Other Armenias Podcast

We talk to researcher and lecturer Nadia Nadesan about AI, what it is, how it works, its pitfalls as well as its possibilities for good things. Milena also breaks down recent developments in Armenia in the building of massive data factory. What does it mean to have a technology that can be for really good uses but is currently doing many terrible things? Listen to find out!

In this special episode, where one of the hosts is the guest, we talk about Tamar’s termination process. We provide analysis for why Charlie Kirk’s murder was such a critical moment for the right-wing in the U.S. and how they tried to use it to spin a narrative of a “violent” left. We also get into the politics of how university administrations take orders from the right-wing and work to destroy t...

After a short hiatus, we have done some thinking about how we plan to move forward with the podcast. In this episode we discuss some of these thoughts - moving beyond "Armenia" as an object, delving into larger human stories and issues, and bringing more interest (Armenian and not) to the kinds of discussions we want to have. We also reflect on what we have done so far. Listen to our thinking-out-...

We talk to Dr. Elizabeth Avetisian, a transpersonal scholar, about her fascinating research on coffee cup reading (tasseography) in the Armenian tradition, the Jungian collective unconscious, synchronicity, and archetypes. Can coffee cups allow us to tap into the creativity of the collective unconscious and do coffee cup readers have this special ability? Dr. Avetisian's research suggests so. Here...

We talk to Dr. Elyse Semerdjian about her book Remnants and her readings of alternative, embodied archives. These archives include tattoos on women's bodies; experiences and narratives of sexual assault, kidnappings and marriages to other communities as well as the rescue missions and their effects on the rescued; the ways in which women's bodies represented genocide survival and victimization; an...

Zeynep Korkman tells us about her research on divination cafes in Turkey and we really get into coffee cup readings - what they mean, what they offer, how we love them and also how we have sometimes not loved them. Coffee cup reading is a feminine practice - and more, it also has potentials of being a feminist practice - "feminist visioning work" as Korman describes it in her beautiful book Gender...

Temporary Autonomous Zones, արվեստ, և քաղաքական պոտենցյալ․ "Wild Children" 30-րդ Ամենամյա Ալտերնատիվ Արվեստի փառատոնը ՆՓԱԿ-ում: With Grigor, Narek H., Maggie, and Narek Arushanyan Զրուցում ենք «Վայրի երիտասարտություն» վերնագրով 30-րդ ամենամյա ալտերնատիվ արվեստի փառատոնի կազմակերպիչներից և արվեստագետներից մի քանիսի հետ: «Վայրի երիտասարդություն»-ը այլընտրանքային ցուցահանդես է, որը կազմակերպվել է արվ...

Grief, and especially around the genocide, is something that all Armenians experience or feel they must experience. What are the politics of this grief? What are its proper and improper forms and in what way is the proper formation of it through the ritualization of memorialization disciplining our emotions? What might these emotions, undisciplined, do? Where might they wander and what new objects...

Կրկին զրուցում ենք պատմաբան Գայանե Այվազյանի հետ։ Այս անգամ քննարկում ենք կրթության և գիտության քաղաքական իրողությունները Հայաստանում և դրանից դուրս՝ ակադեմիական ազատություն, գրաքննություն և պետական ​​վերահսկողություն մտավորականների ու գաղափարների նկատմամբ։ Այս զրույցը տեղի է ունենում այն ​​ժամանակ, երբ Հայաստանում, ինչպես նաև ամբողջ սփյուռքում, մեծ ուշադրություն է դարձվում այս հարցերին, քանի որ մ...

What is it that drives postsocialist grassroots politics, especially in Armenia and the larger South Caucasus? In this episode Milena and Tamar discuss the political horizon (or lack thereof) that has set in since liberalism, neoliberalism, and the general postsocialist condition. We consider the critical questions of colonialism, imperialism, socialism, the women's movement, military bases, Russi...

We talk to cultural anthropologist Ehsan Lor Afshar about the historical context of this war - especially the effects on self-worth that sanctions against Iran have had and the alienation they have caused. Ehsan explains the ways in which Iranians have coped and survived, in some cases thrived, in this context of siege as well as the way in which we need to understand this at the level of humanity...

This is our March 8 episode for this year. Sona Baldryan joins us to discuss the Soviet-era magazine Armenia's Female Worker [Հայաստանի աշխատավորուհի]. Placed in context of when it was founded in the 1920s to today, we also talk about Bolshevik feminism, its major world-altering legacies, as well as how a concerted liberal project to destroy it has been changing the meanings of feminism as well as...

Մենք քննարկում ենք Ալեքսանդրա Կոլոնտայի 1923 թվականի տեքստը «Ճանապարհ արա թևավոր էրոսին. նամակ աշխատավոր երիտասարդությանը»։ Քննարկում ենք Կոլոնտայի գրվածքների տեսական և պատմական համատեքստը, բայց շատ ավելին։ Արդյո՞ք «սեր-ընկերություն» նախագիծը հաջողակ էր։ Կարո՞ղ ենք գտնել դրա հաջողության տարրեր և ժառանգություններ։ Ի՞նչ է նշանակում «սեր-ընկերություն»՝ Կոլոնտայի և մեզ համար։ Եվ ի՞նչ ներուժ ունի հեղափ...

Մենք զրուցում ենք մաթեմատիկոս Գևորգ Մնացականյանի հետ այն մասին, թե ինչպես են մաթեմատիկան, նաև քվանտային մաթեմատիկան և ֆիզիկան օգնում մեզ մտածել մեր քաղաքական և սոցիալական աշխարհների մասին, ինչպես նաև դիմադրության և հեղափոխության հնարավորությունների մասին։

Ronald Grigor Suny talks to us about the Baku Commune, what it was and what it means for Armenian history and the possibilities yet for Armenian futures. We also get into how the Baku Commune is remembered or not remembered today and Ron's experiences as an Armenian American in the Soviet Union and how he became an expert of interest to the CIA years later.

Մենք Զառա Հարությունյանի հետ զրուցում ենք այն մասին, թե ինչ է նշանակում Հայաստանի համար լինել գլոբալ և կիսել գլոբալ ցինիզմի ու անհույսության զգացումները։ Այնուհետև զրույցը շարունակվում է այն հարցի շուրջ, թե ինչ պետք է անել և ինչպես կանխել ֆաշիզմի լիակատար վերելքը համաշխարհային կարգում, այդ թվում՝ հետխորհրդային տարածքում։

We talk to journalist Yuri Manvelyan about the institution of the Church and the political-economic and media role that it plays in Armenia. What kind of institution is the Church and where does its power lie? How is Pashinyan manipulating a criticism of the Church that avoids any political-economic critique and focuses on morality? And how does the media provide a platform, that continues to igno...

We talk to Nancy Kricorian about her four novels and what it means to write Armenian young women heroes. We also touch on the ways in which these stories also teach us about heroic everyday acts that women do today amid genocide in Gaza and what Armenian community building can be about. Nancy Kricorian's novels: Zabelle: https://groveatlantic.com/book/zabelle/ Dreams of Bread and Fire: https://gro...

This is a spicy one, y'all. Milena and Tamar have an open dialogue about peace, what it means, and the difficult conversations it entails. It's raw, gets into some histories that are troubling, but we hope opens up good space for future conversations.

We discuss recent workers' strikes (over the past year) in Armenia - especially that of workers at Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine and of Indian migrant workers at the Grand Textile factory in Ijevan - with Knar Khudoyan who has been writing on labor issues in Armenia for years as a journalist. We turn our attention, also, to what it means to be in the liminal period of the strike and the p...

In this discussion with artist and filmmaker Varduhi Balyan, we talk about a film that she is currently making entitled Մեկի չգոյություն [The Non-Existence of One], which traces the experience of one man in a village in Armenia that is made up largely of Armenian residents of a village displaced from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s during the population exchange. This is a fascinating conversation a...

Dr. Markar Melkonian talks to us about the non-revolutionary regime change of 2018 in Armenia, reflecting on the 1991 counterrevolution as well as revolutionary possibilities that continue to exist today and will exist in the future. We also discuss the Trump initiative in southern Armenia and its possible catastrophic consequences and how depending on imperialist powers for one's salvation has ne...

We talk to Garren Jansezian, writer and librarian, about the ways in which fascism has been expressed in the many Armenias - in the Republic as well as Diaspora. Garren's insight shows us that it is not just a few select Armenians who have been drawn toward fascist tendencies, but that fascism in its many iterations has drawn large segments of Armenians across time and place. Why is this the case?...

In this episode, with Sona Baldrian, we break down colonialism and decolonization as mechanisms, pointing to the dangerous misuses of the terms and concepts in Armenia's contemporary civil society. We discuss the role of capitalism, soft power, manufacturing consent and share our thoughts on what decolonizing Armenia would actually take.

We talk to artist Harut Simonyan about his experience in the art scene of Armenia - from the 1990s to the present day. Our discussion includes analyses of the ways in which art and the political are woven together, perhaps even dependent on one another and how art should be understood as the creation of new ways of life and living, as a social relation.