Turan Tales

Episode 39: What cinema can tell us about Central Asia

This week, we’re diving into the fascinating history of Central Asian cinema and the ways Central Asia and Central Asians have been portrayed in foreign films. We’ll explore colonial tropes in portrayals of the region during Soviet times, how these representations influenced Central Asians’ self-image, and how they changed after the fall of the Soviet Union. We’ll also talk about different waves in Central Asian cinema throughout the 20th century and into the present day. Joining us is the best possible person to discuss these issues: Assiya Issemberdiyeva. She is a Kazakh film critic and researcher currently completing her PhD at Queen Mary University of London, where her thesis examines representations of Central Asia in Soviet wartime cinema. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe [https://turantales.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Iya’s lifelines: A Jewish journey to survival in Central Asia

In the 1940s, Tashkent became an unlikely centre of Yiddish culture as Eastern European Jews were evacuated to Soviet Central Asia during World War II. Yet the story has remained largely forgotten. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe [https://turantales.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 38: Inside Turan. The Persian legacy in Central Asia

The word Turan, which appears in the title of this podcast, has Persian linguistic and literary origins -- something we’ll be talking about today. We’ll look at Persian influences in Central Asia, how the language spread across such faraway lands, why Persian culture became so fashionable, and how this influence eventually faded. Joining us is Ruben Nikoghosyan, a lecturer in Middle, Classical, and Modern Persian language and literature at the Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature [https://ferdowsi.org], which he founded. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe [https://turantales.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 37: What has become of Russia's Wartime exiles in Central Asia?

This week, we look at Russian wartime migration into Central Asia: how it unfolded, what motivated Russians to choose the region as their destination, how they rebuilt their lives there, and how this movement has reshaped Central Asia. Joining us is Yan Matusevich, a journalist and Ph.D. candidate in cultural anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His doctoral research focuses on the experiences of Russian exiles who have relocated to Central Asia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe [https://turantales.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Episode 36: Why is crypto growing in Central Asia - and who benefits?

This week, I would like to ask you a very big favour: please fill in a listeners’ survey about Turan Tales to help us improve. For those of you with a Substack account, here is a Substack survey: https://turantales.substack.com/publish/stats/surveys/6783588 [https://turantales.substack.com/publish/stats/surveys/6783588] For those who don’t have one, there's a Google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15cvn9Y3HIAbuDdvmyvnFWrNcgcrDNSYVhnn7aUg-zyE/edit [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15cvn9Y3HIAbuDdvmyvnFWrNcgcrDNSYVhnn7aUg-zyE/edit] As for this week’s episode, we focus on a fascinating story of cryptocurrencies in Central Asia. Which countries--and why--have opened up to cryptocurrencies? Why is Kyrgyzstan building its own cryptocurrency? And can the crypto market help develop green energy? Joining us is Hugo Estecahandy, a researcher with the Geopolitics of the Datasphere project and coordinator of the “Digital Materialities” working group at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Get full access to Turan Tales at turantales.substack.com/subscribe [https://turantales.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]