Steppe Ahead - The Central Asia Podcast

Football Revolution: Uzbekistan Leads Central Asia to the World Stage

Jonas and Thomas record a special football-focused Steppe Ahead podcast. They discuss Uzbekistan qualifying for its first World Cup in the expanded 2026 tournament and preview Group K. The conversation frames football as a tool for national branding and highlights upcoming events such as the 2027 U20 World Cup in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. They review Central Asian talent and transfers, including Manchester City’s Huzanov and Chelsea’s 17-year-old Satpayev, revisit Bunyodkor Tashkent’s 2008–2011 experiment with stars like Rivaldo and coaches like Zico and Scolari, and cover Kazakhstan’s club momentum led by Kairat Almaty’s Champions League success and stadium expansion, plus major regional venues such as Ashgabat’s Olympic Stadium.

Team Astana: Successful Sports Branding & Humboldt in Central Asia

In this episode of the Steppe Ahead Podcast, Jonas and Thomas discuss Alexander von Humboldt’s 1829 expedition through Russia and into Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan’s cycling team Astana as a global branding project. Jonas outlines how Humboldt, traveled for months from St. Petersburg via Moscow, the Urals and Altai toward northeastern Kazakhstan near the Chinese border to study geology, climate and natural resources, while facing censorship and constant supervision. Thomas then shares his first personal connection to Kazakhstan through Tour de France coverage and rider Alexander Vinokurov, explaining the creation, state funding, successes, and controversies of Team Astana and why the focus was on promoting the capital’s name worldwide.

Nazerke Kalidolda on Leaving Google, Failing Forward & Investing in Central Asia

She won coding olympiads as a teenager, published robotics research at 20, landed at Google, quit to found a startup that failed, built a mentorship platform for Kazakh students, and now invests in Central Asian startups from Paris. Nazerke Kalidolda has packed several careers into her late twenties. In this episode we talk about what pulls Kazakh talent abroad and what could bring it back, and what the Central Asian startup scene actually looks like.

Tourism Boom, Missing Central Asian Foods & Middle Corridor Trucking

In this episode of the "Steppe Ahead" podcast, Jonas Thorsten and Thomas talk about Easter traditions and Thomas's trip to a Mix Markt in Germany, where he found almost no Central Asian products. The hosts develop a wish list of their favorite Central Asian products. They also talk about Kazakhstan’s commercial vehicle market and the growing importance of the Middle Corridor, including the Comtrux trade fair in Astana (May 5–7), aging truck fleets, rising vehicle production, and increasing Chinese, EU, and Uzbek industry involvement. Thomas also finally shares Central Asia's tourism records and plans, including visitor numbers for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan; the Caspian Riviera project near Aktau; and a major hotel boom in Tashkent featuring brands like Ritz-Carlton.

Kazakhstan’s Car Market Goes Chinese & The Rise of Local Language Apps

In this episode of the Steppe Ahead podcast, Jonas Thorsten and Thomas talk about the Kazakh car market and how Thorsten’s viral video highlighted the rapid change and what it means for German cars. They also discuss the absence of Kazakh on Duolingo, the rise of local AI-based apps like Alim and growing interest in learning Kazakh, and the ongoing debate over Latinization versus Cyrillic. 00:00 Welcome to Steppe Ahead 00:46 Today’s Topics Preview 01:39 Viral Kazakh Car Market 06:08 Why Chinese Cars Win 10:37 Prices and Models Compared 16:10 Local Production and Investment 18:37 Old Cars and Fleet Changes 21:03 Language Apps in Central Asia 26:21 Kazakh Learning Boom 30:14 Alphabet Latinization Debate 31:56 Episode Wrap Up and Next Topics