Six Headlines for the month of May

Defamation, Repealed — Defamation, Reloaded

Mongolia's Parliament repealed Article 13.14 — the criminal defamation clause that haunted the country's journalists for years. A victory for press freedom? Not so fast. Duuya Baatar, founder and chairperson of the Nest Center for Journalism and Innovation Development and founder of the Mongolian Fact Checking Center, joins us to explain why the repeal is only a beginning. The numbers tell the story: between 2020 and 2024, more than 2,000 cases were opened under 13.14. Only 5% ever reached a court. Just 0.3% ended in a guilty verdict. The other 99.7%? Journalists dragged from police station to police station, district to district — too busy defending themselves to do their jobs. Intimidation by procedure. SLAPP, Mongolian style. And 13.14 was never the only weapon. Over 100 Mongolian laws regulate media or information in some form. Clauses 17.6 and Provision 19 are already being deployed against newsrooms. Now Parliament wants a replacement defamation law — one that defines AI-generated content as false information, grants special protection to public officials who simply deny the facts, threatens whistleblowers with disqualification from office, and covers even what you say out loud in a meeting or a classroom. A boy was already detained for making a meme. So what happens when a Press Freedom Bill regulates more than it frees? When the Constitutional Court hands civil society its strongest legal tool in decades, can advocates use it before lawmakers write the next sleeping provision? And why are Mongolia's politicians so afraid of criticism in the first place? The law is dead. What comes to replace it may be worse. If you have suggestions for our show, please get in touch at info[at]agulamedia.com [http://agulamedia.com] And if you're a supporter at Buy Me a Coffee, buymeacoffee.com/greatstatemural [http://buymeacoffee.com/greatstatemural] — thank you for keeping the show going. Three Universals: The Three Sins of the State * The gossipers of the khashaa have sinned. * The bearers of truth have sinned. * The writers of posterity have sinned.

Mongolian People's Party Civil War 2.0

On May 16th, Prime Minister Uchral Nyam-Osor dismissed Ulaanbaatar Mayor Nyambaatar Khisgee, citing his failure to control surging beef prices and alleged corruption in the Tuul Highway construction project. Nyambaatar fired back, saying that the charges are fabricated, the dismissal is political, and Uchral only has his job because he took away Oyun-Erdene's election victory. He vowed to fight until he ripped the three veins from his lungs. We break down what's really happening inside the MPP. Is this a legitimate anti-corruption move — or a factional purge? Who actually controls the party's money, and what does that mean for the 2028 elections? And if you're a supporter at Buy Me a Coffee, buymeacoffee.com/greatstatemural [http://buymeacoffee.com/greatstatemural] — thank you for keeping the show going. Keywords: Mongolia | MPP | Ulaanbaatar | Mongolian politics | Mongolia's Democratic Party | Inflation | budget deficit | Strait of Hormuz

Six Headlines for the month of May

The Democratic Party elects a former finance minister — once imprisoned on money laundering allegations tied to the Oyu Tolgoi deal — as their new General Secretary, and possibly their presidential candidate for 2027. Parliament debates holding hearings on the Epstein files, with two former Mongolian presidents named in the documents. A government ministry posts an AI-written condolence statement full of factual errors about a beloved writer, the minister deflects all blame, and the person who hit "post" loses their job — Mongolia's first documented firing over AI use. A 19-year-old conscript soldier dies in a hazing incident, the latest in a long pattern the military cannot seem to stop. A landmark Constitutional Court ruling against a criminal defamation law is being quietly replaced by something journalists say could be even worse. And Prime Minister Uchral fires the mayor of Ulaanbaatar in a very public market visit — a move that could signal the next round of civil war inside the Mongolian People's Party. If you have suggestions for our show, please get in touch at info[at]agulamedia.com [http://agulamedia.com] And if you are a supporter of us at Buy Me a Coffee, The Great State Mural [https://buymeacoffee.com/greatstatemural], you can access bonus content and help keep this show going. Host: Anand Keywords: Mongolia | Democratic Party | AI government | press freedom | military hazing | Ulaanbaatar mayor | Mongolian People's Party

Disinformation and its effect on Mongolia

Disinformation is not just a media problem. It is a democracy problem—and in Mongolia, it is becoming a crisis. Researcher and civic activist Batsugar Tsedendamba, board member of the Independent Research Institute of Mongolia (IRIM), joins us to unpack IRIM's landmark study on Mongolia's disinformation landscape. Who is spreading it? Who is funding it? And who is hurting from it? We examine domestic and foreign sources of disinformation and how social media has amplified its reach. If you have suggestions for our show, please get in touch at info[at]agulamedia.com [http://agulamedia.com] And if you are a supporter of us at Buy Me a Coffee, The Great State Mural [https://buymeacoffee.com/greatstatemural]. You can listen to extra recordings as we dig further into Mongolia's civic space and what real democratic accountability might look like. [Three Universals] the "Fool": * Fool me once, shame on you. * Fool me twice, shame on me. * Fool me three or more times—then I am not the fool, you are the fool! WHO is western propaganda. It is the vaccines that is how they control you. You are THE fool! Hosts: Anand, Dolgion Guest: Batsugar Tsedendamba Keywords: democracy | disinformation | civil society | media | politics

K G Hutchins “A Song for the Horses” - Many Wonders of the Morin Khuur

The morin khuur—the Horse Head Fiddle—is one of Mongolia's most recognizable traditional musical instruments and symbols: a bridge between the nation and the horse, a tool that invokes the Khiimori, and much more. Ethnomusicologist ⁠Kip Hutchins⁠ [https://www.songsforhorses.com/about-me], author of A Song for the Horses, breaks all of these aspects down. We speak with Kip about the morin khuur as a living tool in herding practice. Follow Kip on ⁠BlueSky⁠ [https://bsky.app/profile/songsforhorses.com]. If you have any suggestions for our show, please get in touch with us at info[at]agulamedia.com [http://agulamedia.com] And if you are a supporter of us at Buy Me Coffee, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Great State Mural⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://buymeacoffee.com/greatstatemural]. You can listen to extra recordings as we briefly discuss the current status of the MPP's infighting and how it came about. Three Universals [https://quillfish-garlic-422s.squarespace.com/podcast/e004] to “Defray Boasting“: 1. The foolish man praises himself. 2. The unfoolish man praises his wife. 3. The least foolish man praises his horse. Show notes: * New Book Networks podcast interview with KG Hutchins [https://newbooksnetwork.com/a-song-for-the-horses-musical-heritage-for-more-than-human-futures-in-mongolia] Artists mentioned during the conversation, roughly in order of their mention: * Story of the Weeping Camel [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373861/] (film) * ⁠Bayan Mongol Variety Group⁠ [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nKnKb1-fPvH6wB5z903aGsFhMuAZ-1aY0&si=ts0XEil2mAZTyj9l]: Жалам хар [https://youtu.be/7tqKcjtgLCc?si=QPrWtDVJZMg1BOqB] (A Black Horse) * The Hu [https://www.thehuofficial.com/] * ⁠Soyol Erdene⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR4t2sTeQdDPx0MMhP1O_tA] * ⁠Altan Urag⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@AltanUrag] * Bold: Mongol Pop [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRt3TZ1MAm3Q4PKy3_eI7NVlpyqURaFOM&si=Cnk9TPxm5Gc8ttU4] * ⁠Aryuna Nimaeva⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@Aryun-Goa]: Эрбэд соохор [https://youtu.be/sjvoq7aFseM?si=yYxNd5dWEHwKs29E] (Erbed Sokhor) * Jonon [http://jonon.mn/] * ⁠Namgar⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@Namgar] * ⁠Altai-Khangai⁠ [https://youtube.com/channel/UCvPUfKd4zqu4O6PJlQEt8zw?si=5mxKRzLWEMux3OSZ] * ⁠Khusugtun⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-V8jm68yRuej_Rkx80QJTA]