Romanistan

Join Paulina and Jess in this interview with artist and activist Felicia DeRosa. We discuss her family history, her art career, fortune telling, and her activism, as well as the newly premiered documentary about her life by Angelo Thomas, DeRosa: Life, Love, & Art in Transition . At the time of this episode's release, the documentary is available to watch through the film festival circuit...

In this cozy episode, Paulina and Jess discuss the holiday season. The holidays can be tough, and we discuss why that is, and offer a little advice from the tarot for navigating the season. We also offer a brief history of Winter Solstice celebrations in Europe, and how they became the foundation for many Christmas traditions you may be familiar with today. Shout out to Irish Pagan author and expe...

Paulina and Jess discuss mental health and the Romani community with Dr. William Lacey, Clinical Fellow in Psychiatry at Boston Children’s Hospital, the number one children’s hospital in the country for the last 8 years. We cover Will's career, mental health stigma and access for Romani diaspora folks, generational trauma, why Romani suicide rates are higher in Europe than non-Roma, and the b...

Our interview with British Afro-Romani romance writer Talia Hibbert is a delight. Hibbert is a best-selling author  known for her sexy, diverse, body-positive, sex-positive, intersectional feminist romance novels. She takes Romanistan co-hosts Paulina and Jess through why she loves to write romance novels, relationship advice, building characters, spirituality, advice for budding writers, and her...

Hello, citizens! To get excited for spooooky Halloween, Paulina and Jess tell some family ghost stories and folk tales, and one story called “The Dead Encampment” from the book Russian Gypsy Tales translated by James Riordan. We tell these    stories with a casual, lighthearted tone and lots of laughter, so we aim for the sweet spot of scary and fun.   Thank you for listening to Romanistan podcast...

In this special SpOoOOoky Halloween season episode, Paulina and Jess interview Caribbean-American activist, educator, and scholar Emani Jerome about horror films and representation, with a special focus on race, gender, and class.  We're also honored to have Emani as our first non-Romani, or "International Relations" guest! Emani takes us through a list of films, including but not n...

For this special long episode, Paulina and Jess talk with the hosts of Altars Up, Witches , Kiki Robinson and Ylva Mara Radziszewski, about what it means for them to identity as witches with Romani heritage, how the term witch has been used against Roma and other groups by colonizers/oppressors,  and why they reclaim it. We share every day Romani practices we grew up with, like cleaning and bathin...

In this episode, Paulina and Jess interview the celebrated Romani  MMA fighter, Earl Small. We discuss his career, the history of professional fighting in the Romani community, & Small’s hopes for Roma. You can find Earl Small on Instagram at @trouble_302bjj , and check out his matches if you're in the tri-state area. You can find Romanistan Podcast on Instagram @romanistanpodcast , and o...

Hey, it's Paulina and Jess bringing you an exciting interview with the renowned and talented rapper and R&B singer, L.L. Junior. We got to speak to him over Zoom from Budapest about his career, Romani music, how he identifies as a rebel, his musical influences and icons, and more. You can find L.L. Junior on Instagram at @l.l.junior , on YouTube at lljuniorofficial , and on Spotify . We a...

In this episode, Paulina and Jess interview Mihaela Drăgan, writer, actress, musician, and filmmaker from Romania, and co-founder of the Romani feminist theatre troupe, Giuvlipen. We discuss her work, early child marriage in the Romani community, Romani feminism, and the movement she founded, RomaFuturism, and the archetype of the Cyber Witch.  We have some suggestions for LGBTQIA+ Roma accounts t...

Paulina and Jess tell the story of Romani Resistance Day, May 16, 1944, and share the story of teenage Romani resistance fighter, Alfreda Markowska. We need your help to get Dr. Ethel Brooks reappointed to the United States Holocaust Council. Use this link here for a template letter to send to your representatives. Our resources for this episode: Pierre Chopinaud, "The Forgotten History of Ro...

It's our Ederlezi celebration episode, featuring beautiful interviews with Julika Drabarni and Ivana Nikolic about their experiences celebrating Ederlezi with their families. We also have a gorgeous rendition of Ederlezi with Tatiana Eva Marie and the Haimana Gypsy Band. Also, Paulina realizes that the holiday she celebrated with her family is actually Ederlezi, and Jez recounts the time they...

Happy International Roma Day, y'all! On 4/8, we have a lot to celebrate, and we have some hard truths to tell about the persistence of Romani persecution. We are sharing some things you can do to celebrate this International Roma Day, and we're putting out a call for stories from Roma and related groups about their experiences with antigypsyism. Email us at romanistanpodcast@gmail.com. A...

In this episode, Paulina and Jess discuss their families' fortune telling trades, their own fortune telling careers, a brief history of Roma and fortune telling, the Gypsy fortune teller trope, cultural appropriation and tarot, controversies within the Romani community, fortune telling ethics, how to lift up other Romani fortune tellers, and getting paid. Some of our mentions in this episode...

In this episode share how we connect with our Romani identity,  our family histories, our work as fortune tellers (and our other work too), and how we see ourselves as empowered outcasts. We also let you know what we have in store for the future.  We reclaim the slur Gypsy, but if you're not Romani, we prefer you don't use it. xoxo Follow us on Instagram!  @romanistanpodcast Follow Pauli...