Balkan Hotspot Radio

This podcast will dive in to the topic of covid and lonileness. The topics will address how an old lady in Finland lost it all and had to deal with so much pain all by herself, Vaso explaining of her own fear of people during Covid and Salome talking about how life changed for her […]

This series of podcast will focus on different aspects of mental health such as addictions and loneliness and combine the different stories from Georgia, Greece and Finland.

Mental Health Without Borders – Episode 1: Addictions This series of podcast will focus on different aspects of mental health such as addictions and loneliness and combine the different stories from Georgia, Greece and Finland. In this first episode we introduce ourselves and we talk about addictions: phone, cigarette and gambling and how they all […]

On 24th of February, history, with its merciless violence, opened the door to war in Europe. I cannot pretend not to see what is happening. I cannot pretend not to hear. But I’m afraid to take a stand because I’m afraid not to understand the reality. I’m afraid to take a stand from my privileged […]

I will share a little secret with you: you can volunteer abroad, get out of your comfort zone, learn a new language and live a unique experience…without any cost!How? With the European Solidarity Corps! Join Roberto Gentile's journey and you will discover what makes this volunteer opportunity different through the fears and joys that arise […]

I will share a little secret with you: you can volunteer abroad, get out of your comfort zone, learn a new language and live a unique experience…without any cost!How? With the European Solidarity Corps! Join Roberto Gentile's journey and you will discover what makes this volunteer opportunity different through the fears and joys that arise […]

I will share a little secret with you: you can volunteer abroad, get out of your comfort zone, learn a new language and live a unique experience…without any cost!How? With the European Solidarity Corps! Join Roberto Gentile’s journey and you will discover what makes this volunteer opportunity different through the fears and joys that arise […]

In this episode, we interviewed Nikolaos Doumpas from Isea a non-governmental organization in Thessaloniki. We discussed about climate change, plastic pollution, Aquatic Litter and the association. They have 4 main projects “that contribute to the assessment of the state of aquatic ecosystems”. Vulnerable species Citizen science Human and Aquatic Ecosystems Aquatic Litter Nikolaos Doumpas is […]

In this episode, we interviewed Verena Fink from Oikopolis a non-governmental organization in Thessaloniki. Talking about climate refugees and the association. Climate refugees are not the people who are running from an oppressive government neither a war but they flew because of climate change. In a report released on Monday 13 of September, World Bank […]

*****DISCLAMER*****This episode had to be recorded on zoom, affecting the sound quality. In today's episode, we are here to talk about The Plastic Flamingo with Allison Tan communication & marketing associate. The Plastic Flamingo is a French social enterprise based in the Philippines. The purpose of The Plaf is to tackle marine plastic pollution. They collect the […]

Welcome back to THE TRACK REVIEW, the radio broadcast series created by Anna Zukowsa and Ali Dampied. In this episode, the main host is gonna make the weekly sports report, talk about basket-ball and focus especially on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s story and career with the first guest of the broadcast : Kostas Achile. You will find […]

Welcome back to THE TRACK REVIEW, your favourite weekly radio broadcast Series created by Ali DAMPIED and Anna ZUKOWSKA. In this Episode, the main host is gonna make the weekly sports report, talk about basket-ball and focus especially on Giannis ANTETOKOUNMPO’s story and career with the first guest of the broadcast : Kostas ACHILE. You […]

New Weekly Episodes Radio Broadcast Series created by Ali Dampied and Anna Zukowska. Multiple topics about Sports, Music, World News and World Culture. For this first episode, hosts are gonna make a weekly motorsports report, share some good music with you and interview each other about their respective personal and professional backups. You will find […]

New Weekly Episodes Radio Broadcast Series created by Ali Dampied and Anna Zukowska. Multiple topics about Sports, Music, World News and World Culture. For this first episode, hosts are gonna make a weekly motorsports report, share some good music with you and interview each other about their respective personal and professional backups. You will find […]

Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll gathered the old team: Κατερίνα, Pauline, and Bernardo! The time as arrived to do a retrospective, as the show might have ended indeed. Thus, we will go back to Erotocritos, Ethnic Jazz & Fusion, Rebetika, Thrace, Pontos, Cyprus, Smirna, Epirus, the Greek Macedonia, Crete, the Greek Progressive Rock, and the […]

Episode 14: Do you know what is the difference among the definitions of “refugee”, “migrant” and “asylum seeker”? Do you know what happens when a child arrives in Europe? For our final episode, we invited to discuss this topic two guests, Ilaria and Giusy. They are young and very promising in their fields, respectively, Migration […]

It’s a fact: as human beings, we tend to categorise all that happens in our life. This includes objects, experiences, and people. For this reason, a series of questions arises: why do we tend to generalise? Why stereotypes play such a huge role in shaping a community? And why it takes so much time to go get rid of them? In this episode, you will hear the opinions and experiences of Laurynas, Livia, and Filippo, our colleague volunteers, while Ourania, as a social psychologist, will share with us some knowledge and parameters to understand better what stands behind a stereotype. We are living a historical moment which is also a great opportunity to review the stereotypes we inherited with the hope of adopting a more inclusive and open attitude towards the other.

Together with Christodoulos Andreou, Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll departs to discover the relations between Greek theater and music. In this ocasion, it’s a path through time we have ahead. Rythm and acting; singing and masking – born and raised in Greece around 600 years BC, theatre was inseparable from music in its origins! Song […]

Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll is back to the Greek Macedonia! However, now we shall travel East, closer to the borders with Trace! Here, we will get in contact with a mysterious musical tradition, which only now is started to be well studied. So, Dear Listeners, please hop on this explorative trip through Eastern Macedonia […]

Take a dive with us into the most popular music event worldwide to find out all the secrets of the backstage. Bringing together more than 40 countries from Europe and beyond, every year Eurovision unites millions of people through music and art. Representing their culture and history, each country performs a unique music show. But Eurovision is not only about entertainment and glitter. Since the first competition it became a way for contestants to express political, social and cultural issues within their own countries and project the diplomatic relationships with the others. Enjoy today's talk with Alex Sanchez!

Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll went psychedelic! That’s right Dear Listeners, we are about to land in the planet of Greek Progressive Rock. This musical genre initiated in the United Kingdom during the mid 60s. It flourished between the creation of the first synthesizers and a period of great political turmoil. It brought Rock music […]

In the first episode of Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll we focused on the literary-musical tradition of Ερωτόκριτος. We now return to the island of myths and legends, the land of Minos and the Minotaur – the beautiful and mysterious Crete! However, this time we will have a broader look at Κρητικά, Cretan traditional music. […]

This eleventh episode is entirely dedicated to sustainability and the "zero waste" or "low waste" movement. Everything we do, everything we consume, has an impact on the environment and natural resources. And just because we don’t see it, it doesn’t mean that it’s not there.

Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll doesn’t cease to travel! This time, the Dear Listeners are invited to get to know the brass wonders hiden in the Μακεδονικά traditional music of Central-West Macedonia. Land of many empires, notably the one built by Alexandre The Great, and with a very rich history, Macedonia was a beloved tresure […]

How do Second-generation migrants relate to their cultural background? What are some of the challenges they faced growing up? Are these different from the ones they are now facing in their adult life? Today we invited Magda, Yannis, and Weam to discuss this topic and to know more about their life story. Listen up and take a dive into this multicultural world!

Dear Listeners, Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll is about to take you to the other side of Greek culture: we will depart from Smyrna to the traditional music of Epirus! Between both, an unexpected connection arises, deep from the origins of an art called music. However, the landscape is now totally different. Luckly, we can […]

Freedom of expression is the principle that fosters democratic societies. It is very important to protect it because it allows pluralism of ideas and free communication. Interestingly enough, many Western societies rediscovered the importance of this principle after experiencing strong regimes and consequently included it in their Constitution. However, the downside is represented by the concept of “hate speech”. This term covers any kind of hatred based on intolerance expressed online and offline against groups of people or individuals. We talked about this with Ana Rodrigues Afonso, Psychologist and Human Rights Trainer for the Council of Europe. Together we discussed the impact of Hate speech on society and what can we all do in order to promote tolerance in any kind of public and private debate.

Is Islam Feminist? In this new episode of our podcast we address two very hot topics, feminism and religion. We welcome our guest today, Weam Nafea, a dear friend who will explain us better what it means to be a woman for Islam. From the precepts of the Holy Quran to the birth of Islamic feminism in Egypt, follow us on this all-female journey in which we will try to shed light on this debated topic, debunking myths and breaking stereotypes.

Originated in the damned shores of Asia Minor, there are songs still preserving the History of Smyrna – nowadays Izmir. It is a music with tons of bitterness, probations, and losses – but, for sure, it has a clímax of overcome (and it’s suitable to dance a Tango with tragedy). From its origins many centuries […]

We are back once again with our dear guest Mario D’Avino, but this time to share his medical knowledge with us. Mario works in a blood transfusion centre in Italy and today we will discuss with him all things related to blood and bone marrow donation. Why donating is so important? Who can become a donor? Which are the benefits and how can we overcome fear? During our chat we tried to dispel the myths about donation and shed light on this topic that is still little known, especially among young people. If you want to become a blood donor and give your contribution, contact the blood transfusion centre closest to you for more information. Give blood, save a life.

Αγάπη, Τσίπουρου, Μπουζούκι & Roll would be incomplete without a special episode dedicated to the traditional music of Cyprus. Not only Greece and Cyprus share many common roots, as both countries have a certain passion for dedicating songs to each other (and exchange votes at Eurovision). In this episode full of surprises and guests, we […]

Here’s a challenge for you: keep track of how many times you hear someone encouraging a child to embrace Art as a future career. When it comes to Arts, in fact, there’s always a lot of social pressure on people willing to pursue it as a career. Italians, for instance, have a saying that goes like: “impara l’arte e mettila da parte” (lit. “learn art and put it aside”), and this isn’t very motivating… Our guest today is Mario D’Avino, doctor, psychotherapist, and theatre director. He’s the living proof that we can embrace more than one passion at a time and make a career out of it. With him, we discussed Art in school, the benefits of artistic self-expression, and how COVID-19 affected artists.

Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll is calling all stations to Πόντος, in the coast of the Black Sea. Our local informer is Βασίλης Γιορανίδης, and we will have the chance to have a deeper experience of the traditional music of Pontos, Ποντιακά, through the magnificient voice of Μελήνα Χατζικαμάνου – who presented the first live […]

When it comes to how we celebrate Christmas, more than ever before the gap between past and present is very clear. As Christmas is the celebration par excellence associated with extended family reunions, this year we are all called to review our priorities… For this special episode we invited Hélène, aka the Mère Noël of the Volunteer’s House: she managed to bring our families close to us in Thessaloniki and she will tell you how! Listen to our chat in which we share our family traditions, recall our best memories from childhood to the last Christmas and discuss our plans for the incoming one!

We have already walked through the lands of pre-war Ρεμπέτικα, so in episode 5, the time has arrived to continue, by crossing the border and discover what’s out there, beyond the Second World War and τεκέδες! And what better guide than Σώτος Ζαχαριάδης – a painter of these musical landscapes and native speaker of μπουζούκι […]

Today is the day to take stock of the development of Social Media and the effects that their enhancements bring in our lives. Can we still consider Social Media only as entertaining platforms? Indeed, we can use them to connect with people, from a direct friend request to dating or applying for a job, but what Facebook, Instagram & co. are showing us is that virtual connections hide the same dangers as real life. Join Sara and Chiara in this extensive discussion on the topic!

Come aboard Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Βουζούκι & Roll! We suggest the dear listeners to take their best coat, as we are going to depart, together with Δημήτρης Χατζηπέμου, to a trip having Thrace as destination. Between Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish lands, the traditional music of Thrace, Θρακιώτικα, prevails nowadays. To get to know them goes hand […]

Under the starry sky we had last night, we recorded this episode with a special guest and friend: Silvana from Portugal. We discussed the reasons that stand behind the horoscope and what makes many of us still believe in the zodiac signs. Reading the horoscope is something that many people still do: is this just superstition or we are fascinated by what the stars have to say to us? Click on play to know more!

Beware: the present episode will have double the action and triple the excitement! Not only will a new presenter… be… presented – as we will be set in an adventure, together with Δημήτρης Μαυροματάκης, through one of the most important traditions of Greek music, Ρεμπέτικα. The Greek Blues, as some say! The present edition will […]

This episode is dedicated to beauty. We are aware that the trap of stereotypes is always around the corner, and that it affects both women and men. But we believe that exists a way to experience beauty in a more confident way. We invited Carolina, a volunteer from Colombia, to discuss the issue together.

Μάρκος Χατζηαθανασίου was the chosen surgeon for the second episode of Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll, in order to dissect what Ethnic Jazz and the Hellenistic musical roots have been up to. This Ethnic Jazz & Fusion special episode will open a Pandora’s Box filled with the most surprising combinations of musical influences. Additional material for […]

In this episode, we are going to discuss Violence Against Women and the role men cover in it. As women, this is an issue we frequently debate amongst us, but what do guys think about it? We invited two USB volunteers and colleagues, Àlex and Johann, to let us know their perspectives and impressions.

In the first episode of Αγάπη, Τσίπουρο, Μπουζούκι & Roll, our colleague Κατερίνα Σταύρου will explore Ερωτόκριτος, a folkloric tradition originated in the island of Crete during its Renaissance period. Every Thursday at 21h00, we take off!  Song list (by order of appearance): 1. O Trohos Tis Miras, by Nίκος Ξυλούρης + Rizes, by Nίκος Ξυλούρης […]

Last episode of our beloved colleague Wali ?Random Radio Show is losing another important member of the team. We will evaluate the Wali's EVS experience and listen to his favourite music. Join us ?

Last episode of our beloved colleague Wali

In this episode of Random Radio Show, we will bring you some summer vibes and open the topic about summer festivals. Our special guest is super expert and will share interesting insight in the "backstage" of these events. Be with us and have fun

We will fight !!! Random Radio Show is divided. Friends turned into the foes. Music and language battle. Five rounds full of music and "trash talk"

Random Radio Show is surfing on the wave called Eurovision song contest

New episode of Random Radio Show is here and it will be celebration

Rainbows and alpacas will be running around this afternoon at Irene con amigos! 

This episode of Random Radio Show will be very special. It's short - like our lives here on this planet (because we don't recycle enough) and funny more than anything else you can imagine