Raw & Unfiltered

Nearly half a century later, Ararat-73 still looms large in Armenia’s collective memory. More than a football triumph, the team embodied national pride under “apricot socialism,” blending Soviet structure with Armenian identity and leaving behind a legacy that continues to shape nostalgia, culture and belonging.

A portrait of Noratus fishermen on Lake Sevan reveals nights of cold, risk and fragile livelihoods, following Armen and Vardan as they navigate storms, shrinking catches and limited choices, capturing a community bound to the lake for survival and dignity.

A social enterprise in Kapan is giving former inmates a second chance through steady work in a community print shop, challenging stigma, rebuilding skills and social ties, and offering a rare model for reintegration in a system long shaped by punishment rather than rehabilitation.

Aging in Armenia is not just a matter of years but of dignity and belonging. Ani Jilozian examines the lived experiences of older women and reveals how health programs, social neglect and cultural expectations shape wellbeing, belonging and ultimately, the right to be seen in later life.

This in-depth Q&A with Dr. Bedross Der Matossian examines the past and present of Jerusalem’s Armenian community, one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited Armenian centers, exploring its history, struggles under shifting regimes, rising pressures from settlers, and the existential threat posed by the Cow’s Garden land dispute.

Residents of Shirak’s border villages view the possible reopening of the Armenia–Turkey border and the Kars–Gyumri railway with a mix of hope, skepticism and deep historical unease. Catherine Odom’s report from Shirak.

The lack of fear and love for the land in defiance of the Azerbaijani presence nearby is what many Armenians say keeps them in their border villages. Sandra Sadek spent several days in Armenia’s Syunik region this past summer. This is her dispatch.

In Armenia, people with mobility disabilities face daily barriers not only in accessing care but in simply getting around. And even as attitudes toward disability have changed, the lack of accessible transport keeps people on the margins. Lori Youmshajekian reports.

As young parents confront sleepless nights and conflicting advice, many are turning from tradition to science-based parenting. Through sleep consultants and Armenia’s first Parenting School, some families are redefining child-rearing with modern tools, research and empathy.

Once Yerevan’s largest and oldest fruit orchards, the Dalma Gardens stretched from Tsitsernakaberd hill to the Zvartnots Cathedral. Today, fragments of green remain amid concrete, but the memory of centaureas and ancient vines evokes a vanished natural and cultural heritage.