Dignified Resilience with Riada Akyol

About Dignified Resilience with Riada Akyol

With compelling research, beautiful storytelling and powerful interviews with extraordinary people from different industries and from all around the world, journalist Riada Asimovic Akyol presents a podcast about fresh narratives on confronting despair, alleviating distress, and forging ahead. While innovatively linking two powerful concepts - dignity and resilience - she also aims to grow a global conversation that seeks to better acknowledge different individual and sociocultural perspectives on meaningfully weathering life‘s adversities. Ultimately, this podcast is an invitation for people to engage in a thoughtful introspection, regardless of one‘s geographical location or state of mind. Stronger human relationships and more adequate resources for everyone‘s resilience are the goal. We have different lives, distinct pathways, cultures and contexts, but we can find common ground in supporting dignified resilience anywhere.

Publisher

Riada Asimovic Akyol

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Apr 2020

Latest episode

17 Mar 2022

Latest episodes

31 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   17 Mar 2022

   Riada talks to Karina Orlova on Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, censorship, propaganda, ways forward

   This was a special episode. I interviewed a dear friend, someone whom I enjoy having conversations on many topics offline, and today we decided to move our conversation about Russia’s conversation of Ukraine, about propaganda and misinformation, censorship, something that Karina Orlova, my today’s guest is very knowledgeable about herself. She was the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Russia’s liberal radio station, Echo of Moscow, before it was shut a few days after the invasion began. She left Russia in 2015, and has for years been very vocal about her opposition to Vladimir Putin and his regime. This was a very illuminating conversation with Karina, who as per usual self, offered many frank insights on the context of the invasion, her thoughts about why she feels guilty and ashamed at the moment, about the benefits of the sanctions and the consequences for the stability of the regime, her thoughts on Putin’s potential usage of chemical and nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and how to help Russian dissidents and people who most need it today - those in Ukraine.

2. 

   23 Feb 2022

   Riada talks to Catherine Baker, Azra Hromadzic on Politics, Race, Migration, Environment in Balkans

   It was an incredible privilege for me to host two experts like Catherine Baker and Azra Hromadzic for such an intellectually stimulating exchange! We had a great conversation that addressed topics like race, racism, migration, nationalism, environment, positionality, identification in research, and connected them in a way that I hope would be interesting beyond the geographical context of Southeast Europe as well. Azra and Catherine’s scholarship have inspired me to think about these topics and many other important issues in new ways, so maybe you too will decide to explore more of the same after listening to this conversation. I for sure know that I will go back to it many more times in the future. Enjoy! Catherine Baker is a lecturer in 20th Century History at the University of Hull, a scholar whose research includes topics related to nationalism, ethnicity and identity, connections with popular culture and the entertainment industry, travel, migration, mobility and other interesting ties in the former Yugoslavia and Southeast Europe. She brought that expertise to our conversation today, including her scholarly and theoretical work that offer a distinctive insight into how the region is configured by, and through, race. Catherine is also an author of numerous academic papers and book “Race in the Yugoslav region.” Azra Hromadzic is a cultural anthropologist based in Syracuse University in the U.S., at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs - and her research interests are in the anthropology of international policy in the context of state-making in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her book ”Citizens of an Empty Nation: Youth and State-making in Postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina” is an ethnographic investigation of the internationally directed postwar intervention policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the response of local people, especially youth, to these policy efforts. Several years ago, Azra initiated a new project that ethnographically researches aging, care and social services in the context of postwar and postsocialist Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is currently working on what she calls “riverine citizenship” in Bihac (focused on the Una river). Photo credit: Azra Hromadzic, American Anthropological Association website, and for Catherine Baker, University of Hull website.

3. 

   24 Jan 2022

   Riada talks to Blerta Basholli, director of ‘Hive,’ film from Kosovo shortlisted for Oscars 2022 nominations

   It was a pleasure to host Blerta Basholli, the director of the Kosovar film "Hive," currently shortlisted among 15 international feature films for Oscars 2022. The film is inspired by the true story of Fahrije Hoti from Krusha village, whose husband was missing from the war in Kosovo. In order to help the survival of her family and ensure kids' livelihood, she comes up with an idea to establish a cooperative, to start an agricultural business. On the way, she faces numerous challenges in a traditional, patriarchal environment. I spoke with Blerta about the background of the story, the process of making the film, Fahrije's resilience, the grief and its portrayal in the film, the importance of storytelling through this medium, the reception of the film in Kosovo, Blerta's plans for the film and her message for the viewers. It is a beautiful movie and I hope this conversation brings to more visibility for it, and that as many people get to see it! The film has achieved a tremendous success already, it won the top three awards at the US Sundance Film Festival in 2021, for “Best Film”, “Best Director” and “Audience Award," and continues its festival route. It will also be available for streaming on some major platforms in the US soon.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

21 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.