Wanderlust with Mariam Koloyan feat. Max Saakyan (21/02/2026)

Mariam’s guest this month was podcaster Max Saakyan. He joined us in the studio to talk about the brand new mini-series of his podcast Uncovering Roots called Palestinians in Paraguay – a true, and until now, a largely buried, story in Palestinian history: Israel’s documented 1969 plan to secretly transfer 60,000 Palestinians from Gaza to Paraguay. We talked about how he discovered this extraordinary story, the relevance of this story in the ongoing genocide today, and the challenges he faced when getting contributors to open up about unresolved trauma – especially one that has gone unacknowledged in the rest of the world.

Sonically, Wanderlust travelled everywhere from the Occitan region to 70s South Korea to India, and to celebrate Lent, Mariam’s done a Worldwide Carnival Mix dedicated to the February festivities in Rio, New Orleans, Peru and beyond.

Our Albums Anniversaires were UK psychrock from 2014 and New Mexican/Oaxacan brass brilliance, and our London Spotlight Artist Of The Month is Lewisham’s finest producer kwes.

TRACKLIST:

1. Rikki Ililonga, Musi-O-Tunya – Mpondolo
2. Charanjit Singh – Bhairav
3. Ora Cogan – Division
4. Tanya Tagaq – Fuck War
5. Cocanha, Tarta Relena, Los Sara Fontan – El trap de la pesseta
6. Painting – Helping Others
7. Annie Taylor – Lucidity
8. Yamila – Luces Robóticas
9. Marta Del Grandi – You Could Perhaps
10. Adiss Harmandian – Mdamolor
11. Kim Jung Mi – Spring
12. João Gilberto – A Felicidade
13. Ranil – Galaxia Tropical
14. Ranil – Bahia
15. Ranil – Cumbia Del Torero
16. The Mighty Terror – No Carnival in Britain
17. Sabine McCalla – Sunshine Kisses
18. Temples – Move With the Season
19. Kourosh Yaghmaei – Dar Enteha
20. Beirut – La Llorona
21. Camille Camille – In a Song
22. kwes. – Black (Grey)