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Jeff

@jeffbell.bsky.social
276 followers 671 following 193 posts

Into Central Asia, democracy, (anti-)kleptocracy, bikes, urbanism, and a touch of tech. He/Him/Он/El English/Russian/working on Spanish Not here to take myself too seriously. Opinions are my own.

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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
We’re speed-running it over here.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
One Thousand Days of Duolingo: jeffbell.blog/2026/01/24/one-thousa…
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
This is how I see it foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/24/t...
foreignpolicy.com
Trump’s Illiberal Interventionism
The president swore off building nations, not destroying them.
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Ben Werdmuller @werd.io · 03/01/2026
media.tenor.com
a man in a military uniform says are we the baddies
ALT: a man in a military uniform says are we the baddies
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Finished reading: Radicalized: Four Tales of Our Present Moment by Cory Doctorow 📚 These were four short stories. While originally published in 2019, they all feel extremely relevant in 2025. My favorite was Unauthori... jeffbell.blog/2025/12/07/finished-r…
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
"This was, not surprisingly, a controversial matter. During the war, during the congressional debates over the treaty with Spain, and during the heated election of 1900, the question of empire was argued at high volume. In essence... jeffbell.blog/2025/11/27/this-was-n…
goodreads.com
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United …
A pathbreaking history of the United States' overseas p…
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Balloons Puff and Twist into an Elaborate Inflatable Ensemble by Masayoshi Matsumoto — Colossal Stunning balloon animals.
thisiscolossal.com
Balloons Puff and Twist into an Elaborate Inflatable Ensemble by Masayoshi Matsumoto
Masayoshi Matsumoto twists balloons into quirky and playful animal sculptures with incredible detail like claws and individual feathers.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
I’m still trying to put the pieces back together too. I built my career around Central Asia, and now wonder if there will ever be anything there that can make ends meet. I have many meaningful relationships throughout the region that I don’t know how to nurture. Hang in there. It’s tough out there.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
A Tale of Two American Cemeteries Bound Together by the Long History of American Racism "Soldiers who had fought to destroy the United States and establish an independent slaveholding republic were given more respect and honor than the... jeffbell.blog/2025/11/15/a-tale-of-…
kevinmlevin.substack.com
Civil War Memory | Kevin M. Levin | Substack
Reflections on the History and Legacy of America's Bloodiest and Most Divisive Conflict. Click to read Civil War Memory, by Kevin M. Levin, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Amazing reporting on forced demolitions in Samarkand from Katie Putz in the Diplomat. I hope someone picks up the corruption angle, but I understand how dangerous that is, particularly for the sources inside. The tie between construction and corruption is frequent. thediplomat.com/2025/11/destr...
thediplomat.com
Destruction in the Heart of Old Samarkand
Forced evictions began in the spring in the neighborhood adjacent to the modest al-Maturidi mausoleum. Then the demolition began. 
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Yan Matusevich @ymatusik.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
With the passing of new anti-LGBTQ propaganda law in Kazakhstan (I think it’s a done deal and will be signed off on by the senate and President), we’re in a strange situation where Tajikistan has the least homophobic legislation in Central Asia.
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Temur Umarov @tumarov.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Central Asia is adapting its entire ideological agenda to impress one man: Donald Trump. The recent C5+1 summit was a new high point in US-Central Asian ties. But is this rapprochement real, or just risk? 🧵🧵🧵
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
A couple of good write-ups of Trump’s summit with Central Asian leaders by longtime journalists in this beat www.rferl.org/a/central-as... thediplomat.com/2025/11/when...
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
nhc.no/en/central-asian-leade...
spider man meme where the three spider men are pointing at each other
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
I'm not saying there aren't legitimate reasons to pursue critical minerals in the region too. There definitely are. I just hope someone will be following the money.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
I wonder if there's any reason why this administration in particular would be interested in developing new business relationships in an extractive industry in a region known for very flexible business practices 🤔 www.rferl.org/a/trump-rare-ea...
rferl.org
Trump Hosts Central Asian Leaders For More Mineral Diplomacy At High-Profile Summit
US President Donald Trump will host Central Asian leaders in Washington on November 6 for a high-profile summit where the region’s vast deposits of critical and rare earth minerals are set to take center stage.
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
THE YAED APPLE
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Thanks, John! Love the book and my copy of it.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
While we're asking for recommendations, can anyone recommend literature on the interplay between post-colonial conditions and kleptocracy? I'm thinking about finally going to grad school and want to follow some hunches. Central Asia-specific would be great, but I'm interested in anywhere.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
For a less academic side of things, you can check out the Dop Soz podcast, which sometimes touches on this. I don't speak Kazakh, but the Russian-speaking guests are great. The way this podcast handles language is illustrative of the changes happening in Kazakhstan. www.youtube.com/@DOPESOZ/vid...
youtube.com
DOPE SOZ
Өткенді де, өзектіні де талқылайтын, атасымен әзілі жарасқан қазақ подкасы. Казахский подкаст о прошлом и настоящем,о важном и актуальном не без иронии.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
A lot of the good voices on this never made the switch from Twitter to Bluesky, since Bluesky still seems mostly a non-entity in Central Asia.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
The group that hosts the podcast, Bashtan Bashta, has been doing decolonization stuff in Kyrgyz and Russian since before the full-scale invasion, when it all really took off. www.instagram.com/bashtan_bash...
instagram.com
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
I was very focused on this while I was still at NED. I've had less time lately to focus on this, but it is still an issue I'm passionate about. The Yurt Jurt podcast is a really strong place to start, and I'm sure following the guest speakers will only lead you to good places. yurtjurt.mave.digital
yurtjurt.mave.digital
Подкаст «Yurt Jurt»
Yurt Jurt - a podcast about decolonizing Central Asia and Beyond produced by Central Asian activists. Hosted by Dr. Diana Kudaibergen, Yurt Jurt dives deep into the decoloniality and decolonization of...
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
I can't decide if politics get a lot better or a lot worse when the bubble pops. Regardless, it will continue to be a wild ride. www.theatlantic.com/technolog...
theatlantic.com
Here’s How the AI Crash Happens
The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Anyway: it’s an American tradition. www.startribune.com/trump-admini...
startribune.com
Opinion | Concentration camps are not just part of our past, but our present and future
From David M. Perry: From Minnesota’s Fort Snelling to Japanese internment camps to Florida's Alligator Alcatraz, these camps have become an American tradition.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
www.occrp.org/en/news/interpo...
occrp.org
Interpol Rejects Kyrgyzstan’s Request For Arrest of Journalist
Amid a crackdown on the free press, Kyrgyzstan requested that Interpol issue a Red Notice against Rinat Tuhvatshin, co-founder of Kloop, in an apparent attempt to silence him abroad.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-a...
404media.co
ICE and CBP Agents Are Scanning Peoples’ Faces on the Street To Verify Citizenship
Videos on social media show officers from ICE and CBP using facial recognition technology on people in the field. One expert described the practice as “pure dystopian creep.”
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The 51st @51st.news · 28/10/2025
In mid-August, 71% of D.C. residents said local police should not be assisting in federal immigration enforcement, as part of a @washingtonpost.com poll. "People are feeling gaslit right now," @robertwhitedc.bsky.social says, when the extent to which MPD is cooperating is unclear to the public.
51st.news
Questions remain about MPD’s work with ICE. Activists want lawmakers to step in
They say the D.C. Council should publicly question MPD about cooperation on immigration enforcement.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
@leilaseiitbek.bsky.social is such a hero, and it's so tragic to see the way the world is treating its refugees. The world needs many more people like her. freedomforeurasia.org/leila-s...
freedomforeurasia.org
Leila Seiitbek, human rights activist: “Refugees from Central Asia have no support networks in Europe” - Freedom For Eurasia
A discussion on human rights, European migration policy, and Central Asian dissidents Translation from Russian to English by Freedom For Eurasia. Original can be found pn Vlast.kz Almas Kaisar, Vlast Leila Seiitbek, photo from knews.kg Leila Seiitbek, a human rights defender and activist, fled Kyrgyzstan with her family in 2016, fleeing political persecution by the authorities. […]
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Dr Diana T. Kudaibergen @dianakudaibergen.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
a reminder that this banger political rap about protests and dictatorship in Kazakhstan exist: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oILU...
youtube.com
Daiynball - Qazaq eline +1 (Music Video)
YouTube video by Daiynball
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
When Canada’s public broadcaster asks: “is America becoming a police state?”
youtu.be
ICE raids and fear tactics: Is America becoming a police state?
YouTube video by CBC News: The National
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
How can I get this bike? I must have it.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Source: thediplomat.com/2025/10/kazak...
thediplomat.com
Kazakhstan Aligns Itself With Trump, Calling Climate Change ‘Fraud’
Kazakhstan’s leaders once characterized climate change as an existential crisis. Now they’re quoting Donald Trump and calling it a “fraud.”
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Didn't Tokayev just call climate change a fraud? masto.ai/@euractiv/1154473824...
masto.ai
Euractiv (@euractiv@masto.ai)
Attached: 1 image Kazakhstan aims to be a ‘strategic partner’ for Europe’s green transition https://www.euractiv.com/news/kazakhstan-aims-to-be-a-strategic-partner-for-europes-green-transition/?utm_source=eac&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=%40euractiv%40masto.ai
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
In which I realized for the first time that the Russian word for nightmare, кошмар, comes from French. mostlysignssomeportents.tumbl...
mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com
Mostly signs (some portents)
French poster for The Horror of Dracula, 1958. Artwork by Guy Noel.
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Central Asia is now an unbroken series of dictatorships
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Devastating to see. Kyrgyzstan, and everyone at both of these media, deserves better.
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure are having a ripple effect on prices in Centeal Asia substack.com/@havli/note/...
substack.com
Central Asia's week that was #76
Fuel rationing in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakh price freeze, and Berdymukhamedov’s Afghan roadshow. Also, influencer pranks, Tajik botox edict, and satellite internet footprint growing.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Amazing, congrats!
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
This interview by @vlastkz.bsky.social with Karakalpak activist Akylbek Muratbai goes into great detail about what being a Central Asian activist is like at a time when democratic states are turning away from the concept of refugee protection vlast.kz/english/6671...
vlast.kz
Karakalpak Activist Decries Repression in Uzbekistan and Bureaucratic Barriers in Kazakhstan - Аналитический интернет-журнал Власть
Читайте этот материал на русском.
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Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project @occrp.org · 06/10/2025
Tucked away in the North London neighborhood of Palmers Green is a former church that was recently turned into a mosque and Uyghur cultural center. It’s got an unusual owner.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Feeling very frustrated to acknowledge that I probably should check LinkedIn more often.
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Mihra Rittmann @mihrarittmann.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
#Kazakhstan: Instead of penalizing Bakhytzhan Toregozhina for her human rights work, Kazakh authorities shld recognize her posts for what they are: an important public record of rights violations in Kazakhstan that the government itself should be working to address. www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...
hrw.org
Kazakhstan Tries to Shoot the Messenger
On August 17, police in Kazakhstan detained veteran human rights defender Bakhytzhan Toregozhina and held her for several hours apparently in connection to a criminal investigation on charges of parti...
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that labubus are just knock off cheburashki.
theverge.com
Why I love my Soviet Labubu
A wistful Lafufu.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
The man who leads the U.S. military is proud of the people who killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the U.S. military.
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Where can I get this as an EBike?
bsky.app
Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social)
"Coventry to Birmingham and Back, 35 Miles, in 4 hours and 10 minutes, with Passenger 12 Stones Weight" ca. 1885
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Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project @occrp.org · 07/08/2025
Kyrgyzstan’s new media law hands sweeping control to the government, raising fears of censorship and shrinking space for independent journalism. www.occrp.org/en/news/kyrg...
occrp.org
Kyrgyzstan Adopts Controversial Media Law
Kyrgyzstan’s new media law hands sweeping control to the government, raising fears of censorship and shrinking space for independent journalism.
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Mihra Rittmann @mihrarittmann.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Human rights defender from #Kazakhstan Bakhytzhan Toregozhina fined for social media post via Front Line Defenders www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/bakh...
frontlinedefenders.org
Bakhytzhan Toregozhina fined for social media post
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Jeff @jeffbell.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Look at these mosaics
antoniabishop.tumblr.com
make believe
“Soviet mosaic with episodes from the Nart Epic and Circassian history inside the Palace of Culture in the village of Gabukay. Mosaic author: Teuchezh Kat (Теучеж Кат) Also on the mosaic there is a...
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