We are back to my favorite part of the world - Colombia; with my friend Andrea(@andimedra)

Chapters 

0:00 - 18:10 -  Intro about Andrea ( Being a student in Russia,Learning Russian for Spanish speakers, Confusing Russian naming system) 

18:10 -  27:34 -  Andi's city in Colombia    ( Proximity to Venezuela, food, the arepa contention between Colombia and Venezuela)

27:34 -  38:49   -   Geography of Colombia ( Motorcycle diaries, The scope of Spanish, Being Latin American) 

38:49 -   1:14:23  - South American history ( Native tribes, The museum of Gold and the legend of El Dorado, Spanish empire, Ethnic diversity, the legacy of the Spanish founders, Colonial lens on viewing native histories, Why the word " Indian" is an insult) 

1:14:23 - 1:50:04  - Comparison of Colonial experience ( Diseases and it's effect on culture; Guns, Germs and Steel by Jarred Diamond,  How are the national identities of modern Latin American countries formed ?, Simon Bolivar and independence from Spain, Contrast of independence movements in the Americas and in Africa and Asia) 

1:50:04     - 2:14:50  -  Modern Colombia ( Liberals vs conservatives, The Guerrillas, Widespread availability of weapons, The drug trade, Pablo Escobar) 

2:14:50    - 2:28:12  -  Looking ahead (Rejection of the peace agreement with the guerrillas,  Colombian riots happening recently)  

We head over the the Balkans for the first time with Radmila(@radmi.t) from Macedonia.    

Chapters  0:00 - 3:22 - Intro  

3:22- 8:55 - Radmila in Russia 

8:55 - 13:41 - The Macedonian language  

13:41-17:05  - The geography  

17:05-28:22   - The interaction between Macedonia and Serbia ( Language and the arrival of Christianity)  

28:22 - 49:43  -    The interaction between Macedonia and Bulgaria ( Independence from the Ottomans, Language and historical figure disputes, Nationalist churches, historical revisionism)  

49:43 - 1:15:41 - The interaction between Macedonia and Bulgaria ( Alexander the Great, Connection to India, King Samuel,  Famous Macedonians, Mother Theresa.) 

1:15:41-1:26:52   -  The Macedonia in modern day Greece and the Ottoman influence ( The second largest Baazar in the world, Turkish baths)  

1:26:52 -  1:45:59   -     The interaction between Macedonia and Albania ( The biggest minority community, conflict and tensions, the majority vs minority dynamic) 

1:45:59 - 1:52:00  -   The story of Yugoslavia and how  it is remembered now.  

1:52:00 - 2:05:50  - Post Yugoslav Macedonia ( How Yugoslavia fell,  Immigration, Reluctance to enter EU, Name change and EU) 

2:05:50 - 2:16:42  - The future for Macedonia ( Tourism, Life for young people, Being the brand ambassador of Macedonia, Conclusion)

We head over into Scandinavian for the first time. As we are joined by Charlotte (https://www.instagram.com/ckandreassen/). She has worked in Langedrag Naturpark with a whole host of wild and domesticated Artic animals.

We go to Siberia to discover a Russian republic which is as fascinating as it is unknown. - Khakassia.   We are joined by Olga Chistanova( 📸  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ollietion) who is representative of the Russian wing of an international organisation called International Committee of Museums and also a fulbright scholar. 

  Chapters  

 0:00 - 5:08 - International Committee of Museums  

5:08 - 7:36 - Geography of Khakassia  

7:36 - 16:14 - Flora and fauna and the archaeological specialities  

16:14 - 23:00 - The people of Khakassia and similarities with other groups  

23:00 - 28:44 - Migration of people  

28:44 - 35:49 - The Mongols  

35:49 - 41:30 - The Russian Empire  

41:30 - 53:16 - Religion ( Shamanism and Christianity)  

53:16 - 57:23 - Does civilizing really make lives better ? 

 57:23 - 1:10:23 -Linguistics  

1:10:23 - 1:17:35 - Olga's story in USA 

1:17:35 - 1:21:57 - Khakassian food  

1:21:57 - 1:31:47 - ICOM projects

TEST

We begin season 2 with Afghanistan. We are joined by Paiman (@paiman007) as we go through one of the most talked about countries of the last few months. We learn about the rich history which is often ignored due to the narrative about Afghanistan. We talk about the geo-politics and what Afghans feel about the regime change and the Taliban. And many other interesting things too.    I was really fortunate to have found a very articulate and well read guest who explained the nuances of a very complex topic. Thank you Bhaijan :D.   

00:00 Paiman's experience in Russia.  

00:09:46 Paiman's origins in Afghanistan 

00:19:31 History of Afghanistan 

00:35:34 Buddhist period  

00:38:14  We start talking about Zoroastrianism  

00:43:01 Sultan Ghazni  

00:46:01 The Sunni Shia question 

00:52:42 The different ethnicities in Afghanistan  

00:56:21 The languages of Afghanistan  

00:59:20 Paiman speaks Hindi  

01:10:45 The connections with India  

01:31:40 The relationship with Pakistan  

01:49:20 The communist Afghan period  

01:52:02 The origins of the Taliban  

02:00:04 The question of girls education  

02:03:14 The role of the opium trade  

02:09:55 Did Afghans expect the Taliban to come back to power so quick ? 

02:16:39 Is Paiman afraid of going back to Afghanistan ?  

02:21:00 The hope for the future.     

RECOMMENDED SUPPLEMENTARY  MATERIAL  

1. This is what winning looks like ( 2013, Ben Anderson, Vice)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja5Q75hf6QI2. 

2.Making sense podcast #258 - The fall of Afghanistan ( 2021, Sam Harris, Guest - Peter Bergen - https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/258-fall-afghanistan)  

3. Indo- Greek kingdoms  ( Kings and Generals, 2019) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxJk4KHZxi8

The season finale finally takes us to Central Asia with Turkmenistan. 

We head over to our first European country as Mario joins us to talk about Italy. We go way back into the past and bring it all the way to the monumental occasion that is tomorrow - The EURO finals between Italy and England. 

We are joined in this experimental episode by Swathi from India and Saiful from Sri Lanka who both speak the same language called Tamil. We try to understand the nuances of Tamil people in both Sri Lanka and in India and also try to speak a little in Tamil.  

It is time for some Russification as we are joined by Vlada from North Ossetia.