Talking Vartan Podcast

Talking Vartan Podcast is a conversation series from inside the Knights and Daughters of Vartan, where host and guests already share a vocabulary. Host David Medzorian introduces himself from Ararat Lodge No. 1 in Boston. He says he spent decades as a broadcaster, much of it in television news. He tends to set a scene before a guest arrives, whether with a Christmas greeting or a line about what a camera captures. Titles and terms such as Sparabed, Didoui, Avak, lodge and otyag are part of the everyday language here and go unexplained. Episodes open and close with Armenian greetings. The interviews are slow and warm. A question often starts with context, such as a convocation or something said earlier in the conversation, before it gets to the point. Leadership comes up again and again. Episode 12 marked the show's first anniversary with the commander and matron of the Detroit-area Knights and Daughters. In that episode, the host recalled that the series started with a profile of his own Ararat Lodge and of Boston's Arpi Otyag. The two-part 'The Torch Is Passed' comes after a Grand Convocation in Washington, D.C., and introduces new leaders Bob Avakian and Lili Sarkisian. Those conversations cover a planned national survey, the money the organization has left on the table by not seeking outside foundation grants, and how far Western Armenian gets a speaker in Armenia. Humanitarian work provides the gravest material. In 'Through an Armenian Lens', a member describes visiting eight displaced families from Artsakh, their crumbling walls and unpainted homes, and says no film he could make matches being there in person. Those families had received financial support from the Knights of Vartan during their reintegration in Armenia. There is room for culture too. In 'On Stage with Nora Armani', the actress talks about her one-woman show, Mercedes and Zaroui, and her work across stage, film and television, ahead of performances in Providence and Arlington. The same episode points listeners to an Armenian Genocide commemoration in Times Square and its live stream. A holiday edition collects year-end reflections from both leaders and ends with a carol, with the host's son Alexander joining him at the microphone. Several episodes end with the same line from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that everybody can be great because everybody can serve, and thank members for their service. For a first listen, the anniversary episode or the 'The Torch Is Passed' pair gives the clearest picture of how the organization sees itself.