Eurasianet

Kyrgyzstan's Media Struggles, Electricity Woes, and Uzbekistan's Religious Discourse.

How a bike ride showed the depth of Kyrgyz hospitality, and the places where tensions persist nevertheless. This and more in the latest EurasiaChat podcast.

Also, the danger from glaciers is here now, and growing number of Central Asian labor migrants face the risk of becoming undocumented in Russia.

Kyrgyz officials complain that they are unable to quickly pivot away from reliance on economic ties with Russia, no matter what Western governments demand.

Staid Uzbek election, futuristic Kyrgyz city plans, and educational squeeze in Tajikistan

Pro-war Russian singers get the door shut in their face, Kyrgyz political infighting, and methane emissions in Turkmenistan.

Cynicism abounds in this edition, from elections to visits by EU dignitaries, but then there's some upbeat talk on trains.

Also, the state of morality in Uzbekistan as the state seeks to curb excess piety and unlawful immorality.

And U.S. officials have been touring the region chiding countries for failing to prevent Russian sanctions-busting.

And can Central Asia’s poorest countries benefit from their new importance to Russia without suffering secondary sanctions?

And even a strongman needs friends.

Spring is when unmarked uranium tailings are most vulnerable.

Plus: The geopolitical rivalry over Central Asia heats back up.

Plus: Rising gender-based violence in Kyrgyzstan

Plus: Valentine’s Day is just one challenge to dating in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

After seizing the country’s most profitable mine, Kyrgyzstan is using new regulations to drive out more private mining companies and place the bulk of the industry into the hands of a single state firm.

Hundreds, mostly women and children, remain at Kurdish-run detention centers in Syria.

Uzbek insiders think they can avoid Kazakh-style unrest, but they’re not taking any chances.

There was a time when Aravan, a bazaar town in a dusty corner of Kyrgyzstan’s Osh province, was awash in booze.