Armenian News Network - Groong: Week In Review Podcast

Groong is a weekly Armenian news and politics program with a strong focus on Armenia’s security environment, the South Caucasus, and the wider conflicts that shape both. Recent episodes return again and again to Iran. The show treats the U.S.-Israeli confrontation with Iran not as distant foreign policy, but as a direct pressure point for Armenia, diplomacy, and regional balance. Its style is urgent, argumentative, and highly specific. Rather than skim the news, the conversations spend time on assumptions behind policy, the credibility of diplomatic claims, and what neighboring powers are likely to resist. Guests are invited for defined areas of knowledge. Pietro Shakarian brings a Russia and Soviet history lens, Arthur G. Mardirosyan speaks from international conflict management, Hrant Mikaelian appears as a multidisciplinary researcher based in Yerevan, and David Davidian discusses intelligence and technical analysis. The show also follows domestic Armenian institutions. Episodes examine parliamentary election rules, state-church tensions, jailed Armenian clergy, and the Foreign Intelligence Service of Armenia. The tone can be sharply critical. It is especially skeptical of official narratives from Washington, Israel, and Armenia’s current government when those narratives appear to conflict with regional realities. Groong also has a historical lane. Its Deep History format begins with Vardanank and the Battle of Avarayr, aiming to move past names, dates, and self-congratulating memory into source-based interpretation. That breadth matters. The same feed can move from a J.D. Vance visit to Yerevan and Baku, to an imprisoned archbishop, to ancient Armenian history. It is not a detached wire-service digest. It is an engaged, diaspora-aware, Armenia-centered news conversation, built for listeners who already care about the region and want analysis with names, stakes, and strong views attached.