Podcasts about trans siberian

Send us a textIn this episode of Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol, we return to Mongolia—this time through the eyes of Tungso, a Mongolian native now living in the U.S. She shares a deeply personal and vibrant portrait of her home country, from nomadic life in the northern mountains to the unique blend of traditional and modern living in Ulaanbaatar. We talk about everything from shamanism and Soviet influence to the fierce independence of Mongolian women, the simplicity of daily life, and the warmth of a culture where community and hospitality still reign.Tungso also gives us a peek into Mongolia's biggest holidays, including Naadam with its wrestling, horse racing, and archery, and how New Year's is celebrated with sparkle, family, and salty milk tea. She reflects on how her upbringing shaped her values around minimalism, resilience, and pride in heritage. Whether you're curious about taking the Trans-Siberian train to Ulaanbaatar or just want to understand why Mongolia is unlike anywhere else, this episode will expand your perspective and leave you longing for a visit.Map of MongoliaSupport the showPlease download, like, subscribe, share a review, and follow us on your favorite podcasts app and connect with us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wherenextpodcast/View all listening options: https://wherenextpodcast.buzzsprout.com/HostsCarol Springer: https://www.instagram.com/carol.work.lifeKristen: https://www.instagram.com/team_wake/ If you can, please support the show or you can buy us a coffee.

This episode is part 2 sharing guest Phill Hargreaves story and experiences from his three year Cycle Tour taken in 1984.  You can listen to Part 1 here.This journey saw Phill leave home in the UK destination Australia. He left as a group of three, in Turkey his group became two and then from Nepal he continued the journey solo.  This conversation picks up that journey from Nepal as Phill made his way through Asia to Australia. Some incredible stories were shared for this leg of the journey by Phill including travelling through Myanmar, Island hopping in Indonesia - and then a wild work experience encounter on a fishing trawler when he finally reached Australia. After saving money Phill then decided to cycle back to the UK. He travelled through Australia and NZ before then heading home via China and Tibet. He'd catch the Trans-Siberian express to Germany and then cycled the rest of the journey. All up returning almost 3 years after setting off.Phill's son Jamie is currently re-tracing this very journey Phill took and you can listen to the interview I had with him here. Jamie Hargreaves EpisodeBe sure to also keep an eye out for his other son Olly who is now about to take his own journey from the UK to Singapore - his instagram is here: @sagas.of_olly.hargreavesBig thanks to our sponsor Old Man Mountain for continuing to support the podcast. Be sure to check out their new Hemlock Bags with FLiP Cages - via www.oldmanmountain.com/seektravelride - clicking this link helps me out as it lets them know you heard about them on the podcast. Join me on the Seek Travel Ride Lightweight Bikepacking Tour!6 night - 5 day tour through the Pyrenees Foothills.Dates - June 28 - July 04Start and Finish: ToulouseCost €1550 per person twin shareFind Out more and Book Your Spot Here Support the showBuy me a coffee and help support the show!Sign up to the Seek Travel Ride NewsletterFollow us on Social Media!Instagram - @SeekTravelRideWebsite: Seek Travel RideFacebook - Seek Travel RideLeave me a voicemail message Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music Thank you to RedShift Sports for supporting the show! - Check them out here

This week we talk about our favorite HIV positive men's choir and Joe DeRosa's cheese preferences.  Follow Brian on Threads, Instagram and X - Support the show and get bonus audio/video episodes, ringtones, bonus footage and more!! All at patreon.com/brianmccarthy. 

Last time we continued to speak about the insane battle over Southern Xinjiang. In Yarkland, chaos erupted as inflation soared, prompting Chinese officials to retreat to fortified New City. Panic led to desperate measures, including the use of dummy figures for defense. As insurgents advanced, Colonel Chin's forces looted and fled, sparking violence against Uyghurs and Hindu moneylenders. By April, rebel forces captured Kashgar, fracturing Chinese control. Amid shifting alliances, Ma Chanzeng sought power, but internal strife among leaders like Temur culminated in further violence and betrayal, with power ultimately shifting to the Khotanlik provisional government under Muhammad Amin Bughra. Abdullah's revelation ignited conflict among Muslim troops. The Uyghurs and Kirghiz briefly united against the Chinese, ultimately capturing the New City. As tensions rose, massacres occurred, fracturing alliances and leading to a power struggle. After the execution of Uyghur leader Temur, Abdullah seized control of Yarkland, while charismatic Tawfiq Bay rallied forces against the Tungans. Eventually, the Khotan Amirs dominated the region, achieving unity amidst chaos, leaving only the besieged Tungans at bay.   #135 Kumul Rebellion part 4: The reunification of Xinjiang Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Do you remember Ma Chongying, basically the guy that started most of this madness? Following him getting severely wounded at Liaotun in autumn of 1932, he had withdrawn the majority of his forces to his old domain in northwestern Gansu. He set up a HQ at Anxi and through his subordinates began expanding territory and increasing recruitment via conscription. The British missionaries Mildred Cable and Francesca French were living in Tunhuang at the time and wrote extensively about Ma Congying's recruitment efforts “The town was robbed of everything in the nature of food, goods and money ... next to food the most coveted possessions of the oases were the young, vigorous, hardy men ... These were the men whom Ma Chung-ying wanted for gun fodder, and orders were issued to the press-gang to fetch them in from every farm of the neighborhood, and collect them in Tunhuang City. Every day we saw them being rounded up. The ropes which they themselves had twisted from desert grass were used to tie their hands behind their backs, and to noose their necks in a running-knot. Roped together in droves of twenty to thirty, according to the success of the raid, they were brought to town by captors who rode the horses levied from these boys' own stables. Thrust behind the high palings of temple courtyards, the imprisoned youths lined the barriers, looking out for some passers-by who might belong to their own group of farmsteads and would take a report home that son or husband had been captured”. After initial training at Tunhuang, the recruits were taken to Anxi for further training. Cable and French were ordered to Anxi to aid Ma Chongying with his wounds and to  take care of other Tungans who reportedly had been injured by fire arrows during the siege of Kumul Old City. They did a good job as within a short amount of time Ma Chongying was able to ride again.  Back in Xinjiang, following the failed Uyghur led rebellion at Kumul and facing another imminent Tungant invasion in the Turfan area Jin Shujen turned increasingly to the USSR for help. In September of 1931 he bought two biplanes for the Soviets at 40,000 Mexican silver dollars each. The planes came with two Russian pilots and on October 1st, Jin signed a secret trade deal with the USSR allowing 8 Soviet trading agencies to set up shop in Urumqi, Chuguchak, Kashgar, Kulja, Aksu, Kucha, Khotan and Yarkland. Customs duties on Soviets goods were reduced and a new Xinjiang-Soviet telegraph line and radio communications were established. Jin signed these deals illegally without notifying Nanjing and in return received economic and military assistance from the Soviets. In July of 1932 he would receive another 8 aircraft. Yet despite the Soviet assistance, Jin's provincial forces with the exception of Peppengut's White Russian detachment remained ill trained and ill officered. Following the relief of Kumul Old City and Ma Chongyings retreat back to Gansu, Chang Peiyuan, the provincial commander in chief and military governor of Ili went to Urumqi. It appears that Jin did not fully trust Chang Peiyuan, possibly fearing that the victory at Kumul had stirred up dangerous ambitions in Chang. This distrust seemed to be mutual, as Chang, upon receiving orders to transfer to the provincial capital, chose to defy them and returned to Ili in an act bordering on open rebellion. In response, Jin appointed Sheng Shihtsai, Chang's Chief-of-Staff during the Kumul campaign, as the new Provincial Commander-in-Chief. This decision would have significant implications both for Jin's future and for the future of Xinjiang. Sheng Shihtsai was born in 1895 in Liaoning Manchuria. He was the son of a small landowner. In 1917 he traveled to Japan to study political economics at Waseda University and came back to China in 1919 to participate in the May 4th movement. During that time he developed radical and anti-Japanese stances. He then joined the military training school in Guangdong and later enrolled in the northeastern military academy. He entered military service under Guo Songling, haha that old cry baby, who was deputy under Zhang Zuolin. Sheng Shihtsai rose through the ranks becoming a Lt Colonel. In 1924 Guo Songling sponsored Sheng's admission to the Shikan Gakko military academy in Japan. Sheng returned briefly to help Guo Songlings failed coup against Zhang Zuolin, but was able to escape imprisonment with support from Feng Yuxiang and Chiang Kai-Shek. They got him a ticket back to Japan, and he returned to China in 1927 to participate in the northern expedition as a staff officer attached to Chiang Kai-Sheks HQ. After the northern expedition, he was made chief of war operations section of the General staff at Nanjing, but in 1929 resigned as he did not get along with his superiors. After all of this he took an interest in China's border defences. At the time a delegation from Xinjiang visited Nanjing searching for financial aid. Jin Shujen had instructed one of his delegates, Kuang Lu the deputy General secretary of Xinjiang, to find an able bodied officer to help reorganize Xinjiang's military. Kuang Lu fished around and found Sheng who looked like a very promising man. Sheng then traveled via the USSR arriving to Urumqi in the winter of 1929. His initial welcome was a luke warm one as Jin was suspicious of this highly qualified overseas educated man, obviously seeing him as a potential threat. Moreover, Jin's brother Jin Shuxin hated Sheng's appointment because the man outshined him. Despite the jealousy, Jin was basically grasping at straws and needed the help so he made Sheng the chief of staff over the Xinjiang Frontier Army and also the instructor at the provincial military college.  In the words of historian Chan Fooklam “Sheng's appointment was like Jin burying a time bomb under his bed, he had brought upon himself his own doom”. Despite receiving aid from the Soviets and British, Jin's grip over Xinjiang was slipping away. In May of 1932 Ma Chongying had dispatched Ma Shuming to take over the Tungan operation against Turfan. As we talked about, Ma Fuming, leading the provincial forces at Turfan simply defected. Also at this time Chang Peiyuan's insubordination was breaking out, easing the way for Sheng to be promoted to commander in chief. Sheng was directing an unsuccessful campaign against Uyghur insurgents at Karlik Tagh. Following news of Ma Fumings defection and the Tungan capture of Turfan, Sheng advanced west from Kumul to try and prevent the combined Muslim forces from marching upon Urumqi. After a bloody two day battle he recaptured Turfan, but this has little effect over Ma Shuming who had already moved his HQ to Kara Shahr.  During mid-winter, Ma Shuming's Tungan cavalry and Ma Fumings Turkic insurgents began an advance to Urumqi. At some point a force of provincial troops sent to Urumqi by Jin, specifically to guard the Dawan Cheng Pass were ambushed and annihilated by the Tungans. Meanwhile full scale rebellions had broken out at Kucha led by Temur and at Khotan led by the Amirs. To this Jin responded by expanding Pappenguts White Russian detachment from its original strength of 250 to 1500 men. The White Russians, most of whom came from Ili Valley, had literally no choice but to enlist. Alongside threatening any White Russians with deportation to the USSR, Jin also arrested many Russian women to compel their husbands to enlist. By early January of 1933, Ma Shumings Tungans had crossed the Dawan Cheng and were now operating at will in the Chaiwupao corridor, to the immediate south of the capital. Wu Aichen the political envoy on behalf of Nanjing reported on January 29th, that the city gates were suddenly closed and a month of food shortages and communal tensions rose. Wu Aichen would witness the brutality of the war. In his reports, the Tungans advanced towards the city during the night, seizing the Great West Bridge after a heavy fight. The Provincial commander defending the city only had 700 troops under him and if it was not for 300 White Russian troops suddenly arriving, the city most likely would have fallen then. Wu Aichen described the White Russian troops as superb fighters, albeit savagely drunk as they drove back the Tungan and Uyghurs during two days of hand to hand combat. Meanwhile Tungans had captured the radio station and a nearby height called Devil's Hill which overlooked the Urumqi suburbs. The Chinese officials feared letting in any more Muslim civilians to the Old City, thus they kept the city gates causing large numbers of refugees from the suburbs to gather outside the walls. This was particularly evident at the west gate which became the focal point of the fighting. Wu Aichen witnessed much of it and had this to say. “In times of peace this street was one of the most prosperous in the city, but now it was crowded With innocent fugitives, whose plight was terrible indeed. There was was worse to come, however, for now the advancing rebels came to this quarter and seizing the houses made loop-holes in the walls. In the flat roofs they set up machine-gun posts which could enfilade Government positions on either side of them. I could see for myself that the situation was desperate and that our troops would be pinned against the walls. General Pai, who was in command, did not hesitate. He gave the order that the street of the small religion should be set on fire. Then followed a scene so frightful that the reader's imagination must suffice. As the flames swept down the long lane of wooden structures they became an inferno of horror, for the roar of the conflagration was added to the rattle of gunfire, .and the hideous shrieks of those who were trapped. The rebels sought safety in flight, and as they crossed the open were machine-gunned from the Red Mountain; but the fugitives had nowhere to fly to and perished to the last man, woman and child. Nevertheless the city was saved, and when at last the flames died down the approach to the West Bridge was strewn with the bodies of our assailants. On the evening of the second day I had completed ten thousand words of copying. I asked how many were dead. I was told at least two thousand. Once again I returned to my task, reflecting that a human life had been taken at every fifth word”. Following the defeat, the Muslim forces had to pull back from the West Gate area, however, they still held control over the West Bridge, a mere half mile northwest. This gave them a great launchpad for night raids and many would be killed trying to scale the walls under the mouths of guns. The White Russian troops emerged as the backbone of the defenses, holding the city walls and making occasional sorties. Urumqi would have fallen if it was not for Sheng Shihtsai who came to her aid with his troops from Turfan. Upon seeing his relief forces the Muslim insurgents broke off their attack and withdrew into the surrounding countryside. With winter coming to an end, with fear of a cholera outbreak looming the Chinese went to work burying the dead. Wu Aichen was one of those who helped with the burials and wrote a horrifying description about the conditions of the city. Over 1000 bodies were buried in a single mass grave within the suburbs and the final death toll was estimated to exceed 6000. Following the relief of Urumqi, the Muslim insurgents seized all they could in the countryside such as Dawan Cheng, the districts of Fukang and parts of Santopao where an estimated 900 Han Chinese were killed. The insurgents burned the stocks of rice that usually fed the capital and on March 1st a detachment of 100 provincial troops were ambushed and annihilated at Chitaowan. The situation throughout the province deteriorated; to the south Ma Shaowu had isolated Kashgar and in the north a Kazakh rebellion broke out in the Sahara Sume region under Sharif Khan. The Kazakh uprising convinced the Soviets that Jin Sujen was going to inevitably lose Xinjiang. They acted without any notice to Nanjing by dispatching forces to help hold up Urumqi. Fate would have it, 2000 battle hardened Chinese troops had recently been driven over the Heilongjiang border into Siberia by the Japanese during the invasion of Manchuria. So Stalin signed off on sending them over the trans-siberian and Turk-sib railways to the Xinjiang frontier of Chuguchak. This force designated the Northeast National Salvation Army consisted of regular soldiers who were well trained and held good morale. They arrived to Urumqi on March 27th of 1933, substantially bolstering the provincial military, more particularly that of the new Provincial commander in chief, Sheng Shihtsai who just so happened to also be a Manchurian.  Sheng led the new forces to push back the invading Tungans of Ma Shuming who was forced over the Dawan Cheng back to his HQ at Kara Shahr. The Uyghur insurgents were demoralized and Khoja Niyas Hajji who controlled a belt around the Xinjiang-Gansu frontier began begining for assistance from Ma Chongying. Meanwhile Jin basically was undermined by Sheng and was seeing further unrest in Urumqi. The White Russians who had bore the brunt of the fighting to defend Urumqi were royally pissed off as they had not all been paid and were provided the worst horses and ammunition of all the defenders. Moreover Jin's popularity with all nationalities, even Han Chinese had fallen dramatically because his brother Jin Shuxin had reportedly exorted the granaries during the siege. Following the relief of Urumqi, Pappengut and the other White Russians approached the leaders of the northeast national salvation army with grievances against Jin Shujen and were given assurances of support to mount a coup against him. On April 12th, around 400 White Russians stormed the capital with 200 of them seizing the city gates and yamen. Jin managed to escape over the city walls and fled to the USSR via Chuguchak. From there he returned to China via the Turk-Sib and Trans-Siberian. Meanwhile his younger brother Jin Shuxin was captured and executed. Sheng Shihtsai was encamped at Uruba at the time of the coup and insisted in his future memoirs he had nothing to do with the coup and that it was all the USSR's doing. Regardless after the coup Sheng was urged to go to Urumqi where negotiations began with Liu Wenlung who was appointed Provincial Chairman while Sheng was made Tupan or “border defense commissioner”. Ie; Sheng was made the de facto ruler of Xinjiang.  After Ma Shumings failure to take Urumqi and Khoja Niyas Hajji's pleas for help, Ma Chongying determined to reenter the fray in person. Despite the setbacks, the Tungans had crossed the Dawan Cheng and nearly taken the capital, coupled with the seizure of Kashgar, Ma Chongying most likely believed there was still a great chance to take it all. He had spent 18 months rebuilding his army and better yet, because of the USSR's illegal move to save Urumqi, Nanjing officially recognizing his Tungan forces as the 36th division of the NRA. Ma Chongying moved his HQ from Anxi to Suzhou and really improved his military. A German engineer named Vasel working with him described him as a man who admired Napoleon, Bismarck and Hindenburg and who “was frequently to be seen running at the head of his troops during training, even in sub-zero temperature. Military training was pursued with a spartan rigour, pushed to the verge of utter ruthlessness. Desertion was punishable by death, and on one occasion I saw Ma personally behead five such offenders. In one of those sudden fits of exuberance that were typical of him, snatching up casually some hand grenades, which he had made himself, and hurling them, one by one, against the lofty clay-coloured walls of the city. And then he laughed heartily when he saw his men fling themselves flat on the ground as splinters of steel hurtled in all directions. He scorned to seek safety by throwing himself on the ground, and was quite delighted when he saw that I too did not seek cover”. During spring of 1933, Ma Chongying prepared to reinvade Xinjiang. A Swedish man named Bexeill was working along the Gansu-Qinghai border and noted Ma Chongying heavily taxed his territory in northwestern Gansu to the limits of the peasants endurance. He apparently even sent troops into Qinghai to illegally tax them. By May of 1933 his army departed Suhou for Yumen and Vasel gives us this description of them. “A dark mass of human beings, camels and oxen, was pouring out of the city gate towards the west amid clouds of dust. There were hundreds of heavily-laden camels, the bells on their necks clanging monotonously, their drivers easily discernible by their gaudy headgear. In the rear followed high-wheeled ox-carts, flanked on either side by infantry. Behind them again came a company of cavalry, which presently galloped past the lumbering camels and oxen along the track through the desert ... and now I had an opportunity of seeing at close range General Ma's famous cavalry riding past me and keeping its post at the head of the marching columns. This was the famous white cavalry regiment of which General Ma was especially proud. The broad iron swords of the dragoons clanked as they rode along on their magnificent white horses, while on their shoulders they carried carbines of the most varied and antiquated patterns. Next came the brown regiment, while in the rear followed the black regiment, comprising some two thousand horsemen. A short distance behind the cavalry came the infantry - regiment after regiment, headed by the Chinese (Kuomintang) standard. On they swept, platoon after platoon, followed by their officers, with their mausers at the ready. The columns strode along, keeping perfect time with their shrill, high-pitched, mournful, Asiatic marching songs. Sandwiched between some of these trained and trustworthy soldiers I saw large drafts of recruits who had been compelled to join General Ma's forces. These raw levies were constantly kept under very close observation'. On Top of Ma Chongyings new Tungan army, young Uyghurs were also conscripted into his ranks. 2500 Tungans under the command of his younger brother Ma Chongjie captured Kumul in May with little opposition. This was because the area was dominated by Ma Chongyings ally Khoja Niyas Hajji. After this Ma Chongjie issued bilingual proclamations to the people of Kumul, stating they were free of Jin Shujen's tyranny, who at the time was in the USSR. Meanwhile Sheng hurriedly prepared a force of 5000 to meet the invaders near Urumqi. Ma Chongying advanced upon Qiqiaoqing unopposed, getting even further west than his first invasion of 1931. Instead of taking the main road to Turgan, the Tungans crossed the narrow defile between Barkul Tagh and Bogdo Ula to hit the garrison town of Kitai. The first major battle broke out near Mulei, due east of Kitai on May 15th. Two days later a mixed force of 4000 Tungans and Turkic Muslims attacked Kitai led by Ma Chongjie. On May 26th Sheng sortied from Urumqi at the head of 5000 men, 1000 of whom were White Russians. Sheng planned to hold Santai, the halfway point between Urumqi and Kitai. Sheng's men attacked the invaders around Kitai, but lost the battle for the city, though Ma Chongjie was killed in battle. Sheng then retreated back to Urumqi by June 1st. Things looked dire for Sheng, he was unsure how Nanjing would react to the coup against Jin Shujen, his position was threatened to the east by Ma Chongying now headquartered at Kitai and to the west by Chang Peiyuan the military governor of Ili whom he suspected was not loyal to Urumqi and in league with the Tungans. Ma Chongying was now within striking distance of Urumqi, when he suddenly halted his attack and sent a telegram with terms. It turns out Ma Chongying had no idea Jin Shujen had been overthrown, so he was unsure how to proceed. This bought Sheng more time to raise defenses, sending the White Russians to hold Fukang as he dispatched Wu Aichen on a peace mission to Kitai. Wu Aichen's mission failed, so Sheng went to Fukang to take personal command of the army and to meet Ma Chongying around the hamlet of Zuniquan. During the battle of mid June, the provincial forces managed to gain the upper hand due to severe weather conditions for which the lightly clothed Tungans were ill prepared for. The Uyghurs forces of Khoja Niyas Hajji also took no part in the fighting despite being in the immediate area. The Tungans were defeated at Zuniquan, but not routed. Ma Chongyings men managed to retreat in well order to Qiqiaoqing and from there advanced to Turfan joined Tungan forces under Ma Shuming. Combined the Tungans marched to Dawan Cheng. At the same time a Pacification Commissioner, Huang Musung was sent by Nanjing to Urumqi. His mission was to establish peace between the provincial forces and Ma Chongying, both of whom claimed loyalty to Nanjing. Sheng was suspicious of Huang Musung and felt Nanjing might be simply backing the Tungans. Thus Sheng had Huang Musung placed under house arrest. Then Sheng accused three Xinjiang officials of plotting with Huang Musung, Chang Peiyuan and Ma Chongying to overthrow him and had them all executed via a firing squad. Thus Sheng clearly had distanced himself from Nanjing and turned 100% to the USSR for help. During early Autumn Ma Chongying was still in Turfan reorganizing the forces while Sheng was consolidating his position in Urumqi and quelling the Kazakh rebellion.  Meanwhile Khoja Niyas Hajji was growing uneasy with his alliance to Ma Chongying and began to open up secret negotiations with Sheng and soon was appointed Chief Defense commissioner for Southern Xinjiang. He then took his Uyghurs across the Dawan Cheng and occupied Toksun only to be surprise attacked and decisively defeated by Tungans under Ma Shuming. By late July Khoja Niyas Hajji took his battered survivors and fled for Kucha. At this point Huang Musung managed to secure his release from house arrest by telegramming Nanjing the recommendation that Sheng Shihtsai and Liu Wenlung be confirmed in their posts as the chief military and civil authorities over Xinjiang. Nanjing had really no options other than to comply.  On September 2nd Lo Wenkan, the foreign minister of Nanjing, came to Urumqi and officially confirmed Sheng into office and then mediated between Sheng and Ma Chongying. To compensate Ma Chongying he was offered the post of Garrison Commander of Eastern Xinjiang which he accepted, thus gaining control over Kumul, Barkul and part of Turfan. After Lo Wenkan departed in early October, suddenly Sheng announced the discovery of a new plot against him. He accused Liu Wenlung of conspiring with Ma Chongying, Chang Peiyuan and Lo Wenkan to overthrow him. Liu Wenlung was forced to resign and was replaced as the provincial chairman by Zhu Juixi. Sheng then prepared a final hammer blow against Ma Chongying. However Ma Chongying had secretly been working with Ma Shuming to deliver a lighting stroke against Urumqi which came in December of 1933. Tungan forces passed Dawan Cheng and began attacking the capital. Likewise in response to the constant accusations, Chang Peiyuan finally threw his support to the Tungans. He led his troops across the Talki Pass into Zungharia and attacked the Provincial forces stationed at Wusu. Meanwhile encouraged by the advance of the Gansu Tungans, the indigenous Tungans of Zungharia rose en masse to Ma Chongyings banner. In late december a detachment of the 36th NRA led by Ma Shuming bypassed Urumqi and attacked Chuguchak. Vasel happened to witness this and described the battle as such “The sun's rays, by this time, were shining obliquely across the street and showed us the Tungan army entering the town ... Stirrup to stirrup, the young regular soldiers in their smart uniforms looked a well-disciplined, trim and efficient force. r recognised one of their officers, Ma Shih-ming, the Commander-in-Chief's adjutant, who had frequently been my guest in Soochow. These regular soldiers rode past on beautiful horses, while huge red flags floated in the breeze above their heads, bearing the character 'Ma' in black letters on a white ground. At a short distance followed a horde that was tolerably well equipped . . . I saw needle-guns, blunderbusses and muzzle-loaders ... In their rear dense clouds of dust, which shut out the light, billowed onward, and then came the infantry. . . men with wild eyes and matted hair. . . outlaws who had nothing to lose and everything to gain from the upheaval that was going on. After the infantry followed a huge horde of camels, with their rhythmical swaying gait, laden with produce and goods of every conceivable type ... the breath came from their mouths like smoke - their necks were craned forward, and their heads kept bobbing up and down.”With the Tungans taking Zunghaira, the Khotan Amirs running amok in the south and Chang Peiyuan joining the fray, Sheng's position at Urumqi was hopeless. While Ma Chongying and Sheng Shihtsai continued their struggle in the north, in the south Muhammad Amin Bughra woo'd Khoja Niyas Hajji to become president of a new secessionist Islamic state. Thus was born the Turkic Islamic Republic of Eastern Turkestan ie TIRET. While Khoja Niyas Kajji was the quote president, this was simply symbolic, the real leadership remained with the Amirs. Amir Abdulah retained control over Yarkland, Amir Nur Ahmad Jan over Yangi Hissar and Kashgar and Bughra over Khotan. Shari a law was implemented, a national flag with a white star and crescent over a blue ground was made and the new state sought aid and recognition from Britain. But the TIRET would never receive said recognition or aid, for Britain respected Nanjing's government as the sole authority in Xinjiang. TIRET turned next to Turkey, but found no real help. Then they turned to Afghanistan who likewise could not help them. TIRET was doomed from the very beginning. Meanwhile the battles raged between Sheng and Ma Chongying. Sheng knew Nanjing would not assist him so he turned to the USSR. Sheng dispatched diplomats Chen Teli and Yaoxiong to Moscow pleading for assistance. The Soviets were sympathetic and quite concerned with events such as the rise of TIRET and the possibility of Ma Chongying capturing Urumqi as they suspected him and TIRET to have ties to the Japanese. Weary of Germany and Japan, the USSR took up a policy of curbing any influence from either, especially in her Central Asian frontiers. The Soviets sent this warning to Nanjing “'We do not mind if you Chinese develop [Eastern] Turkestan. But if you permit [Eastern] Turkestan to become a second Manchuria, we must act to protect ourselves. '” Thus in late 1933, following pleas for help from Sheng Shihtsai, the Soviets chose to intervene on behalf of Sheng, whom was known to be a loose cannon and unreliable, but atleast was anti-Japanese. The USSR appointed Apresoff as the new consul-general at Urumqi and upon his arrival Sheng conducted a purge. Officers from the Northeast National Salvation army and White Russian volunteers were arrested and shot, including Pappengut. The White Russians units were reorganized under the command of new Soviet officers. Sheng signed a secret deal with the USSR to allow them to build a railway from Sergiopol, through Chuguchak to Urumqi. Sheng also announced 6 new principles going forward (I) anti-imperialism, (2) kinship to Sovietism, (3) racial or national equality, (4) 'clean' government, (5) peace, and (6) reconstruction.  The Soviets were pleased and after receiving approval from Nanjing dispatched two brigades, numbered some 7000 men supported by tanks, artillery and aircraft against the insurgent positions at Kulja and Chuguchak. The Soviets had orders to “clear the roads and liquidate the rebellion”. They rapidly overwhelmed the forces of Chang Peiyuan who committed suicide in shame. The Tungans of Ma Shuming put up a better fight but were dislodged from the Chuguchak area. According to Vasel, the Tungans managed to beat back some attacks during 30 days of battle. In one instance the Tungans foiled a Soviet pincer attack by “crawling through the snow, camouflaged by reversed sheepskins, and storming, from a very short distance, Soviet machine-gun posts whilst wielding the characteristic curved sword of Islam”. The main battle broke out on the frost-bound banks of the Tutun River, 30 miles northwest of Urumqi. According to The Times correspondent Peter Fleming , “the Battle of the Tutun River 'raged for several days; but the Tungans' unskilled ferocity was no match for a mechanised foe, and the troops ... were badly demoralised by gas bombs dropped by the Soviet airmen”.  Both the Soviets and Tungans took heavy casualties, but ultimately the Soviets won, forcing Ma Chongying to retreat from Urumqi to the Dawan Cheng, pursued by a mixed force of Soviets, White Russians and Chinese. The Tungans attempted to make a stand at Dawan Cheng, but according to Vasel “a detachment of Soviet troops supported by armoured cars was attacked by a force of some 500 Tungans. After savage hand-to-hand fighting the Soviet forces were driven back, and their armoured cars were rolled off the mountainside by the victorious Tungans. At this juncture, by a strange twist of fate, the surviving Soviet troops were relieved by a force of White Russian 'volunteers', and Ma Chung-ying was forced to continue his retreat through Toksun to Korla”. Meanwhile in Southern Xinjiang, the Soviets tried to break the TIRET. A Soviet backed force of irregulars known as the “Tortunjis” was set up at Ulug Chat, led by Yusuf Jan. The Soviets also negotiated secretly with Khoja Niyas Hajji who despite being the president of the TIRET had taken all of his forces to Aksu. As a result Khoja Niyas Hajji received Soviet arms in return for turning against his anti-soviet colleagues. Yet despite Soviet support, Khoja Niyas Hajji's Uyghur forces were decisively defeated by 800 Tungans under Ma Chongying. Khoja Niyas Hajji had to abandon his HQ at Aksu fleeing for Kashgar with 1500 men on January 13th of 1934. The Tungans soon besieged Kashgar New City forcing Khoja Niyas Hajji and local forces under Sabit Damullah to withdrew towards Yangi-Hissar, then held by Nur Ahmad Jan. Within 24 hours the Tungan advance guard led by Ma Fuyuan entered Kashgar meeting little resistance. According to British Consulate General Thomson-Glover “'some 800 Tungans and 1,200 conscripts caused nearly 10,000 rebel troops to flee from Kashgar'” To make thing more complicated at this time Ma Shaowu assumed senior military and civil control on behalf of Nanjing and at the request of Ma Chanzeng and Ma Fuyuan. Thus the capital of TIRET was recaptured for Nanjing, but not by their approved forces under Sheng, but of those under Ma Chongying. Following the fall of Kashgar, TIRET moved its administration to Yangi-Hissar. Meanwhile Khoja Niyas Hajji fled to Irkeshtam on the Soviet border and there signed a treaty with the USSR to dissolve the TIRET and relinquished his forces to be used by the Xinjiang provincial authorities against the Tungans and Khotan Amirs. For this he was rewarded Civil Governor for life over Xinjiang with Sheng Shihtsai retaining military governorship. On February 14th, the Khotanlik forces tried but failed to recapture Kashgar. In response for two days the Tungans systematically looted Kashgar old city while they massacred nearly 2000 of its citizenry. Then Ma Chanzeng and Ma Fuyuan advanced to Yangi-Hissar where on March 28th looted its old city and killed everyone they got their hands on. In the face of the Tungan onslaught, Amir Nur Ahmad Jan fled into Yangi Hissar New City and Sabit Damullah fled for Yarkland. Nur Ahmad Jan led a fierce resistance at the New City until April 2nd when Amir Abdullah arrived from Yarkland with several thousand troops. However caught out in the open, Abdullah's men were obliterated by the Tungans and Abdullah was cut down and his severed head was sent to Kashgar to be exhibited outside the Id-gah Mosque. Yangi-Hissar New City continued to resist, “wielding only rifles and conserving their scanty ammunition and rolling back the attackers scaling the walls by means of large stones and tree trunks”. The Tungans took New City on April 12th, putting 500 of its defenders and Nur Ahmad Jan to the sword. Meanwhile the administration of TIRET received word of Khoja Niyas Hajji's deal with the Soviets and refused to dissolve. Thus Khoja Niyas Hajji went to Yarkland to try and convince Amir Muhammad Amin Bughra to dissolve the TIRET. He arrived there in Mid April, only a few days before the Tungas would. Bughra fled towards Khotan as Khoja Niyas Hajji looted Yarkland taking Sabit Damullah prisoner and advanced to Aksu. The Tungans arrived at Yarkland on the 20th and immediately pursued Khoja Niyas Hajji. Khoja Niyas Hajji managed to get to Aksu where he handed over Sabit Damullah who was promptly hung. Meanwhile Ma Chongying arrived at Kashgar with 10,000 men on April 6th where he denounced Sheng Shihtsai as a Soviet Puppet and stressed loyalty to Nanjing to its population. Other Tungan forces captured Sarikol and together marched upon Khotan. Khotan was taken on June 12th without a fight and unlike at Kashgar and Yangi-Hissar, the Tungans did not loot, but instead hunted down Muhammad Amin Bughra who had escaped with 3000 troops towards Keriya. Bughra managed to give them all the slip and fled with several ponies carrying hold to Ladakh in British India where he received permission to travel to Srinagar. Thus ended the TIRET experiment as Ma Chongying claimed he had recaptured southern Xinjiang for Nanjing. Ma Chongying then met with Thomson Glover “that he had come to Kashgar 'to try and save south Sinkiang from Russian influence', and continued to stress his loyalty to Nanjing”.  Meanwhile Ma Chongying set up a defensive line at Maral Bashi and Fayzabad with his brother in law, Ma Hushan in command. During May and June of 1934 Ma Chongying tried to gain sympathy from the British for his cause, but they refused to get involved. In a surprising turn of events, as told to us by Thomson Glover “Ma Chung-ying left Kashgar for Irkeshtam early on 7th July with three or four of his officers. . . and an escort of some 50 Tungans and one or more members of the USSR Consulate or Trade Agency. Arrived near the border to Russia the escort were met by Russian or Russian-employed troops. The Tungan escort dispersed or handed over their arms to some of Khoja Niyas' levies, and Ma Chung-ying disappeared into Russia”. Why the courageous Tungan threw in the towel is a mystery. He had not yet been deceive beaten, he could have taken his Tungan force and held out for 3 years before returning back to Gansu. Regardless the Soviets had offered him sanctuary and he just took it. His fate is a complete mystery, some say he was killed by the Soviets, some say he rotted in a dungeon, that he lived a life of luxury as a Soviet guest, and one claim is that in 1938, when Sheng Shihtsai visited Moscow, Stalin had him executed as a gift. Ma Chongyings command passed to Ma Hushan who set up a HQ at Khotan and carved out a sphere of influence extending from Karghalik to CHarkhlik. The provincial forces did nothing to stop him, and instead signed a truce, ending the wars with the Tungans. Sheng Shihtsai had won, he now held absolute power over Xinjiang, though as we will see much later on, Xinjiang was certainly not done seeing battles. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Thus in the end, after all of these different groups of people formed uprisings, betrayed one another and fought this large game of thrones for Xinjiang, it was Sheng Shihtsai who prevailed above all. Xinjiang was by no means stable and would continue to see chaos well into WW2 however.   

Friends Janie Garza (l-r), Gloria Duron, and Linna Selby attend the Trans-Siberian Orchestra Dec. 27 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.Article Link

The Hollow9ine Network returns with a special and experimental new program... For the past two years, Podcaster and Content Creator Dave "The Klone" Maresca has been missing in action - in a deep and complicated recovery from a traumatic life experience... ...after spending nearly 21 months navigating CPTSD and rebuilding his life in the aftermath of an abusive relationship - one that has left him in social and financial ruin and with a future of uncertainty, marred by constant anxiety and depression, his healing process has led to the creation of this living journal, as a means of chronicling his experiences... ...this program is created in hopes that the life lessons Dave is discovering can be a beacon to those who find themselves similarly lost at sea, in search of a light in the darkness...in search of the hope he, himself, has been searching for... Warning: This program contains true-life recollections of an actual person, that may involve content that some listeners may find disturbing or triggering. If you or someone you know is in need of professional medical and/or mental health assistance, The Hollow9ine Network implores you to seek out such assistance, and has provided links to resources that may be helpful here: CDC Mental Health Tools and Resources Index: https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/tools-resources/index.htm National Suicide Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 Disclaimer: Dave "The Klone" Maresca is not a trained medical professional, psychologist, psychiatrist, or a licensed professional trained in providing therapeutic mental health care.  This podcast is an account of his life experiences and meant to be just that.  Any advice or suggestions made in the extemporaneous dialogue of the podcast is not intended to be medical or legal advice.  If such advice is what you are seeking, you are encouraged to seek out the services of a licensed professional.  The Hollow9ine Network and Dave Maresca assume no liability or responsibility for the information provided in these episodes.  Support us on RedBubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/Hollow9ine/shop?asc=u  Follow us at...  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hollow9ineNetwork/  Twitter: @Hollow9ineCast  Instagram: @the_hollow9ine_network  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuwT8IxWRRI9I8hu2difvhg Email: hollow9inepodcast@gmail.com Read Dave's Blog on Medium: https://medium.com/@davetheklone --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dave-maresca/support

Sometimes a list is much more than a list. Happy reading.Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961) was the pseudonym of Frédéric Sauser, the Swiss son of a French Anabaptist father and a Scottish mother. As a young man he traveled widely, from St. Petersburg to New York and beyond, and these wanderings proved the inspiration of much of his later poetry and prose. Settled in Paris in 1912, Cendrars published two long poems, “Easter in New York” and “The Transsiberian,” which made him a major figure in the poetic avant-garde. At the outset of World War I, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, losing an arm in the battle of the Marnes. A prolific poet, Cendrars was also an exceptional novelist, the author of Moravagine, Gold, Rhum, and The Confessions of Dan Yack, among many other books.-bio via New York Review of Books Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe

The legendary holiday symphonic-metal group Trans-Siberian Orchestra is putting tickets on sale for its 2024 tour, which stops in Tampa December 15th. It includes the performance of the rock opera "The Lost Christmas Eve." TSO was founded in Tampa in 1996 by Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli. We speak with lead guitarist and music director Pitrelli about the group's legacy and this year's tour. 

This episode of Big Blend Radio features Doug Kistner, keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and leader of the allstar project Studio D'Lux. Hear about their new single, "Not in a Million Years" featuring trumpeter Lee Loughnane of Chicago, guitarist Jon Herington of Steely Dan, and famed rock drummer Liberty Devitto who tours and records with Billy Joel. Doug Kistner has played keyboards with Trans-Siberian orchestra, John Waite, and Blood, Sweat & Tears, and is currently with The Lords of 52nd Street and Glen Burtniks Summer of Love.  Stream/ purchase the track: https://vibe.to/notinamillionyears  Follow Studio D'Lux on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@studiodlux  Follow Studio D'Lux on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studiodluxmusic 

Singer/Songwriter/Keyboardist Leads All Star Project Studio D'Lux, "Not In A Million Years"#newmusic #singersongwriter #keyboardist #studiod'lux  #supergroup #allstars “Not In a Million Years” is the new single from the allstar project led by singer/songwriter/keyboardist Doug Kistner. On this track trumpeter Lee Loughnane of Chicago adds his iconic horn sound to this new Studio D'Lux melodic song. Jon Herington of Steely Dan plays a beautifully constructed guitar solo. On drums is the famed rock drummer Liberty Devitto, supplying the groove.Doug Kistner has played keyboards with Trans-Siberian orchestra, John Waite, Blood, Sweat & Tears. Currently with The Lords of 52nd Street and Glen Burtniks Summer of Love.Purchase: https://vibe.to/notinamillionyearshttps://music.apple.com/us/artist/studio-dlux/1619738747Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studio_d_lux/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studiodluxmusicX: https://x.com/studio_d_luxYoutube: https://youtube.com/@UCCYrxuSzuKZufdAYaAolgLg Thanks for tuning in, please be sure to click that subscribe button and give this a thumbs up!!Email: thevibesbroadcast@gmail.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/listen_to_the_vibes_/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thevibesbroadcastnetworkLinktree: https://linktr.ee/the_vibes_broadcastTikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeuTVRv2/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheVibesBrdcstTruth: https://truthsocial.com/@KoyoteFor all our social media and other links, go to: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/the_vibes_broadcastPlease subscribe, like, and share!

We are now in Yeshaya 50,10: מִ֤י בָכֶם֙ יְרֵ֣א יְהֹוָ֔ה שֹׁמֵ֖עַ בְּק֣וֹל עַבְדּ֑וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ הָלַ֣ךְ חֲשֵׁכִ֗ים וְאֵ֥ין נֹ֙גַהּ֙ ל֔וֹ יִבְטַח֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהֹוָ֔ה וְיִשָּׁעֵ֖ן בֵּאלֹהָֽיו׃ Who amongst you is God-fearing, who listens to the voice of his servant, who's walking in darkness and there is no light, He should rely on Hashem and lean on his God. In his sefer Or Yechezkel , Rav Yechezkel Levenstein discusses the simple meaning of the pasuk when he talks about Avodat HaBitachon. He says this refers to a man who is in a situation of complete darkness, who doesn't see any natural hope that can light up the way. He's in a dark tunnel. And with that, he's responsible to rely on Hashem as if the salvation is there already, because that is the essence of bitachon. He says. I'm not relying on the details but of how it's going to happen, because I don't see any way out. I'm relying on Hashem, the One that's able to do everything. I'm looking at the broader picture. Therefore, although my eyes see only darkness, that doesn't make a difference. That's how Rav Chaskel explains this pasuk . Walking in the dark means in the dangers of life. He says that is what bitachon is about. In another place in his book on Emuna, when he talks about the concept that man is born to toil, he says the toil of this world is the toil of Emuna. Again, he refers to a man who's walking in a totally dark situation. In the words of Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein, what's going on around him, has nothing to do with him. Rather, I'm solid in my reliance on Hashem as if I'm not even in a problem. You could talk the talk, but Rav Chatzkel Levenstein walked the walk. He was the one that led the Mir Yeshiva through the Trans-Siberian railroad to Kobe, Japan to Shanghai. They were in the middle of an inferno, and yet they were in an oasis. One of the students reported that when they were in Mir in Europe, they never had never seen oranges in their lives. All they basically had was potatoes. Yet on their escape, they had tourist visas, and because of this, when they got to Moscow, they were well treated. They were taken on tours, brought to a zoo and they were served oranges for the first time. The whole world was falling apart around them, and they were eating oranges! That's Rav Chatzkel Levenstein's message. In his sefer Darkei Avodah / Ways to Work on Yourself, in an essay entitled, the Greater the Hope, the Greater the Merit, he gives an example of what it means to be in the darkness: It's Erev Shabbat. The sun is setting, and the man has no food for Shabbat, yet he doesn't despair. He has solid reliance. That's the definition of Emuna. I'm in the darkness . This is a pasuk in Micha 7,8: אַֽל־תִּשְׂמְחִ֤י אֹיַ֙בְתִּי֙ לִ֔י כִּ֥י נָפַ֖לְתִּי קָ֑מְתִּי כִּֽי־אֵשֵׁ֣ב בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְ יְהֹוָ֖ה א֥וֹר לִֽי My enemy should not be happy because although I fell, I got up. Though I'm sitting in the darkness, God is my light. That, says Rav Chatzkel Levenstein, is the definition of bitachon, and that is our pasuk. מִ֤י בָכֶם֙ יְרֵ֣א יְהֹוָ֔ה שֹׁמֵ֖עַ בְּק֣וֹל עַבְדּ֑וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ הָלַ֣ךְ חֲשֵׁכִ֗ים וְאֵ֥ין נֹ֙גַהּ֙ ל֔וֹ יִבְטַח֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהֹוָ֔ה וְיִשָּׁעֵ֖ן בֵּאלֹהָֽיו / Who is a God-fearing man (as we said in the past, bitachon is a sign of fear of God) Who listens to the voice of his servant. He's walking in the darkness without light (not just darkness, darkness without a flashlight) Rely on the name of Hashem and lean on God. B'Ezrat Hashem, we will continue tomorrow with the Gemara's explanation of this pasuk.

This week's theme is Trains. Bob & Robb choose six movies that ride the rails. Bob:  Snowpiercer (14:44), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (34:15), TransSiberian (51:19) Robb:  Speed (6:15), The Sting (24:47), Train to Busan (43:09) Follow —>  Rewind Video: http://linktr.ee/rewindvideopodcast  Bob: https://letterboxd.com/rgdjr/  Robb: http://linktr.ee/robinzonchavez

Amtrak reports that overall demand for passenger rail is soaring as yearly ridership totals approach pre-pandemic levels. But in California, the story is different. Popular west coast lines are losing riders and remain challenged by underinvestment and rules that give track priority to freight trains. In addition, increasingly powerful storms and rising seas threaten Amtrak's infrastructure: Southern California's Pacific Surfliner has repeatedly suspended service for emergency repairs. As part of Forum's In Transit series, we look at the future of Amtrak in California. Guests: Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, UC Berkeley School of Law; host, the Climate Break podcast Tom Zoellner, English professor, Chapman University; editor-at-large, LA Review of Books; author, "Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World -from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief"

This is about Lauren, husband Jon and their dog Belka, who are living an adventurous life mixed in with a few variations of lifestyle every now and again.In Lauren's own words:"My proudest travel moments include taking a student expedition team to Ecuador. Having treated herself to a trip of the Trans-Siberian railroad for my 30th birthday, I am now looking forward to being in Japan for my 40th. Together with my husband, Jon, I run the travel website https://twohumansandadog.com. This focuses on dog-friendly adventure travel. We have enjoyed plenty of adventures together from a road trip around Cuba to diving in the Galapagos Islands. Recently we eloped and spent our honeymoon volunteering around the Balkans."Lauren also has a passion for Shakespeare, Folklore, and Ghouls. Lengthy stays in the Isle of Skye and the Balkans add to their list of escapades.Learn more about Lauren, Jon and Belka right here:https://twohumansandadog.com/https://www.instagram.com/travelling_ghouls/https://www.instagram.com/belka_pomskollie/http://www.malcolmteasdale.com

In this episode of "Sleepless in Singapore," we hop on the Trans-Siberian Railway, excited and a bit anxious. We're moving from Moscow's busy streets to Russia's wide-open spaces. Our first big stop, Kazan, brings us together with Dina, a fellow traveler whose warmth and tips really stand out. Kazan itself is a revelation, a mix of historical beauty and the unexpected, like finding the perfect pair of sneakers after a minor mishap and discovering an ointment that magically cures smelly feet, making for some quirky travel tales. Yekaterinburg, however, shifts the mood. The city greets us with a grey, almost color-drained ambiance that starkly contrasts the vibrancy of Kazan. This part of the journey feels like stepping into a different world, where the vividness of life seems muted. Despite this, our spirits remain high, fueled by interactions with locals and the novelty of standing at the border of two continents. The Transib itself gives us a mix of thoughtful and fun moments, like a bizarre yet memorable visit to a train restaurant that could be a scene from a film. Moving forward, all these bits and pieces from our journey weave into a collection of memories that really show off the varied landscapes and cultural richness of Russia.

Last time we spoke about the rise of Yuan Shikai, the outbreak of WW1 and the siege of Tsingtao. Yuan Shikai used every dirty little trick to seize and maintain his authority in the new republic. He forced the KMT's hand, prompting Dr. Sun Yat-sen to usher in a second revolution, but it ultimately failed as Yuan Shikai controlled the best army in China. Simultaneously world war one broke out and this placed China in an awkward position. Multiple nations held special territorial concessions in China and now they might bring the war to her borders. China protested as much as she could, but the Empire of Japan simply did not care when they came over to lay a siege against the Germans at Tsingtao. The siege of Tsingtao saw many historical firsts and was quite brutal. After all was said and done, China was served yet another humiliation, with many more to come.    #89 China's forgotten role during the Great War   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Now this episode is actually going to be a bit of a side step from the chronological narrative so to say. China underwent an enormous amount of events during the course of WW1, most having to do with political relations towards the Empire of Japan. However, quite some time ago, on my personal channel, the pacific war channel, I tackled asia during WW1. I wrote a few episode looking at China, Japan, southeast asian nations, and something I found quite interesting is how China aided the Entente powers. People completely overlook this aspect of the Great War, but China and some of her southeast neighbors provided an incredible amount of manpower to both the western and eastern fronts. Stating that, I want to simply dabble into the specific subject of “what exactly did China do for the war effort?”. In the next episode we will jump into things like the twenty-one demands and the Treaty of Versailles. The declarations of war in Europe in late July and early August brought military conflicts immediately upon Chinese territory. On August 6th, 1914 China proclaimed her neutrality and prohibited the belligerents of WW1 from undertaking military operations upon Chinese soil. Now at the beginning it was sort of believed if not perceived the Great War was essentially a conflict between imperial powers, over their colonial possessions in a big game of world supremacy, thus China expected to remain neutral as a partially colonized country. Japan certainly did not care and began a siege against Tsingtao. China initially protested against the Japanese warfare upon her soil, but there was little Yuan Shikai could do about it. We wont get into here, but Japan certainly followed up her disrespect against China immediately after the siege of Tsingtao. Needless to say, China remained neutral for most of the war and this placed her in an interesting position. Now Yuan Shikai secretly offered British Minister John Jorden, 50,000 Chinese troops to help retake Tsingtao, but the British refused. The reason they refused was because of Japan. Japan refused to allow Chinese soldiers to fight in the war, because she was hoping to secure her authority as a powerhouse in the east. While Chinese citizens were not allowed by the Chinese government to participate in the fighting, this did not stop them from other actions Liang Shiyi was in charge of railways, the most profitable ministry within the government at the time and he had a grand idea. He called it “Yigong daibing” “laborers in the place of soldiers”. Now during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the idea of Chinese people going abroad to work was unprecedented. Both the Ming and Qing dynasties discouraged citizens from leaving the country and would persecute those who had. The Qing issued decrees banning emigration in 1717 and 1729, which would not be repealed until 1893. Thus when Liang Shiyi brought up the idea in 1915, it sort of showed how much China had changed in a short amount of time. He discussed his idea with Entente diplomats in early 1915. His original suggested to the British was to use military laborers, men who would carry guns, not be hired laborers. Now you might be asking, why do such a thing, what did China have to gain? If Britain accepted the proposal, it would mean China was fighting on the side of the Entente. But Britain turned Liang down in early 1915 and it is obvious as to why. Anyone who officially joined the war on either side, when the war was over would get a respected seat at the peace table, whereupon you could make demands. For a humiliated nation like China, seeing numerous global powers encroach upon her with unequal treaties, it was a no brainer getting a seat at that peace table might gain them what they wanted, to be rid of the unequal treaties, hell maybe even join the big boy club.  Having received the no from the British as one does, Liang went to the French. Now France from the offset of WW1 was in quite a panic and the idea of acquiring new human resources looked like an amazing idea. For France particularly in the summer of 1915, such an idea might be the decisive factor to win them the war. It also just so happened France was in the processing of securing new human resources from her vast colonial empire. If you want to hear more about French Indochina and Thailand's experience with WW1, please check out my specific episode on it, or my long format documentary on Asia during WW1 at the Pacific War Channel…or podbean I do have audio podcasts same channel name. Thus France began working with Chinese diplomats on the issue of recruit Chinese laborers. Come the summer of 1916, Britain's perspective had dramatically changed since 1915, as they were short on manpower.  Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig requested 21,000 laborers be recruited to fill Britain's manpower shortage. This was to be restricted to the Western Front, as the British home front held domestic labor unions who vigorously fought any attempt to bring Chinese workers to the isles. Beginning in August of 1916, Britain began its Chinese recruitment plan. Now China as I said would remain neutral for most of the war, so technically the Chinese laborers were hired on the basis of a written contract, ie: treated like a regular work force. Now I am going to start off with the western front, thus the Chinese laborers fell into two categories, the travailleurs and spécialistes, translated semi-skilled labor and skilled labor, not literal translations, but as I interpret it. Funny enough my job outside the podcast business has me coordinating semi-skilled educational programs for high school students so I certainly know a lot about this haha. To summarize, semi-skilled labor is a term today referring to basic common labor whereas skilled labor is more difficult requiring more education. You can make a son of comparisons, but I find this one makes sense to the most people: a semi-skilled laborer in the kitchen setting is a dishwasher, you can grab a new worker, show them the ropes rather quickly and let them work, whereas a skilled laborer is a line cook, it takes some culinary education or a lot of training until that person can do the job effectively. I also worked in the restaurant business for a long time haha.  So with France the general contracts were for 5 years, with the British it was 3 years. The Chinese laborers in France would legally be equal to their french counterparts. They would be allowed to celebrate both Chinese and French holidays with benefits paid about 5 francs per day. For the British the Chinese would work 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, paid one franc per day, while their families back in China received 10 Mexican dollars a month. Its difficult to estimate but a WW1 era franc probably can go for about 15 USD, so thats like 75$ per day for France, while for the British its 15$ a day + roughly 1100 USD a month. Now the laborers needed to be transported, fed, clothed and houses, and this was to be at the cost of France and Britain. Between 1916-1918 France recruited roughly 40,000 Chinese laborers, while Britain hired 100,000 who worked in France under their authority. When the United States joined the war, the American Expeditionary Force arranged to borrow 10,000 Chinese laborers from France to employ them under identical terms. The majority of the 140,000 Chinese laborers came from Shandong province. In 1916, the French government approached China asking to recruit its citizens for non-combatant use. A contract was agreed upon may 14th 1916 supplying 50,000 laborers who would make their way to Marseille in july of 1916. This was followed up by Britain's War Committee in London who formed the Chinese Labour corps, with its main recruiting base established in Weihaiwei on october 31st 1916. The first transport ship carried 1,088 laborers sailing from Weihaiwei on january 18th 1917. The journey took three months, each volunteer received an embarkment fee of 20 yuan, followed by 10 yuan a month paid to their families in China. By the end of the war this would account for roughly 2.2 billion dollars earned by Chinese laborers. As a result of the German submarine attacks, Britain needed a safe route and shipped 84,000 Chinese laborers through Canada. This was done in absolute secrecy as at the time Canada had the discriminatory Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 and Chinese Head Tax. Thus they boarded trains journeying 6000 kilometers from Vancouver to Montreal never leaving the train. As reported by the Halifax Herald in 1920 “They were herded like so much cattle in cars, forbidden to leave the train and guarded like criminals”. It was a grueling experience to be sure. China began to ship thousands of men to Britain, France and Russia. These non-combatants would repair tanks, assemble shells, transport supplies like munition, and dig trenches amongst many other things. Hundreds of Chinese students served as translators. It should be noted that the Chinese government and many intellectuals saw the overseas work as an enormous opportunity for Chinese youth to learn new technical skills and ingenuity which could be brought back to the homeland. The French and British military were the ones doing the recruiting, thus the majority would fall under military management and were organized into military type units commanded by officers. If they broke the rules, they could be court martialed and at least and at least 10 under British authority were executed during the war. It should be noted, during WW1 there were a lot of executions for numerous reasons, such as cowardice on the battlefield. Now the Chinese were promised they would not be working under fire, but more often than not they worked in close proximity to military zones, particularly under the British. Until China officially joined the war, the French kept their Chinese workers pretty far from the front lines. After China joined the war in 1917, the French began to assign Chinese to military zones more frequently. There were major differences between the French and British labor programs. The French mainly recruited through the mediation of Chinese contractors, while the British used their own agents. Also as you probably already noticed, the French offered better treatment than the British. For example the French paid higher wages and their labor laws were less restrictive, compared to that of the British labor corps. Now this was the early 20th century, racism was rampant, arguably more so for the British side, who notably locked their worker camps up with wire. The American expeditionary Forces apparently were the most racist, and this is not surprising as America certainly had more experience with Chinese labor. Between 1882-1943 Chinese laborers in American were discriminated against heavily, and the Americans in France had similar attitudes. Racism aside, there obviously were cultural differences, leading to misunderstandings and ignorance on both sides. It did not help that there was a lack of interpreters leading to managerial problems. Despite the racism, cultural misunderstandings and instances of mistreatment it has to be noted, Chinese laborers were a crucial component of the Entente war effort. The great war was a total war, it involved the frontlines and home front. The Chinese who came to France were youthful and strong men. They worked extremely hard, as I said 10 hour days, typically 7 days a week with some holidays.  By the end of the war and for a considerable amount of time afterwards, virtually all cranes in Dieppe, Havre, Rouen, Calais and Zeneghem were operated by Chinese. The French had a lot of praise for the Chinese laborers. General Ferdinand Foch said of them “Chinese laborers are first-class workers who could be made into excellent soldiers, capable of exemplary bearing under modern artillery fire.” H.R Wakefield of the British had this to say in a report “a splendid and versatile worker, inured to hardship and almost indifferent to the weather . ...It was certain that he would learn rapidly to cope with all the multitudinous kinds of work demanded by the huge British military organization overseas. ...Chinese [laborers] have a marvelous gift of imitation, and consequently they learn new and difficult tasks with great facility. ...[T]heir speed and endurance are phenomenal. Although the introduction of Chinese labor was a great experiment and there were some who shook their heads when it was first suggested…the experiment has succeeded, the doubters have become enthusiasts, the work accomplished has already been enormous, disputes and misunderstandings have been marvelously rare. The credit for this success can be equally shared by the British and Chinese”. It was said the Chinese work ethic impressed the British and French so much they became more welcoming to them compared to Indian and Egyptian workers. The British government began the repatriation of Chinese laborers in the fall of 1919 and this was completed on April 6th of 1920. The French repatriation program ended in March of 1922. By the end of the war, roughly 3000 Chinese laborers remained and settled down in France, including 1850 qualified men who signed new contracts to work for metallurgical industries. Other workers found employment in the mechanical or aeronautical sectors. Many of those who remained married French women. Two lived long enough to receive the French Legion of Honor in 1989. The Chinese under the British often found themselves working near battlefields and many did as a result. They were hit by bombardments and some Chinese workers even found themselves tossed into combat against German forces during emergencies. Tragically, after the war was over, there was a colossal amount of work needed for mine clearing and many Chinese would perish during this. By October of 1919, 50,000 Chinese laborers remained in the British camps as they were being evacuated roughly 15,000 per month. Nearly 2000 were buried in France. Many would not even make it to France. On february 17th, 1917 the French passenger ship SS Athos was sunk by the German U-boat SM U-65 off the coast of Malta. The ship was carrying 900 Chinese workers and 543 of them were killed. Roughly 3000 Chinese lost their lives in the Entente war effort in the west. The United States had recently severed diplomatic ties to Germany as a result of its unrestricted submarine warfare and pushed China to do the same. China severed diplomatic ties with Germany in March. The United States further advised China, that if they wished to be at the peace agreements China should declare war on Germany. China took the advice and declared war on the central powers on august 14th 1917.  Now this was all for the Chinese laborers in the western front, but the Chinese also did the same for the Russian empire. Like Britain and France, Russia's economy was collapsing as a result of WW1. The massive mobilizations and insane levels of casualties for the Russians forced the Tsarist government to procure labor by unconventional means. At first they began using women and POW's to compensate, but this quickly proved insufficient, so Russia turned to China. Now Russia had experience hiring Chinese labor since the 1890s, specifically for railway construction. It's more difficult to obtain information on the eastern laborers, but Chinese scholars estimate up to a possible 200,000 Chinese laborers worked in Russia. The system for Russia was nothing like France or Britain. Prior to WW1, private Russian companies and state projects using Chinese agents recruited workers within China, mostly in Shandong, Hebei and Manchuria. They contracted workers individually or in groups, who were given Russian visas and transportation by ship to Vladivostok or by train from Harbin. These laborers helped build the Trans-Siberian railway,  local urban infrastructure and agricultural work, playing a key role in the development of the Russian Far East. Thus when WW1 came around, Russia already had a system in place to hire workers. They worked in coal mines in the Donetsk region, cut timber in the Siberian Taiga, constructed railways in the polar zones of Northern Russia, carried ammunition and dug trenches in the eastern front.    Most of their recruitment was done in northeast China by the private companies like the Yicheng company, until 1916 when the Tsarist government tried to simplify things by placing control of recruiting under the Chinese Eastern Railway company in Harbin. The Chinese eastern railway company took care of all the administrative formalities such as performing medical examinations of workers, clothing them, provisioning them for the journey and placing them on guarded trains. And here is where the eastern workers differed rather dramatically from the western workers. Once in Russia, the Chinese workers were pretty much abandoned for a lack of better words. In the west, Chinese laborers worked under contract for the governments of Britain or France who managed them. In the east the Russian government did not manage them, it was private merchants. This meant many Chinese in the east did not receive adequate sheltering, clothing or food once in Russia. Conditions were extremely rough, the Chinese worked 10-11 hours a day, 7 days a week, living out of badly heated and overcrowded barracks. Sometimes they had no water supplies nor basic sanitation facilities. Many fell ill from the cold, lack of any medical care or food. Unlike with the French or British, Russian officers were not always assigned to overlook them, thus countless were just left on their own. Many of these laborers were employed to build a 1044 kilometer railway linking St-Petersburg to a new port in Murmansk. This meant they had to lay a line across frozen marches, lakes, rocky terrains and through countryside that was uninhabited and could supply nothing but timber. They worked in the cold, nights could reach 40 degree celsius. Many died due to extreme cold, lack of nutrition and disease. Because of the terrible conditions, Chinese laborers routinely protesting and performed violent riots. The Russians suppressed them very harshly, considering the incidents, mutiny's and a sort of sabotage of war related production. After receiving so many reports of mistreatment of their workers in Russia, the Chinese government demanded their own official representatives be allowed to accompany large groups of the workers in Russia to defend their labor rights. Russia refused to satisfy the demands, but did try to improve the working conditions. Unlike in the west where the Chinese laborers were strictly monitored and confined to specific areas, the Russians kind of dumped them everywhere. With so many Chinese scattered about Russia when the Russian government collapsed because of the Russian revolution, countless were stranded. Many Chinese laborers joined the Red Army or various guerilla groups during the Russian Civil War.  Many Chinese laborers truly sympathized with the Bolshevik cause, others simply joined the Red Army to survive. Those who did join the Red Army often did so for food or the opportunity to get back home as the revolution left many stranded. Ren Fuchen was China's first bolshevik and he was the commander of the Chinese Red Eagle Battalion. Estimates vary significantly, but it is estimated up to 40,000 Chinese laborers joined the red army fighting in multiple fronts like Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Volga and Siberia. They had no attachment to Russia or its places and thus were very useful as executioners and many were used as shock troops as no one expected to be attacked by Chinese. Their wartime experiences and cross-cultural exchanges with the Russians would play a critical role in shaping China's political trajectory during the interwar period. As we will discuss in greater detail in other episodes, the Bolsheviks sprang for the seed that would eventually create the CCP. It was during this cross cultural exchange in Russia that communism made its way to China, on the backs of the laborers coming home.  Thus this rather extraordinary story of Chinese departing their country to work or in some cases fight in the Western and Eastern front during WW1 was significant both for the history of China, but also global history. Working and fighting side by side with the Entente displayed China's determination to play a role in world affairs. Taking a step back, think about China's history until this point. Its more or less always been shutting out the world, rather than embracing it. When China was forced open under very brutal and tragic circumstances, it robbed her of being really able to join the world order. Despite being so ingrained in the global economy for so long, she was a very isolated state. It seemed to China, this was finally the moment she could rise to the occasion, change her fate as it were. China clearly signaled this to the world by her actions during the Great War. Also this was the first major time for her citizenry to really experience the west. It provided them with an opportunity to observe and learn from other civilizations, many students for example who went over would reflect on Chinese society. When they returned home, the brought with them new ideas and a strong desire for change. From the east this brought Marxist ideology, from the west it was various forms of democracy, capitalism, hell things we think of today as basic human rights.  Chinese laborers abroad came back to China forming a new national identity. There was also a large element of seeking experience and education. It was not simply the common class going out on their own, the Chinese Republic was pushing people specifically to go out into the world, receive education and vocational training to bring back to China. In something of a grand migration scheme the Republic hoped by sending some of their brightest students and technical laborers, they might manage something along the lines of what the Japanese did during the Meiji years. To give a more specific example, take the story of Li Shizeng. Li Shizeng was an intellectual, politician, and entrepreneur who went to study in France at the turn of the 20th century. He was very influential and helped translate many French books into Chinese. He advocated for dramatic reforms in China and was always pushing to have Chinese come into personal contact with the west, encouraging study and work abroad. In 1902 when he went to France for the first time alongside Wu Zhihui, they discussed the possibility of sending ordinary Chinese to Europe. For them the key to China's salvation was education in western nations. Sending students to the west as laborers was a perfect vehicle. Li Shizhens thought if a 1000 young Chinese workers traveled to France, they would make an enormous impact on Chinese society upon their return, imagine 140,000. In 1912 Li Shizhen alongside a group of other intellectuals, including a young Wang Jingwei formed the “Liu-Fa Jianxuhui” the Society for Frugal study in France. The major purpose of the society was to increase educational opportunities, to introduce Chinese to world civilizations, advanced learning and to develop a Chinese national economy.  When the Chinese laborers saw what a western country looked like, how their citizens worked and lived, it had a profound effect on them. One laborer named Fu Shengsan, explained the situation in an article titled “ Hua gong zai fa yu zhou guo de sun yi” “Chinese Laborers in France and Their Contribution to the Motherland”for the Chinese laborers weekly. He wrote that Chinese laborers did not really understand the relationship between an individual and their nation, or between a family and a nation, before coming to the west. After witnessing Europeans fighting for their country in WW1, it aroused a sense of nationalism and patriotism amongst the Chinese. Many came back home trying to explain this knowledge. Fu would write that the belief Westerners were superior to Chinese was false and that China just needed to become strong like them. All of this would drive China towards the May fourth movement, a watershed moment in Modern Chinese history, but that is a story for another day. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. China underwent great hardship during the Great War, something I will be talking about in the next episode, but she also became a valued member of the Entente, and helped to win the war. Yet the experience of Chinese laborers would have a profound effect on the future of modern China, showing China's people they could rise to the occasion.

Baby it's cold outside! And also, baby there's a killer on the loose? We gathered close to the warmth of our televisions to watch three thrillers where more than just the weather outside is frightful. TRANSSIBERIAN (2008, Brad Anderson) WHITEOUT (2009, Dominic Sena) THE SNOWMAN (2017, Tomas Alfredson)

Adventure Travel, Chile, Tourism Business, Sustainability & ResiliencyGonzalo FuenzalidaCeo/founderChile Nativo TravelAs founder, Gonzalo is responsible for maintaining and developing the characteristics that Chile Nativo is famous for: top notch service, excellent outdoor programs and a continued commitment to sustainability. Eternally optimistic Gonzalo is an eternal fan of Chile's great south, its sublime landscapes, moody weather and uncharted canals and islands. His Patagonia travel tip? Choose the shoulder season: bursting with flowers and baby animals in spring; followed by crunchy copper-toned leaves, empty trails and more stable weather in fall. Besides Patagonia, his heart belongs to Chile's superlative seafood (unfortunately the same can't be said for melon - he's never liked it!). Adventures on horseback across Mongolia, traveling the Trans-Siberian railway and exploring Vietnam and Japan top Gonzalo's bucket list.https://chilenativo.travel/SummaryGonzalo Fuenzalida shares his journey from leaving corporate life to starting Chile Nativo, an adventure travel company in Patagonia. He discusses the challenges and successes of starting a business during a crisis and the importance of adaptability. Gonzalo also highlights the differences in tourist preferences between Americans and Europeans and the role of language in travel choices. He emphasizes the need for sustainable tourism practices and the importance of employee well-being and happiness. Gonzalo shares upcoming experiences, such as e-bike trips and exploring lesser-known regions of Patagonia. In this conversation, Jason Elkins speaks with Gonzalo about his experiences in Chile and the beauty of its untouched places. They discuss the importance of people in travel experiences and the excitement of exploring new destinations. The conversation concludes with an invitation to visit Gonzalo's website and connect with his team.TakeawaysAdaptability and flexibility are key to success in the tourism industry.Understanding the preferences and needs of different markets, such as Americans and Europeans, is crucial for attracting clients.Language plays a significant role in travel choices, with Americans often seeking English-speaking destinations.Crises can provide opportunities for growth and reflection, leading to positive changes in business practices.Sustainable tourism practices and employee well-being are essential for long-term success in the industry. Chile offers many untouched and undiscovered places to explore.The beauty of Northern Patagonia in Chile is breathtaking.The people in a destination play a significant role in creating memorable travel experiences.Taking the leap and embracing adventure can lead to incredible experiences. Learn more about the Big World Made Small Podcast and join our private community to get episode updates, special access to our guests, and exclusive adventure travel offers at bigworldmadesmall.com.

If you thought this episode was going to be all about early Metallica, early Anthrax, or early Slayer, SURPRISE, it's not! While the above bands do in fact belong under the same umbrella, CLASSIC METAL (relative to today's heavy metal landscape) falls right in that sweet spot from the late 70's through the 80's, when hard rock began its transformation into something darker, heavier, and more aggressive than anything before it.    Prepare to brush up on your “ball caller” skills because it's time to “call the balls” for our virtual CLASSIC METAL bingo, where we will address a variety of provocative topics such as “one hit wonders” (both inside and outside of metal), the ongoing debate as to whether or not the Black Cadillac was in fact “slick” or just “big”, as well as “the most popular classic metal song” which still holds up and is just as relevant today as in the CLASSIC METAL days of yore.   Discover which band was formed on Christmas Day 48 years ago, grab some more “boner gum” and bust out your “laser phasers” when you “clear the room” after sharing the details of your “Trans-Siberian” date night experience. Find out what “getting feelings” (down there) from out of nowhere actually means, embrace your middle school metal memories, fire up the “scary devil synthesizer” and JOIN US as we plunge deep into a wellspring of CLASSIC METAL.  Visit www.metalnerdery.com/podcast for more on this episode   Leave us a Voicemail to be played on a future episode: 980-666-8182 Metal Nerdery Tees and Hoodies – metalnerdery.com/merch and kindly leave us a review and/or rating on the iTunes/Apple Podcasts - Spotify or your favorite Podcast app Listen on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your Podcasts. Follow us on the Socials: Facebook - Instagram - Twitter   Email: metalnerdery@gmail.com Can't be LOUD Enough Playlist on Spotify   Metal Nerdery Munchies on YouTube @metalnerderypodcast Show Notes: (00:01): #ballcaller and/or #ballcollar (“Apparently with #bingo you have to #calltheballs …”) #bingoballcallerASMR / “Just the fact that there's balls involved in bingo…”/ #benign / ***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised ***/ #NYE / ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST WITH ALL THE BALLS!!!*** / #metalnerderypodcast / #thisepisodesbeeroftheepisode / ***TO SKIP THE NONSENSE AND GO STRAIGHT TO #THEMEATOFTHEEPISODE JUST GO TO #THEDOCKET ***/ #BlueBandito #StillFireBrewing #daydrinking #fivepointthreeABV #theverdict / “That's a simple…even keeled…nice beer.”/ “This is the post #Christmas episode…”/ #christmaswrapup / “You cooked your mom and one of your wife's friends?” / #wrappedinbacon / “It makes me look smarter and I need all the help I can get…”/ “Why are there #onehitwonders …?” / “He looks like #Lemmy …”/ “Eileen must be crispy…”/ “How many one hit wonders are there in the world of metal?” / “Big Black…?”    (10:00): Check us out on the #socialmedia or email us at metalnerdery@gmail.com or LEAVE US A VOICEMAIL AT 980-666-8182!!! / #thevoicemailsegment #TheDarius #favoritepodcast (“I want 2 episodes a week…you need a sponsor…”) / #bonergum / “I think it's kinda like #FruitStripe …”/ Some comments from our #YouTube channel / “Wow, dude!” / #RussellsReflectionsASMR / “I think 2024 is gonna be the #fitnessyear …” / #carnivore #markthetime / “Did you do any #standup …did you clear the room?” / #buttclenchingcomedy and Matt's style of comedy / “If you really believe that…they'd still be cleaning…with a toothbrush…” / #braindetail / “This one slides…”/ “That's like 5 handfuls of lube…”/ #theburpchronicles   (16:16): #TheDocket / METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS:  CLASSIC METAL!!! / What's considered “classic”? / The 70's and 80's…/ The difference between oldies and classic / #thenewclassic / The definition of #classicmetal (“It's more metal than rock…”) / Some various examples of classic metal / “#IronMaiden formed on #ChristmasDay in 1975…”/ “What's the most popular classic metal song?”/ “Which one?” #thatdumbsongbyKISS / “I lost my credit…”/ Ways to tell if someone is thinking about you…sexually… / #highlightreel / #BlackSabbath TRASHED (“Production wise, it's very strange…”) / #QuietRiot METAL HEALTH (BANG YOUR HEAD) / “It aged well…”/ SLICK BLACK CADILLAC (“Slick Black, NOT Big Black…”) / #stereoboner #cantbeloudenough    (28:38): “What do you think about #DefLeppard (up to #Pyromania)?”/ ROCK OF AGES (“Listen to how thick that is…” / “It is a #drummachine …”/ Early cassette purchases / “You've gotta fuck…” / #futureepisodeidea / “I'm gonna add that to the list…”/ #Dokken BREAKING THE CHAINS / “It's the beginning of #Poison …”/ #MetalChurch METAL CHURCH (#ExciterMoment and/or #BlackSabbathMoment) / “That album…it's solid.” / #urinelove / #Ratt BACK FOR MORE (“This is #middleschool for me…”) / Recent RATT album news / #MotleyCrue LIVE WIRE (NOTE: we never did this one, but you can check out our #ShoutAtTheDevil Dive) / #alwaysremember    (40:47): “Which one's the classic?” / #JudasPriest BLOODSTONE #deepcut (“Frickin' laser phasers…”) / “You can just tell those guitars are loud…” / #DIO STRAIGHT THROUGH THE HEART / “That, my friends, is classic metal.” / “One day I'm gonna figure out which song that is…”/ #CelticFrost THE USURPER #ough #TomGWarriorASMR (“Vocals remind me of #Coroner …”) / The #ough and the #yeah / “They were little blue pills…and they gave my soul a boner.” / #soulboner (“That's a good band name…”) / #buttaids or #fluaids or #flubuttaids (“That shot's not gonna save ya…”) / #DoroASMR / #UriahHeep THE WIZARD (“That sounds like #progmetal…”) / GYPSY / #Savatage 24 HRS. AGO / See also #TransSiberianOrchestra / “I've never met a #TransSiberian have you?”/ #heavymetalnutcracker / “I guarantee you…all she sees is triangles and letters and math…”   (54:28): NOTE:  That comment was regarding Randy's rhythm tone, NOT his solo tone / #OzzyOsbourne FLYING HIGH AGAIN / #Anvil 666 (#devilsynthesizer) / “Have y'all seen the Anvil movie?” / #TheStoryOfAnvil / “A heavy metal story?” / Would Back in Black count as classic metal? / #era / “That's how you know you're getting old…” / #Leatherwolf RISE OR FALL (“This sounds like high school…”) / #guitarbone    (1:04:31): “You just can't play the normal stuff…” / “How about some of this? Circa #1980 “/ #IronMaiden IRON MAIDEN / “I want you to sing 2 words for me…”/ “You know the beginning of Mandatory Suicide? Same concept…” / “That's totally literally, seriously…”/ #Accept SON OF A BITCH #allthecokelines (“It's got a Priest vibe to it…”) / “I was literally about to mention what Bill just typed in…” / “October 31st…” / #Venom DON'T BURN THE WITCH / #productionquality   (1:12:48): #LizzyBorden GIVE ‘EM THE AXE / “That would be perfect…” / “Who are the dudes that wear the loincloths?” / #MetalNerderyCalendar / #Queensryche QUEEN OF THE REICH (“This was the first time I really heard Queensryche back in the day…”) / “What happened to these guys?”/ #screamfromtheballs / “I'll help you write the forward…I'll write the book.”/ “He is to #Manowar as Hodges is to Maiden…” / #Manowar BATTLE HYMN #softintro & MANOWAR / Go check out the video for #SailsOfCharon / “Really, anything off of Stay Hungry…” / #TwistedSister S.M.F. / #RussellsReflectionsTwistedSisterEdition / #WeAreTwistedFuckingSister / The case of the disintegrating phone case / #electricblanketjacket / “I'd wait until I had a new one…” / ***THANK YOU FOR JOINING US AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!*** / #untilthenext / ***COME GET YOUR POST HOLIDAY SHOPPING FIX AT THE BUNKERPOON GIFT SHOPPE LOCATED AT metalnerdery.com/merch ***/ #outroreel   

There's been a series of explosions along one of the main lines of the Trans-Siberian rail network. To fully understand the significance of these attacks, we must look at Russian exports, alternative options, and what maintenance looks like. Full Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/zeihan/economic-warfare-in-siberia

Choo Choo! The Trans-Siberian express is pulling out! The passengers aboard are Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Telly Savalas! The Yard Sale Artist himself, Jarrod Alberich is here with me, and we are going to talk about this awesome movie, as I've been wanting to cover this one for a long time! No other film has ever had such a great cast and so many horror and sci-fi elements in it! OK, maybe there has been another one, but it definitely wasn't this awesome. As usual, if you want to leave any feedback, you can do so through email at Magazinesandmonsters@gmail.com or to me on Twitter @Billyd_licious or on the show's FB or Tumblr pages (and I'm now on BlueSky as well (@docstrange.bsky.social)! You can find Jarrod on every social media platform as @Yardsaleartist and definitely check out his website as well (Theyardsaleartist.com)! Thanks for listening! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/magsnmonsters/message

It's become a holiday tradition when Al Pitrelli and Trans-Siberian Orchestra bring their giant stage show to KC...and this year, they're actually rolling in before the holiday itself! Two shows on 12/16 at T-Mobile Center which are sure to sell out!!And we caught up with Al this morning to talk about what's in store for this year!!

The three rules of real estate become reel as director Brad Anderson explains how he takes inspiration from films like his B-side choice, Nicolas Roeg's "Don't Look Now" (1973), to make the places he shoots (whether it's a train, insane asylum or the coast of Spain) just as important as the actors and the plot. Brad Anderson is an American film director, producer and writer. A director of thriller and horror films and television projects, he is best known for having directed The Machinist (2004), starring Christian Bale, psychological horror film Session 9 (2001). His next two films were TransSiberian (2008), a thriller starring Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer and Ben Kingsley and the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street (2010), starring Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo and Thandiwe Newton. In 2018, Anderson directed the espionage thriller Beirut, written by Tony Gilroy, which stars Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike. He also produced and directed several installments of the Fox science fiction television series Fringe. Early in his career, he directed the romantic comedies Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and Happy Accidents (2000), both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His other television credits include The Wire, The Killing, The Man in the High Castle, and Boardwalk Empire. Brad Anderson IMDB Alex Keledjian Alex Keledjian is the creator of Project Greenlight, a documentary television series where executive producers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck gave first-time filmmakers a chance to direct their first feature film.   In 2018, Alex wrote and directed the film High Voltage starring David Arquette and Luke Wilson. Ryan Gibson Ryan Gibson is an Emmy-award winning producer of such films as the critically acclaimed Woe and the upcoming film Slotherhouse. He has worked for over twenty years in all aspects of film development and production. MAX launched the latest season of the Emmy-nominated TV series Project Greenlight from executive producer Issa Rae and Miramax Television in July 2023. How I Got Greenlit Instagram Twitter Podlink Credits Alex Keledjian, Host Ryan Gibson, Host Pete Musto, Producer/Editor Jeremiah Tittle, Producer Experience more of How I Got Greenlit via ncpodcasts.com For guest inquiries, sponsorships, and all other magnificent concerns, please reach How I Got Greenlit via howIgotgreenlit@gmail.com For inquiries and more information on Next Chapter Podcasts info@ncpodcasts.com New episodes go live every Tuesday. Please subscribe, rate & review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The studio system often tries to dictate the type of movies a filmmaker is allowed to make. But uncompromising storytellers like writer-director Brad Anderson are never afraid to steer their career in whatever direction they choose. Brad Anderson is an American film director, producer and writer. A director of thriller and horror films and television projects, he is best known for having directed The Machinist (2004), starring Christian Bale, psychological horror film Session 9 (2001). His next two films were TransSiberian (2008), a thriller starring Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer and Ben Kingsley and the horror film Vanishing on 7th Street (2010), starring Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo and Thandiwe Newton. In 2018, Anderson directed the espionage thriller Beirut, written by Tony Gilroy, which stars Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike. He also produced and directed several installments of the Fox science fiction television series Fringe. Early in his career, he directed the romantic comedies Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and Happy Accidents (2000), both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His other television credits include The Wire, The Killing, The Man in the High Castle, and Boardwalk Empire. Brad Anderson IMDB Alex Keledjian Alex Keledjian is the creator of Project Greenlight, a documentary television series where executive producers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck gave first-time filmmakers a chance to direct their first feature film.   In 2018, Alex wrote and directed the film High Voltage starring David Arquette and Luke Wilson. Ryan Gibson Ryan Gibson is an Emmy-award winning producer of such films as the critically acclaimed Woe and the upcoming film Slotherhouse. He has worked for over twenty years in all aspects of film development and production. MAX launched the latest season of the Emmy-nominated TV series Project Greenlight from executive producer Issa Rae and Miramax Television in July 2023. How I Got Greenlit Instagram Twitter Podlink Credits Alex Keledjian, Host Ryan Gibson, Host Pete Musto, Producer/Editor Jeremiah Tittle, Producer Experience more of How I Got Greenlit via ncpodcasts.com For guest inquiries, sponsorships, and all other magnificent concerns, please reach How I Got Greenlit via howIgotgreenlit@gmail.com For inquiries and more information on Next Chapter Podcasts info@ncpodcasts.com New episodes go live every Tuesday. Please subscribe, rate & review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last time we spoke about the 8 nation alliances occupation of Beijing, the flight of the royal family and the Boxer Protocol. You would think after taking the city, everything was won and done, but not necessarily. Empress Dowager Cixi with her faithful guardian Dong Fuxiang fled to the northwest of China. Meanwhile Peitang waited longer than most for their rescue, enduring an unbelievable amount of hardship during their siege. Poor Li Hongzhang was forced to endure another humiliation on behalf of the Qing Dynasty, negotiating peace with the western powers. The indemnity payments would last until world war two for China. Empress Dowager Cixi escaped any punishment, while other officials literally lost their heads. In a grandeur fashion, the empress returned to Beijing, performing a large spectacle. It was intentional and brilliant PR work. Things were going to dramatically change for China.   #68 The Russo-Chinese War Part 1: Manchuria rises up   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. As we have seen, as of June 1900 the eyes of the world were focused on Beijing. The foreign diplomats of numerous nations were under siege by the fanatical Boxers and Qing forces such as the Kansu army. The Boxer Rebellion as a whole is captured by this focus, go find any book on it, there are many. What you often come across, is the mention of Russian forces somewhat to the distance in Manchuria. Typically if anything is said at all, you get a few paragraphs stating when the escalations began, the Russians invaded Manchuria. Invaded Manchuria, that sounds like a hell of a story no? Its simply overshadowed by the events that played out around Beijing, but an entire other war really sprang up in Manchuria. The event is virtually unknown to the west. When the Boxers sprang up and expeditions emerged, the two closest powers were Japan and Russia and as we have seen when it came to the march upon Beijing, the Japanese sort of took the lionshare. Yet Russia was the most capable to rush troops to the scene, given her work on the Manchurian railways.  The Boxer Rebellion was a bit awkward for Russia. Yes Russia took up the side of the western forces and joined the 8 nation alliance. However, her views on what exactly the Boxer Rebellion was, differed from the rest. Russia felt the Boxer movement was not directed against her, but rather at the Manchu dynasty. Russia in many ways intervened to save the Manchu dynasty from a full blown revolution. She saw the symptoms of the revolutionaries as a result of western economic and missionary encroachment in China. The Chinese often referred to westerners as “ocean devils”. The Russians did not come from the sea, they shared a vast border with the Chinese. Russia and China had a special relationship unlike the rest, one that had been going on for centuries. Russia typically acted with greater restraint and often spoke of Russo-Chinese friendship. But don't get me wrong. Like Britain, Germany, France, Japan, etc, Russian was most definitely taking advantage of a weakened Qing dynasty, she certainly encroached, specifically in Manchuria. Their border was one of the longest frontiers in the world. Siberia was underpopulated and exposed to Chinese infiltration. A buffer zone existed in Manchuria and Mongolia.  The trans-siberian railway's construction began in 1891 for strategic and economic reasons. It was to be the worlds longest railroad, initially thought to wind along the Amur River up to Khabarovsk then south to Vladivostok. But the terrain proved hellish, the route too circuitous, thus a shortcut through Manchuria was strongly advised. In 1896 Russia obtained concessions from the Qing to begin construction of a station on the Trans Baikal section of the Siberian railway. Following her lease of Part Arthur and Dalien, Russian then sought to connect a new railway line to the main line of what would be called the Manchurian railway. Construction began from both ends simultaneously at a pace of 1.75 miles per day. Vladivostok and Port Arthur were linked up by July of 1900. It would not be too long until the Trans-Siberian railway and the Chinese eastern railway would bridge the land mass from the Baltic sea to the Pacific Ocean, giving the Russian empire an unbelievable toehold in the Asia-Pacific.  The line passing through Manchuria was under the control of a private corporation, the Chinese eastern railway company. The majority stakeholder was Russian, but there were also Qing investments. Now the protection of the railway, its workers and other infrastructure was not going to be defended by standard Russian troops. Instead the company hired special military forces. The engineers were nearly all Russian, the laborers, 100,000 or so, were Chinese coolies. The project was done in collaboration between the two empires, it heavily depended on China. If the Qing were to, let's say, pull back the laborers, the construction efforts would stop dead. Worse, what if the Chinese began sabotaging the construction? Well both of these things began in 1900.  A railway guard named Konstantin Kushakov had been in southern Manchuria for two and a half years. He witnessed the shooting of a Russian captain and two Cossacks by Qing soldiers in April 1900. In May at the small city of Hsiungyuehcheng, placards were erected stating the local populace should help exterminate the foreigners. The Boxer movement was hitting Manchuria. Locals told Konstantin not to be alarmed and the Qing commanders stated the placards were just the work of youthful pranksters. Then one evening, Konstantin saw Chinese wearing yellow sashes and headbands speaking through interpreters to Russian commanders. When Konstantin approached for a closer look the Chinese had their lips, cheeks and eyebrows painted, one of them was doing bizarre gymnastic exercises and shouting furiously. A nearby Cossack remarked “that has to be a Boxer”. One of the interpreters stated that was not true, there were no Boxers in this part of China. The next morning, more Boxer youths emerged doing gymnastics in the open, then the local merchants began to quickly sell whatever arms they had in stock and blacksmiths began forging knives, swords and spears. Sabotage work began to occur. Russian telegraph lines were being repeatedly cut, attempts were made to derail trains by lifting up rails or pilling up stuff on tracks. It seemed to all the Russian-Chinese cooperation was falling apart. Countless interpreters, servants, laborers quit their jobs. Russian supervisors and foremen who were notoriously cruel to their Chinese workers, no longer lashed out at them, instead they walked around armed to the teeth. The Russians also noticed an increased in Qing soldiers, many of whom were not recognized from the area. But the Russian commanders believed the Chinese were a submissive and inoffensive people, so they took all these signs with a grain of salt. The situation became worse, more railway guards were needed, but as you can imagine, Manchuria is an enormous place. Konstantin had roughly 240 men to guard a sector of around 172 miles. Thus to strengthen one post would weaken another. There were troops in the Kwantung region on the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula guarding Port Arthur and Dalien. Colonel Mishchenko, commander of the railway guards along the Port Arthur Line requested further troops from Vice Admiral Evgenii Alekseev the commander in chief of the Russian land forces in the Kwantung region and naval forces for the far east. He was denied, because Chief Engineer Iugovich stated on July 2nd that the Chinese were peaceful and wanted to continue the joint project. There was also the belief, if they sent more troops the Qing would be more inclined to the Boxer cause. On May 23rd, a mob attacked 3 Cossacks that Konstantin had sent to purchase supplies for a kitchen, the men escaped having to saber down a few Chinese. The populace was in an uproar, the Qing commander at Hsiungyeuhcheng demanded Russian troops be barred from the city. In June Boxers were out in the open screaming for violence against the foreigners. Many Qing officials refused to collaborate with the Boxers and were run out of towns. Boxers were taking control over large areas and recruiting a militia. The Boxers began to assemble around Mukden. On July 2nd, Mishchenko telegraphed Konstantin that the northern outposts were in serious danger and ordered him to rush over to Liaoyang with all the guards that could be spared from southern outposts. A detachment of 56 soldiers and 20 cavalrymen was raised. Konstantin tried to use a locomotive, but the Qing switchman sabotage it. Soon Konstantin heard word Qing detachments and Boxers were sabotaging multiple railway stations, outposts were under attack. Konstantin ordered all construction efforts to cease and for all Russians to prepare themselves at posts for attacks. He promised the men reinforcements would soon arrive from the south, many replied they didn't need the help to face off against “Boxer riff-raff, whom we would soon teach how to fight”. Konstantin worried not for the outposts with 15-20 men, but some only had a handful of guards. He recalled “I kept thinking, what will they die for? It is too dear a sacrifice to the stubbornness of 3, 4 high railway agents. To die for the Tsar, to die for the glory of the fatherland, that is an enviable death; but to let honorable and selfless soldiers perish for the sake of stubbornness or mistake would be regrettable indeed”. He ordered the smallest outposts to be abandoned, and for the men to rush to the nearest larger outpost.  The Russians saw multiple villages emptied of women and children, railway lines likewise were abandoned. Konstantin arrived to Liaoyang with 76 men on July 3rd, he quickly made way to the nearby village of Baitouzi where the 2nd company headquarters and Mishchenko were. Konstantin was informed hostilities had begun in the region. On June 27th, a railroad bridge and barracks near Liaoyang were razed to the ground, the men there chased off by gunfire from local Qing forces. Two Cossacks and their horses were killed, the telegraph lines were being damaged constantly, coal mines were attacked, Mishchenko bitterly complained that Port Arthur refused to send reinforcements and instead berated them for their lack of cooperation with the Qing. Suddenly a Cossack messenger arrived to the HQ reporting 400 Qing soldiers with 100 cavalrymen and mountain guns were engaging a forces of 50 Cossacks, casualties were already mounting. Mishchenko immediately took 56 railway guards of the 6th company under Konstantin and 25 men of the 2nd company led by Shchekin to go save the force.  They arrived at the scene of a battle, the Qing were moving around the Russian's eastern side trying to cut them off from Liaoyang. The Qing were trying to push the Russians towards their main force, over 3000 men strong who were advancing upon Mukden. Konstantin jumped off the train with his men to hit the right flank of the enemy, but the Qing diverted over to a local village to better prepare defenses against them. The Russian lines advanced quickly and once they were 300 paces from the enemy, Shchekin and his men took the train directly to the village, leapt off and charged with bayonets fixed. The men screamed “ura!” as they stormed the Qing who fell into a rout quickly galloping towards Mukden. Many Chinese were killed in hand to hand combat, volleys also took lives as they fled. The Russians reported 200 dead while receiving 4 deaths and 5 wounded in return. The victorious Russians returned by train to Liaoyang, reflecting on how the situation had changed. A force of nearly 3000 regular Qing soldiers were most definitely in league with the Boxers. They had even brought artillery, they would most likely hit Mukden soon where they could join possibly 10 newly formed Qing battalions. What were the Russians to do in the face of such numbers? On the way back to Liaoyang, Boxers were seen burning bridges over the Sha river, 12 miles south of the city. Russians rushed over to put out the fires and sent patrols to hunt down Boxers, but found none. As they approached Liaoyang station, the Chinese switchmen sabotaged the rails and fled. Engineer Girschman, the chief of railway construction for the southern section that passed through Liaoyang was ordered by Mishchenko to inform Port Arthur of the recent clashes and to again request reinforcements. Girschman still thought there was no cause for alarm, he asserted over 5000 taels had been given to the local Manchu General in charge of Liaoyang who promised they were safe to work. Thus Girschman ordered railway employees back to work. Girshman's train was to be the last train from Liaoyong as on July 6th the bridge south of the station was destroyed. Liaoyang was cut off. Girshman was left behind with 104 civilian employees and their families. The Qing offered Mishchenko free passage for all Russians, but he refused to leave Liaoyang. Instead he ordered Shtabs-kapitan Sakharov with the 3rd Sotnia to join up with him and demand of Port Arthur more reinforcements. He dispatched Cossacks to the various northern posts to spread word of what was going on and if they could run to him, or Harbin.  Mishchenko decided to fortify a wooden, iron roofed isolated barracks near Baitouzi. His men numbered 204, exhausted from endless patrolling of a vast region. They were enclosed by a 7 foot earth wall, which the Russians with Chinese labor help, added breastworks. Their shelter was an ice house, where the families were taking cover. Meanwhile the Qing forces were digging their own trenches on nearby hills to the north, east and south. The Russians could see them working, multiple Qing scouts came over to look at what the Russian were doing. Chinese were torching all buildings the Russians had previously utilized in the villages around Liaoyang. Any Russians caught at isolated posts were tortured, many beheaded. Barracks, stations, railway lines, coal mines all were burnt down. Mishchenko was livid that Port Arthur was not sending more men. He was unable to hold on indefinitely and could not hope to cut his way through, he had nowhere to turn. His Cossack scouts reported on July 6th, in all directions Qing forces were seen erecting barricades, moving artillery and fortifying. From Liaoyang the Chinese began taking potshots at the Russians, but they were too far away to hit anything. The Chinese were not advancing, too busy plundering what was left behind at Baitouzi. Firecrackers and celebrations could be heard, as Qing troops arrived from Mukden. Konstantin was talking to an interpreter on July 6th who told him he heard rumors the Chinese would attack the next morning. The next morning began with an artillery bombardment. Mishchenko watched using binoculars from a breastwork and proclaimed ‘they have begun their advance. Forbid the men to shoot needlessly. Instead, begin to fire platoon volleys at those cannons there. They have already adjusted their fire well, and must be silenced”. Suddenly grenades were lobbed into the inner courtyard, one ripped open the stomach of a horse and wounded some men. Rifle fire was cracking from Baitouzi and nearby hills. Konstantin was commanding the southern defenses, Shchekin and Sotnik Mamonov the east, Denisov the north, Mishchenko held overall command. The Russians remained calm, taking orders for targets. Mishchenko walked the perimeter encouraging men, he never was killed twice by rifle fire and grenades. Konstantin directed guns at the Qing artillery. It took a dozen or so volleys to get the Qing to move their positions. Suddenly a private yelled ‘Sir! The Chinese are crawling already from the railway embankment nearby!”. The Chinese were nearly 400 paces, Mishchenko ordered volleys and the well-aimed rapid fire drove them back. At 10am, the Chinese were advancing on foot and upon horse using large carts to cover themselves from fire. The Qing hit the Russian right flank hard, killing a few, wounding many. The Qing artillery was performing something akin to a creeping barrage, and soon the Qing riflemen were crawling towards the Russian lines. When the Chinese appeared, the Russians opened fire. The defensive lines were small, around 350 square feet. Blood, corpses and body parts littered the area.  The Qing launched several consecutive attacks, but the Russians gutted their offensives. Suffering heavy casualties the Qing were cautious in their approaches until they withdrew from Baitouzi to Liaoyang. They had no idea the Russians were on the brink of collapse. Russian munitions had shrunk to 20 cartridges per a man, the men were exhausted, men were literally falling asleep as the battles began. The Russian positions at Baitouzi was critical, they could not survive another attack, there was zero indication Port Arthur was sending help, thus Mishchenko called for a meeting of all commanders. They decided their only hope was to fight their way south towards the Kuan Cossack Sotnia of Shtabs-Kapitan Strakhov, who at that time was battling their way towards them. That night they buried 9 men before abandoning countless costly railway equipment, a ton of silver taels which were dumped into a local well and other personal belongings.  Upon seeing the activity the Qing began another attack. The Russians threw up volleys dangerously as they had only so much ammunition left. Their bayonets were fixed at all times. Instead of waiting for a Chinese wave to close in on them, Mishchenko ordered a feint attack. The 2nd company of Malinov and Shchekin charged screaming hurrahs at the Chinese. This was a brilliant move for it saved them all. The Qing fled back to Liaoyang to defend the city allowing the Russians to quickly move south. Konstantin led the vanguard, the civilians were in a panic, countless Cossacks got off their horses and gave them to women, children and wounded. It was a grueling trek as they marched 2 miles west of the railroad trying to avoid detection. Only twice were shots made upon them, but they did not respond and simply carried on quicker. On July 8th they reached the Sha River to see its bridge, the Russian barracks and other buildings over at Shahotzu had been burned down. There were Chinese corpses and expelled shell casings indicated a battle had occurred. It would turn out to be the work of a local guard post of 12 Russians, they were besieged by roughly 200 Chinese. They locked themselves in their stone walled barracks, kept the enemy at bay until their ammunition ran out. Then Boxers came and began burning the doors and windows. Miraculously a train came nearby and began firing upon the position shrilling its whistle. The Russians stormed out with bayonets, attacked the Chinese and fled for the train to escape to Anshanchan. Back over at the Sha River area, the Russians saw Strakhov with 70 Kuban Cossacks of his 3rd Sotnia alongside 40 infantry of the 2nd company coming forward. They had fought their way from Yingkou to Liaoyang station only to find Mishchenko's party gone. They had missed each other en route because Strakhov had followed the railroad tracks. Strakhov reported seeing the Qing plundering the Russian barracks, some local christian Chinese told Strakhov that Mishchenko and the rest fled south, so he came looking for them. Their numbers were thus bolstered to 307 railway guards and 102 civilians, some of whom were armed and would have to fight. Mishchenko's force continued along the railway to Anshanchan to find its bridge and pump house had been destroyed. However the telegraph line and railway to Port Arthur was still intact from Anshanchan. He dispatched an officer to Port Arthur to give a detailed report of the situation and to purchase more ammunition. Meanwhile the wounded and civilians were escorted to Tashishciao where Colonel Dombrovskii had a detachment of men. On July 11th, another 100 men from the southern railway posts led by Poruchiks Gulevich and Rozhalin joined Mishchenko to bolster him to 450 men. Now Mishchenko was prepared to play the role of a forward detachment and execute army orders. However Port Arthur  was not recognize Mishcheckno's detachment as a regular army force, and thus would not supply him with artillery or additional troops for any offensive actions. Instead Port Arthur ordered him to withdraw to Tashishciao within army protection. The next day native Chinese sympathizers reported to Mishchenko that 200 Qing troops were approaching, they were a patrol for a much larger army. Soon Russian scouts were reporting that several hundred Chinese were approaching. The Russians had no provisions, nor tents, thus a siege was not going to favor them. They soon found out from the chief of Haicheng station that over 2000 Qing soldiers had threatened his station and the railway line there. It seemed senseless to hold out at Anshanchan, better to rush over to Haicheng to save it from the fate befalling other stations. At 7pm when they were just about to depart, Cossack scouts rode up reporting that a large Qing detachment with artillery were near the eastern heights and had engaged some of their patrols. Mischchenko dispatched Rozhalin with a half sotnia to the eastern heights to distract the enemy attention away from their departure.  Dawn the next day the Russians made it to Haicheng station. Friendly locals urged Mishchenk to avoid Haicheng because a large Qing force was present, but he was confident in his force after their string of victories. Mishchenko requested aid from the 7th company of the 7th east siberian rifle regiment led by Dombrovskii. Dombrovskii sent them via train from Tashihciao and they arrived an hour after Mishchenko. The western heights near Haicheng was occupied the Qing troops who had to be cleared out if the trains were to come closer to Haicheng. The Russians took cover behind the railway embankment and began advancing up the height shooting from ridges as they did. The Russians eventually began to charge hitting the Qing right flank, sending them scattering. Cossack cavalry ran many down before being called back to protect against a possible assault from the city. The Russians placed 4 artillery pieces on the height and dug in, they now held a good overlooking view of the city. At 9am on the 14th, Dombrovskii came over with an additional company of his regiment and a half battery. The company was led by Captain Ivanov, the artillery by Shtabs Kapitan Petrenko and COlonel Nikolai Desenko held overall command of the whole detachment. Mishchenko sent word to the civilians in Haicheng to warn them a battle was soon to take place. But before the Russians could launch their assault, Qing forces stormed out of the city to hit their flanks. The 7th company, 7th regiment stayed to defend the artillery while company of the 11th regiment took the right flank, the 2nd and 6th companies took the left. Russian volleys and artillery rained hell on the incoming Qing. Petrenko led an excellent bombardment, spraying shrapnel across the Qing formations. Soon the artillery began to bombard Haicheng as the Qing rushed out of its east gate heading for nearby hills. Haicheng fell to the Russians mercy quickly, but Dombrovskii gave strict orders not to go on the offensive, the Russians did not press into the city.  The half battery and company of the 11th regiment departed via train back to Tashihciao, half an hour later the company of the 7th regiment began loading upon another train. When the Qing troops saw this they began swooping down the hills, and set fire to the train station buildings, the pump house and railway bridge. The Qing cavalry even attempted attacking the locomotive carts, but Russian volleys kept them away. Slowly the trains moved south, with Cossacks patrolling their flanks. When they were around 6 miles from Tashihciao, Chinese militia forces and Boxers with antiquated rifles attacked the trains. Russians leapt off the carts and took cover while returning fire. Rozhalin led his Kuban Cossack squadron to run down the enemy killing many. By 8pm Mishchenko and his men reached Tashihciao. At Tashihciao was the south Manchurian detachment consisting of a regiment, a company, a Cossack sotnia and field battery there; there was also another unit from Hsiungyuehcheng consisting of 3 rifle regiments with some stronger batteries from Port Arthur, 86 fortress guns at Jinzhou and some men of a Cossack regiment were patrolling the railway line. This was all of course welcomed, but Mishchenko was still livid to learn no additional troops nor ammunition had departed Port Arthur to help them. 170 miles of railroad north of Tashihciao was in the hands of the Qing, who continuously argued there was no conflict and no destruction of railways was taking place. Konstantin estimated property damage incurred by Russia at this point amounted to some 18 million rubles on the southern line alone. Mishchenko had lost 62 men dead, 53 wounded, 12 missing in action.  Over in province of Fentien, was a Manchu General who was very much against the Boxer cause. He was well educated, and realized China did not at the time wield the necessary power to drive out the foreigners and the Boxer's and their supporters were adding to China's plight. He was zealous persecuting the Boxers in his province, many were arrested, many executed. He then decided he was going to expose their professed invulnerability spells in front of his people. He gathered 400 arrested Boxers and proclaimed a large execution would take place. The Boxers would be killed by firing squad, obviously to showcase how their spell would not work against the bullets. He entrusted the execution operation to a General in the army, unbeknownst to him, there were many Boxers within his army and the General was one of them. The General secretly removed the bullets from the cartridges for the firing squad weapons. Thus at the appointed time the crowds gathered alongside the military governor to watch several volleys fail to kill the Boxers. The Manchu General in fury ever ran up, grabbed a rifle and fired 6 times doing no harm to the boxers. The Boxers stood and bowed politely to the crowd. People began to cheer them on. The Manchu General kept up his anti-boxer campaigns, but the public was dissatisfied with them and his own military was becoming quite insubordinate. The Manchu General reported to Beijing his plight before handing over control to local forces, walking away from his duty.  The railway station located about 10 miles from Mukden was guarded by the 2nd Transcaspian rifle battalion of Poruchik Valevskii. Valevskii received a report on July 5th, the Qing forces were gathering artillery and digging in near his station. He ordered neighboring outposts to join hi mat once and the next day the Qing unleashed an artillery bombardment upon his barracks. The Russians estimated the Qing had 3000 infantry and 5000 cavalry. The Russians trapped in the barracks watched as they fired on the enemy as they cut the telegraph lines and burned bridges and buildings around them. At 1am 14 Russians from a neighboring outpost came rushing in from the north fighting their way to the barracks. The Russians received word from Chinese christians that all the outposts were under attack. Valevskii gathered all the troops and civilians and made a dash over to the Mukden station to find Qing forces plundering it. From there they fled south to the station of Su-chia-tun only to find it burned down, with Russian corpses littering the area. Next Valevskii led them to Yentai station where they ran into Qing forces coming over from Liaoyang. They defeated the Qing forces in two engagements and made their way to Liaoyang.  By this point, Valevskii was trying to reconnoiter the enemy positions and find Colonel Mishchenko who had given out orders for all forces in the region to come to him. From a captured Qing soldiers they learnt Mishchenko's detachment had fled the area and was being pursued. The railway lines appeared to be destroyed, there was no aid coming from Port Arthur. Valevskii announced they would turn eastward to try to get to Yingkou where perhaps Russian ships could get them to somewhere safe. They traveled east along the Taitzu river, running into small Qing forces along the way. Valevskii was hit with a rifle bullet to the chest. Pilipenko took over command and announced they would proceed to Korea for safety. It was a long and arduous journey, they lost many civilians and soldiers. Their story was to be one of many, Manchuria was falling into chaos.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Boxer Rebellion had spread to Manchuria. Railway station, barracks, anything foreign was being destroyed, countless isolated Russian pockets were now under threat, not just by the Boxers, but by a angry and vengeful Manchu populace. 

In this episode we will look at the benefit and utility of Methoxyflurane, more commonly known as Penthrox. Penthrox is a volatile, self-administered inhalation analgesic indicated for short-term pain relief. Penthrox is a portable, lightweight, non-invasive inhaler for self-administration of the Methoxyflurane vapor. The Methoxyflurane vapour provides analgesia when inhaled at low concentrations. At analgesic therapeutic doses, pain relief can reduce and mitigate even severe pain yet has a short half-life. In this episode I will be speaking to Will about it's use and limitations within the expedition environment and how and when it can be optimally used as either a sole adjunctive pain relief agent or as part of a larger pain relief strategy.   Will is our Joint Medical Director and provides clinical oversight for all World Extreme Medicine's activities. Will is a jobbing Devon based GP, educator and adventure addict who thrives in wild places with newly formed teams and limited resources. He has provided medical cover for dozens of very different expeditions and projects; including commercial high-altitude treks in The Himalayas and The Andes, a luxury Trans-Siberian private train, a reality TV show in the South Pacific and he has worked with UNICEF out in forgotten corners of Myanmar.

Today I talk to Chris Dobrowolski, an artist, sculptor and performance lecturer. Due to initial technical difficulties I thought we could use it to our advantage and create a different kind of show. Unlike a conventional episode of Television Times, myself and Chris converse using only voice messages. Chris opens up about his family history and how it influences his creations. We swap stories which prompts me to play a few audio clips form my own Trans-Siberian audio diary from 2003. We end up discussing the dark side of humanity and for those triggered by things like Auschwitz and Hiroshima you may want to steer clear of those sections. Don't worry it's not all doom and gloom, there is much levity to be had and there's even some consensual phone tapping. This is by far the most artistic episode so far, well it would be wouldn't it?Follow us on Instagram & Twitter (links below):All music written and performed in this podcast by Steve Otis Gunn,Please buy my book 'You Shot My Dog and I Love You' available in all good book shops and online, or by messaging my good self.Podcast Socials:Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tvtimespodInsta: https://www.instagram.com/tvtimespodYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@tvtimespodTwitter: https://twitter.com/tvtimespodSteve's Socials:Insta: https://www.instagram.com/steveotisgunnTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/steveotisgunnFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/steveotisgunn.antisocialChris's Socials:Insta: https://www.instagram.com/chrisdobrowolskiTwitter: https://twitter.com/Chris_DoboFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.dobrowolski.58Links to Chris's work:https://www.chrisdobo.com/austerity-miniature-mayday-parade.htmlhttps://www.chrisdobo.com/remnants-of-utopia.htmlProduced by Steve Otis Gunn for Jilted Maggotwww.jiltedmaggot.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prepare for freezing temperatures and bleak, barren landscapes, as Adam recounts his journey from the city of Irkutsk, central Siberia, to the deepest lake in the world: Lake Baikal. The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway line in the world, spanning over 9,280kms and crossing 8 time zones! In 2015, Adam completed the entire length, traveling from Moscow to Vladivostok, in winter, over the course of one month. Calling all train travel enthusiasts! If you've ever wondered what it's like to travel on the Trans-Siberian railway, be sure to tune in... and remember to bring extra layers! Have you traveled long distances overland? We'd love to hear from you! Send us an email at tripologypodcast@gmail.com You can support the show by subscribing and recommending us to friends. Please rate the show and help us grow! It may only take a minute but it makes a HUGE difference. Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/tripologypodcast PATREON: patreon.com/tripologypodcast Thank you for your continued support. It means the world.

Travel Writer Ben Groundwater discussed the delights of the Trans-Siberian train journey with Philip Clark on Nightlife. 

This episode I have good friend Adam Carroll from the band Good Friend. We talk about Good Friend's new single Tell Me Ma/ Preaching to the Choir out now on Red Scare Industries. We also discuss the state of wrestling, the state of Celtic punk, and a possible Trans Siberian tour. https://goodfriend.bandcamp.com/album... Music by Brady Turner https://www.bradyturnermusic.com/https://www.instagram.com/bradyturner... Art by Kat Lanser https://hatemail.bigcartel.comhttps://www.instagram.com/_hatemail_ Animation by Bradley Thomas Turner http://bradleythomasturner.com/https://www.instagram.com/bradleythom... You Had Options socials https://www.instagram.com/youhadoptionshttps://www.twitter.com/youhadoptions youhadoptions@gmail.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/you-had-options/support

POP ART, WHERE WE FIND THE POP CULTURE IN ART AND THE ART IN POP CULTURE.   TRAINSUBSTANTIATION: Join me and screenwriter Jordan Trippeer as we discuss two movies that take place on trains, Bullet Train and TransSiberian.   “You're a diesel.” Oh, for the days when people traveled by train. The scenery, the comfort, the luxury, the smuggling, the murders, the crashes.…Sounds like it's time for Episode 96 of Pop Art, where we find the pop culture in art and the art in pop culture. It's the podcast where my guest chooses a movie from popular culture, and I'll select a film from the more art/classic/indie side of cinema with a connection to it. For this episode, I am happy to welcome back as my guest, screenwriter Jordan Trippeer, who has chosen as her film the action packed Brad Pitt led comedy Bullet Train, while I have chosen the more indie Woody Harrelson/Emily Mortimer crime drama, TransSiberian, both films about criminal goings on a train.   And in this episode we answer such questions as:  What's so great about train movies anyway? What are the different moral universes the two movies take place in? Why was Bullet Train accused of whitewashing? Why did a sign in TransSiberian read All Abroad? What is the character of Hello Kitty? What are the McGuffin in both films? Why was Bullet Train filmed on studio sound stages? What are some differences between the book and screenplay of Bullet Train?   Check out Jordan's IMDB page https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4930599/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 and check out her films, as well as be on the look out for her upcoming projects.   Jordan has been a previous guest on my podcast. For episode 20, we discussed two films revolving around demons, Constantine and The Wailing. Check it out.   Check out my blog at https://howardcasner.wordpress.com/   My books, More Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, The Starving Artists and Other Stories and The Five Corporations and One True Religion can be found at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=howard+casner&ref=nb_sb_noss   Meanwhile, like, follow or comment on my podcast. I'd love to know what you think. And check out the other episodes. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/howard-casner/support

The Trans-Siberian railway is the longest train line in the world, spanning 5700 miles, seven time zones, and straddling two continents. Though today's passengers on the week-long journey can enjoy relative luxury, the route has a dark past. Who were the labourers who built it, enduring horrific conditions? How did the railroad provoke a war? And what part did the train line play in the bloody conflicts of the twentieth century?  This is a Short History of the Trans Siberian Railway. Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Christian Wolmar, author of To The Edge of the World, The Story of the Trans Siberian Railway. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feliksas' film work includes: Transsiberian, The Collectress, Vanishing Waves, Redirected, Eastern Business, Sasha Was Here, The Flood Won't Come, The Generation Of Evil, Cinephilia, Long Flat Balls 3, and the acclaimed, Vesper.  Feliksas' television work includes the series: Occupied, The Oil Fund, and Troll Farm. 

Welcome back to the Horror 101 Podcast!  On our 130th episode we go back to the early 70s and feature a Spanish film which brings Hammer favourites Lee and Cushing together as allies against an ancient evil loose on the famous Trans-Siberian train in the early 20th century..  Horror Express is very much a reverse murder mystery combined with elements of The Thing.  It is now within the public domain and can be enjoyed by everyone at anytime.  We hope you enjoy our Horror 101 treatment of this classic!Show Highlights:01:00 Prelude to Terror...05:00  Setting up the NEXT Friday the 13th...06:30  Introducing Horror Express...12:30  Finding the Fossil...16:06  Groan from the Crate...21:30  Its Time We Open This Box...25:00 Transference...28:00  The Eye Fluid...31:10  Telly Savalas Enters...33:00  Massacre in the Dark...39:30  Destroy the Train...41:35  Calling Horky at the Shire...48:16  Scoring the Film and Conclusion!  Thanks for Listening!

Broadcasting from the Free State of Florida where the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is in town for a series of concerts. If you ever wonder what rock n' roll and Christmas look like together--now is your chance. Trans-Siberian.com for tour info. Gov. Ron DeSantis goes there--will ask for grand injury to investigate Covid Vaccine practices including fraudulent claims about effectiveness and safety. Regulators, manufacturers, drug pushers in the media and government will be called to testify hopefully. Joe Biden goes on an unhinged rant about allowing children to have genital and breast surgery and hormone therapy. This is the same Joe Biden in the "stolen" Ashely Biden diary, Hunter's laptop, and the same Biden who is accused of sexually assaulting Tara Reade. Who is he to castigate those who seek to protect children from Big Trans. Mike Leach dies from a heart attack. RIP to a smart man on and off the field. In 2019 he embarked on a classic dissertation on which Pac 12 Mascot would emerge from a battle royal. You can find out if you have heart disease today with a CT angiogram of your coronary arteries--and you don't need insurance to do it. You do need a concierge doctor, or a doctor who thinks outside the box, to order it for you though. That's what makes concierge medicine different. Outgoing Oregon Governor Kate Brown commutes sentences for prisoners on death row. Leftists believe that those who commit murder DON'T deserve the death penalty because justice isn't served by killing people. This type of "compassion" is something that I will never understand and don't want to. Intracellular Reverse Transcription of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 In Vitro in Human Liver Cell Line - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35723296/ DoctorTommy.com/podcast

With two days to go until their show in Charlottesville, Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Drummer is on to talk about the band's beginnings and coming through COVID and the tour this year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The story behind The Trans Siberian Orchestra and it's concept. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/havealittlejforcinelli/support

In episode #26 of Roots of Humanity, Drew talks to his Production Manager A.J. about his Italian-American roots. Fresh out of college with several creative writing awards under his belt, A.J. combines his love of storytelling and travel by helping Drew manage a team of 15 editors. A.J. tells what it's like to share the same last name as one of the biggest Italian mafia families, period. Drew asks him how moving to New York City as an eighteen-year-old helped him feel connected to his ancestors, and how he balances his two identities of being gay and Catholic. A discussion of the suburbs prompts A.J. to share the story of his hometown, Newtown, CT, the site of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting. How do activism and traveling intersect? Tune in to hear Drew and A.J.'s thoughts on trekking the Trans-Siberian railway before the war in Ukraine, and how filming in the Hassidic Jewish part of Brooklyn opened their eyes to a world outside themselves.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Effusive, funny, game-changing, Rose Previte is an award-winning restaurateur who has expanded our knowledge of international street food at Compass Rose as well as with Caucasian, North African, and Middle Eastern dishes at Maydan. She shares details of her highly anticipated new projects including Go There Wines, which highlights the wines of lesser-known wine-making regions including one of her favorite places on earth, Georgia:"When Russia cut off importing wines from Georgia, as punishment for a war in 2006, it really hurt the economy. But I was like, 'I'm gonna flip this on its head.' I'm going to sell as much Georgian wine as I possibly can. It's my little Putin protest."Listen in for more on Rose's fascinating travels, her globe-changing social enterprises, and the story of how a life-changing moment arose on the Trans Siberian railroad in the dead of winter. Want to stay up to date on the latest Speaking Broadly episodes? To hear more conversations with Dana Cowin and her fierce guests, subscribe to Speaking Broadly (it's free!) on iTunes or Stitcher. If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate + review us on Apple's podcast store and follow Dana on Instagram @speakingbroadly and @fwscout. Thanks for tuning in!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Speaking Broadly by becoming a member!Speaking Broadly is Powered by Simplecast.

In 1994, Kimberly Brown embarked on a lifelong dream of travelling the globe overland.  Her trip innocently began in San Francisco on a hippie bus called the Green Tortoise. She worked the Galway Arts Festival in Ireland, traversed Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway, and rode horses on the high Mongolian plains. If it hadn't been for a nasty stomach bug she caught in China, she may never have volunteered as a teacher at Mae La refugee camp on the Thai/Burmese border in the middle of a war.  Immersing herself in the ways of the Karen people, Kimberly discusses some of the harrowing events she experienced and witnessed (including having her own life threatened twice), the enduring spirit of a country less people, and how the refugees healed her and changed her life forever. Now a naturopathic doctor, in much due to her experience with the Karen refugees, you can find Dr. Kimberly Brown at www.sanjoseintegrativemedicine.com and follow her at: https://www.instagram.com/drkimberlybrown/ https://www.facebook.com/drkimberlybrownFind out more at www.ruthmillingtonauthor.comDon't forget to RATE, REVIEW AND SUBSCRIBE on your podcast app. It means you will be the first to hear when new episodes come out and it will help others to find this podcast!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruthmillingtonauthor/Twitter: https://twitter.com/RuthMillington1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruth.millington.52/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-millington-54915b24/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSShare Your Story  Have an extreme travel story to tell? Contact me at: https://ruthmillingtonauthor.com/contact/Support the ShowSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ruthmillington)SponsorA huge thanks to today's sponsor HelpYouFind.Me a secure - yet simple - way to share private data for use in emergency situations that is end-to-end encrypted and accessible only by you and the people you choose to share it with. Perfect for the extreme traveller! Find out more at https://helpyoufind.me/Extreme10 and get a 10% discount when you sign up! Production (for this episode) Creator, co-producer, writer and host: Ruth MillingtonCo-producer: Don RobbieMusic credit: Epic Orchestra - Blockbuster Adventure Music by JuliusHAdditional Music: Thai Lullaby, Sophie Kilroy

This week on ACSG, it's a double header of TWO Siberian hominids. We go all in on how the hell hominids work here, and the issues within the USSR with cryptozoology (spoilers: they were not very good at pseudoscience). One squatch is busy stealing your animals while the other is offering you nuts and berries. And one question lingers: why do governments hide [ignore] their very real [very fake] cryptids! It's all about the Almas and the Chuchunya this week! Topics include: how long would it take you to go woods crazy; please stop shooting the bears!; government bureaucracy is impeding on my sasquatch rights; the last surviving homos; eye-level with a yeti; bigfoot wants you to get vaccinated (or he'll kill your family).

Today on the first annual “depths the halls” holiday special we're taking a look at Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 1996 album Christmas Eve and Other Stories; diving into what makes Trans-Siberian a holiday mainstay over 25 years later. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

You'll find the Trans-Siberian railway on any self-respecting list of the World's Ultimate Train Journeys. Today we're talking about the Trans-Mongolian leg of the journey from Moscow to Beijing. Officially known as the Trans-Mongolian Express, this train journey is anything but an express. Covering over 2,000km, a non-stop journey can take over a week, although to experience some of the cultures you're passing, getting off the train is a must. Chris Oldfield made the journey as part of a month long trip spanning Europe and Asia. In the interview we talk about why Mongolia is such an interesting travel destination, how to get over travel fears, and why the train offers such a unique perspective on this largely unchartered part of the world. The podcast is sponsored by Bookitlist If you're looking for unique travel adventures both near and far, make bookitlist.co your first port of call. While you're there, if you like the sound of anything you see, you can add it to your online book-it-list to take advantage of great discounts when you book. Have you got a story to share? Have you planned the trip of a lifetime and want to tell me about it? hello@lukerichardsonauthor.com www.instagram.com/lukerichaa Get to know me, my writing at my travels: www.lukerichardsonauthor.com Create your Bookitlist, book with discounts and live for adventure at: www.bookitlist.co And for all our episodes, show notes and info about our guests: www.thetravelnowpodcast.co.uk

The First Christmas Card. Talkback Caller. Morons in the News. Everyone Needs a Laugh. Christmas Song Spotlight. The People's Movie Critic: “Jingle Jangle” It's a Trans Siberian Christmas with Bob and Sheri. Can You Believe This S***? Small Plates. Bob's Jealous Dog. Christmas Tree Rentals. “Die Hard” Fun Facts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Guests: Marina Dmukhovskaya and Georg Wallner about their podcast project Mesto47.   The post Stories Along the Trans-Siberian appeared first on The Eurasian Knot.