TORONTO – The Hellenic Heritage Foundation (HHF) announced that the final episode of its fascinating podcast series The Idea of Greece will be available on March 25, the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution.

Produced by the HHF’s award-winning History Committee, The Idea of Greece is a seven-part podcast exploring the Greek Revolution of 1821. As noted in HHF’s news release on March 19, “this is not the history you learned in Greek School!”

Each podcast explores a part of the revolution and formation of the Greek state going beyond stereotypes and providing a clearer, more complex account of our heritage. The project is under the auspices of Greece 2021, the global project by the Greek State, marking the 200th Anniversary of the Greek Revolution.  

The podcast series is hosted by journalist Georgia Balogiannis and Professor Sakis Gekas, the HHF Chair in Modern Greek History at York University. It is sponsored by Agape Greek Radio with original music by Toronto musician Demetri Petsalakis.

Episodes can be downloaded on Spotify, Stitcher and Apple Podcasts, or on the HHF website, www.hhf.ca.

According to HHF’s news release, most diaspora Greeks learned a very rudimentary version of the Greek Revolution in Greek School. It was a very black and white version of events from a dated curriculum steeped in nationalism. Drawing on the expertise of various academics and researchers, The Idea of Greece strives to present a more well-rounded account of what life was like in the 1820s and what motivated people to join the Revolution.

The podcasts series explores motivations, the battles and tactics used in warfare, the heroes and who they really were, the women who participated in the Revolution, how the international community got involved, and how the modern Greek State evolved after the fighting ended.

“Even though I teach about the 1821 Revolution in a more thorough manner at the Modern Greek History program at York University, this podcast series has been an excellent opportunity to contribute to the public history of the Greek Revolution and engage as many people as possible,” said Prof. Gekas.

HHF PR Committee Chair Sandra Gionas spoke with The National Herald about the podcast series. When asked how long it took to put the series together, she told TNH, “Though we started to discuss and plan the podcast from a year ago, the actual work began in October. We have a committee of about 12 people — diehard history fans from all walks of life — and everyone pitched in. We wanted to make it accessible to all people and we wanted to target a diaspora audience, much like ourselves.” 

The global pandemic also affected the taping of the series as Gionas explained, “we were supposed to be taping in a radio studio but the pandemic meant we recorded the entire series from our homes — with the hosts in Toronto, the guests often in Greece and our editor in Edmonton, Alberta.”

In 2018, the HHF’s History Committee launched the year-long commemoration of the 1918 Anti-Greek Riots in Toronto. That campaign won the Heritage Toronto 2019 Community Heritage Award.

The Hellenic Heritage Foundation is a charitable organization committed to the preservation, promotion and advancement of Hellenic education, culture and heritage in Canada. More information is available by phone: 416-447-7107 and online: www.hhf.ca.