The Caucasus Digest

Nov 14 2024 97 ep. 27 mins 55
The Caucasus Digest Podcast artwork

Your weekly view into the Caucasus region with the OC Media team.

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Donald Trump and the South Caucasus

Nov 14 2024 24 mins  
Last week, Donald Trump was re-elected for a second term as president of the United States. This week, Robin Fabbro and OC Media editors Alexandra Kuenning and Nate Ostiller discuss what Trump’s re-election as president might mean for the Caucasus as he appoints a new administration and the outcome of the war in Ukraine becomes more uncertain. Read more: How a Trump presidency

Greta Thunberg on COP29 in Azerbaijan

Nov 08 2024 17 mins  
With the UN COP conference soon kicking off in Baku, we sat down with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg to talk about the choice of Azerbaijan, an oil-producing state with a questionable human rights record, as host. Read more: Controversy as COP29 to be held in Azerbaijan Support independent journalism in the Caucasus and become an OC Media Member: Join today. …or donat

Georgia gears up for the 2024 parliamentary elections

Oct 18 2024 23 mins  
With Georgia’s parliamentary elections inching closer, both the ruling Georgian Dream party and the many groups representing the opposition are scrambling to prepare for the critical vote on 26 October. This week, OC Media’s Robin Fabbro, Mariam Nikuradze, and Shota Kincha discuss how the pre-election campaign period has been going, claims of electoral violations by Georgian Dr

Shukruti’s last stand against Georgian Manganese

Oct 04 2024 30 mins  
The residents of Shukruti, a village in Georgia’s western Chiatura region, have been protesting mining under their village carried out by Georgian Manganese for years. In September, they relocated their protest to Georgia’s Parliament in Tbilisi, demanding that the government intervene in their dispute with the mining company. Those protesting around the clock in front of parli

Kesaria Abramidze’s murder and transphobia in Georgia

Sep 27 2024 29 mins  
The high-profile murder of Kesaria Abramidze, a prominent Georgian trans model and media personality, has sent shockwaves through Georgia’s queer community, with many accusing the government of enabling her murder through their transphobic and homophobic rhetoric and their ‘LGBT propaganda’ law. Abramidze’s suspected murder, her former partner, was charged with committing a

‘A year of uncertainty’ since Nagorno-Karabakh’s surrender

Sep 19 2024 25 mins  
It has been a year since Nagorno-Karabakh’s surrender and dissolution following an Azerbaijani assault on the region. The assault pushed the vast majority of the region’s population to flee their homes and to seek refuge in Armenia, where they were met with bureaucratic hurdles and insufficient support from the Armenian government. This week, we spoke with Tigran Grigoryan, a p

Brics and the South Caucasus

Sep 13 2024 34 mins  
BRICS, an intergovernmental organisation named after its core members, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, appears to be making inroads in the South Caucasus, with Azerbaijan applying for its membership, and Armenia accepting an invitation to participate in a BRICS summit in Russia, despite its deteriorating relations with Moscow. This week, we speak to Azerbaijani inde

Podcast | The Bahruz Samadov case

Sep 06 2024 26 mins  
Bahruz Samadov, a political analyst, OC Media contributor, and outspoken advocate for peace with Armenia has been arrested in Azerbaijan and charged with treason. His arrest was preceded by the arrest of another researcher, Iqbal Abilov, on the same charges, leading many to fear that Azerbaijan has begun targeting researchers and peace activists. This week, we spoke with journalist

The Beslan siege: 20 years on

Aug 31 2024 36 mins  
The siege of Beslan has left a scar on both North Ossetia and Russia. Twenty years on, many in North Ossetia still await the results of an investigation into the Russian authorities’ handling of the crisis, which they believe might have contributed to the deaths of over 300 people — among them 186 children. This week, we spoke with Zalina Bogazova, a survivor of Beslan, about h

Why are Evolution Georgia’s employees on strike?

Aug 15 2024 30 mins  
On 12 July, employees of Evolution Georgia, an online gambling platform, began a strike demanding better working conditions and pay and an end to abusive behaviour by the company’s management. Evolution Georgia, which positions itself as a leading employer of students, is a subsidiary of a company headquartered in Sweden. This week, we spoke to Giorgi Kajaia, an Evolution Georgia