Ukrainian newcomer Olena Lavrishcheva shares her family’s dramatic escape from Kyiv, their path through displacement, and their new life in Nanaimo. She also discusses the creation of the Canadian Alliance of Ukrainian Workers, a grassroots effort uniting Ukrainians and Canadians to support humanitarian needs and help newcomers integrate. This interview was recorded in early 2025; event references reflect that date.
A conversation with Dr. Oleg Kotsuba, Director of Publications at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI), on the institute’s grassroots origins, its influential publishing program, and the Ukrainian writers whose work is reshaping global understanding of Ukraine’s identity, history, and contemporary experience.
Ukrainian American author Valya Dudycz Lupescu joined me in 2011 to talk about The Silence of Trees, her debut novel rooted in wartime Ukraine, postwar displacement, and the memories and traditions carried into a new life in America. In 2026, her story resonates even more strongly.
A 2013 conversation with Mirko Petriw examining how shale‑gas discoveries, Russian‑backed pressure campaigns, and sudden legislative crackdowns were reshaping Ukraine’s political landscape long before the full impact became clear.
In Zelensky, Serhii Rudenko captures the transformation of an unlikely political newcomer into the steadfast leader of Ukraine in its darkest hour. This review reflects on a biography that reveals the pressure, peril, and resolve that defined Zelensky as he faced Russia’s brutal invasion.
A 2016 Nash Holos interview with war correspondent Sergei Loiko, reflecting on his four days inside the shattered Donetsk airport and the real events that shaped Aeroport.
Myra reviews a HURI book, A Harvest Truce, a tragicomedy set in war‑torn Eastern Ukraine, portraying the dignity of ordinary people living under Russian occupation and the fragile “harvest truce” that lets farmers bring in their crops.
This interview was recorded at the height of the Maidan uprising, in January of 2014. Just weeks later, Crimea would be annexed — a possibility unimaginable at the time of this conversation. It was a volatile time, marked by rapid and unprecedented changes that would permanently reshape Ukraine’s path forward. Listening now, it offers insights into how people perceived the stakes before history took its unexpected and shocking turn. Drawn from expert knowledge and sharp analysis of historical patterns set against the unfolding events of the time, these perspectives remain… Read more: Listening Back: An Interview with Mirko Petriw — Ukraine on the Brink of War
In late February 2025, shortly after the three-year mark of russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, I had the great privilege to speak on air with the authors of two remarkable books that bring home this devastating war in gripping novels that are hard to put down. Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger is an American author now living in Austria who has written Swimming With Spies, a middle-grade novel set in Crimea, based on the true story of the sad fate of therapy dolphins in a dolphinarium in the port city of Sevastopol at… Read more: Two authors chat about their books set in modern-day war-torn Ukraine
In this interview which first aired on Nash Holos in March 2025, Canadian Kobzar tells us about NAFO, the Wild Hornets, and the Toonie Tuesday fundraiser. To listen, click on the player. Transcript below. Enjoy! Pawlina: Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine is into its fourth year. Unfortunately, it has morphed into a political football for the media, which pays scant attention to the realities that the Ukrainian people face and have to deal with daily. It’s normal, if sad and bit callous, for compassion fatigue to sit in… Read more: “Canadian Kobzar” in conversation with Pawlina discussing Toonie Tuesday, Wild Hornets and more