Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio Podcast

This edition of Knyzhka Corner discusses The Blue Riviera – A Daughter’s Investigation , a memoir recounting a daughter’s effort to understand the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death in 1960. The review outlines Sally Tomiuk Kurpita’s early life in Stari Kuti, her family’s immigration to Canada, her illness on the voyage, and her involvement in Montreal’s Ukrainian Catholic community. It...

Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is a story about a little known aspect of Nazi camps – the 3.3 to 5 million Ostarbeiters, or forced labourers. Readers will learn a great deal about World War II and the treatment of captured Ukrainian civilians.  Skrypuch’s characters overcome great challenges during a period of war and intense turbulence. Her images of suffering are un...

A conversation with Vincent Rees of Cobblestone Freeway and Ukraine Dance World, and organizer of the first annual West Coast Ukie Fest in Vancouver, Burnaby and Sidney, BC Jun 28-30. Vincent shares his vision for launching this festival, as well as giving us a sneak preview of all the events at this exciting extravaganza taking place over three days at three different locations. Newsflash: there...

At the end of May this year (2026), during his annual routine maintenance visit to the Castle Mountain Camp memorial in Banff National Park, Borys Sydoruk of the National Internment Committee was shocked to discover that two bronze plaques were missing and the statue itself had been damaged. In this conversation, he discussed the likely motive behind the theft, the RCMP investigation, and Parks Ca...

In this episode of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage, we explore the origins, purpose, and lived reality of the Pale of Settlement. Created by Catherine II in 1791 after the partitions of Poland, this vast territory confined the largest Jewish population in the world to 25 western provinces of the Russian Empire. Many of these provinces lay on captive Ukrainian lands the empire had already colonized — rul...

In this segment, Sylvia Pidraziuk Molnar brings forward a fabulous, simple recipe in praise of asparagus — a plant that has grown wild in Ukraine for centuries and still appears in Ukrainian kitchens across the country. She speaks to its quiet presence and long history in Ukrainian cookery, and the way its character pairs so naturally with familiar flavours, including the Carpathian bryndzia chees...

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...