Guests of Groong Podcast

Markus Ritter

Dr. Markus Ritter is the Head of Mission of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA). He is a senior police officer with extensive experience on national and international level. During his 27 years of professional career with the German Federal Police, he held various leadership positions on executive and staff level, and has gained extensive experience during five international deployments.

Matthew Hoh

Capt. Matthew Hoh is EisenHower Media Network Associate Director. He’s a ‘Former USMC Captain and State Department Officer, and Iraq War combat veteran and Afghanistan War State Department officer.

Metaxe Hakobyan

Metaxe Hakobyan, member of the Justice faction in the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh.

Մետաքսե Հակոբյանը Արցախի Հանրապետության Ազգային Ժողովի պատգամավոր և «Արդարություն» խմբակցության անդամ:

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

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 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.

Narek Malyan

Narek Malian, a distinguished Armenian fiction writer and PR specialist, grew up in St. Geghard monastery, deeply shaping his worldview. After graduating from the Monte Melkonian Military College, he earned a Master’s in International Law from Yerevan State University and a second Master’s in Public Administration from the Armenian State University of Economics. Malian transitioned from a role in the Military Police’s Homicide Investigations Unit to pursue a career in PR, founding the successful “Peoplemeter” PR Agency and later Malian PR in 2019. He served as Adviser to the Head of Armenia’s Police (2011-2017) and taught courses on PR ethics and strategy at the Police Education Complex and Yerevan State University.

Nikoloz Bitsadze

Dr. Nikoloz Bitsadze is a researcher at The Center for International Politics Research and Forecasting (CIPRF), with a PhD in politics and international relations from Tbilisi State University.

Nino Skvortsova

Nino Skvortsova is a scholar who researches media studies, and regime transformation in the South Caucasus. Currently she is a post-graduate, PhD candidate, researching Regime transformation of Georgia. She has MA in Theory and History of International Relations from RUDN, the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, and has also studied Social Sciences at the Caucasus International University in Tbilisi, Georgia.