{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Central Asian Studies","slug":"new-books-in-central-asian-studies-320391","podcast_index_feed_id":320391,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/VjNbNYWR","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/peoples-places/central-asian-studies/","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/cfa596c9-7ed7-4f69-ae77-ff3bec08a375/1d1a310b-0f41-40b7-92ce-6b7880191d7a/3000x3000/cf6e365e1e0337a47082be84bf790199.png?aid=rss_feed","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":200,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/central-asian-studies","last_synced_at":"2026-09-27T02:20:00.301922+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-central-asian-studies-320391"},"episode":{"title":"Old Lhasa: A Biography of a Sacred City","slug":"old-lhasa-a-biography-of-a-sacred-city","published_at":"2026-08-23T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-central-asian-studies-320391/old-lhasa-a-biography-of-a-sacred-city","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-central-asian-studies-320391","url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/peoples-places/central-asian-studies/","audio_url":"https://injector.simplecastaudio.com/cfa596c9-7ed7-4f69-ae77-ff3bec08a375/episodes/75114f76-a5f0-4868-8776-4101b734c151/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=cfa596c9-7ed7-4f69-ae77-ff3bec08a375&awEpisodeId=75114f76-a5f0-4868-8776-4101b734c151&feed=VjNbNYWR","summary":"Michael Aldrich joins John Ross to discuss Old Lhasa: A Biography, his richly detailed portrait of Tibet’s historic capital. It’s the third book in his trilogy on Asian cultural centers. He wrote the first two, on Beijing and Ulaanbaatar, while living in those cities, where he worked as a lawyer. There was no opportunity for this with Lhasa, so he had to rely on multiple trips (from his home in Taiwan) and an incredible amount of reading and research. Rather than writing a conventional history, Aldrich set out to present Lhasa as a living character – a city whose temples, alleyways, legends and surviving traditions can still tell their own stories. Books mentioned M.A. Aldrich The Search for a Vanishing Beijing: A Guide to China’s Capital Through the Ages (Hong Kong University Press, 2006) Ulaanbaatar beyond Water and Grass: A Guide to the Capital of Mongolia (Hong Kong University Press, 2018) Old Lhasa: A Biography Originally published by Camphor Press in January 2023 and subsequently reissued in 2025 by Speaking Tiger Books with a new epilogue based on Aldrich’s 2024 return to Tibet. The episode touches on the amazing story of Ekai Kawaguchi (河口慧海 1866–1945), a Japanese Buddhist monk who spent time in Lhasa in the early 1900s. He is the subject of Scott Berry’s A Stranger in Tibet. The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan. The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases,…","meta_description":"Michael Aldrich joins John Ross to discuss Old Lhasa: A Biography, his richly detailed portrait of Tibet’s historic capital. It’s the third book in his tr…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1803,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-central-asian-studies-320391/episodes/old-lhasa-a-biography-of-a-sacred-city/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-central-asian-studies-320391/old-lhasa-a-biography-of-a-sacred-city.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}