Assyrian Podcast

Episode 124 - Laresa “Lala” Golpashen is a singer and composer from Urmi, Iran. She began singing at age 18, and has begun working with Assyrian poet and activist Nineb Lamassu and has recently released a duet with Assyrian singer Emmanuel Bet-Yonan. In this episode, we talk to Lala about her music and singing, Assyrians in Urmi, and what’s next for her music career.  Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by @tonykalogerakos and the @injurylawyersofillinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516 Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Dr. Nahren Khoshaba, an independent Health Mart Pharmacist and owner of Bartlett Pharmacy located in Bartlett, IL. Bartlett Pharmacy off

Episode 123 - Jeremy Bristow, a director who worked for the BBC for 21 years, and Eli Melki, a reporter for BBC Arabic and a BBC World Service Broadcast Journalist and Producer for more than ten years, are the two guests of today's episode. They made the 2019 documentary Last Christians, a film about the plight of Assyrians in Iraq and Turkey since ISIS invaded and terrorized the populous, which also included the Gishru group visiting the homeland in 2018. Jeremy Bristow : jeremybristow2@gmail.com  jeremy.bristow1@mac.com   jeremy.bristow1@me.com   Eli Melki: eli.melki@bbc.co.uk @EliMelkiNews    Watch "Last Christians" now on Amazon Prime Video.  https://watch.amazon.co.uk/detail?gti=amzn1.dv.gti.90b3d72e-5239-211b-fb1a-a087521e1dd2&ref_=atv_dp_share_mv&r=Web   

Episode 122 - Atour Sargon is a Village of Lincolnwood Trustee. Elected in 2019, Atour is serving her first four year term. We discuss her path to politics, women running for office, and the overall importance of Assyrian involvement in the political process.  Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516 Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is  brought to you by Dr. Nahren Khoshaba, an independent Health Mart Pharmacist and owner of Bartlett Pharmacy located in Bartlett, IL. Bartlett Pharmacy offers free delivery and in home flu shots. At Bartlett pharmacy we know you by your name, not by your refill

Episode 121 - Comrade Hermis Yousif was born in Nineweh (Mosul) Iraq, on March 6, 1956. From an early age, he yearned for an opportunity to contribute to the betterment of his nation and was influenced by his Father’s love for nationalism, poetry and the Assyrian language.   Late in the evening on July 19, 1984, Hermis was arrested by the Iraqi Security Service for his work with Zaw’aa. Hermis and seventeen other members of Zaw’aa were eventually taken to Baghdad to be interrogated and jailed. According to Dr. Sargon Donabed’s Ph.D. Thesis, “...for the first seven days, the individuals were placed in tiny cells of dimensions less than 4x4x4 ft. While food was offered twice daily, the various forms of torture included beatings with wooden rods, having wrists tied at the back and being hung by the same rope while beatings occurred, and, electric shock to the genitals and other areas. Following the initial seven-day period, the detained individuals were placed together in Baghdad for six months in a cell that o

Episode 120 - Dan David YouTuber and all around creator Dan David brings you laughs, scares, and amazing looking shirts. Find out how Dan went from churning out hilarious YouTube videos, to telling scary stories, to writing scary stories and publishing his own book “The NOPE Collection.” Author of the recently released book “The NOPE Collection: 20 Short Horror Stories” Owner/Founder of Divinity Activewear  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zsdKMWa-o8 https://www.instagram.com/itsdandavid @NopeTooCreepy @DivinityActivewear NOPE Book Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.

Episode 119 - Odette Y. Esho was born in Iraq and fled with her family to the US when she was a child. Following her brother’s footsteps, she joined the United States Air Force in 2009 and currently holds the title of Master Sergeant. In this episode you will get to hear Odette’s family’s story of fleeing to Turkey, coming to the US and joining the Airforce, and how she is defying stereotypes in her male dominated field in Cyber Operations as Operations Flight Chief.    Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516. 

Episode 118 - Juliana Jendo was born in Syria and educated in a French school run by nuns in her city. She completed her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Aleppo in French Literature on a full-ride scholarship from Syria’s Department of Education. She later immigrated to the United States with her family, where she continued her French Literature studies, earning a Master’s Degree from University of Illinois, Chicago. She then began her singing career, which flourished quickly and led her to eventually work with George and John Homeh on the feature film, Wardeh Deesheh. In this episode, we talk about her upbringing, her visit to the old Soviet Union, and what it was like to work with the legendary John Homeh.     Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising

Episode 117 -Ashur Sada Before there was social media as a way for Assyrians to digitally connect, there was the Assyrian Voice Network (AVN). In 1999, Ashur Sada of Toronto, Canada created the AVN and since then has helped thousands of Assyrians virtually connect with one another from friendships to marriages.  www.assyrianvoice.net  Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516. 

Episode # 116 - Michael Atniel  Michael E. "Mike" Atniel grew up in Southern California, and found a way to turn his love for drawing into his dream career. He began his first internship animating when he was only 18 years old and since then he has worked as one of the main animators for major video game creators as well as the hit show The Simpsons. In this episode, you’ll hear about his upbringing, background, love for animation and how he got his start on the Simpsons.    Instagram: @idrawhomer  Twitch: twitch.tv/idrawhomer Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.

Episode 115 - Lanah Haddad is a young Kurdish-Iraqi archaeologist, who grew up in Germany and recently moved back to Erbil, to reconnect with her roots. She studied the ancient history of Mesopotamia and worked in several archaeological projects in Iraq, Germany, Syria, Egypt and Jordan. Moved by her desire to bring back the Iraqi people more in touch with their own heritage, she created a strategy board game called “Urbilum - The Assyrian Empire”, which is based on archaeological background information. Her game got fully sponsored by Spotlight Iraq, which is a support program for cultural creators living in Iraq by the Goethe Institute and German Federal Foreign Office. In this episode, you’ll hear about her background in archaeology, her motivation to create the boardgame, and her thoughts on bringing different communities together and embracing diversity. Instagram: @_urbilum_ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urbilum/ Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony K

Episode 114 - Ron Susek is best-selling author, evangelist, and television and radio Bible teacher, with fifty years in Christian ministry. A resident of Pennsylvania, he and his wife, a musician and recording artist, have appeared together on TV ministry and spoken at many conferences around the world. His latest book, "The Assyrian Prophecy: A Betrayed and Broken Nation Destined to Rise Anew from the Martyr’s Blood ", explores the often painful history of our people, our current plight, and the Biblical prophecy in Isaiah 19:23-25, which describes a future of unity between the nations of Assyria, Egypt, and Israel. In this episode we discuss Ron’s interest in this cause, what he believes the real world applications of the Isaiah prophecy would look like, and how he thinks His Western readers can be encouraged and challenged to become participants in helping to positively impact the future of the Assyrian people.    https://theassyrianproject.org/  https://www.facebook.com/ron.susek.5  https://seaministr

Episode 113 – Peter Esho was born in Sydney but spent some of his childhood in Kuwait. He is a market commentator and has ventured out on his own to run a real estate investment firm. In this episode he talks about the how and why of investment and business, his religious roots and family’s involvement in the Assyrian community, and his message for young Assyrians in diaspora. https://www.wealthi.com.au/ Instagram: @peter_esho Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognised as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.

Episode 112 - Adnan Rasho was born in Baghdad, Iraq and came to Chicago, Illinois at the age of thirteen. Growing up, Adnan experienced seasons of low self-esteem and shyness. He began self-medicating by drinking alcohol and experimenting with drugs. Over time, his drug use began to escalate until he found his drug of choice, crack cocaine. According to Adnan, the first time he used crack cocaine, he became hooked. After twenty years of drug addiction, homelessness and hardship, he turned his life around for good by the grace of God.  Currently, Adnan is gainfully employed at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois and is in the early stages of scaling his product, QuaPops, a protein powerball. In his spare time, he plays the flute and shares his testimony with churches and prayer groups.    Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by @TonyKalogerakos and the @InjuryLawyersofIllinois and New York.   Facebook: Adnan Rasho   floutiest@gmail.com   www.quapops.com   Drug A

Episode 111 - Dr. Ramina Jajoo-Frindrich is a retired Rheumatologist residing in Phoenix where she has been a partner at Arizona Arthritis and Rheumatology Associates, She is currently serving as a strategic consultant and Chairwoman of Seyfo Center, Arizona Chapter where she and her team worked tirelessly to help pass the Assyrian Genocide Rememberence Day Proclamation in the House of Representatives for the state of Arizona. In this episode, you’ll hear about her upbringing in Tehran, her med school experience in Australia, and her involvement with various Assyrian organizations in Boston and her current home state of Arizona.    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ramina.jajoo  Email: rjajoo@seyfocenteraz.com    Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising

Episode 110 - Shlimon Betshmuel is a singer, composer, and songwriter who began his singing career at an early age. He sought refuge in Iran when he was in his early 20’s, after singing a patriotic Assyrian song about Simele caused the Iraqi government to be displeased with his work. In Iran, he recorded his first album and continued to perform until he moved to the United States at the start of the Iranian Revolution. In this episode, we discussed his love for books and literature, took a deep dive into 4 of his most famous songs, and learned about the Mesopotamian origins of the piano. https://shlimonbetshmuel.com Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be re

Episode 109 - John Badal A third generation Assyrian-Chicagoan, John Badal has never had a full connection with the Assyrian community, but that doesn’t mean he’s never known his roots. Just like his Grandfather before him, John is leaving his culinary footprint @northbranchgourmet in a city that prides itself heavily on their world famous food scene.   IG: @jbadal4 @northbranchgourmet @northbranchfriedchicken   Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.     https://chicago.eater.com/2019/10/17/20919053/urbanspace-loop-north-branch-gourmet-barbece-john-badal  

Episode 108- Dr. Ashor Sworesho is a Chiropractor and business owner in Hamilton, Ontario. Outside of his work, he has dedicated his life to serving and advancing the Assyrian community in Hamilton through a multitude of areas; all with an emphasis on professionalizing efforts. In this episode, you’ll gain a greater awareness of those efforts, as well as his family’s life in Malta before settling in Canada, and finally, his academic journey that has led him to where he is today.    Email: ashor4488@gmail.com    Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.  

Episode 107 - Scott Christian Sava is an animator, illustrator, director, writer, producer and an all around awesome Assyrian! Over the last twenty years, Scott Christian Sava's work has brought some of the world's most beloved characters to life in film, television, comics, and games. From Casper the Friendly Ghost to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to Star Trek and Spider-Man. Scott's unique talents and vision have been called upon by Disney, Universal Studios, Nickelodeon, and more. In 2000 he founded Blue Dream Studios, which has produced work for Star Wars, X-Files, Aliens vs. Predator, Spider-Man, and other franchises, in addition to creating its own original content. The studio's first feature film, Animal Crackers, is now in full production. Scott is currently "living the dream" in his hometown of Franklin, TN. Scott’s mission, simply put, is to make “the world a kinder, gentler place, one story at a time.” The world needs a lot more filmmakers like Scott. Instagram: @theanimalcrackersmovie, @ssava3

Episode 106 – Yosip Bet Yosip was born in 1942 to Rabi Korush Bet Yosip and Anna Khoshaba Bet Yosip in the village of Zumalan, a suburb of Urmieh, Iran. Early in his youth Yosip learned about the Assyrian culture through listening to Assyrian folk songs, poetry, and story telling (ܛܲܐܲܠܝܵܬܹ̈ܐ) conducted by the local elders. This is when his love for the Assyrian culture and heritage was originated. In 1968, Yosip, a selected member of the Shooshata Umtanaia; was introduced to the political aspects of the Assyrian history and witnessed the birth of an international political organization to oversee the well- being of his beloved Assyrian nation, the 'Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA). He joined several Assyrian organizations: - The Society of Assyrian National Progress (Assyrian youth organization ): Shooshata Umtanaia - He assisted Shooshata Umtanaia in assembling the first and largest library of Assyrian books ever collected in modern Assyrian history. - Nineveh Choir group (1960- Tehran, Iran) - Nineve

Episode 105 – Awkar arrived in Australia in 2012, as a 16-year old refugee from Iraq via Syria. Not knowing much English, Awkar was subjected to bullying at school, but instead of succumb to the 'haters', Awkar studied intensely and pursued his passion for architecture, inspired by a visit to the iconic Sydney Opera House upon his arrival to Australia. In two years, Awkar graduated from high school as School Captain and went to study architecture at university. He won a Jørn Utzon scholarship in Copenhagen (named after the Danish architect of the Opera House), had work experience in Copenhagen and now works for Grimshaw, a prestigious Architectural firm in Sydney. https://www.awkarruel.com Instagram: @awkar.ruel Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognised as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Sta