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New Books in Central Asian Studies

Marshall Poe
Central Asia
Soviet Union
Eurasian Nomadic Societies
Russian Empire
Kazakhstan
Nuclear History
Xiongnu
Afghanistan
Nomadic Empires
Soviet Central Television
Partition Of India
Russia
Animal Style Imagery
Collectivization
Soviet Atheism
Chernobyl
Ukraine
Han Dynasty
Archaeology
Television Programming

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to ... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes203Founded12 years ago
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Artwork for New Books in Central Asian Studies

Latest Episodes

The podcast covers the book Satirical Tibet: The Politics of Humor in Contemporary Amdo (U Washington Press, 2025), which is about satirical speech traditons from Amdo region of Tibet and the role of zurza in Tibetan cultural production and moderni... more

Winston Churchill famously called Russia "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." But what if the riddle is partly of our own making—the product of a habit of looking only west for answers? Michael Khodarkovsky today argues that to underst... more

What is Russia? For two centuries, observers inside and outside the country have tried to answer that question, and most of them have looked west. The familiar story holds that Peter the Great pulled a backward Muscovy toward Europe and that Catherin... more

Thomas Gregory is Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His new book, Weaponizing Civilian Protection (Oxford UP, 2025), exposes how coalition efforts to minimize and mitigate civilia... more

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Recent Guests

Timothy Thurston
Associate professor in the Study of Contemporary China and author of Satirical Tibet
Episode: Satirical Tibet: The Politics of Humor in Contemporary Amdo with Timothy Thurston (U Washington Press, 2025)
Michael Khodarkovsky
Professor of history at Loyola University Chicago and author of books on Russian and Eurasian history
Loyola University Chicago
Episode: The Steppe and Its Empires: The Russian Empire and Its Eurasian Counterparts
Scott Forbes Crawford
Author of Han-Xiongnu War book; historian
Author
Episode: Whistling Arrows and Heavenly Horses: The Han-Xiongnu War
Michael Aldrich
Author of Old Lhasa, A Biography; scholar on Asian religious cities
Camphor Press (original publication); Speaking Tiger Books (epilogue/edition)
Episode: Old Lhasa: A Biography of a Sacred City
Ryan Michael Schweitzer
Author of Homosexuality in Central Asia, Stories of Hardship and Hope
Barnes & Noble Press
Episode: Ryan Schweitzer, "Homosexuality in Central Asia: Stories of Hardship and Hope" (B&N Press, 2026)
Luca Anceschi
Professor in Eurasian Studies and Department Head of Central and East European Studies at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Episode: Luca Anceschi, "Pandemic Politics in Central Asia: Authoritarian Contagion" (Routledge, 2026)
Magdalena Stawkowski
Author of Atomic Collective: Radioactive Life in Kazakhstan
University of South Carolina
Episode: Magdalena E. Stawkowski, "Atomic Collective: Radioactive Life in Kazakhstan" (U Toronto Press, 2025)
Nabi Sahak
Author of the book being discussed; former BBC reporter and Fulbright scholar
Palgrave Macmillan; Author of Anglo-Afghan Power and Politics, 1893–1947: The Durand Line Unmasked
Episode: Nabi Sahak, "Anglo-Afghan Power and Politics, 1893–1947: The Durand Line Unmasked" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025)
Galina Bogatova
Political scientist and author
Palgrave Macmillan (author of Casting War As Love)
Episode: Galina Bogatova, "Casting War As Love: Russian Colonialism in Familial Terms" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026)

Hosts

Miranda Melcher
Host of The New Books Network
Nicholas Gordon
Host of The Asian Review of Books podcast (New Books Network partner)

Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars from 26 ratings
  • Excellent. Listening from Brooklyn.

    Thanks. Good job.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Bakhtiyor Kuliev
    United States6 years ago

Listeners Say

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Great for researchers seeking nuanced regional insights.
Thoughtful, rigorous interviews that unpack complex topics.
High-quality guests and well-prepared hosts.

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

The Steppe and Its Empires: The Russian Empire and Its Eurasian Counterparts with Michael Khodarkovsky (Yale UP, 2026)
Q: How did Russia try to govern the legal and religious lives of Muslim subjects, as well as other religions, and what did Muslims make of these arrangements?
Khodarkovsky says Russian policy was driven less by a principled commitment to tolerance than by political calculation and the need to manage frontier populations. Catherine the Great's creation of a Muslim assembly was a genuine but short-lived effort that also served state control; coercive conversion and other pressures intensified at different times.
The Steppe and Its Empires: The Russian Empire and Its Eurasian Counterparts with Michael Khodarkovsky (Yale UP, 2026)
Q: What does the familiar story that Peter the Great and Catherine the Great made Russia European get wrong, and what answer do you propose instead?
Khodarkovsky argues that Russia was a hybrid empire shaped by the steppe and Asia as well as Europe. Peter's and Catherine's changes affected a limited part of society, while deeper modernization and westernization began with the Great Reforms of the 1860s.
The Steppe and Its Empires: The Russian Empire and Its Eurasian Counterparts
Q: How much of all of this history can we still see kind of signs of today?
Khodarkovsky sees imperial legacies in contemporary nationalism and state narratives in Russia, Turkey, Iran, China, and India. He argues that Russia and China have particularly weak democratic traditions, while other countries have different and sometimes more hopeful democratic experiences.
The Steppe and Its Empires: The Russian Empire and Its Eurasian Counterparts
Q: In your sense, what's missing about how we understand Russian history and its place in, quote unquote, Eurasia?
Khodarkovsky says historians have often looked west to explain Russia. Comparing its institutions and history with other Eurasian empires and looking east to the steppe, he argues, helps explain Russia's development and behavior.
Satirical Tibet: The Politics of Humor in Contemporary Amdo with Timothy Thurston (U Washington Press, 2025)
Q: How do you see these forms of expression being repurposed through larger ethnic pride, and how do they go beyond the limitations imposed by the state?
Thurston says recognizable formats can be more legible to state media and more likely to pass censorship or receive support. Performers use these forms to bring Tibetan issues into public media, while newer generations turn to other imported formats such as hip hop.

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Frequently Asked Questions About New Books in Central Asian Studies

What is New Books in Central Asian Studies about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Thoughtful interviews with scholars and authors focusing on Central Asia, history, and regional politics. Conversations often center on methodological challenges, archival sources, and how local life intersects with broader power dynamics, including state policy, memory, and identity. Noteworthy is the strong emphasis on primary sources and fieldwork in restricted-access contexts, plus a recurring interest in how global actors shape regional trajectories. This mix makes it appealing to researchers, graduate students, and policy-minded listeners who want rigorous, context-rich analysis from a humanities and social sciences perspective.

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Which podcasts are similar to New Books in Central Asian Studies?

These podcasts share a similar audience with New Books in Central Asian Studies:

1. Spotlight on Central Asia
2. Russian Roulette
3. Politics Theory Other
4. Start the Week
5. The Lawfare Podcast

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New Books in Central Asian Studies launched 12 years ago and published 203 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on New Books in Central Asian Studies?

Recent guests on New Books in Central Asian Studies include:

1. Timothy Thurston
2. Michael Khodarkovsky
3. Scott Forbes Crawford
4. Michael Aldrich
5. Ryan Michael Schweitzer
6. Luca Anceschi
7. Magdalena Stawkowski
8. Nabi Sahak

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