Guests of Groong Podcast

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Michael Goorjian

Michael Goorjian

Michael A. Goorjian is an Armenian-American actor, filmmaker, and writer. He has won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for his role as David Goodson in the television film David’s Mother. As a director, Goorjian achieved recognition for his first major independent film Illusion, which he wrote, directed and starred in alongside Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas. He wrote, directed, and starred in the critically acclaimed “Amerikatsi’’, which marks a historic milestone for Armenian Cinema, as the first film submitted by Armenia to the Academy Awards to make the Oscar Shortlist for the category of Best International Feature.

Mihran Hakobyan

Mihran Hakobyan

Միհրան Տարոնի Հակոբյան, հայ պատմաբան (պատմական գիտությունների թեկնածու), քաղաքական գործիչ, և 6-րդ գումարման ազգային ժոլովի պատգամավոր (անկուսակցական , «ՀՀԿ» խմբակցություն).

Mihran Taroni Hakobyan is an Armenian historian and a PhD Candidate in Historical Sciences. He is a civic activist, and member of the Armenian National Assembly of the 6th convocation (non-partisan, “RPA/HHK” faction).

Naira Melikyan

Naira Melikyan

Naira Melikyan is an activist mother in Armenia. Since her son, Hayk Melikyan, was was martyred in the 44-day war in 2020, she has fought for the rights of parents and relatives of Armenian fallen soldiers.

Paul Cormarie

Paul Cormarie

Paul Cormarie is a policy analyst in RAND’s Washington D.C. office. His research focuses on NATO and European defense policy, force planning, and security cooperation. He is also a CSIS Nuclear Scholar where he is currently conducting research on European deterrence. Previously, Cormarie was a Researcher at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where he wrote reports on the Alliance and in other topics related to European security. Prior to these roles, he has also been affiliated with CSIS, Atlantic Council, the EU Delegation to the United States, and the United Nations. Cormarie holds a M.Sc. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Pietro Shakarian

Pietro Shakarian

Dr. Pietro Shakarian is a historian of Russia and the Soviet Union and a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Historical Research at the National Research University–Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, Russia. He is currently completing his book on the major role of Anastas Mikoyan in Soviet nationality policy reform and de-Stalinization during the era of Nikita Khrushchev’s Thaw. Dr. Shakarian’s analyses on Russian and post-Soviet affairs have appeared in The Nation, The Plain Dealer, and various other publications. He was previously a lecturer in history at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan.

Rananjay Anand

Rananjay Anand

Rananjay Anand is the Co-Founder & President of the Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO.

Rouben Galichian

Rouben Galichian

Rouben Galichian is an author and specialist of Armenia’s maps and borders through 2600 years of history. His works can be found on roubengalichian.com.

Ruben Melikyan

Ruben Melikyan

Ruben Melikyan was formerly Artsakh’s Human Rights Ombudsman, and prior to that he was rector of the Justice Academy of Armenia. In 2019, Melikyan co-founded and currently leads the “Path of Law” NGO. Իրավական ուղի in Armenian.

Ruben Muradyan

Ruben Muradyan

Ruben Muradyan is a Yerevan-based cybersecurity analyst. He’s an independent researcher, and a frequent speaker on cybersecurity topics on ArmSec, BarCamp.