Episodes

  • Musician Luiee Bloo
    May 4 2024
    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 his skills as a guitarist and studied music theory. With a deep appreciation for both Romani and western contemporary music, Luiee's compositions blend elements of flamenco, rock/ metal, psychedelia, and electronica. As a solo artist, Luiee Bloo has embarked on an exciting new project, Wheel of Fortune. You can find his music anywhere.

    Follow Luiee on Instagram.

    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.

    Keep an eye out for our upcoming book on Romani fortune telling published by Weiser Books available 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 Cherub

    With Music by Viktor Pachas & a sample of Luiee Bloo’s “Wheel of Fortune”

    And Artwork by Elijah Vardo





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    38 mins
  • World Roma Federation: International Roma Day on April 8th
    Apr 3 2024

    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.wrf-gov.org/ and on Twitter @ WRFederation, and Instagram @world_roma_fed_ and @deny_dobobrov.

    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.

    Keep an eye out for our upcoming book on Romani fortune telling published by Weiser Books available 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 Cherub

    With Music by Viktor Pachas

    And Artwork by Elijah Vardo

    31: The Why Behind the Weird
    Dive into strange but lesser-known true stories from our mysterious world with...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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    47 mins
  • Good Morning Romanistan 6: A better or worse world
    Mar 13 2024

    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 and Their Children

    Denmark’s tough laws on begging hit Roma women with few other options

    The Toll of Discrimination on Mental Health

    Giugliano, Naples: The Short Life and Sudden Death of Michelle, a Romani Child Born in a Camp


    Movimento Khethane

    Open Call for Applications: ERIAC-Villa Romana Residency Programme

    Roma Words, Roma Worlds book club

    The Italianist Alex Valente reviews PRIMA CHE CHIUDIATE GLI OCCHI (‘Before you close our eyes’) by Morena Pedriali Errani

    The fairy tale about the Keshalyi that Morena shared from her book, Before You Close Our Eyes.

    Book of fairy tales that discusses the Keshalyi: "Popular beliefs and religious traditions of Romani people" by Heinrich Von Wlislocki

    New Podcasts: Amaro Voice and A Roma Perspective

    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.

    Keep an eye out for our upcoming book on Romani fortune telling published by Weiser Books available 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 Cherub

    With Music by Viktor Pachas

    And Artwork by Elijah Vardo

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    33 mins
  • Robin Badaire, The Scarlet Witch, and Romani comic book characters
    Feb 12 2024

    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 better part of a decade writing, researching, and speaking out about the representation of Romani people and history in American superhero comics. In addition to consulting and editorial work, Robin runs a webpage where they pen critical essays and answer questions about Romani subjects in comics and other pop culture, which gained notoriety amongst the Marvel fandom during the release of Marvel Studios' WandaVision, which featured whitewashed depictions of prominent Romani characters. Drawing on their background in both fine arts and digital illustration, Robin also uses tarot illustrations, cosplay photography, and fanart to perpetuate more authentic and inclusive images of Romani characters.

    • BDS reference links: https://bdsmovement.net/boycott-captain-america; https://bdsmovement.net/Act-Now-Against-These-Companies-Profiting-From-Genocide
    • Robin's Writing at Scarlet Wiccan
    • Art & cosplay Instagram and Twitter
    • Video essay on WandaVision, whitewashing, and the history of the Scarlet Witch, on which Robin served as a consultant and script editor
    • Robin's Medium essay about the 60th anniversary of the Scarlet Witch

    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.

    Keep an eye out for our upcoming book on Romani fortune telling published by Weiser Books available 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 Cherub

    With Music by Viktor Pachas

    And Artwork by Elijah Vardo

    31: The Why Behind the Weird
    Dive into strange but lesser-known true stories from our mysterious world with...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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    1 hr
  • Holidaze
    Dec 18 2023

    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 from hiatus on Valentine’s Day!

    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. Join our Patreon for extra content.

    We started a Ko-fi fundraiser to help us grow. Our goal is to release more episodes more often, 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 Jez on Instagram @jezmina.vonthiele, and on Twitter, TikTok, and Patreon, and you can find Jez’s 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 Newport Beach, CA, on Instagram @romaniholistic

    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

    31: The Why Behind the Weird
    Dive into strange but lesser-known true stories from our mysterious world with...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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    36 mins
  • Romanistan Hiatus!
    Nov 6 2023

    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. ❄️

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    2 mins
  • Halloween Creature Feature Listener Stories
    Oct 30 2023

    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!

    Paulina also shouts out ally Moth and Candle for their lovely candles to set the mood.

    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. Join our Patreon for extra content.

    We started a Ko-fi fundraiser to help us grow. Our goal is to release more episodes more often, 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 Jez on Instagram @jezmina.vonthiele, and on Twitter, TikTok, and Patreon, and you can find Jez’s 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 Newport Beach, CA, on Instagram @romaniholistic

    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

    31: The Why Behind the Weird
    Dive into strange but lesser-known true stories from our mysterious world with...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

    Show more Show less
    36 mins
  • Joanna Talewicz and Infamy
    Oct 19 2023

    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 Dialogu]. She is a researcher, educator, author, and activist. For twenty years she has been working for the benefit of the Roma community and minority rights. While her work focuses on Roma communities in Europe, her main topics relate to the Roma Holocaust and Roma refugees. A Doctor of Cultural Anthropology, she has also worked as an assistant professor in Jagiellonian University and University of Warsaw and is a graduate of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program at Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. Joanna is a member of the Polish delegation in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), and a Batory Foundation Award winner for constant integration, educational, psychological, legal and activation assistance for refugees of Roma origin. She was nominated by the US Embassy in Poland to the “Award for Global Anti-Racism Champions”.

    Her associations and experiences additionally include: the Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability Program at Columbia University; the Leadership Academy for Poland; a grantee of the Fulbright scholarship; the Tom Lantos Institute; the European Commission Marie Curie program - Conferences and Training Courses on Multi-Disciplinary and Cross-National Approaches to Romani Studies; the Central European University; and the International Leadership Visitor Program of the U.S. State Department.

    Foundation Towards Dialogue https://fundacjawstronedialogu.pl/en/home/

    You can support the organization here.

    Find on social media under the name Fundacja w Stronę Dialogu

    Reports on Romani rights issues:
    https://fundacjawstronedialogu.pl/en/reports/

    https://fundacjawstronedialogu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Report_They-Are-Not-Refugees_They-Are-Travellers.pdf

    Information on Edward Paczkowski : https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/rocznica-wyzwolenia-auschwitz-edward-paczkowski-rom-ktory-przezyl-zaglade/wyznn8t

    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

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    1 hr and 26 mins