Uzbekistan's Cotton Empire and the Aral Sea Crisis

The Story of Uzbekistan: Silk Road Kingdoms and Soviet Legacy — Fexingo History · Sep 29, 2026 · 6m · transcript

This episode moves beyond the ancient Silk Road caravans and Soviet political purges to examine a different kind of empire: the industrial agricultural machine built in Uzbekistan during the mid-twentieth century. We trace how Moscow’s directive to turn the arid steppes into a cotton monoculture transformed the region’s ecology, economy, and social fabric. Lucas walks through the engineering of the massive irrigation networks, including the Karakum Canal, and the resulting diversion of the Amu Darya river that led to the ecological collapse of the Aral Sea. Luna asks about the human cost of…