Turan Tales is a long-form newsletter and podcast featuring in-depth stories of people, politics, and social and environmental change in Central Asia. Its main goal is to go beyond the simplistic narratives of mainstream media and offer the audience a thorough analysis of events in the region.
In the mainstream media, Central Asia remains an underreported region. The region is often defined only by the major powers around it and the geopolitics. Beyond that, there’s little coverage of what life, culture, or current events are actually like there.
Turan Tales wanted to produce slow, in-depth and entertaining storytelling to share the reporting from Central Asia more widely, serving audiences working in and on Central Asia.
During the Incubator, Turan Tales worked on developing human-driven, narrative non-fiction podcasts featuring multiple voices and immersive soundscapes – an evolution of long reads. Specifically, the team concentrated on the first stages of product development, audience growth and monetisation.
Launching new immersive storytelling formats
Turan Tales entered the IPI New Media Incubator as an early-stage podcast with a very modest budget, but with a highly dedicated team passionate about Central Asia and quality journalism. After less than a year in the programme, it has launched immersive audio documentaries—a high-quality product the team had long dreamed of.
So far, Turan Tales has produced four monthly audio documentaries:
- The Capital: In search of Astana’s soul – an exploration of Kazakhstan’s capital Astana.
- The Unlikely Mercenaries: Central Asians fighting Russia’s war – reported from Ukraine.
- The rise and fall of Hizmet schools in Central Asia – a little-known but consequential story.
- Rainbow Almaty: The end of a queer dream – a piece examining Kazakhstan’s anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law and its impact on queer spaces in Almaty, particularly the underground drug scene, which was once deeply embedded in the city’s culture.
Rainbow Almaty was co-produced with acclaimed local journalist Daniil Usmanov, who also created a photo essay accompanying the story. Gaining access to queer communities was a significant achievement—proof of the trust the project is building.
In terms of reach, the average episode gets 556 downloads, but the documentaries have performed much better—especially the third, which surpassed 3,000 downloads, a major win.
For subscriptions, the goal was 1,500 by April. Turan Tales is now at 780 followers—up from just over 400 in October, when the documentaries launched. Their Substack has grown to 15 paid subscribers, and on Buy Me a Coffee, Turan Tales received $409 from around 10 contributors. The numbers aren’t large, but for a one-year-old project, it’s a strong start, says Pikulicka.
Plans for the future growth
Over the past eight months, the podcast has tripled its number of subscribers and gained paid supporters, enabling it to continue beyond the IPI programme. This year, Turan Tales was shortlisted for the Publisher Podcast Awards in two categories: Best Podcast Launch and Best Local and Community Podcast. The support and initial push enable the team to continue growing while exploring new funding and revenue streams.
“We are still looking for ways to expand and further support our development, but thanks to IPI, we are on the right path,” says Pikulicka.
Turan Tales plans to release four more audio documentaries and build its brand across platforms, for example, launching reels and preparing to promote the podcast in newsletters read by audiences interested in Central Asia.
Audience research is also a priority—following an initial survey, they are now conducting interviews to better understand listener motivations, such as whether audiences seek community, deeper knowledge, or news. These insights will help shape future stories, improve paid subscriptions, and determine if new products should be developed.
The New Media Incubator is part of the Media Innovation Europe programme (MIE), made possible with the support of the European Union.
