Uncovering Roots: Recounting Overlooked Historical Tales Of Pain & Suffering

 

This review is the first in a series of reviews, recommendations, and essays about Indie podcasters -- their craft, their challenges, and the critical role they play in podcasting. These entrepreneurs display skills as disparate as hosting, sound production, graphic design, scriptwriter, interviewer, marketing genius, and financial watchdog. They are the heart and soul of podcasting. 

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 Uncovering Roots is an independently produced (Indie) podcast that is a moving and powerful new show that gives a voice to lesser-known people whose stories need to be heard.

The creator, producer, and host is Maxim Saakyan. He is Armenian, Spanish, and Russian, a complicated blend, to say the least. 

Saakyan was born in Italy, moved to London when he was young, and studied Math for both his bachelors and masters.  His education led him quite organically to a data analyst job, but he craved doing creative things.

Why did Saakyan start a podcast and why this podcast? 

"I'm a strong believer that creative outputs are the best ways to teach people about certain topics," says Maxim. "Whether that's about history, culture or current affairs, audio is also such an intimate way of talking to people, most of the time, you're literally in their ears speaking to them.

Maxim continues: "We seem to be living in a world where one-minute videos are the goal, but despite that, there is a rise in popularity with podcasts which can be 30 to even 60 minutes long"

 

The first three episodes of Uncovering Roots are about the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and beyond by the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey). In those two years, over 1.2 million Armenians were sent on death marches to the Syrian Desert. In addition, about 200,000 Armenian women and children were forcibly converted to Islam and integrated into Muslim households. 

 

Due to its strategic geographic significance, Armenia has suffered countless invaders and invasions throughout history. For example, from 1513 to 1737, Armenia was controlled by different conquerors 14 times.

Saakyan begins by telling the story of Armenian Genocide survivor Aurora Mardiganian, who is the subject of the strong opening episode, pieced together with interviews from people who knew her. Resilient doesn’t come close to describing the woman who suffered torture and brutality before she eventually escaped to New York.

Saakyan comments on these episodes: "This three-part series of the podcast is very important to me. As an Armenian, the amount of people who don't know about the genocide really hurts me. Then we look at Aurora's story, and it's just so unbelievably shocking. It's so unbelievable that so many people didn't actually think she existed. Like she was a fictional character that was made up to represent the pain Armenians went through. But she was real. She not only went through the genocide, but she went through Hollywood exploitation as well. This story isn't just about teaching people about the genocide, it's about honoring her story."

Make no mistake about it. Saakyan's storytelling and narrative prowess are so good that these episodes rival the emotional punch of Holocaust horror tales. What's more amazing about the emotional core of this podcast is Saakyan's admission that, "I virtually had zero story-telling podcast experience, no sound design experience, no mic experience. This was an entire learning curve for me. From fact checking to interviewing. I think one of the hardest things was the sound design element, I never appreciated how crucial it is."

 

Despite Saakyan's protestations of inexperience, Uncovering Roots is an audio masterpiece for several reasons. First, his storytelling is so commanding that it can grab listeners by their ears. His voice radiates the kind of emotional intensity that can blanket listeners with the darkness of the human psyche.

Second, the sound production is sonically eloquent, and pervasive in its haunting nature.

"For the first episode, I worked with the talented Olivia Melkonain on music," Saakyan notes. "We used a music library to try and find Armenian sounds. After learning a lot from her, I implemented similar sound design to episodes two and three. The Armenian sounds, from Oud's to Duduk's, were a really important part of the series."

Third, Saakyan created this podcast with a sharp eye to the smallest detail. For example, his mother designed the podcast's graphics, and, while it was very much a solo-project, he solicited help from Olivia Melkonian and Al Shaibani."

What are the future tales planned for Uncovering Roots?

Saakyan answers: "In mid 2024, we're hoping to have the first official season up and running where we tell stories from the SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) region and indigenous people from across the globe."

I highly recommend Uncovering Roots. This podcast resonates with the agony of an entire race, and creator / host Saakyan inserts us into the life and eyes of an Armenian girl, Aurora Mardiganian. 

In effect, Uncovering Roots is the ultimate true-crime podcast, because it's true about the disputed Armenian Genocide, and it's a crime how these people suffered so much during World War 1.