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
Ion Zanca and Romani: the Untold Story
We had such a beautiful interview with Ion Zanca, interwoven with music from his new album, ROMANI: The Untold Story.
Ion Zanca is the founder of the Dallas String Quartet, a Billboard-charting Classical Crossover ensemble with over 700 million streams on streaming platforms. They have performed for multiple sitting U.S. Presidents, with superstars like Ed Sheeran, Luke Combs, Jason Aldean and Ashley McBryde and their last album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Chart.
Their new album "ROMANI: The Untold Story" - composed by Ion Zanca, founder of the Dallas String Quartet - is a poignant musical tribute that honors the history and suffering of the Romani people during the Holocaust. In collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, the album's five songs explore this dark chapter while celebrating the resilience and rich musical heritage of Romani culture. 50% of album presales are donated to the Roma Foundation.
Romani crushes this episode are Charlie Chaplin, Roby Lakatos, and Diego Cigala.
Thank you for listening to Romanistan podcast.
You can find us on Instagram and Facebook @romanistanpodcast, and on Twitter @romanistanpod. To support us, Join our Patreon for extra content or donate to Ko-fi.com/romanistan, and please rate, review, and subscribe. It helps us so much.
Follow Jez on Instagram @jezmina.vonthiele & Paulina @romaniholistic.
Preorder our book, Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling, available from Weiser Books in October 2024.
Email us at romanistanpodcast@gmail.com for inquiries.
Romanistan is hosted by Jezmina Von Thiele and Paulina Stevens
Conceived of by Paulina Stevens
Edited by Viktor Pachas
With Music by Viktor Pachas, Ion Zanca, and Charlie Chaplin
And Artwork by Elijah Vardo