Romanistan

Known for their innovative approach to progressive music, Luiee Bloo (they/him) is a multi-instrumentalist, independent solo artist, producer, and audio engineer from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, CA. Drawing inspiration from a diverse range of musical styles and influences, Luiee's sound is a captivating fusion of world rhythms, intricate melodies, and soulful emotions. He honed hi...

Enjoy this interview with Deny Dobobrov and Janos Sztojka of World Roma Federation! WRF is hosting a flag raising ceremony in Chicago on April 8th for International Roma Day.  To honor and share their work, we talked to them about their organization’s beginnings, upcoming events, and their vision for the future. Follow, support, & join World Roma Federation through their website at https://www...

Our book Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling is available for preorder! You can order from major booksellers or request that your local bookstores and library carry it when it's released October 1st, 2024. Our interview on dealing with the haters in Bold Journey . Current Events: Volunteer Ministers of the Church of Scientology of Budapest Continue Their Outreach to Underserved Romani Families...

Welcome to season 4, our 4 year anniversary, and Valentine's Day! We're celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Scarlet Witch by talking with Robin Badaire about Romani comic book character representation in Marvel and DC! Robin Badaire is a writer and an artist of Cale Romani descent from Boston, Massachusetts. As an avid reader of comic books and graphic novels, Robin has spent the bet...

Welcome to our holidaze episode,  featuring a special short story “Black Friday” by Caren Gussoff Sumption . We also recommend Jewish Voice for Peace for more information on how to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ Happy holidays to everyone! Check out Jez’s tarot reading in Bustle on navigating the holidays, and listen to Foretold featuring Paulina. We’ll be back fr...

We’re writing a book! So we’re going on a little hiatus through November so we can make our deadline. Our book will be on Romani fortune telling and will be published by Weiser Books October 2024. In the meantime, catch up on our past 3 seasons. We’ll be back in December. ❄️  Support the show

Welcome to our spooky listener stories episode! The Creature Feature! This episode is brought to you by Paulina, and our editor, Cherub! Jez couldn’t make this recording, so it gives you a wonderful opportunity to get to know Cherub a little better. She is our podcast Lord and Savior, after all. 👼🏻 Be chilled by the terrifying tales our listeners sent us. Thank you to everyone who shared a story...

We spoke with Joanna Talewicz about the Netflix Poland show Infamy (Infamia), on which she was an advisor. It was a fascinating conversation about navigating media representation, behind the scenes with other Roma involved in the series, activism, and more! Read our review of Infamy here !  Joanna Talewicz, PhD, is co-founder and president of the Foundation Towards Dialogue [Fundacja w Stronę Dial...

We had such a magical time talking to Katelan Foisy, and our musician Viktor Pachas took over for Paulina in a pinch! We hope you enjoy this chat on art, magic, and spooky stories! Katelan V. Foisy is a visual artist, and writer who specializes in vintage style mixed media art and photography. Her art is featured on The Smashing Pumpkins Tours such as Shiny & Oh So Bright, Spirits on Fire, and...

O Verda Darano takes over Romanistan! We talk with Pierce & Raquel Horvath, brother & sister duo of Dead Scared Entertainment, and the Romani storytelling podcast O Verda Darano. Raquel & Pierce tell some of their favorite scary stories to kick off spooky season with us, and be sure to catch season 3 of O Verda Darano too. We’ll be popping up in one of their episodes too. Follow their...

We got to interview Toby G about the Netflix series Infamy, and his incredible work with Street Factory. Read our review of Infamy here ! Toby Gorniak MBE (Aka- Toby G) is a Multi-award-winning transformational coach, Author, Tedx Speaker, Hip-hop artist, Entrepreneurs & Netflix Actor. Using his personal life experiences, Hip Hop culture, love, kindness to transform the lives & mindset of...

We were so lucky to speak with Soltan about his track, "Romany Adventures" from the album Gorilla Warfare, a collaboration with Shaq. You can listen to the song in its entirety anywhere you listen to music.  Soltan is the stage name for bass music's most enigmatic producer from the Middle East. Soltan first called the attention of the bass music scene in November 2014 with the relea...

We're so delighted to share this conversation with Ethel Brooks! We discuss feminism, Romani history, women's labor, fortune telling, and more! Ethel Brooks is Chair of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Associate Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Sociology at Rutgers University. Brooks is a Tate-TrAIN Transnational Fellow at the University of the Arts L...

In this episode, Paulina and Jez catch up and discuss some current events.  We love the substack The Earth and Sky Know, especially this post on how Roma don't do small talk.  https://www.theskyandearthknow.com/p/the-romani-dont-do-small-talk Why is the Czech Republic pitting Roma and Ukrainians against each other? By Una Hajdari for Euro News https://www.euronews.com/2023/07/08/why-is-the-cz...

It’s time to talk chib! We spoke with Erik Decker, our Romani language teacher, about all things language. Erik Decker is a Romani language teacher of Roma and Sinti origin and Director of the Branislava “Papùsha” Weiss Romani Language Online School, a project of the World Roma Federation (WRF) Heritage and Cultural Institute. He taught International Baccalaureate language courses in Spanish and F...

In this episode Paulina and Jez catch up on current events, listener questions, and talk a bit about what we can and can't do with the podcast. We love you. Articles we mention: Jez's Bustle articles on tarot for the month of July 2023 and for summer love . ROMA FACING ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM IN A TIME OF CLIMATE CATASTROPHE— ERRC Ivanna Nikolic's Instagram post for her fundraiser for...

We're back to our beloved interviews! Florian Tacorian is a Romani educator, actor and student at the University of Florida. He has built a large platform on TikTok and YouTube under the name @florida.florian where he teaches millions of people about Romani people, history, and culture, as well as, the importance of proper and accurate Romani representation in media. Florian is from a mixed R...

Paulina and Jez discuss the last two episodes of Foretold (episodes 8 & 9), and share their feelings on how tricky it can be to try to represent a culture, even if it’s your own story. We’re grateful for the Los Angeles Times for taking on this story and spotlighting Romani people, and we encourage everyone to read the essay series that the LA Times published to accompany the podcast series. O...

Paulina and Jez catch up on episodes 6 and 7 of the Los Angeles Times podcast series Foretold, with special attention to the backlash Paulina is getting, her boundaries, and thoughts about telling such a dramatic part of her story. We also discuss the pressure of representing all Roma, which we can't and don't claim to, and how we're handling a lot of emails. We're still really...

Jez asks Paulina and special guest Gina Merino (episode 1 of Foretold) what they think about episodes 4 and 5 of the Los Angeles Times podcast series, Foretold. We discuss traditional marriage expectations, normalized abuse, and the complexities of representation. CN: sexual abuse/ assault.  Gina Merino was born and raised in the Muchwaya Romani Vitsa. A native of Southern California, she broke fr...

In this 3rd episode of Good Morning, Romanistan! we share what's going on with us, and what's happening around the world, including Barvalo, prosperity spells gone awry, Ederlezi celebrations, kittens, and more! We suggest you check out season 1 episode 4: Ederlezi, Ivana Nikolic @roma__dancer , poet and teacher Diana Norma Szokolyai ,  50 ways to support Black Lives Matter: https://www....

In this episode of Romanistan, Paulina and Jez debrief episodes 2 & 3 of Foretold, the LA Times podcast series centered on Paulina’s life. If you haven’t heard it yet, check it out on any podcast platform. In this episode, we discuss Paulina’s early years in school and what it was like having her kindergarten abd first grade teachers interviewed, and we discuss the complicated mess of early ar...

Rowena Marin is a Romani woman, author of Who Am I in the World, and Global Agency Lead at Google, in New York. She is the co-founder of The School of Reinvention - a company meant to help people align with their passions and purpose. Rowena comes from a closed community of Silversmith Roma from Romania and managed to succeed in her career through education  based in Romania, Spain, France, India,...

As you may know, Romanistan co-host Paulina Stevens Verminski is featured in a new podcast series by the LA Times, Foretold. Jez interviews Paulina to break down the first episode and reflect on how hard it is to tell your story, particularly a complex one, and represent your culture. This is the first of what we hope are many debriefing episodes, but to make that happen, we need your help. Please...

Welcome to our second GMR episode! We talk personal and relatively current events, answer listener's questions, and pull a tarot card. Shoutouts to @anyatheodora1 , ally & Turkish bellydancer @aslirakkas , @roma__dancer , @errcinsta , Lolo Lovina , and the new podcast Foretold by the LA Times , which feature's Paulina's life story. Fundraiser for Roma and Domari in Turkey post-e...