Assyrian Podcast

Episode 134 - Dr. Amir Harrak is a professor of Aramaic and Syriac at the University of Toronto and the President of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies. In this episode, we discuss the importance of Syriac, Syriac Christianity, and the distinctions between Aramaic, Syriac, Neo-Aramaic, and Assyrian. If you’re a lover of language, history, and religion, this episode is for you. 

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. 

www.nmc.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/amir-harrak 

[email protected] 

Episode 133 -

Qasha (Pastor) Younan Shiba was born and raised in Kirkuk, Iraq in 1964. His humble beginnings in Kirkuk, and a speech impediment at a young age, led Younan to find his own language through art. Younan received Christ as his Savior in 1990 while serving in the Iraqi army. 

In 1995, Younan and Layla moved to Amman, Jordan to both obtain their seminary educations at Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary (JETS). At that time there were approximately 500,000 Iraqi refugees living in Jordan due the Persian Gulf War and the closure of borders by Syria and Turkey. While a student at the seminary, he was asked by the Alliance Mission Christian Church in Amman to consider leading a ministry to Iraqi refugees.

Qasha Younan was ordained through the Assyrian Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Baghdad in 2003. After receiving four death threats in three years, and finally, a voicemail from a member of the jihad demanding money and threatening to kill his family, they were forced to flee to the United States.  

He is currently a member of the Chicago (IL) Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He and his wife established the Family Life Development Foundation (FLDF), and through which they minister to over 120,000 Assyrians through a two-hour radio ministry every Saturday evening. They also host a worldwide satellite TV ministry that reaches thousands more. Now he serves with the Navigators Nations Within, reaching out to immigrants from his culture who haven't heard the good news of Christ.

Based out of Chicago, Illinois, Qasha Younan and his wife, Layla, have been married since 1994 and together they have two daughters, Joy and Grace.

Episode 132 - Dante is a Life Coach who is passionate about helping people who feel stuck in their jobs, master their mindset so they can get clarity about their next career move and go after it.

Her lifelong obsession with all things personal development and her own experience receiving coaching services and the life changing impact it had on her, lead her to create her own coaching business. Dante loves to help people learn new mindset tools and techniques to improve their work and personal lives.

She has her B.A. in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara and her M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Fresno Pacific University. 

Instagram: danterosh

Website: www.dantenoelle.com 

Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by @TonyKalogerakos and the @InjuryLawyersofIllinois and New York.

Episode 131 - Petrus Afrem-Barsom is an Assyrian living in Duisburg (Germany). Professionally he works as a tax specialist and devotes his free time for the assyrian causes. Petrus is the chairman of the cultural association “Suryoye Ruhrgebiet” and one of the driving forces in the organization “Save Our Souls - 1915.de (SOS)”. In this episode you will not only hear about his volunteer journey, but also what led to the decision to form an activism group like “SOS”, that later also became an humanitarian aid organization, who caught the attention of many media outlets in Germany. You will also question yourself, how far you would go to bring awareness to your cause?

Facebook: @1915.de

Instagram: sos_1915

Website: www.1915.de

Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by @TonyKalogerakos and the @InjuryLawyersofIllinois and New York.

Episode 130 - Frank Gilbart was born in Kirkuk, Iraq in the early 80s. From an early age, he realized the importance of language, civic engagement and the cultural arts scene. According to Frank, this mosaic led to a special bond amongst the Assyrian inhabitants of his hometown Kirkuk. 

Frank’s life led him to study his true passion, directing, film and screenwriting. Completing studies both in Kirkuk, and continuing for another two years in Baghdad. 

Fueled by a love for his nation and his childhood friend Nineb Yousif Toma, Frank began the rigorous process of filming and producing Journey of Eternity. Between gofundme, Assyrian organizations, a handful of amateur funding raising individuals, and organic donations, Frank was able to muster up roughly $300,000 to film and produce Journey of Eternity. This true story is about the three Assyrian heroes; Youbert Benyamin Shlimon, Youkhana Esho Jajo, and Yousip Toma Hermis, who were imprisoned and later hanged without a fair trial on February 3, 1985 by the Iraqi Baath regime.

Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast programming 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 129 – George Rasho 

George Rasho, a current Australian, grew up in Chicago, and an early memory of watching the production of Home Alone 3 near his childhood home piqued his curiosity for the creative arts and filmmaking. In this episode we talked to George about Emmanuel, the feature film he’s producing, his involvement with his Church as a deacon, and how he thinks we can move the Assyrian nation forward when it comes to the arts. 

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.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grasho1 

Emmanuel The Film: https://www.emmanuelthefilm.com/ 

Episode 128 - Leona Ruben or "Rubi" is a twenty years old female assyrian rapper from Germany. She writes and produces her own rap songs and has gained thousands of followers on social media

and more than two million views on her music videos. She recently released her newest single "Schachmatt,” which means "Checkmate,” where she not only performs in a music video but also created the vision behind it. In this episode you will hear more about Rubi's inspiration, thoughts as a female in a men-dominated rap world, and her connection to the Assyrian community. You can listen to her music on Spotify, Youtube, and Apple Music.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LeonaRuben

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0VlrorDSkEbLK1D6VvMgd2

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/rubi/447828145 

Instagram: @dieserubi

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. 

Episode 127– Robin Zirwanda is the founder and front-man of contemporary Assyrian dance-rock worldbeat band Azadoota. Robin was born in Iraq and migrated to Australia at a young age, performing as a percussionist for many notable artists, before forming Azadoota in 1996. This week, we chat about Robin’s history, why he loves music and also discuss the role of patriotism and why it is important to be Assyrian. 

https://www.azadoota.com/

Instagram: @azadoota

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 126 - Diana Atureta is a Toronto-based businesswoman, self-taught artist, and the founder of Assyrian Circles; an online initiative where Assyrians can speak our native language together with other Assyrians around the world. Its focus is on helping our community learn and preserve the language, including all of our dialects, while utilizing as many existing tools as possible. 

www.dianaatureta.com

IG: @dianaatureta

www.assyriancircles.com

IG: @assyriancircles 

Email: [email protected] 

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.

Episode 125 - Dr. Ohara Aivaz. Ohara Aivaz is a proud Assyrian and a board-certified dermatologist practicing in Beverly Hills, California. She completed a combined Internal Medicine and Dermatology residency program at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, and is now double-board certified in both Dermatology and Internal Medicine. She has lectured nationally, including invitations to speak at the National Institutes of Health, and internationally and has also authored several articles in peer-reviewed journals.

In this interview you’ll learn about her journey through medical school and how she came to study dermatology, her parents encouragement from an early age, the importance of Assyrian connection and community, how dermatology requires her to pay the closest attention to her patients, and that time she pulled a parasite from a skull (if you can stomach it, check out her IG post from July 13). 

Insta: @oharaaivaz.md

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