BOSTON — Promoting the Knights and Daughters of Vartan and having fun doing so is just what Asbed David Medzorian of Ararat Tahlij Number One in Boston is doing these days. A member of the Knights since 2017, Medzorian is now producing a podcast series focused on profiling Knights and Daughters of Vartan lodges across the country and the work they are doing on behalf of the Armenian community both here in the states and in Armenia. He is the fifth family member to join the organization. His paternal grandfather joined the Knights nearly a century ago and both of his parents are former commanders of their respective lodges along with a sister who is also a member of Arpie Otyag Number 9.
“Talking Vartan: The Knights and Daughters of Vartan Podcast” made its online debut in February with a profile of his own Boston lodge, Ararat Tahlij Number One as well as Arpie Otyag Number Nine. Featured in the podcast episode were Medzorian’s own father, Nakhkeen Sbarabed Jack Medzorian, Sbarabed Argishti Chaparian, Dirouhie Dr. Knarik Arkun and Tbrabed Nerses Zurabyan. Episode Two, which debuted on March 17th, profiles Gayane Otyag Number Twenty-Two in San Fernando Valley, California with guests being Dirouhie Marie Jamgotchian and Nakgheen Dirouhie Nancy Hammoudian.
Guest interviews for the “Talking Vartan” Podcast are conducted either over the phone or using Skype unless the guests are in the Boston area as they were in Episode One. Medzorian says that face to face conversations are always preferred, but when most of the guests are either hundreds or even thousands of miles away, you let technology do its thing. Once the interviews are recorded, the completed podcast is assembled in Medzorian’s production studio in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Medzorian says the aim of the podcast is to promote the humanitarian work of the Knights and the Daughters and what a positive difference that work is making both in the United States and in Armenia. He says he enjoys hearing about how members band together to make things happen, whether it be to raise money or help build a school in a remote Armenian village. “We are not looking for nor want any accolades”, says Medzorian. “We only want to help our fellow Armenians and to preserve our heritage.” He hopes that the “Talking Vartan” Podcast will help spread the word about what the Knights and Daughters of Vartan are all about and encourage others to join.
The “Talking Vartan” Podcast is for Medzorian, just one more step in a career that began in his early twenties when he began anchoring and reporting the news in Bangor, Maine, followed by anchoring stints in Portland, Maine and Manchester, New Hampshire. In addition to covering multiple presidential campaigns, Medzorian was live on the air from Cape Canaveral in January of 1986 when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.
Medzorian left broadcast news on a full-time basis in 1990 and formed his own video production company. In 1994, he served as the official videographer during the Boston visit of the first president of the Republic of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrossian. Two years later, Medzorian was asked to chronicle the Boston visit of the late Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin I of Blessed Memory. From 1993 to 1998, Medzorian produced, hosted and financed a weekly television program entitled, “Talking Armenian.” The program focused on the people and events that comprised the Armenian community of Greater Boston.
