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
Good Morning Romanistan 5: We're Not Rich... Yet
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-czech-republic-pitting-roma-and-ukrainians-against-each-other
- Call for Papers for the Critical Romani Studies Journal: Thematic Issue on the History and Legacies of Slavery in Romania https://romanistudies.ceu.edu/article/2023-07-10/call-papers-critical-romani-studies-journal-thematic-issue-history-and-legacies
- Romano Lav is to Open Scotland's First Roma Cultural Centre https://www.greatergovanhill.com/latest/romano-lav-to-open-scotlands-first-roma-cultural-centre And you can donate to the centre here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-open-scotlands-first-roma-cultural-centre
- Mike Doherty from Travellers Times reports that Gypsy and Traveller students starting university doubles in a year – new government figures reveal. https://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/news/2023/07/gypsy-and-traveller-students-starting-university-doubles-year-new-government-figures
- A Self-Portrait of the Roma, Without the Stereotypes, NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/arts/design/roma-exhibition-mucem.html
- “Refused a drink, scapegoated by MPs: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller life in Britain is only getting harder” by Ben Smoke https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/03/gypsy-traveller-life-political-leaflet-mps-racism
- August 2 was a Romani Genocide Remembrance Day. RomArchive and Dikh he na bister are excellent resources to share.
We also got wonderful letters from Sharon Svec @sharonimous about her artwork shown by ERIAC @eriac_romamoma, and from Jake Cieslinski @cieslinkskigoods about finding a fellow Rom at work.
Thank you for listening to Romanistan podcast.
Romanistan is hosted by Jessica Reidy/Jezmina Von Thiele and Paulina Verminski
Conceived of by Paulina Verminski
Edited by Cherub
With Music by Viktor Pachas
And Artwork by Elijah Vardo