In this episode of Yurt Jurt, host Diana Kudaibergen sits down with historian and writer Botakoz Kassymbekova to unpack the concept of imperial innocence and explore themes from her upcoming book. Together, they reflect on how the Soviet Union was an undignified experience at every level, one that stripped people of agency and disguised domination as “friendship among nations.”

Botakoz shares how this so-called friendship served as a colonial tool, reinforcing racial hierarchies, inequality, and systemic injustice across the Soviet space. The conversation also turns toward the RUTA Association and its annual Conference on Decoloniality in Ukraine, where scholars and activists work to rethink the Soviet experience beyond imperial narratives.

With urgency and empathy, Botakoz calls for solidarity among former Soviet nations, urging us to tell our shared stories through personal memories, family histories, and everyday acts of resistance.

Tune in for a powerful discussion on memory, decolonization, and the power of storytelling to reclaim dignity.

Host Diana Kudaibergen is joined by Aisulu Toyshibek, Aizada Arystanbek, and Kamila Smagulova for a deep dive into the politics of language, shame, and identity in Central Asia. They unpack the true meaning of uyat, far more nuanced than its usual translation as “shame”- and explore how it has been reshaped by Soviet legacies, nationalism, and patriarchy. The guests also discuss the rise of M-words, the use of terms like oruskul to police belonging, and how labels fracture communities.

The conversation challenges the widespread use of “post-Soviet” as a category that Central Asians rarely claim for themselves, highlighting how such labels simplify and distort regional identities. A concise, sharp, and decolonial look at how language shapes who we are - and who we refuse to be.

In this episode of Yurt Jurt, Aidai Aidarova speaks with Terrell J. Starr, journalist, podcaster, and political commentator. Aidai and Terrell discuss how conversations about colonialism and decolonization often remain trapped within African or Western frameworks, overlooking former Soviet and Central Asian experiences. Together, they explore how these global narratives are shifting and what it means to live, write, and think decolonially beyond borders and geography.

Terrell shares how living in Ukraine reshaped his understanding of race, identity, and decoloniality. He reflects on his realization that in the U.S., “Caucasian” is synonymous with “white,” while in reality, the peoples of the Caucasus are the true Caucasians - a revelation that challenged his perception of race and belonging.

In this episode of Yurt Jurt, Diana Kudaibergen speaks with Dr. Asel Tutumlu, Associate Professor of Political Science at Near East University in Northern Cyprus, whose work examines the political economy of authoritarian regimes in Central Asia. Tutumlu studies how informal power, patronage, and narratives of legitimacy sustain non-democratic systems and how these patterns are rooted in both former Soviet and colonial legacies.

The conversation moves beyond political structures to the politics of knowledge itself. Tutumlu shares insights on epistemic violence - how dominant academic frameworks often silence perspectives from the Global South, and how her mentorship program Usta, co-founded with Dr. Gulzat Botoeva, Dr. Sofya du Boulay, and Hikoyat Salimova, works to resist that erasure. By pairing early-career Central Asian researchers with mentors, Usta nurtures not only academic excellence but also epistemic justice and decolonial solidarity. This episode asks: who gets to produce knowledge about Central Asia - and how can scholars reclaim that voice?

In this episode of Yurt Jurt, host Diana Kudaibergen speaks with Aizada Arystanbek, a gender researcher whose work explores the intersection of patriarchy, policy, and nationalism in Kazakhstan. Aizada discusses how state media and digital cultures construct and enforce a hegemonic image of the “ideal Kazakh woman” - one defined by modesty, motherhood, and national purity. Together, Diana and Aizada unpack how these narratives not only sustain moral policing and gendered violence but also reinforce nationalist and colonial legacies under the guise of tradition and nation-building. This conversation reflects on how gender becomes a site of control, resistance, and identity in postcolonial Central Asia, and what it means to challenge these narratives in everyday life.

In this episode of Yurt Jurt, host Diana Kudaibergen sits down with Elmira Kakabaeva, writer, educator, and founder of the course “Family Ethnography: How to Decolonize Your Writing.” Through her course and her platform on Instagram, Elmira invites Central Asians to reconnect with their roots and rethink the narratives inherited from colonial history.

Diana and Elmira talk about what inspired her to create the course, how living in Russia shaped her worldview, and what decoloniality truly means in the context of Central Asia. They discuss family trees and the traditional practice of remembering one’s “seven fathers”- a lineage that excludes women, and question how we can reclaim our place in history. Can we be decolonized if we are not speaking our own languages? Together, they explore how memory, writing, and language can become tools of resistance, healing, and self-definition.

Elmira also shares a reading list that shapes her work and thinking: Madina Tlostanova, Ocean Vuong (On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous), Elizabeth Acevedo (Family Lore), Isabella Hammad (The Parisian), Maria Omar (Honey and a Bit of Wormwood), Baqytgul Sarmekova (To Hell With Poets), Kamila Kovyazina (Five Years), and the writings of her course participants, such as Dinara Tengi (Gifts That We Give to the Sea) with other authors featured on Manshuq Media.

In this episode of Yurt Jurt, host Diana Kudaibergen sits down with Kamila Narysheva, artist and curator from Almaty. Together, they explore Kamila’s personal and academic journey from studying in Russia to researching the imperial legacies embedded in Kazakhstan’s history and historiography.

Kamila shares how her work, which challenged dominant imperial narratives, was often met with bias and even poor grades from professors unable to evaluate her research objectively. The conversation moves beyond academia to the personal - what it means to be a Central Asian woman navigating postcolonial identity, how artificial borders created by empire continue to shape belonging, and why people in the region often identify more with cities and places than with national constructs.

Diana and Kamila also reflect on how lived experience remains undervalued in academic discourse, especially when confronting uncomfortable truths such as the colonial nature of the USSR. The episode is a candid reflection on memory, identity, and the ongoing struggle to reclaim historical narratives in and about Central Asia.

In this episode of Yurt Jurt, host Diana Kudaibergen sits down with Asem Zhapisheva, journalist, activist, and a founding member of the civic movement Oyan, Qazaqstan (“Wake Up, Kazakhstan”). Together, they explore the themes of Diana’s book The Kazakh Spring and reflect on the demands of young Kazakhs for political change, transparency, and accountability.

The conversation dives deep into the need for institutional transformation in Kazakhstan, the evolving role of new political actors, and how shifts in leadership affect the narratives of reform and “New Kazakhstan.” Asem also unpacks the complex dependencies of Central Asia on Russia and China, examining how this geopolitical reality fuels pressure on local politicians to silence activists and restrict civic space. They discuss how the war in Ukraine has sharpened debates across the region, with many wondering if the war’s outcome will profoundly reshape policy directions and political freedoms in Central Asia. This dialogue highlights the tension between entrenched systems of power and the rising voices of a younger generation determined to demand change, and the uncertainties of what lies ahead.

In this episode of Yurt Jurt, host Diana Kudaibergen sits down with Intizor Otaniyozova, a multidisciplinary artist based in Central Asia, whose work moves between performance, film, and cultural memory. Together, they unpack the layered questions of identity and belonging: What does it mean to be stateless? What does it mean to be Uighur - both globally and within the Central Asian context?

Intizor reflects on her creative journey, from producing a documentary about Uyghur experiences in Central Asia to the influence of Beyoncé on her path. Through her art and storytelling, she opens up a dialogue on how Uyghur identity is lived, remembered, and reimagined today.

How does oral culture shape identity in Kazakhstan today? In this episode of Yurt Jurt, host Diana Kudaibergen sits down with Aisulu Toyshibek to explore the living traditions of Kazakh oral culture from the sharp wit of aitys (improvised roasting duels) to the humor of tamasha (Kazakh comedy shows).

Aisulu also opens up about her own journey: what it means to be a Russian-speaking Kazakh, and how producing podcasts at BulBul Studio became a way to reclaim and reimagine her identity. Together, they reflect on how storytelling, laughter, and dialogue remain powerful tools for navigating culture, language, and belonging.