{"podcast":{"title":"On Assignment","slug":"on-assignment-7432756","podcast_index_feed_id":7432756,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/onassignment","website_url":"https://www.reuters.com/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/8a76c28a-2fe5-11f0-8cbc-eb2eaa014389/image/c39e83d75e4719d2e47c7935583dcace.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Reuters","episode_count":49,"summary":"Dive into the stories behind the news with a new podcast from Reuters. We take you past the headlines right to the heart of the action. From the frontlines of war to corporate boardrooms and the centers of political power, listen to our award-winning investigative journalists around the world make sense of the most important stories today.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-25T12:19:07.195469+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-assignment-7432756"},"episode":{"title":"Turkmenistan: A reporter’s rare journey","slug":"turkmenistan-a-reporter-s-rare-journey","published_at":"2026-06-06T05:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-assignment-7432756/turkmenistan-a-reporter-s-rare-journey","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-assignment-7432756","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/THRH2718563469.mp3","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/THRH2718563469.mp3","summary":"Felix Light is the first Reuters journalist to travel to Turkmenistan in more than 10 years. The former Soviet state, bordered by Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, has strong economic ties to China, but has isolated itself from Russian and western influences. Now Turkmenistan is starting to show signs of cautiously opening up. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to opt out of targeted advertising.","meta_description":"Felix Light is the first Reuters journalist to travel to Turkmenistan in more than 10 years. The former Soviet state, bordered by Iran, Afghanistan, Kazak…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1211,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/on-assignment-7432756/episodes/turkmenistan-a-reporter-s-rare-journey/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-assignment-7432756/turkmenistan-a-reporter-s-rare-journey.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}