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?

If you have suggestions for our show, please get in touch at info[at]agulamedia.com

And if you're a supporter of us at Buy Me a Coffee, The Great State Mural — thank you for keeping the show going.

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Mongolia's Parliament repealed Article 13.14 — the criminal defamation clause that haunted the country's journalists for years.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.

If you have suggestions for our show, please get in touch at info[at]agulamedia.com

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.
  
  
  
  

On May 16th, Prime Minister Uchral Nyam-Osor dismissed Ulaanbaatar Mayor Nyambaatar Khisgee, citing his failure to control surging beef prices and alleged corruption in the Tuul Highway construction project. Nyambaatar fired back, saying that the charges are fabricated, the dismissal is political, and Uchral only has his job because he took away Oyun-Erdene's election victory. He vowed to fight until he ripped the three veins from his lungs.

We break down what's really happening inside the MPP. Is this a legitimate anti-corruption move — or a factional purge? Who actually controls the party's money, and what does that mean for the 2028 elections?

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

Keywords: Mongolia | MPP | Ulaanbaatar | Mongolian politics | Mongolia's Democratic Party | Inflation | budget deficit | Strait of Hormuz

The Democratic Party elects a former finance minister — once imprisoned on money laundering allegations tied to the Oyu Tolgoi deal — as their new General Secretary, and possibly their presidential candidate for 2027. Parliament debates holding hearings on the Epstein files, with two former Mongolian presidents named in the documents. A government ministry posts an AI-written condolence statement full of factual errors about a beloved writer, the minister deflects all blame, and the person who hit "post" loses their job — Mongolia's first documented firing over AI use. A 19-year-old conscript soldier dies in a hazing incident, the latest in a long pattern the military cannot seem to stop. A landmark Constitutional Court ruling against a criminal defamation law is being quietly replaced by something journalists say could be even worse. And Prime Minister Uchral fires the mayor of Ulaanbaatar in a very public market visit — a move that could signal the next round of civil war inside the Mongolian People's Party.

If you have suggestions for our show, please get in touch at info[at]agulamedia.com

And if you are a supporter of us at Buy Me a Coffee, The Great State Mural, you can access bonus content and help keep this show going.

Host: Anand

Keywords: Mongolia | Democratic Party | AI government | press freedom | military hazing | Ulaanbaatar mayor | Mongolian People's Party

Disinformation is not just a media problem. It is a democracy problem—and in Mongolia, it is becoming a crisis.

Researcher and civic activist Batsugar Tsedendamba, board member of the Independent Research Institute of Mongolia (IRIM), joins us to unpack IRIM's landmark study on Mongolia's disinformation landscape. Who is spreading it? Who is funding it? And who is hurting from it? We examine domestic and foreign sources of disinformation and how social media has amplified its reach.

If you have suggestions for our show, please get in touch at info[at]agulamedia.com

And if you are a supporter of us at Buy Me a Coffee, The Great State Mural. You can listen to extra recordings as we dig further into Mongolia's civic space and what real democratic accountability might look like.

[Three Universals] the "Fool":

• Fool me once, shame on you.
• Fool me twice, shame on me.
• Fool me three or more times—then I am not the fool, you are the fool! WHO is western propaganda. It is the vaccines that is how they control you. You are THE fool!

Hosts: Anand, Dolgion

Guest: Batsugar Tsedendamba

Keywords: democracy | disinformation | civil society | media | politics

The morin khuur—the Horse Head Fiddle—is one of Mongolia's most recognizable traditional musical instruments and symbols: a bridge between the nation and the horse, a tool that invokes the Khiimori, and much more.

Ethnomusicologist ⁠Kip Hutchins⁠, author of A Song for the Horses, breaks all of these aspects down. We speak with Kip about the morin khuur as a living tool in herding practice. Follow Kip on ⁠BlueSky⁠.

If you have any suggestions for our show, please get in touch with us at info[at]agulamedia.com

And if you are a supporter of us at Buy Me Coffee, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Great State Mural⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can listen to extra recordings as we briefly discuss the current status of the MPP's infighting and how it came about.

Three Universals to “Defray Boasting“:

1. The foolish man praises himself.
2. The unfoolish man praises his wife.
3. The least foolish man praises his horse.

Show notes:

• New Book Networks podcast interview with KG Hutchins

  Artists mentioned during the conversation, roughly in order of their mention:

  • Story of the Weeping Camel (film)
  • ⁠Bayan Mongol Variety Group⁠: Жалам хар (A Black Horse)
  • The Hu
  • ⁠Soyol Erdene⁠
  • ⁠Altan Urag⁠
  • Bold: Mongol Pop
  • ⁠Aryuna Nimaeva⁠: Эрбэд соохор (Erbed Sokhor)
  • Jonon
  • ⁠Namgar⁠
  • ⁠Altai-Khangai⁠
  • ⁠Khusugtun⁠
    

Ulaanbaatar's mayor wants to build a $1 billion highway along the Tuul River—the city's last remaining river and the primary source of water for 1.7 million people. The mayor contends that the project is essential to alleviate Ulaanbaatar's congestion issues, and he has thoroughly evaluated all environmental risks. But experts can't get the data for the project. Where are the environmental impact assessments? Why wasn't the public consulted before approving the project?

In this episode, we sit down with urban governance expert and civil engineer Anu-Ujin Lkhagvasuren, who has spent five years working with the municipality and the World Bank on Ulaanbaatar's transportation challenges. She breaks down why building more roads has never solved traffic congestion anywhere in the world, why the mayor's own numbers don't add up, and what she believes is really driving 24 simultaneous mega-projects in a city that can barely keep its lights on. We also get into Belt and Road debt traps, forged signatures on environmental documents, and whether the #SaveTuul movement can win.
52min

Hosts: Anand, Dolgion

Guest: Anu-Ujin Lkhagvasuren

Date Recorded: April 2 2026

Original Release Date: April 4 2026

Keywords: urban planning | corruption | Ulaanbaatar

Recently Julian visited Mongolia, mainly Ulaanbaatar, in late March and early April. We discuss the things he noticed during his latest visit to the coldest capital in the world—Ulaanbaatar.

51min

Hosts: Anand, Dolgion, Julian

Date Recorded: Apr 10 2026

Original Release date: Apr 15 2026

Keywords: Ulaanbaatar | social change | art & culture

Show notes:

Blog posts:

• Change in Ulaanbaatar (regular notes since 2011)
• Foreign Policy Update

Products, Projects and Locations mentioned:

• Ochirone
• Room
• Kukhnar Contemporary Art Space
• Bird Jazz Café
• Heritage Workshop
• Ger Lamp