electricity failures have compelled Kyrgyzstan to declare a three-year energy emergency, starting on August 1. Additionally, much of the region is grappling with water shortages, which scientists say is the latest sign that Central Asia will be one of the regions hardest hit by climate change. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the water and power situation in Central Asia this summer are guests Nurzat Abdyrasulova, president and CEO of Bishkek-based strategic advisory firm Unison Group; Alisher Sidikov, the director of RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik; and Farruh Yusupov, the director of RFE/RL's Turkmen service, known locally as Azatlyk.

The presidents of the five Central Asian countries just traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to participate in the first-ever Gulf Cooperation Council-Central Asia summit. Ties between the two regions have been growing since Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine. What is changing in Central Asian-Arab relations and what lies ahead for cooperation between these regions? To explore these questions, host Bruce Pannier is joined by two experts: Aijan Sharshenova, research fellow at the Bishkek-based think tank Crossroads Central Asia; and Theodore Karasik, fellow on Russian and Middle Eastern affairs at the Washington, D.C.,-based Jamestown Foundation.

The Central Asian and Chinese presidents met at a summit in Xian, China, on May 18-19. This was the first-ever summit of just the Central Asian and Chinese leaders and it comes as the six countries' foreign policies are evolving to cope with the political fallout from Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine. What did the Xian summit tell us about Central Asian-Chinese relations and the direction those relations are headed? Joining host Bruce Pannier are Giulia Sciorati, postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Trento in Italy, whose research focuses on memory and culture in diplomacy, particularly in China's relations with Central Asia; and Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.

My guest today is Amanda Walters.Mandy is a world traveler, a Florida Gator, storyteller, and Human Resources professional.  Mandy grew up in the southern United States.  Her father was a Southern Baptist minister turned hospice chaplain and her mother a special education teacher.Mandy is a graduate of the University of Florida (Go Gators!) and has worked in HR for various organizations.  During what she describes as her “quarter life crisis” she moved from the US to New Delhi, India, as a trailing spouse (her first time leaving the US!).  Living in a different country was life-changing for her.  She returned to the US but realized she wanted to live abroad again.  In 2012, Mandy joined the US Department of State's Foreign Service as an HR Officer.  She learned Russian and took her first assignment in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.  Later, she learned Portuguese and lived and worked in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she met the love of her life.  Together they moved to Yangon, Myanmar (aka Rangoon, Burma), and are now in Frankfurt, Germany, and about to move back to the US.Mandy and I met through my work as a trainer for the Department of State.  A few months ago at a training, the subject of podcasts was being discussed and I had the change to share about this podcast and my experience being a host.  The very next day, as I was walking to work, I ran into Mandy on the sidewalk of a busy street in Bangkok.  She blurted out, “I didn't know you were a Gator!  And you used to be a chaplain!”  I think I looked a bit taken off guard because she quickly followed up: “I'm listening to your podcast!” It was an awesome moment for me to run into someone in Bangkok listening to my podcast!  And even better, it led us to conversations about Mandy being a guest and sharing these pieces of her journey.Mandy shares about her journey of coming out, the courage she gained by others who led the way, coming out as gay in families and settings where it wasn't easy.  Mandy also shares about the recent loss of her cousin, one of the people in her life who went before her, making the path a little less difficult.  And then, the loss of her father, going back home and giving the eulogy in the church where she was told she was wrong for being her.  There are a number of themes in Mandy's stories and through each theme she demonstrates amazing courage, forgiveness, and proactive grieving.  Mandy, thank you SO much for your willingness to share your stories.  For sharing the insights from some sad and difficult times of loss, most poignantly, the loss of your father.  I know people will be touched and inspired by your authenticity, vulnerability, and wisdom.  And I know your dad would be very very proud of you.Disclaimer: Disclaimer that Mandy's opinions and experiences are her own and in no way represent the policies and opinions of her employer.Read Mandy's blog at http://www.myplaidpants.com/Make Life Less Difficult

The FCC Space Bureau makes its debut. Arianespace says its reusable rockets might be a while. iSpace's HAKUTO-R lunar lander sets a date. AI brings speed to edge computing on satellites. CAS Space works towards reusable rockets. Eclipse is ready to invest in the physical industrial evolution. Zhanna Malekos-Smith on the US-Japan Space Pact Agreement. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. T-Minus Guest Our guest today is Zhanna Malekos-Smith, Senior Associate at CSIS and Cyber Law Fellow at the Army Cyber Institute, on the US-Japan Space Pact Agreement and the meaning of “peaceful purposes.” You can find more of Zhanna's recent work at https://www.csis.org/people/zhanna-l-malekos-smith  Selected Reading FCC Opens Space Bureau to Modernize Satellite Policy | Via Satellite  Europe will Introduce a Reusable Launch Vehicle in the 2030s, says Arianespace CEO | European Spaceflight  ispace Announces Earliest Scheduled Lunar Landing Date for HAKUTO-R Mission 1 | ispace  Chinese launch company tests vertical rocket landings with jet-powered prototype | Space.com  Spiral Blue puts AI in space with new satellite computer | Space Connect  Microsoft Azure enlists generative AI to help Pentagon look for satellite imagery | Geekwire  Midland Spaceport Development Board to be reestablished pending state funding | NewsWest9  S Korea to conduct 1st launch of commercial-grade satellite | Phys.org Eclipse eclipses previous fundraises with a whopping $1.23 billion across two new funds | TechCrunch → Forging the New Economy: Eclipse Fund V and Early Growth Fund II | Eclipse.vc  A New Membrane Could Lead to Space Telescopes with Flexible Mirrors! | Universe Today New Zealander without college degree couldn't talk his way into NASA and Boeing—so he built a $1.8 billion rocket company | CNBC  X-15 And The Pioneers Of Hypersonic Flight | Supercluster  Four entrepreneurs welcomed to UK Space Agency accelerator programme | SpaceWatch.Global Cosmonaut Korsakov tells why he took flags of Kyrgyzstan and Bishkek into space | 24.KG  Tiny Spacecraft Using Solar Sails Open Up a Solar System of Opportunity | Universe Today  Audience Survey We want to hear from you! Please complete our wicked fast 4 question survey. It'll help us get better and deliver you the most mission-critical space intel every day. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders in the industry. Here's a link to our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info about sponsoring T-Minus. Want to join us for an interview? Please send your interview pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal, and our editor will get back to you for scheduling. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © 2023 N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Basare sind die Supermärkte des Orients. Hier pulsiert das Leben. Sie sind Treffpunkt, Einkaufsmeile und Restaurant zugleich. Wer hier einkauft, findet alles: Obst und Fleisch ebenso wie Kleidung, Putzmittel oder CDs. Es riecht nach Koriander und Curcuma, Knoblauch und orientalischen Gewürzen. Berühmt sind die Basare von Taschkent und Samarkand, in Usbekistan, im Herzen von Zentralasien. Hier verlief die alte Seidenstraße. Aber auch kleinere Städte wie Termiz oder Bishkek, Kirgistan, haben ihre Basare. Zentralasien, zwischen dem Kaspischen Meer, Russland und China gelegen, mit den fünf unabhängigen Staaten Kasachstan, Kirgistan, Tadschikistan, Turkmenistan und Usbekistan hat rund 65 Millionen Einwohner. Die Hälfte von ihnen wohnt im Herzen der Region, in Usbekistan. Dort leuchten die türkisfarbigen Kuppeln berühmter alter Bauten über vielspurigen Straßen und modernen Shopping Centern. Trotz der vielen Neuerungen in Usbekistan in den letzten Jahren, hat Usbekistan seine Traditionen erhalten - und die Basare! Sie sind viel besucht und beliebt, von jung und alt, bei jedem Wetter und zu allen Jahreszeiten. Birgit Wetzel war für uns unterwegs auf den Basaren in Zentralasien.

Wiebke Anton is German – from a city that was formerly part of the communist state of East Germany. She's a PhD in Political Science and her dissertation is on the Discourse of Russia in the European Parliament. But Wiebke deviated from academia into a career as a Mediator-cum-Certified Relationship Coach for Expat Couples. In the following interview, she explains how her heritage inspired her interest in Eastern European & Soviet history and how her skill as a political discourse analyst informed and encouraged her transition into work as a relationship coach, and how living in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan – part of Soviet Union until 1991 – was the motivator and inspiration behind her co-creating the Expat Couples Summit. 

It's been one year since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a massive, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The impact of that decision has been felt acutely in Central Asia, a region with a long history of Russian involvement. How has Moscow's war in Ukraine affected Russia's ties with Central Asia? Has it changed how people in Central Asia view their former colonizer? Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the changes in Russian-Central Asian relations in the past year are Erica Marat, a professor of political science at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., and Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.

North Macedonia's government is imposing emergency measures in the country's capital, Skopje, and three other cities in order to protect people from severely high levels of air pollution. No sports events are being staged on Sundays or on any day with high air pollution levels, and other outdoor activities are being curtailed. Starting Dec. 26, construction work is also being limited to a six-hour period, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The government has recommended companies excuse pregnant women and people over age 60 from work. The government also said it would reduce the use of its official vehicles by half, and ordered the health and welfare ministries to provide shelter for homeless people and boost emergency services and home visits to people with chronic illnesses. The measures were announced after days of lobbying by environmental groups asking the government to take action. The new rules coincided with an announcement by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, ranking North Macedonia's capital as the third-most polluted city in the world after Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek and Lahore, Pakistan. The levels of toxic PM10 and PM2.5 particles in the air measured by IQAir in Skopje were about 28 times higher than the safety threshold established by the World Health Organization. PM10 particles are particles smaller than 10 micrometers, or 10 one-millionths of a meter that are so-called coarse particles that can irritate the eyes, nose and throat. PM2.5 particles can lodge deeper into the lungs, enter the bloodstream and are considered more dangerous. North Macedonia has been one of Europe's most polluted countries for years. Health authorities estimate that more than 3,000 people in this country of just over 2 million die each year as a result of air pollution, which is mostly a result of the heavy use of household wood-burning stoves during cold winters, an aging car fleet and the practice in some areas of garbage disposal by incineration. The recent spike in energy prices has further boosted wood-burning stove use. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa la Afya ulimwenguni WHO kanda ya ulaya tangu kuanza kwa msimu wa baridi kali katikati ya mwezi Novemba mwaka 2022 wamebaini kuongezeka kwa wagonjwa wanaolazwa kutokana na magonjwa ya homa ya mafua makali au flu,  matatizo ya kupumua na COVID-19. Walio hatarini zaidi kupata maambukizi ya magonjwa hayo ni wahudumu wa afya pamoja na wazee, ndio maana wanaendesha kampeni ya kutoa chanjo. Katika msimu wa baridi mwaka uliopita WHO ukanda wa Ulaya ilifanikiwa kutoa chanjo ya homa ya mafua makali kwa asilimia 65 ya kundi la watu walio hatarini ambao wengi ni wazee na wahudumu wa afya na msimu huu wa baridi lengo ni kuwafikia asilimia 75 ya watu hao. Afisa wa kiufundi wa WHO Kyrgyzstan Kasymbekova Kaliya, anasema wanafahamu namna ugonjwa wa guo ulivyo hatari.…. “tunajua kwamba ugonjwa huu wa homa ya mafua makali unaweza kusababisha matatizo makubwa hasa kwa wazee wenye umri zaidi ya miaka 65, wale ambao wana magonjwa sugu ya moyo, mapafu, kisukari, na wenye hali ya uzio”. Chanjo imeanza kutolewa kwa makundi yaliyo hatarini kuathirika zaidi ya homa ya mafua makali kama anavyoeleza Baktygul Mamatova, mtaalamu wa Kinga katika kituo cha afya cha Bishkek, “Sisi, wahudumu wa afya, kama kundi lililo hatarini ndio tumekuwa wa kwanza kupata chanjo. Siwezi sema kwamba siwezi kupata magonjwa, napata, lakini kwa kuwa nimepata chanjo ni rahisi kuhimili.” Wazee wanfahamu umuhimu wa kupata chanjo kama anavyoeleza Kanai Alamanov, aliyefika katika  kituo cha afya cha Bishkek, “Hapo awali, kulikuwa na uhamasishaji wa kupata chanjo dhidi ya virusi vya CORONA nami nilikuja kupata chanjo hiyo ya COVID-19, na sasa ni chanjo ya homa ya mafua makali. Chanjo hii inatupa fursa ya kujikinga na magonjwa, inatupa aina fulani ya hakikisho la maisha yenye afya.” Chanjo hazitolewi kwa wale wanaoenda hospitali pekee, wanaoishi katika nyumba maalum za kutunza wazee nao hufuatwa na kupewa chanjo kama anavyothibitisha Ludmila Kinda Ivanovna, “Mimi ninaugua sana. Mwili wangu haukubali kabisa kutumia aina nyingi ya dawa ikiwemo zile za viua vijasumu, nina pumu , nina matatizo ya moyo, nilishapata mstuko wa moyo mara mbili. Kiufupi mwili wangu ni dhaifi sana hivyo chanjo ina maana kubwa sana kwangu.”  

Shane Stuhlmiller is a Retired Master Sergeant (MSgt), USMC, Raider. Here is a glance at his career: He started at MARSOC when it was initially standing up. FMTU to 3D MSOB to MSOAR to 4th MSOB to MSOAG to final be 3D Raider One, a Russian team the first couple of years were JCET/CNT's to Central Asia Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. He met his wife in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and had been married for 14 years. Tour at MARSOC's School house teaching Derna Bridge, MARSOC's version of Robin Sage, where he met Commander Papi (JP). Back to 3D Raider BN (MRB) for 18 months. Tour at NATO Special Operation HQ in Mons, Belgium, at the NATO School House 3D MRB as BN Operations Chief then retired as Master Sergeant (MSgt) in the summer of 2022. Listen to his story and learn about his transition and future goals. Available on Spotify (Audio & Video), Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and Rumble Video Player (Video only available on Rumble). You matter. Don't Cash Out! Find our links, events, resources, and more at https://solo.to/vtsrpodcast Main Sponsors Nous Defions Group LLC @nousdefionsgrp Hosts Social Media: JP @jpcervantes180a, Nate, Mike @legion18z #DontCashOut #VTSR #Veterans #PTSD #SuicidePrevention #SuicideAwareness #Military #Resilience #Transition#VTSRPodcast #podcast #military #marines #army #airforce #lawenforcement #firstresponders #navy #veteranmentalhealth #makingadifferencetogether --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vtsrpodcast/message

El Kirguizistan

Rachel Mica Weiss, 2022. Image courtesy of the artist. Rachel Mica Weiss (b. 1986, Rockville, MD) is a sculptor and installation artist based in Hudson Valley, New York. Weiss earned a BA in psychology from Oberlin College and an MFA in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute. Weiss's work has been the subject of eight solo exhibitions at the following: Here Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA (2022); Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (2019) ; Lux Art Institute, San Diego, CA (2018); LMAK Gallery, New York, NY (2018, 2017); Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA (2015); Fridman Gallery, New York, NY (2014); the San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA (2013). Weiss' first institutional commission, The Wild Within, is part of deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA. Her largest permanent installation to date, Boundless Topographies, funded by the Gates Foundation, is installed at the University of Washington's Hans Rosling Center for Population Health in Seattle, WA. Weiss' work is included in the public collections of: the US Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Microsoft Corporate Collection; Boston Consulting Group Corporate Collection; Media Math Corporate Collection; Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center, as well as the collections of Francis J. Greenberger and Beth Rudin deWoody. Rachel Mica Weiss, installation view of Collar (left) and Flesh of My Flesh (right), 2022, Carvalho Park, New York. Image courtesy of Carvalho Park. Rachel Mica Weiss, Portal, 2022. Image courtesy of the artist. Rachel Mica Weiss, Bowed Venus, 2022. Image courtesy of the artist.

with Ted Gerber (UW-Madison Professor of Sociology) - After Russia recovered from the economic woes of the 1990s, its government sought to maintain and expand its influence over former Soviet republics of Central Asia by opening the doors to large numbers of labor migrants from them. However, many accounts of the experiences of Central Asian labor migrants in Russia during the 2010s emphasize their exploitation and mistreatment at the hands of officials, police, employers, and the general population. Indeed, cruel, demeaning, and racist treatment of Central Asian immigrants testifies to the type of imperial mentality on the part of Russia's state and society criticized by the movement to “de-colonize” research about Russia. However, research the speaker conducted in Kyrgyzstan in 2016 and 2017, including focus groups and a survey in Bishkek of Kyrgyzstani migrants who had recently returned from Russia, suggests that they had a range of experiences, positive as well as negative. If anything, these experiences were linked to more positive than negative assessments of Russia's institutions and foreign policy, which appears to reinforce, rather than undermine, Russia's imperial objectives in its geopolitical conflict with the United States. Apart from calling for caution in analyses of how Russia's imperial legacy is perceived outside of Europe, the findings suggest that migration scholars should devote more attention to studying “geopolitical remittances”–that is, how experiences in a host society can advance or impede its efforts to project soft power abroad.

President Sadyr Japarov's government is showing its intolerance for citizens who question government decisions. In a widely posted video and photos, veteran rights defender Aziza Abdurasulova, who is in her 70s, was dragged away by police outside the government building in Bishkek on November 15. Abdurasulova has been a vocal critic of the detentions of more than two dozen people who oppose a controversial border deal Japarov's government reached with neighboring Uzbekistan. Who is being targeted in Kyrgyzstan and why? Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the topic are Syinat Sultanalieva, researcher on Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for Human Rights Watch, and Ivar Dale, senior policy adviser at the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, who was in Kyrgyzstan in October.

After Kyrgyz officials announced the terms of a proposed border agreement with Uzbekistan in early October, there were protests and a committee was established to oppose the border deal. Kyrgyz authorities have detained more than 20 opponents of the agreement, many of them well-known figures in the country with many supporters. The authorities also blocked the website of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service. Tensions are high again in Kyrgyzstan, a country that has seen three revolutions since 2005. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the situation in Kyrgyzstan are Leila Nazgul Seiitbek, a lawyer and chairwoman of the NGO Freedom for Eurasia, and Saniia Toktogazieva, a constitutional lawyer and associate professor teaching international law at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek.

On this week’s episode, Valerie talks about how travel got her started with blogging, and answers Jean’s many questions about living and working in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Juliet and Erik are joined by Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi and Zarina Urmanbetova of Roadwork Asia to discuss China's road infrastructure projects in Central Asia and their research at Roadwork Asia, including their article on infrastructural connections across the Toghuz-Toro district of central Kyrgystan Welcome and Unwelcome Connections: Travelling Post-Soviet Roads in Kyrgyzstan.Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi is a professor of social anthropology at the University of Fribourg and head of the ROADWORK project. She focuses on China and the Sino-Central Asian borderlands. Her recent research explores the nexus of transport infrastructure, settler colonialism, and processes of state territorialization in northwest China. She has also expanded her research into infrastructure maintenance and how temporalities of materials, investment, discourses, government agendas, ecosystems, and humans affect the social life of infrastructure in the Sino-Central Asian borderlands.Zarina Urmanbetova is a social anthropologist from Kyrgyzstan. She has worked on projects for UN Women Kyrgyzstan, Urban Initiatives, the Research Institute of Islamic Studies in Bishkek, and the Analytical Center Polis Asia. She holds a BA from the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University and a MA in social anthropology from Hacettepe University in Turkey. At ROADWORK, she focuses on the social and cultural life of roads in central Kyrgyzstan. Recommendations:Agnieszka Roadsides,  an open-access journal designated to be a forum devoted to exploring the social, cultural, and political life of infrastructureBelt & Road in Global Perspective, a project of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of TorontoZarina14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible documentary on NetflixErikBish Bosch album by Scott WalkerJulietHow Sand Mining Threatens a Way of Life in Southeast Asia. National Geographic. Photos & reporting by Sim Chi Yin, writing by Vince Beiser. March 2018.Satellites Spy on Sand Mining in the Mekong by Alka Tripathy-Lang, Dec 2021. The Messy Business of Sand Mining Explained. Marco Hernandez, Simon Scarr, Katie Daigle. Feb 2021. 

Russia... will lose ground here in the region over the next decade and China will fill it, because the Europeans are not doing it. The United States is not doing it. Iran is not doing it and Turkey cannot do it either.Anja MihrA full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Between Peace and Conflict in the East and the West Studies on Transformation and Development in the OSCE Region  here.Anja Mihr is an associate professor of Political Science at the OSCE Academy at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and the founder and program director of the Center on Governance through Human Rights at the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform (gGmbH) in Berlin. Recently, she edited the volume Between Peace and Conflict in the East and the West Studies on Transformation and Development in the OSCE Region.Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information. Key HighlightsHow do Central Asian countries feel about Russia's invasion of Ukraine?Differences and similarities between Central Asian nationsWhy has China become so influential in the region?Sadyr Japarov and his rise to powerWhat is Glocalism?Key LinksBetween Peace and Conflict in the East and the West: Studies on Transformation and Development in the OSCE Region  edited by Anja MihrLearn more about Anja MihrFollow Anja Mihr on Twitter @AnjaMihrDemocracy Paradox PodcastJennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Ilia Murtazashvili on Afghanistan, Local Institutions, and Self-GovernanceTimothy Frye Says Putin is a Weak StrongmanMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox100 Books on DemocracySupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/demparadox)

We sit down with Bryan Niederhelm to talk about the correlation and overlap of leadership and protecting. Things we touch on with Bryan: Bryans background in the Marines and his time at Gavin De Becker & Associates First Principles thinking P.O.V. (Problem, Outcomes, Values) What offers stability and confidence? Why leaders are protectors and vice versa Download The Uncertainty Paradigm: https://niederhelm.medium.com/a-playbook-for-high-stakes-decision-making-449e51eb11f7   Get Gaven de Beckers book, The Gift Of Fear https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Fear-Gavin-Becker/dp/0316235776/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SZI0ZWKLILV6&keywords=gavin+de+becker%2C+the+gift+of+fear&qid=1645216646&sprefix=gavin+de%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-1   Bryan Niederhelm has been advising the world's most influential people and enterprises for the past couple decades, helping them navigate a wide-range of high-stakes decisions.  Much of this experience was gained during Bryan's work at what is arguably the most distinguished security and consulting firm on the planet, Gavin de Becker & Associates, where he serves as Senior Vice President.  Here Bryan leads and coaches a team of experts who are also managing a variety of risks on behalf of their clients.     Bryan will never speak of his work that has the greatest impact on the lives and livelihoods of his clients.  However, his radical commitment to confidentiality is what earned Bryan rare perspectives and opportunities to gain mastery.  As a way to spread this wisdom, Bryan created a playbook for high-stakes decision-making, The Uncertainty Paradigm, which has applications across myriad aspects of life, leadership, and risk.    Bryan also served as a Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.  During his tenure, Bryan was part of the Embassy Security Battalion, responsible for the security of US Diplomats and Top Secret information in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and Jerusalem, Israel.  In these roles he provided security support for the US President and led the Marine security teams assigned to the Vice President and Secretary of State.  Earlier in his career, Bryan served as an Infantry Platoon Sergeant and as an instructor at the Jungle Warfare Training Center in Japan. Connect with Bryan on Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanniederhelm