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Welcome, Tatiks Mari Basmadjian and Hasmik Alibalian!

In this episode, Mary Basmadjian honors both of her grandmothers — her paternal grandmother, Mari Basmadjian, and her maternal grandmother, Hasmik Alibalian. She calls her Medz Mamas (Western Armenian for "grandmother") her Tatiks (Eastern Armenian), reflecting the cultural threads woven through her family story.

Both sides of Mary's family immigrated to the United States from Soviet Armenia in 1979, stepping into an unknown land without knowing the language. In a note to us, Mary shared, "I was named after Mari Tatik" — a sentence that carries profound legacy and devotion.

In this conversation, Mary shares memories of laughter and storytelling, summers by the pool, Halloween celebrations, life lessons, loss, and caring for one of her grandmothers in her later years. Through these reflections, we witness how deeply both women shaped the person — and artist — she has become.

About Today's Guest Mary Basmadjian

Mary Basmadjian is a stand-up comedian, actor, and producer based in Los Angeles. Her work explores intersectional identity, mental health, digital culture, and the Armenian immigrant experience.

Growing up around funny accents and family melodramas in the '90s led Mary to adopt comedy as a second language — because laughter heals.

Through her first-generation lens, Mary creates space for honest laughter that inspires connection and freer love. Her stand-up, character work, and sharp social commentary have made her a beloved fixture in Los Angeles and beyond.

Upcoming Performances

• HYE THERE — March 3rd in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Vartoush Loves You! — March 14th at Flappers Comedy Club

Big thanks to sound designer and musician Aris Buechele.

Follow us on The Medz Mamas Podcast.

Created by: Anoush Bargamian
Story by: Mary Basmadjian
Photos: Mary Basmadjian's library
Music & Sound Design by: Aris Buechele

Support the show

The Medz Mamas Podcast is a place to honor and celebrate our Armenian grandmothers all across the globe. Subscribe today and share TheMedzMamas™ with friends & family!

TheMedzMamas™ was established in late 2020 to celebrate and honor Armenian grandmothers' lives, stories, and perspectives.

TheMedzMamas™ aims to amplify the voices of Armenian women, with a focus on this particular generation of women.

While we specifically feature Armenian grandmothers worldwide, anyone can enjoy the collection of stories. We serve as a multi-generational experience that teaches the value of our unique Armenian grandmotherhood experience within the fabric of our collective humanity.

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Welcome Medz Mama Araxie Astardjian Oshagan!

Grandson Ara Oshagan proudly pays homage to his paternal grandmother, Araxie.

Araxie (1895–1987) was born into a well-established Armenian family in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where her ancestors had lived for generations. Despite being discouraged from marrying the man she loved, she followed her heart and built a life marked by resilience, love, and deep cultural devotion.

She married Hagop Oshagan, a prominent Armenian writer. Together, they had three children and lived in several countries, often displaced by the upheaval of genocide and war. After his passing, Araxie took on the monumental task of preserving his legacy. His manuscripts—written in watered-down ink—had begun to fade, and only she could decipher his handwriting.

With deep reverence for her husband’s work and an unwavering commitment to the Western Armenian language, Araxie began the painstaking task of rewriting a large portion of his literary archive by hand. Her work was not only an act of love, but also an act of cultural survival—a preservation of language, memory, and identity.

Later in life, Araxie moved to a convalescent home in Los Angeles—a city unfamiliar to her. Her grandson Ara, who lived nearby, began visiting her regularly. Though they hadn’t shared a close relationship growing up, these visits became a bridge. Still, Ara acknowledges that displacement and diaspora left a gap between them.

After our interview, Ara shared that his childhood in Beirut was filled with surrogate grandmothers who offered the warmth and care that distance had made impossible with Araxie.

Araxie Oshagan stands as an exemplary Armenian woman—her life and work vital to the preservation of Western Armenian literature and language. Like Ara, many of us carry the sorrow of not truly knowing our grandmothers—a loss that echoes across diasporic families.

Note: The episode photo of Araxie and Ara, taken in 1987, is the last image of her before she passed.

About Today's Guest - Ara Oshagan

Ara Oshagan is a diasporic, multidisciplinary artist and curator whose work explores histories of dispossession, identity, decolonization, and (un)imagined futures. He works in photography, collage, installation, film, book arts, public art, and monuments, and has published four photography books. His solo exhibitions and public installations have appeared in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Armenia, Morocco, and South Korea. Ara’s work has been featured by NPR, the LA Times, Hyperallergic, Mother Jones, and Art Papers. He is currently Artist-in-Residence at 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica and curator at ReflectSpace Gallery in Glendale, CA.

Created by: Anoush Bargamian @themedzmamas
Story by: Ara Oshagan
Photo by: Arsine Oshagan
Sound Design & Theme Son

Support the show

The Medz Mamas Podcast is a place to honor and celebrate our Armenian grandmothers all across the globe. Subscribe today and share TheMedzMamas™ with friends & family!

TheMedzMamas™ was established in late 2020 to celebrate and honor Armenian grandmothers' lives, stories, and perspectives.

TheMedzMamas™ aims to amplify the voices of Armenian women, with a focus on this particular generation of women.

While we specifically feature Armenian grandmothers worldwide, anyone can enjoy the collection of stories. We serve as a multi-generational experience that teaches the value of our unique Armenian grandmotherhood experience within the fabric of our collective humanity.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome, Medz Mama Vartanoush Krikorian Kaprielian!

In this episode, Vietnam veteran and trauma psychologist Michael Manoog Kaprielian shares the story of his bond with his paternal grandmother, Vartanoush—a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. From childhood memories and living by her side to honoring her legacy through global humanitarian work and a life-changing family reunion, Manoog takes us on a journey of history, healing, and rediscovery.

Vartanoush Kaprielian (1900–1986) was born in the city of Mush—known as Muş in modern-day eastern Turkey and historically part of Western Armenia. During the Armenian Genocide (1915–1923), 1.5 million Armenians were killed under the Ottoman Empire. In Mush alone, over 140,000 Armenians were targeted.

Vartanoush was one of the few who survived. She had two older half-sisters, Moulan Khatchadourian and Vardouhi Marabian. Shortly before the genocide, she fled with her mother, Gulizar, from Mush to Tbilisi, Georgia. While tending to wounded Armenian fighters there, she met her future husband, Michael Kaprielian—Manoog’s namesake—while caring for his injuries.

They fell in love, married in Tbilisi, and began a remarkable journey eastward across the Trans-Siberian Railway. After passing through Russia and reaching Japan, they eventually arrived in the United States. They settled in Providence, Rhode Island, where they raised seven children—five of whom survived—and helped build what would become a vibrant Armenian-American community of genocide survivors and their descendants. Their family was, and remains, a strong pillar of that community.

Amid the chaos of genocide, Vartanoush’s sisters and uncles were separated and eventually resettled in Yerevan, Gyumri, and the remote village of Dzorashen, Armenia. Decades later, through Manoog’s determination, a missing branch of the family was found—reuniting relatives and honoring the resilience of a grandmother whose quiet strength continues to inspire.

About Today’s Guest – Michael Manoog Kaprielian:

• Member of the Providence Armenian Relief Society
• Life member of Vietnam Veterans of America and the NAACP
• First man elected to the board of the Armenian International Women’s Association
• Recipient of honors from the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Georgia
• Lecturer on PTSD and the psychology of the Armenian woman
• Founding board member of Alzheimer’s Care Armenia

Big thanks to sound designer/musician Aris Buechele!
Follow us on The Medz Mamas Podcast.

Created by: Anoush Bargamian @themedzmamas
Story by: Michael Manoog Kaprielian
Photo: Michael Manoog Kaprielian
Sound Design by: Aris Buechele

Support the show

The Medz Mamas Podcast is a place to honor and celebrate our Armenian grandmothers all across the globe. Subscribe today and share TheMedzMamas™ with friends & family!

TheMedzMamas™ was established in late 2020 to celebrate and honor Armenian grandmothers' lives, stories, and perspectives.

TheMedzMamas™ aims to amplify the voices of Armenian women, with a focus on this particular generation of women.

While we specifically feature Armenian grandmothers worldwide, anyone can enjoy the collection of stories. We serve as a multi-generational experience that teaches the value of our unique Armenian grandmotherhood experience within the fabric of our collective humanity.