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Country of Dust
A lot has been happening in Armenia: war, immigration, shifting alliances, a rising economy, and so much more. Country of Dust tells the stories of the people who are living through this important, in-between moment in Armenia’s history. We capture the odd, inspiring and perplexing ways in which Armenia keeps going, despite the odds.
If you want support the show, donate here: https://www.paypal.me/CountryOfDust
Episodes
17 episodes
Rising Like a Phoenix
Walk into the right basement on a Friday night, and you’ll see something that doesn’t happen anywhere else in Armenia - a drag show. Gigi Aries is a drag queen, and she and her friends have been busy. A few years ago, you couldn’t see drag anyw...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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35:59

When Home Stops Being Safe
We first did an episode with Gayane Milonyan in 2023 - the day after she and her family were forced to flee Artsakh. But we wanted to talk with her again, to better understand her life in Artsakh and what she’s lived through since. Gayane sees ...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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37:26

I Know How to Treat My Country
Growing up, Nane Harutyunyan would never have touched a rifle. But after Armenia was defeated in the 2020 war, she felt like she had to be prepared to defend her country.
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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27:29

Homecoming
Hasmik Varderesyan was born in Armenia, but moved to Turkey when she was two years old. Now she’s a teenager, she's moving back, and she's on TikTok. But is Armenia ready to welcome her home?
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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28:40

The Underground School
Underneath an Armenian church in Istanbul, there’s a school that isn’t like any other. It’s a little slice of home for a group of migrant families from Armenia – a minority within a minority.
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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21:39

Daughter of the Crying Man
This episode has a special companion video. An unexpected VHS in a Toronto basement leads to finding a branch of the family that has been lost f...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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42:11

Bonus Episode: Something to do With Armenia
Our podcast tells the stories of how Armenia is changing, but in this episode, we sat down to talk about how Armenia has changed each of us.Plus we have an announcement: We just launched a crowd...
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22:46
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Special Episode: My Land Feels so Sweet, but it’s Thirsty for Blood
Gayane Milonyan, a mother of two, has just been forced to flee her home in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), along with over 100,000 people – the entire indigenous Armenian population left in the region after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. We spoke t...
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29:08

These Bottles Have a Story
Wine has been part of Armenia’s story since the beginning, and it can be a bridge from its ancient history, to the Soviet era, to today. In our final episode of the season, we talk to Mariam Saghatelyan, co-owner of In Vino wine bar, about the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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21:20

Barev Dzez, Barev Dzez
After the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, Armenia woke up with thousands of Russians moving here – escaping the draft, political crackdowns and economic uncertainty. Many of them were young creatives, a few dozen of whom ended up staying at an o...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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26:14

I’m Just a Designer
Ara Aslanyan designed one of the most iconic symbols of Armenia’s 2018 revolution - the dukhov hat. But he says he never cared about the movement, that he only wanted to make a successful design. When we spoke in 2022 he said, “I’m rea...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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26:46

I Want to Believe
Mane Gevorgyan was Nikol Pashinyan’s press secretary during the most turbulent period of his premiership. She entered as part of a rockstar government, but after the war, she had to deal with all the frustration and anger directed at the admini...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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25:46

We Shall Prevail
The nation’s hopes rose with the 2018 Velvet Revolution, then came crashing down during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. Ruben Malayan is a calligrapher who not only lived through these ups and downs but, through his art, helped shape them. ...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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25:07

We Don’t Talk About the Future
Ashot Gabrielyan moved to an isolated village in Artsakh to work as a teacher after the 2020 war. He has loved living there, but repeated aggressions from Azerbaijan have made everyday life in Artsakh more and more difficult. How can he plan fo...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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32:35

Serving With a Rifle, and Then With a Pen (Part 2)
In this episode, we delve deeper into Nikolay Stepanyan's personal journey during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, and hear his remarkable story of survival. If you missed part 1 of Kolya’s story, go back and listen to the first episode before li...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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23:42
