Maria Claudia Lopez and Frank van Laerhoven are speaking with Beril Ocaklı. Beril co-authored a recent contribution to the International Journal of the Commons titled ‘Shades of Conflict in Kyrgyzstan: National Actor Perceptions and Behaviour in Mining’ with her colleagues Tobias Krueger and Jörg Niewöhner. The episode starts with the proper pronunciation of Beril’s name, and wraps up with reflections on the importance of diversity in approaching the commons and commons scholarship. In between, the discussion gears around the article – the prequel, its message, and the sequel. Beril Ocaklı is a doctoral researcher at IRI THESys. She holds a BA in International Economics from the Corvinus University of Budapest (2006) and a MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE) (2007). She has a track record of leading international transdisciplinary cooperation projects on behalf of the German Federal Government, EU and other multinational organizations in resource governance in Eurasia. To find more details on Beril and her work, her profile page at IRI THESys is a good place to start; To get a taste of some of Beril’s unsalted opinions we suggest you look her up on Twitter; To hear Beril talk some more about the topic of gold mining in Kyrgyzstan go to The Global Extractivisms and Alternatives Initiative (EXALT) Podcast Talk March 2021 and the Voices on Central Asia for her recent interview on politics of gold mining.   www.incommonpodcast.org