Romanistan
The authors of Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling present: Romanistan! Do you love rebels? Do you want to live in a place where outcasts shine their brightest? Welcome to Romanistan! We're your friendly neighborhood Gypsies, celebrating Romani identity and outcast culture, and practicing good diplomatic relations with other marginalized communities.
We love the rebels who are living their truth, even if it clashes with tradition. We also love tradition and honoring our roots. This podcast is for everyone who loves and supports Roma & related groups, and anyone who feels like a misfit and wants to uplift others to create a beautiful community.
We feature pioneers in culture, fashion, art, literature, music, activism, cuisine, and everything good. We adore the intersections of gender, sexuality, spirituality, ability, and identity. We cover all topics, from the difficult to the glorious. Let's sit crooked and talk straight.
Hosted by Paulina Stevens and Jezmina Von Thiele. We reclaim the slur Gypsy, but if you aren’t Romani, we prefer you don't use it. xoxo.
P.S. The Romani people are a diasporic ethnic group originally from northwest India, circa the 10th century. Now, Roma live all over the globe, and due to centuries of oppression, slavery, genocide, and other atrocities, Roma are still fighting for basic human rights. We seek to raise awareness of who Roma are, and highlight Romani resilience, creativity, & culture.
Romanistan
Konstantin Polyakov on Music as Therapy and Adoption
Paulina and Jess speak with Konstantin Shaw-Polyakov, who recently released his album, Where Are We Headed? Konstantin is a Roma/Ashkenazi multi-instrumentalist and songwriting transracial adoptee. He was born in Volkhov Russia in June of 1996, moved to an orphanage and adopted in 1997 by Quakers from America. Konstantin grew up with an adoptive name, Matthew, and few clues of his Roma heritage. Identity is a key driving factor in Konstantin's music, it is often about exploration through imagination and wonder, evoking thoughts of travel and connectivity. You can find his music on all streaming services. He has been writing songs since he was nine and was given his first guitar, a classical guitar.
You can listen to Where Are We Headed? anywhere, including Spotify and Sound Cloud. Follow Konstantin @polykostya17 on Instagram to keep up on what he’s doing.
Romani crushes this episode are Esma Redzepova, Muharem Serbezovski, Elijah Vardo, & the artist Sylvia @sy.cl0ps_
Thank you for listening to Romanistan podcast.
You can find us on Instagram @romanistanpodcast, and on Facebook under the same name, and on Twitter @romanistanpod
We started a Ko-fi fundraiser to help us expand. Our goal is to continue releasing 2 episodes a month, including our advice column, and we would eventually like to expand so we can produce content by other Romani & Sinti creators. We are hoping to cover production costs, like paying for our hosting site, website, editing and producing, and all the rest. We would love it if you could contribute and spread the word. The link, Ko-fi.com/romanistan, is in our bio on Instagram, and will be in the show notes
Please rate, review, and subscribe. It helps us so much.
If you would like to advertise with us, email us at romanistanpodcast@gmail.com. We offer sliding-scale for Romani, Sinti & related businesses, so reach out!
You can find Jess on Instagram @jezmina.vonthiele, and you can find Jess’ vintage and curiosities shop Evil Eye Edit on Instagram @evileyeedit & Etsy.
You can find Paulina Verminski on Instagram @_paulina_v_ and at https://romaniholistic.com/. Follow Paulina’s store, Romani Holistic, in Corona Del Mar, CA, on Instagram @romaniholistic
Romanistan is hosted by Jessica Reidy and Paulina Verminski
Conceived of by Paulina Verminski
Edited by Cherub
With Music by Viktor Pachas
And Artwork by Elijah Vardo