Stories for OZY.com

Farmers couldn't choose what to grow. Students had to leave school to pick cotton. Now, Central Asia's most populous nation is fundamentally dismantling that system.

Activists' favorite app is just an everyday tool in Central Asia's most populous nation.

Monopolistic policies ensured that Chevys were expensive, unwanted … and that absolutely everyone needed one.

Because visiting a secret former biological weapons testing site is extreme tourism at its best.

Because who better to represent a country's cultural history and legacy than its literary giants?

For a quarter of a century, the five 'stans were divided and at one another's throats. Now, they're planting the seeds for integration.

Because these savory, salty balls are as versatile as they are delicious.

Decades of strict population control have left Tashkent lacking adequate skilled labor, resulting in a brain drain.