Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio Podcast

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, Myra reviews Airport , Sergei Loiko’s novel based on the 242‑day siege of Donetsk airport. Drawing on his experience as the only foreign reporter living with the defenders, Loiko depicts the Cyborgs’ determination, the brutality of the assault by Russian troops and mercenaries, and the personal turmoil of his fictional alter-ego, war correspondent Alexei Molchanov...

Svitlana Kominko, co‑founder and CEO of Maple Hope Foundation, describes the Heal a Mother’s Heart campaign and the organization’s extensive bereavement support work for mothers and widows of Ukraine’s fallen.  A major component of this campaign is Ukrainian-designed silk scarves, which help to raise funds for this critical work. She also discusses the program’s community‑building, its suppor...

From the Nash Holos Audio Archives and the Ukrainian Food Flair cookbook, this flashback features Sylvia Molnar’s clear, practical instructions for making nalysnyky — the delicious Ukrainian crepes enjoyed sweet or savoury. You’ll find this recipe, along with others from the series, in the Ukrainian Food Flair cookbook, available from Amazon and other online booksellers. Hosted on Acast. See acast...

Dmytro Yatsiuk speaks about the experiences that shaped his three decades in Mozambique and the development of his long‑running Portuguese‑language work on Ukraine. This episode features a conversation about the path that brought him from Latvia and Ukraine to Mozambique, the early days of creating Ukrainian content in Portuguese, and how his work evolved through the 2004 Orange Revolution, the 20...

In this vignette, Victor Sergeyev of Mikolayiv, Ukraine recalls a spring visit to Kyiv in April 1986, a trip meant only for routine work courses that unfolded into something far more ominous. He describes the city as it was before the truth emerged — the blossoms, the streets, the ordinary rhythms — and the first small signs that something was wrong in Chornobyl and Prypiat. His memories trace the...

In this episode Myra Junyk reviews Serhy Yekelchyk’s Ukraine – What Everyone Needs to Know (2nd Edition), a comprehensive analysis of Ukraine’s development as an independent state and the challenges it has faced since 1991. The book updates Yekelchyk’s earlier work The Conflict in Ukraine and focuses on national identity, corruption, Russian aggression, and Ukraine’s international relationships. M...

First aired on Dec 9, 2023, this historical perspective on WWI is unexpectedly timely. Gene Berezovski of Ukraine War Amps brings it forward into the 21st century with stark parallels to Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine. He outlines how Ukraine stood at the centre of the First World War, caught between collapsing empires, and how many of the same pressures, patterns, and imperial behaviours p...

This episode explores the surprising Ukrainian origins and remarkable cultural journey of Hava Nagila , one of the most recognizable songs in the world. The story begins with the melody itself — a nigun , a wordless Hassidic prayer tune sung since the mid‑1800s — which originated in a shtetl in Ukraine before becoming a global Jewish folk standard. The episode traces Pawlina's personal connection...

In this episode of Ukrainian Food Flair on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio, Sylvia Molnar shares a tomato and yogurt salad made with sliced ripe tomatoes, sweet onion, yogurt mixed with sugar, salt, and pepper, and finished with fresh dill. She also reflects on the quality of Ukrainian dairy products and offers a tip for choosing sweet onions. This podcast features the voice of the late Sylvia Mo...

This Knyzka Corner Book Review features Kidnapped from Ukraine: Under Attack , Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s novel about 12‑year‑old twins Rada and Dariia Popkova from Mariupol and the impact of Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine on their lives. The story follows their separation during the bombing of Mariupol, the desperate search for safety, and Dariia’s ordeal in a Russian filtration camp for...

Sylvia Molnar takes a deep dive into the secret behind the dainty, delectable and now quite rare sweets called Khrustyky in Ukrainian, also known as "nothings" because they literally melt in your mouth. She shares the ingredients, shaping methods, and frying techniques for these traditional treats, along with the intricate process for creating the ornate rose shape for these cookies that she learn...

In 2015, before Ukraine’s armed forces became a global symbol of resilience, a group of military cadets spoke candidly with Pawlina about their hopes and motivations. Recorded inside a hallway at Ukrainian Catholic University during a conference hosted by Ukrainian Jewish Encounter, this interview captures them at the beginning of their journey—still students, still forming their professional iden...

Swimming With Spies is set in 2014 Sevastopol, Crimea and is based on the true story of Ukraine’s dolphins being confiscated by Russia for military purposes.  Twelve-year-old Sofiya has a close relationship with her father who is manager of a dolphinarium. Her father is dealing with his own angst because his Russian wife has abandoned the family. Sofiya also lives with her Baba, a scientist w...

In this episode of Ukrainian Food Flair on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio, Sylvia shares the storied tradition of Ukrainian Easter Babka—a tall, cylindrical sweet bread that’s as demanding as it is rewarding. Babka is made from a delicate raised yeast dough and was considered one of the most important and demanding tasks of the Ukrainian homemaker during the Easter holiday season. The preparatio...

This episode explores the work of the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate (SSMI) through the lens of one of their most significant ministries: the Home of Hope in Ukraine. The SSMI recently opened a second Home of Hope in Chernivtsi, created in response to the large influx of internally displaced people in western Ukraine. The first Home of Hope in Lviv was created to support girls who have nowhere...

First released in 2022. Reposted now for listeners exploring Canada’s enduring commitment to Ukraine. Readers who are interested in international relations, Ukrainian history, Canadian-Ukrainian relations, as well as Canadian politics will be intrigued by this analysis.  Researchers will definitely appreciate the addition of a Chronology of the Harper Government’s response to the Ukrainian Cr...

In this interview, filmmaker Maxim Khomenko talks about Standing Free , his debut documentary filmed in Ukraine during Russia’s full‑scale invasion. Born and raised in Canada into a Ukrainian family from Kyiv, Max describes returning to a country at war, seeing his family home destroyed by russian missiles, travelling alone into active combat zones, surviving nearby strikes, and filming evacuation...

In this archival feature of Ukrainian Food Flair , a long‑running series on Nash Holos, you will hear the story and recipe behind beetniks — traditional Ukrainian bread rolls wrapped in beet leaves. Beetniks hold a special place in Ukrainian Canadian kitchens — a dish instantly recognized across Canada yet virtually unheard of in Ukraine itself. For Ukrainian pioneers and their descendants, these...

This Knyzhka Corner book review features Ukrainian Food Flair , a collection of more than 200 recipes by Sylvia Molnar, whose culinary life touched classrooms, home kitchens, and media studios across Vancouver. The collection captures Sylvia’s warmth, wit, West Coast Ukrainian sensibility, and her talent for making even ambitious dishes approachable. Edited and published posthumously, the cookbook...

This conversation was recorded in early 2025. Event references reflect that date. Ukrainian newcomer Olena Lavrishcheva speaks with Pawlina about her family’s extraordinary journey from Kyiv to Nanaimo, their experience of the full‑scale invasion, and the community work now emerging on Vancouver Island. Olena recounts how she, her husband, and two of their daughters were unexpectedly outside Ukrai...

This podcast features a review of the first book in a trilogy by Canadian author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch titled Kidnapped from Ukraine. The trilogy brings to light the horrific human impact of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. His first invasion occurred in 2014 when he took Crimea and portions of Eastern Ukraine. Skrypuch's trilogy portrays the liv...

Award‑winning Canadian author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch returns to discuss her newly completed Kidnapped From Ukraine trilogy, set in Mariupol and grounded in the lived realities of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Her work continues to illuminate the human cost of this war for young readers at a time when few authors are writing into this space. This follow‑up conversation builds on last year’s Nash Holos...

Gene Berezovsky of Ukraine War Amps joins Pawlina with a clear, unvarnished update on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine as Russia escalates winter attacks on civilian infrastructure. He discusses how sustained missile and drone strikes have left seniors, families, and thousands of displaced children struggling to survive in unheated dwellings with limited water, heating and electricity....

Originally recorded in 2014 and first published in 2025. Resurfaced for listeners who may have missed it. In this Nash Holos exclusive interview from 2014, Pawlina speaks with Mirko Petriw, Vancouver-based author of two spy thrillers set in Ukraine and president of the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress Vancouver branch. Recorded during the Maidan Uprising, in the tense weeks leading up to Russia’s annex...

In this 2011 interview, Valya Dudycz Lupescu discusses her debut novel, The Silence of Trees , a story that moves between post–World War II Ukraine and contemporary America. Drawing on years of interviews with elders who had never spoken about their wartime experiences, she explores the fear‑driven silences, cultural traditions, and fragmented memories carried by the Ukrainian diaspora. We talk ab...