In our podcast this week, hosts Aigerim Toleukhanova and Alisher Khamidov discuss the Uzbekistan president’s surprising response to new evidence of forced labor. Coal-mining deaths are nothing unusual in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, but the governments are beginning to hold investors responsible. And a Russian who fled to Kazakhstan lands himself in trouble for offering tips on how to pick up hot local girls.

Plus, Peter Leonard interviews Ruslan Myatiev, editor of the independent website Turkmen News, about Turkmenistan’s two presidents, closer ties with Russia, and why the country will not build any new gas export pipelines while Putin still rules. 

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.