Machan Vs The World

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

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.

We head off to our first Arab country as we have Shaima as our guest. She takes us through the fascinating and unexpected parts of Algerian culture and history. 

Deborah joins us as we go to what I think is the most unique nation in the African continent - Ethiopia. 

Back in South - East Asia again with a really interesting country - Vietnam. We are joined by Chang as she talks all things Vietnam. 

Our first Francophone country joins us as Hady comes in to talk about the Western most country on the African coast - Senegal. 

We hop to the only English speaking South American nation as we are joined by Rheanna. 

Our first dip into the most interesting part of Russia - The Caucasus. Joining us is Asiat as we discuss about The  Karachay-Cherkessia republic. 

Gabriel joins us to talk about the Philippines. We talk a whole lot of geo-politics, Indian influence on the culture and why the humble puttu ( South Indian food) has made is all the way to South East asia. 

Hola! This time we are joined by Pablo as we talk all things Argentina.While also having a matte ( drink ) and trying to talk as little as we can about football. :p 

We are back in Africa. This time with Uganda as we are joined by Hilda and Brian. 

We head over to our first country in North America with Konstantin as he tells us his stories from the USA. And he serves us some melodic beats too. Click the link for more music from him - https://m.soundcloud.com/user-303094397

Daniel joins us to talk about the really fascinating country of Iran.