Today I'm pleased to be joined by Dan, aka Twitter user @dankmtl, for a crash course on the history of Armenian communities in the Middle East. Obviously we spend a fair amount of time on the Armenian Genocide, its causes and lingering effects, but we go all the way back to good old Tigranes the Great (see one of his coins above), who expanded Armenia to its largest extent in the first century BCE. This is a subject that can only be given the most cursory of treatments in a single podcast episode, but Dan is more than up to the challenge.I was going to post this on Tuesday as usual, but events in Armenia are kind of overtaking the interview. As I say in a section I just added, ex-Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan just resigned today after days of protests over his decision to switch over from president to PM in order to hang onto power. Dan and I did this interview on Sunday and talked briefly about the protests, but obviously we didn't have any idea he was about to step down. I figured I better get this out before anything else happens. Anyway, enjoy! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fx.substack.com/subscribe