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.

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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