The East Angle

For this episode, we met up with UEA alumna Elham Metwly, who has an MA in Politics and vast experience in social care, specifically working with asylum seekers and refugees in various capacities for local government organisations in the UK.Elham shared her experiences and insight and helped dispel some of the myths about refugees and asylum seekers. She also spoke about the ways in which her UEA...

In this episode, Ra and Sherzod welcomed Prof. Oleg Benesch to the podcast. Oleg is Professor of East Asian History at the University of York and has written and co-authored a number of amazing books on Japanese history. His first book was Inventing the Way of the Samurai (Oxford, 2014), and in 2019 he co-authored Japan's Castles with Ran Zwigenberg (who was also a guest of the podcast last ye...

We invited Iguchi Haruka, a student from Japan currently studying International Politics at the UEA, to this Christmas episode. We asked Haruka questions on issues we often discuss on the podcast: Japan's declining population, attitudes to over-tourism and immigration, attitudes towards work-life balance among the Japanese people. We spent some time discussing the personality and policies of J...

We were delighted to host Prof. Thomas French, who is a historian of modern Japan, in this new episode of the East Angle. Tom has been a friend and colleague to both of us over many years. He has lived and worked in Kyoto for almost fifteen years, and is currently Associate Professor in the College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University. He is a specialist on the Occupation of Japan, a...

In this episode, we sit down with a colleague, Dr Georgia Walker-Churchman, and a master’s student, Mr Kevin Revell, who both recently travelled to Japan. We were curious to hear about their experiences firsthand. The resulting conversation was full of curiosities for us. From favourite discoveries and cultural surprises to moments of challenge, we discussed what it was like for our guests to enco...

In this episode, the hosts Ra and Sherzod dive into England’s heated flag-hanging debate that has dominated the news over the past few weeks (with a local twist as Ra provides an eye-witness account of a nervy encounter), unpack the candidates and stakes in Japan’s LDP leadership race, and gear up for the excitement of the new football season.

This week's guest is a former student of one of the hosts, Sherzod, and current supervisee of the other, Ra. Heather Faure is writing a dissertation on Japan's soft power, which she says explains the nation's rising popularity globally, including nations where the memory of its expansionist empire and war conduct remains a divisive issue. We talked about soft power as a concept and its...

In a post-truth world where more and more people get their news and knowledge from social media or other non-traditional sources, does expertise count anymore? The spread of mobile phones and high-speed internet has enabled unprecedented levels of access to information, but how does one navigate this knowledge maze without the help of experts? To discuss these and other questions, we invited our c...

For this episode, we invited our UEA colleague Dr Juvaria Jafri to discuss the hot topic of our times - immigration. Why has immigration become such a controversial issue? Why do all the so-called First World countries worry about the growing number of migrants despite the fact that these very countries depend on immigration for maintaining their population and employment levels? The conversation...

In this episode the hosts Ra and Sherzod discussed the issues besetting contemporary Japan - and the world - such as the decline of birthrate, rise in mental health issues, and the feeling of helplessness and uncertainty about the future. They talked about "social ailments" such as the hikikomori problem, and how the rise in porn production and consumption is impacting the relations betw...

We invited our postgraduate student, Anastassia Melnikov, to this episode for a refreshing perspective on the university, society, and the world. Anastassia has a unique family history. A child of Soviet parents who fought against authoritarianism, she grew up in several countries and experienced a variety of cultures and lifestyles. Having gained her first degree in the United States, Anastassia...

What lessons can we draw from the Soviet Union's Cold War bid to Run the World, which is the title of the latest book by the historian Sergey Radchenko? What does Russia's sense of historic destiny tell us about its relations with the West and China? Hosts Ra and Sherzod discussed these and some other questions with Prof. Radchenko in this episode of the podcast. Brief bio: Sergey Radchenk...

In this episode Ra and Sherzod welcomed Ran Zwigenberg, a scholar of Japanese and world history and associate professor at Penn State. A prize-winning historian, Ran is one of the most eclectic and interesting scholars currently writing on Japan, war memory, castles, history of psychiatry and other topics. We discussed the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Ran's opini...

Recorded as Marco Rubio prepared to meet with a Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia and European leaders gathered in Paris, this episode has the hosts disagreeing on Trump's approach to the Ukraine War. They also talked about philosopher kings and the evolution of Kaoru Mitoma as the most "un-Japanese" Japanese player in world football.

With Ra in sunnier places than the cold and grey England, the hosts recorded the January episode online, discussing such diverse topics as the state of Okinawa and Japan, latest edition of culture wars in Britain and long-running exploitation in Japan, as well as social issues. Moving on to lighter subjects, Sherzod shared his excitement about the first ever Uzbek player to play int he Premier Lea...

In this final episode of 2024 the hosts Ra Mason and Sherzod Muminov discussed the major events of the outgoing year. They also talked about Christmas in Japan (and the Soviet Union), questioned whether Japan can be optimistic going forward, and asked why baseball is more popular in Japan than football (or soccer, if you're in America).

Paul O'Shea is a specialist in the international relations of East Asia and a senior lecturer at Lund University in Sweden. We asked him about the implications of Trump's upcoming second term for Japan and East Asia, the political crises in the leading democracies, the cost of living crisis, immigration, populism and, as always, football.

We invited the writer Nick Bradley to this episode of the podcast to discuss novels, Japan, AI and other things. Nick Bradley is a graduate of the UEA Creative Writing MA. He also completed his PhD at the UEA, where he researched the figure of the cat in Japanese literature. Nick's first book, The Cat and the City, was published in 2021, and his second novel, Four Seasons in Japan, came out in the...

In this brief episode, Ra and Sherzod discuss the challenges faced by Japan's new prime minister and assess the legacy of the now former PM Kishida.

This episode is recorded in collaboration with the East Centre - University of East Anglia's Centre for the Study of East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Space. Ra and Sherzod are joined by Dr Francis King and Dr Olga Sovenko to discuss the war in Ukraine from historical, sociological, and international political perspectives. Dr King is a Lecturer in European History in the School of His...

In this episode the hosts Ra Mason and Sherzod Muminov introduce both the podcast and themselves to the audience. They talk about the backstory of the East Angle, their own strange experiences in Japan before turning to the big question: "What's Japan's Place in the World?" Finally, they end the podcast with a discussion of football and Euro 2024.

Why does Japan, one of the leading nations in the world, lag behind when it comes gender equality? What should change in society for gender equality to be achieved? In this first episode of The East Angle, hosts Ra Mason and Sherzod Muminov discuss gender issues in Japan with Mami Mizutori, a top Japanese diplomat who until recently served as Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, and...