All Episodes

How COVID became a toolkit for control in Central Asia

Turkmenistan’s migration trap

Central Asia tries to become a region

Why China cares so much about Tajikistan

Kazakhstan’s AI future has a language problem

Kyrgyzstan's sanctions headache, Kazakh permits, and information manipulation

Kazakhstan’s oil shock, Kyrgyzstan’s crypto bet, and a new power broker

Who really rules Turkmenistan?

Central Asia between hunger, the atom and war

Kyrgyz political soap opera, Kazakhstan's media chill, and Central Asia's energy dilemma

Silk Mirage: Joanna Lillis on Uzbekistan’s unfinished transition

Kazakhstan's referendum, Kyrgyz purge escalates, and Central Asia's museums

Central Asia in the ripple zone of Iran’s war

After Epic Fury: Central Asia’s balancing act

Kyrgyz sanctions, Turkmen signals, and Kazakh solar power

Central Asia's transition puzzle: A quiet coup, constitution-tinkering, and a vanishing leader

China’s $100 billion moment in Central Asia

Kazakhstan’s arbitration win, Russia’s healthcare squeeze, and a reading crisis

Trump’s peace club comes to Central Asia

Central Asia’s pivotal year: From breakthroughs to backsliding

Afghan-Tajik border unrest, EU in Kazakhstan and Astana's LGBT panic

Agnieszka Pikulicka on telling Central Asia’s stories differently

Kazakhstan’s AI law and Kyrgyzstan’s winter of discontent

Fuel shocks, climate classrooms, and the politics of football

Kyrgyz rage over murder, Kazakh climate doubt, and China’s growing map

AI hype, think tank realities, and Kyrgyzstan’s self-abolishing parliament

The Pamirs melt, Tokayev retools, Central Asia rallies

Making and remaking culture in Soviet Central Asia

Rethinking nations: Beyond the Soviet frame

Paper trails and memory: Exploring Central Asia’s archives

An interview with Bruce Pannier, veteran Central Asia-watcher

From trans-Afghan rail dreams to the EU’s critical materials catch-up game

Southward bound: Central Asia’s Afghanistan pivot

Porn bans, biofuels and blistering heat: Stories from Central Asia

Beyond the script: Who shapes China-Central Asia ties?

One steppe beyond: Mongolia eyes Central Asia

Tightropes and tradeoffs: A U.S. diplomat looks back on Central Asia

Cable chokepoints and control: inside Kazakhstan’s internet

Kazakhstan’s oil gamble, China perceptions, and coal transition

Contested memory: How Central Asia is rethinking World War II

Growth slows, truth warps, internet vanishes: Central Asia’s triple threat

Mercenaries, media laws and railway dreams

Lines in the sand: Russia, Central Asia and the politics of sovereignty

Europeans in Samarkand: Rhetoric and Reality

Drones, pipelines, and water diplomacy: Central Asia’s uneasy spring

Reporting from the scene of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan landmark treaty signing

Kyrgyz-Tajik border deal, Uzbekistan's unshakeable graft habit

Kyrgyz-Tajik border deal, Afghanistan rail, and teaching climate change

Podcast: Kazakhstan oil caught in Russia-Ukraine crossfire

Taxing times for Kazakhstan

Air pollution in Central Asia and Turkey’s regional play

Mister Putin goes to Astana

Introduction to the CAPS Unlock podcast