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 anywhere, but now there are monthly shows with lines around the block. There’s still a huge divide between what you can do at these underground events, and what is acceptable on the streets of Yerevan. But Gigi believes that drag can change Armenia.

Click here to see Gigi Aries online.

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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 a connection between struggles in her personal life, and those faced by her homeland: “Sometimes we think we love something, but it brings us only pain.”

If you haven’t listened to the first episode we did with Gayane, it’s called “Special Episode: My Land Feels so Sweet, but it’s Thirsty for Blood.” You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on our website.

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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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