Nasha Kasha: Recent Episodes
Steve Andrusiak
Nasha Kasha is a weekly radio program about Ukrainian life. We travel Ontario and beyond to bring you stories about remarkable lives and events. Our 28 minute episodes are in English with some Ukrainian and music offerings.
Як Сонце Заслонить (Оркестра Рушничок) - Rushnychok sings When Clouds Hide the Sun (1:04)
This is the final episode of Nasha Kasha. The program began with and interview about Russia’s invasion of Crimea. Today, I sign off with Russia again invading Ukraine. The program explores what it means to be Ukrainian for our listeners.
Thank you to all of our 18 radio stations for hosting this journalist’s work over the past six years. Stay well and good and wise everyone.
I’d like to give you a glimpse of the stumbles, lessons and joys I’ve experienced presenting stories. This is my notebook, and it is my second to last show.
I plan to present two more shows after this episode, as we are approaching our final Nasha Kasha. Having reported almost 300 stories about Ukrainian life, I want to share one that I have grown up with. Actually, I'm in it at the end. It is no more remarkable than yours' I am sure. Still it gives me a sense of completion, and in words and music, I do hope that you enjoy it.
Dedicated to those who came before us.
When Nasha Kasha first aired in the spring of 2016, Crimea already had been occupied by Russia for two years. Also a Russian supported proxy army was wreaking havoc in Eastern Ukraine. Six years later, the spectre of an all out war looms.
Both are educators, both were school principals. He at St Andrew’s College at the University of Manitoba. She at a Winnipeg inner city school. The Yereniuks exemplify community service and family bonds. And I am pleased to feature them on Nasha Kasha this week.
28 little stories in 28 minutes. That is this week’s assignment at Nasha Kasha- a Ukrainian Almanac. And it’s all about the music we've played over the past six years. .
Neighbourhood roads, the traffic signs and lights we obey; housing, economic and community development; parks, fire and police services. All are up to local government to manage. Today, Nasha Kasha meets a man, who helps many municipalities make sense of it all.
Doug Sulipa is among the 3 top comic book sellers in Canada. He operates his business from a rural Manitoba town of 16,000. His advice to any would-be collectors? Buy what you yourself would enjoy reading. He advises- pursue life, love and once in a while, be prepared to "marvel".
One Winnipeg choir took the name of an ancient instrument. Another the name of an accomplished composer and choral conductor. As 2022 opens, Nasha Kasha brings us the story of Ukrainian Christmas with two choruses, who give it voice.
This week, with best wishes for the holidays, we present Nasha Kasha’s Christmas week story: Baba's House.
Plagiarism, denial, even murder. Our Nasha Kasha story begins with bells, and it concludes with one of the world’s most endearing Christmas carols.
Norilsk, Russia, north of the Arctic Circle holds the largest known nickel, copper ad palladium reserves in the world. It is also one of earth's biggest polluters. Norilsk was built by forced labour, through bouts of starvation and an ever-present intense cold. Still for one Montreal singer-songwriter, it is still home.
Boo! That is what Covid 19 blurted at us in 2020 and 2021. We responded to that scare with science, innovation and original survival schemes. This week, Nasha Kasha presents the ghost kitchen, a way to re-imagine how a restaurant cooks, serves and delivers.
The pandemic has opened new ways to think and act. This week Nasha Kasha introduces St Vlad’s and two women who helped that Toronto institution resist complacency.
A trip to Ukraine in the late 1970s followed by an internship there launched Alexis Kochan on a journey through the ancient music of her ancestors. She would fashion a career reinterpreting these songs and fragments. This week Nasha Kasha presents Alexis Kochan, her story and her music.
In the 1930’s Joseph Stalin used hunger to starve the Ukrainian nation. That killing of millions has come to be called the Holodomor. But if you look for the word in an English language dictionary you won't find it.
Yura is a war survivor, a school yard scrapper, a lover of Ukrainian song, a dentist and an academic. Along the way he made a big impression on one young would-be journalist. And this is where our story begins.
Every November we pause to reflect on courage, sacrifice and belonging, as we approach Remembrance Week 2021. This year, we also have an opportunity to consider the place of Ukrainian Canadians and a film about the times.
Last year Hockey Manitoba surveyed the top reasons to play the game. There’s the fun, the fitness. It is a confidence builder, develops skills, helps make friends. Hockey is a community. The game is competitive, it releases stress, and there are travel opportunities. Finally, hockey opens doors. Only a fraction of those who play realize big dreams. But with every practice, you can help someone realize themselves.
A morning stroll. Meeting a stranger. An invitation to chat. A hidden story surfaces, and it tumbles forth. Welcome to this week’s episode of Nasha Kasha.
Does food taste better when the waiter slams your plate down in front of you? Does a bit of attitude spice up your meal? If it does, you would have loved, loved Pat’s Lunch- back in the glory days of the Winnipeg's Exchange District. Step inside. The coffee's on.
On the last day in September Canadians face forward to offer respect and prayers as they reflect on one of the darkest periods in Canadian history.
Canada’s federal election is behind us, and Nasha Kasha goes in search of silver linings and meaning, while taking in Toronto's Annual Ukrainian Festival.
During the First World War, Ukrainian Canadians and others from Eastern Europe were labelled enemy aliens and robbed of their freedom. Canada’s first national internment was brought about by the War Measures Act and didn't end until well after that War.
University students are back on campuses across Canada. In Ottawa, a recent graduate and a final year student speak about their respective scholarly, community and personal pursuits.
It is a love story that started long ago and continues today. September 1st, Irena Pavliw turned ninety. In this week's episode of Nasha Kasha, the author and educator recalls love in a time of uncertainty, survival and recovery.
When marchers set out on their 500 kilometer trek from Sudbury to Parliament Hill, organizers blessed their efforts to bring attention the victims of residential schools. The name they chose was Blinding Light Tiger Lilly. Like reconciliation with our First Nations, the lily stands atop a tall strong stem. Petals are complex and multi layered. And they take years to flower.
Nasha Kasha is back on the road. With masks and social distancing at the ready, we present a long overdue visit to catch up.
Taras Shevchenko is a poet who modeled language retention, free speech, courage and grace in the face of oppression. Today his spirit and example quietly inform anyone who will take the time to notice. This report is from Quebec City.
Pets provide nonjudgmental emotional support. Studies show that contact with pets reduces stress, and that animals help older adults cope with social isolation— Here is Nasha Kasha’s all cat show. Some of these stories may conflict with the data, but each has a happy endings.
2021 is the 150th anniversary year of Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka. Her significance for Ukraine and for Europe is this week’s story on Nasha Kasha.
This week, Nasha Kasha revisits North Winnipeg, and we learn about its history and evolution from a long time resident and film-maker.
Ricky Skaggs plays one in Mandolin Rain. Rod Stewart’s mega hit Maggie May closes with one. R.E.M featured one in the song Losing My Religion. Today, Nasha Kasha salutes the mandolin. Companion, music tool, sad song tremolo.
Halifax broadcaster, author and politician Richard Zurawski was very close to his father. But for much of his life Richard knew only a fraction of his father's story.
He is called the father of multiculturalism. Senator Paul Yuzyk died July 9th, 1986. As we approach the 35th anniversry of his passing Nasha Kasha acknowledges Yuzyk's legacy.
A rushnychok is an embroidered cloth: a memento haded down through generations. Here is the story of a band that wove their songs and music through that embroidery for more than a decade.
Marten Falls First Nation is an Anishinaabe reserve located in Northern Ontario. It’s communities live on both sides of the Albany River far to the north of Thunder Bay. This week Nasha Kasha brings us their story. First we’ll hear from Canada’s top First Nations leader.
Nasha Kasha visits Sarnia to reprise and to update the story of a church congregation, like so many, on the margins of viability.
To come to live permanently in a country other than one’s native land is to immigrate. What the Oxford Canadian Dictionary doesn’t mention are the hardships.
As the worldwide pandemic forces us to press "paws" on community life and to stay close to home, it does enhance our appreciation for our homes and the pets in them. Among these is one particular species, many consider to be- the cat’s meow.
It is rare. Only a few hear it. Fewer still answer. This week, Nasha Kasha chronicles the last three years of one couple, who followed their calling into Ukrainian life.
Mark and Marichka Marczyk have earned two Dora Awards, an Edinburgh Fringe First Award, and an Amnesty International Freedom of Speech Award. Today on Nasha Kasha, they speak of their music and meeting at an intersection in Ukrainian history.
Today Nasha Kasha introduces two life-long musicians, who also thrive at their day side construction jobs. And we will learn how music sustains them, particularly during this pandemic.
For the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, Nasha Kasha offers recollections, analysis and a prayer.
Ukrainians in PEI maintain their roots pretty much on their own. The population is tiny and still they thrive on the Island that is Canada's smallest province.
Friends, family and music. They are all elements of a beautiful dance called life. This is true, even if the dancing has to be done at a distance.
Summer Festival organizers and performers are itching to welcome attendees back, and they hope at least part of the 2021 season can be salvaged. As we all await post pandemic freedom, here’s a look back at a British Columbia favourite.
This week Nasha Kasha explores fusion and harmony in Ukrainian music. We begin with a project that blends reggae with Ukraine’s iconic instrument: the bandura.
Similarities abound between Ukraine and Ireland. We are about to discover that the two may be closer than you think.
Russia has occupied the Crimean peninsula, a part of Ukraine, for more than seven years. Today, Nasha Kasha explores the bonds between Tatars and Ukrainians. And how both peoples again and again must grapple with an expansionist Russia.
Thursday, February 25th 2021 is the 150th birthday of Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka. Her significance for Ukraine and for Europe is this week’s story on Nasha Kasha.
Rule of Law restricts the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating power to well-defined and established laws. Nasha Kasha presents two judges talking about rules, fairness and life.
Zirka is Ukrainian for a heavenly body. The one you are about to encounter was smelted in a Sudbury Inco mine. That’s where a foreman named Slawko Hucal worked. Slawko and his wife raised four musicians. Today, the band they inspired shines on.
Around the time of the Second World War hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians united around an independence movement. The military arm of that drive was the UPA, an insurgent army. Today, Nasha Kasha tells the story of these partisans, who first formed ranks 78 years ago.
Promoting our heritage for a greater understanding among all peoples is at the heart of what it means to be a multicultural nation. Multiculturalism has been Canada's official policy for close to 50 years.
97 million people have been stricken with COVID worldwide. More than 2 million have died. Nasha Kasha hears from patients and front line practitioners, who know Covid up close.
Odessa Ontario is 26 kilometres west of Kingston. It is in the very heart of British Loyalist country. Why then, in the mid-1850s, would residents accept the name of a Ukrainian port as their own? This week's episode of Nasha Kasha- a Ukrainian Almanac offers some answers.
Two days before Ukrainian Christmas, a priest, living alone in Val D’or Quebec, turned 98. Father Lev Chayka has served mining families in three languages in northern Quebec and Ontario for almost half a century. This is his story.
Each New Year promises renewed hope; 2021 perhaps more so than any in recent memory. Ukrainians honour an ancient feast of rebirth at this time. Today's story is about new beginnings, new lands, regeneration, and joy.
The worldwide pandemic brought into focus that in life which is truly important. Health, family and pets are chief among these. Here is Nasha Kasha's goodbye to 2020- hello 2021.
Plagiarism, denial, even murder. No, this isn't a story about a term paper gone wrong. Our Nasha Kasha story begins with bells, and it concludes with one of the world’s most endearing Christmas carols.
He drives toy sales. He drives a sleigh. He is the role model for gift-giving; the arbiter of naughty and nice. This week, Nasha Kasha goes in search of Saint Nicholas.
Norilsk Russia, north of the Arctic Circle, holds the largest-known nickel, copper and palladium reserves on earth. Built by forced labour through bouts of starvation and an ever-present intense cold; it is also one of the world's biggest polluters. Still, one Ukrainian songwriter calls Norilsk the centre of her soul.
Garlic (chasnyk) has been used for thousands of years for cooking, and for its health and therapeutic benefits. This week Nasha Kasha celebrates garlic in all its Ukrainian glory!
When the Nobel committee awarded its 2020 peace prize to the UN’s World Food Programme, it wanted to “turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger”. The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize recognizes the WFP’s “efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon … ”.
In the 1930’s Joseph Stalin used hunger to starve the Ukrainian nation. There is a word for that genocide. It's called the Holodomor.
Cpl. Filip Konowal exemplified gallantry in the face of battle, and was awarded the highest military honour in the Commonwealth. Still the Ukrainian community grapples with his past service to Russia, as it honours this great Ukrainian’s memory.
The week Nasha Kasha presents Auresia, who in Montreal is about to release a new album of reggae rhythms for the Ukrainian soul.
It is one thing to disagree with an oppressor, quite another to do so under threat of deportation, prison or death. Today Nasha Kasha recognizes the sacrifices and the leadership of men and women under threat and torment.
It was quite common for a boy growing up in the region of Rimouski, Quebec in the 1880s to want to become a Catholic priest. But Francois Jean, would answer a calling to serve Ukrainian Catholics. He would join the Ukrainian rite. Along the way he would even change his given name to Josephat. Today, we bring you his story and the dream Ukrainian settlement he attempted to grow in Northern Quebec, and those who still live there.
This week Nasha Kasha visits the heartland of Canada’s western most province. The report was recorded well before COVID travel restrictions were put into effect.
To come to live permanently in a country other than one’s native land is to immigrate. What the Oxford Canadian Dictionary doesn’t mention are the hardships, occasional discrimination, and the pressures to not stand out.
There is evidence that the act of singing may generate droplets and aerosols. The risk of COVID-19 transmission is unclear. Still choirs cancelled practices and concerts around the world. Nasha Kasha visited a much loved Ukrainian choir in Edmonton, and tells its story before and after the public singing stopped.
It was South African cleric Desmond Tutu who said that you don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them. This week Nasha Kasha presents the story of just such a gift.
This week, Nasha Kasha hears from educators about their planning, apprehension and hopes for safe learning, as schools open across the land.
Picture childhood characters you read about in your first storybook. Now image that they are real, and all grown up. That's the story of Sonya and Alexander. And we present it today on Nasha Kasha.
He arrived in politics waving the motto- give youth a chance. Today we bring you the story of a public service veteran, who’s scored success upon success and now, he's back for more.
It's all very good that Canada has four diverse seasons to spread across our stunning landscape. But the one we call summer, is slipping away. Nasha Kasha grabs hold of summer's warmth and innocence. So that we can bask in its glow before the school bell rings.
There is little scientific proof that social distancing promotes nostalgia. However, one Canadian reporter awoke this week with a mounting urge to write about his favourite cat. This prompted an impromptu collection of cat lore, which we are pleased to now present just for the fun of it all.
This week we bring you three elements of fun in any language. So let's bring on the polkas and accordions and sing alongs.
A span of four years has taken theatre director Susan Ferley from London Ontario to London England, and back again to Ontario. Her pursuit is to further education in theatre. Now with a new theatre to manage, she has had to brake to a sudden stop, along with the rest of us. Here is the story of her journey and her hope.
The bandura is more than the national musical instrument. It is the voice of Ukraine. Today on Nasha Kasha we bring you the story of a builder and then the story of a virtuoso. Each brings life to wood and fibreglass and strings.
During the First World War, Ukrainian Canadians and others from Eastern Europe were labelled enemy aliens. They were robbed of their freedom and imprisoned. This year, we commemorated the 100th anniversary of the end of Canada’s first national internment.
Fifty years ago, four university students in Montreal formed a band called Rush-ny-chok. A rushnychok is an embroidered cloth. Today, we examines the original nature of that band’s legacy, and why Rushnychok earned the title: Ukrainian Beatles.
Today’s story had to wait a while as other reporting assignments took priority. Now three months after being recorded, Nasha Kasha is pleased to present it. After all, love stories should not be rushed.
George Floyd, an African American, who was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis was laid to rest last week. As we reflect, Nasha Kasha listens to voices from diverse vantage points across the United States.
In St Catharines, Ontario a Catholic priest recently posted this message to friends, who are worried about the pandemic: “Try to keep calm, act responsibly. God is ministering to us through the doctors, nurses and support staff … as they unselfishly care for our needs”. Today, 35 years after his ordination, we update the story of Father Anton.
In May 2016 Nasha Kasha aired its first program. The show, heard only in London focused on two grad students from Ukraine's east. They spoke of their troubled cities and their hopes for the future. Now more than four years later, we catch up with Maksym and Natalia.
Friends, family and music. In good times and in times of separation, these are what makes life a beautiful dance. All three ingredients are elements for joy in this week's episode of Nasha Kasha.
Exercise, nutrition, setting limits, refusing unwanted tasks, allowing ourself little pleasures. These are just some ways we can reduce stress. This week, Nasha Kasha presents ten de-stressers for a pandemic.
No one asked him to do it. But for the past three decades a cameraman has set up his tripod at Ukrainian events- most of them in Edmonton. He records. Then leaves. Now as the cameraman ages, he wonders. Will anyone value what he has so diligently collected. Or will it be relegated to a dumpster.
The Corona virus has shuttered entertainment venues everywhere. Nasha Kasha checks in with seven performers from around North America, creating, self-assessing and practicing while they are waiting.
Marco Levytsky graduated in East European politics, then in Journalism. He would go on to grow his own newspaper into the largest Ukrainian paid subscription base in all of Canada. This week Nasha Kasha travels his pathway.
This week Nasha Kasha presents voices from the front lines. Nurses, paramedics, firefighters and police, who are working in the midst of our COVID 19 pandemic response.
Rod Stewart’s mega hit Maggie May closes with one. Ricky Skaggs expertly picks and strums it throughout his song Mandolin Rain. R.E.M features one in the song Losing My Religion. Today, Nasha Kasha salutes the mandolin.
This week we update an Acadian Ukrainian love story from the Maritimes. Sarah and Tony, like the rest of us are living life in a time of pandemic threat. Here's their story in song and words.
It’s the 200th edition of Nasha Kasha. There’s great music to be sure. But this party is dedicated to the community stations that host this coast-to-coast Ukrainian radio show.
This week Nasha Kasha is on a journey with parents experiencing profound loss. We search for light. The story comes at a time when we all feel more vulnerable than we did yesterday. To this and all arising questions, there is an answer. Together.
John Paskevich has been short-listed for a Kobzar Award. His book and his life's work has benn centred in North Winnipeg. Here's a reprise of a story I did with him in 2018.
Lingering concerns about corruption and a war on it’s eastern flank find Ukraine between a rock and a hard place. All of this as it seeks investors in its mining and oil and gas sectors. Its plan to extract itself is explored in this week’s edition of Nasha Kasha
Polkas and accordions and sing-alongs. This week we bring you three elements of fun in any language.
Rule of Law is the restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power. This is done by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws. This week Nasha Kasha meets a dedicated Rule of Law proponent.
In the 1980s a group of Ukrainian friends invested in almond groves in California’s Central Valley. Today, Nasha Kasha tells two stories about identity and values rooted in this soil.
Today we travel up the north shore of the St Lawrence River to la Malbaie- Pointe au Pic. It's the story of a young Ukrainian from the prairies. He arrived speaking almost no French. Now he is the recognized artistic ambassador for the Charlevoix region.
LI