We sat down and spoke with Dorjpagma "Dono" from Modern Mongolia. Modern Mongolia is a page that tries to shed light on Mongolia's culture, both past and present. The page—and formerly the podcast—has helped many Mongolia enthusiasts understand the country's nuances, as well as the current developments in its culture. As this episode coincides with Mongolia's biggest holiday, it would be almost sacrilegious not to talk about Naadam: its significance for Mongolians, and how hard it can be for some of them to truly engage with the sporting events at the heart of the holiday.

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Hosts: Anand, Julian

Guest: Dorj Bagam (Dono — Modern Mongolia, @modernmongolia on Instagram)

Keywords: Mongolia | Naadam | Eriin Gurvan Naadam | wrestling | horse racing | archery | cultural heritage | Modern Mongolia | tradition | child jockeys

For decades, Russia was the "big brother" — the country that built Mongolia's industry, schooled its elites, and shaped a century of its history. China gets the headlines now. But Russia never left, and the war in Ukraine has dragged the relationship back into the light.

Social and cultural anthropologist Dr. Marissa J. Smith joins us to map where Mongolia stands with Russia in 2026. Holding degrees in anthropology and Russian from Princeton University and Beloit College, her research traces where post-socialist and Western communities of practice meet in rural space — exactly the terrain where Russia's hold on Mongolia is most tangible. We dig into what still binds the two countries: the 2016 Erdenet takeover and Mongolrostvetmet, fuel dependence, geography, and the long shadow of shared history.

Then we turn to the present. How has the invasion of Ukraine narrowed Mongolia's room to maneuver? What was Putin's visit — staged under an ICC arrest warrant — really meant to signal, and to whom? Is the Mongolian public, and especially its younger generation, growing more critical of Russia than its government dares to be? And is Power of Siberia 2 the game-changer it's sold as, or a project still waiting on someone who needs it badly enough?

Russia is still a counterbalance to China — but for how much longer, as the two neighbors draw closer?

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Three Universals: The Big Brother

• The big brother helps us.
• The big brother tells us what to do.
• The big brother is still watching.

Pocketcast | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Hosts: Anand, Dolgion, Julian

Guest: Dr. Marissa J. Smith

Keywords: Mongolia | Russia | Ukraine war | Putin | Power of Siberia 2 | foreign policy | China | post-socialism

Mongolia's Parliament repealed Article 13.14 — the criminal defamation clause that haunted the country's journalists for years. A victory for press freedom? Not so fast.

Duuya Baatar, founder and chairperson of the Nest Center for Journalism and Innovation Development and founder of the Mongolian Fact Checking Center, joins us to explain why the repeal is only a beginning. The numbers tell the story: between 2020 and 2024, more than 2,000 cases were opened under 13.14. Only 5% ever reached a court. Just 0.3% ended in a guilty verdict. The other 99.7%? Journalists dragged from police station to police station, district to district — too busy defending themselves to do their jobs. Intimidation by procedure. SLAPP, Mongolian style.

And 13.14 was never the only weapon. Over 100 Mongolian laws regulate media or information in some form. Clauses 17.6 and Provision 19 are already being deployed against newsrooms. Now Parliament wants a replacement defamation law — one that defines AI-generated content as false information, grants special protection to public officials who simply deny the facts, threatens whistleblowers with disqualification from office, and covers even what you say out loud in a meeting or a classroom. A boy was already detained for making a meme.

So what happens when a Press Freedom Bill regulates more than it frees? When the Constitutional Court hands civil society its strongest legal tool in decades, can advocates use it before lawmakers write the next sleeping provision? And why are Mongolia's politicians so afraid of criticism in the first place?

The law is dead. What comes to replace it may be worse.

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And if you're a supporter at Buy Me a Coffee, buymeacoffee.com/greatstatemural — thank you for keeping the show going.

Three Universals: The Three Sins of the State

• The gossipers of the khashaa have sinned.
• The bearers of truth have sinned.
• The writers of posterity have sinned.