Listen to us talk about some of your favorite topics from music to movies to politics, we got something to say about all of it. Explicit and unfiltered. Listen at your own risk. 💀
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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 ...
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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…
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Good Morning, Romanistan 7: We Wrote a Book!
28:08
28:08
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Hello and welcome to Romanistan! We’re off schedule but doing our best! We have some current event updates and a short interview on the book we wrote, Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling, available for preorder now. Current events: https://www.errc.org/news/hungarian-governments-new-decree-threatens-ukrainian-romani-refugees https://www.leparisien.fr…
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We interviewed allies Lorely French and Carina Kurta who are experts on artist, writer, activist, and Holocaust survivor, Ceija Stojka. In an effort to preserve and share her work, there will be an exhibit of Ceija Stojka's artworks in conjunction with the events that are going on for the Culture Capital of Europe 2024 in the Salzkammergut. The exh…
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Welcome to our second pride month interview! Ruth Sullivan is a director of Traveller Pride, a UK based organisation that brings together Traveller people from the various UK communities to celebrate every aspect of our identities. Ruth is Queer and from a mixed Romany and Gorger family. She discovered her Romany ethnicity in her teens when her Gra…
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Pride, adoption, & an interest in criminal psychology with Nico
28:26
28:26
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Happy Pride! Happy Gypsy, Roma, Traveller History Month! We were delighted to start off the season by chatting to Nico! Nico is a queer, disabled Romani from the UK who has lived across multiple continents and is currently based on the southeast coast of England. They’re passionate about human rights and equality, and have a lifelong interest in cr…
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Honoring Romani Resistance Day and Raymond Gurême
11:50
11:50
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We have a minisode honoring Romani Resistance Day, May 16th, and the resistance fighter Raymond Gurême. Resources: https://www.roma-sinti-holocaust-memorial-day.eu/history/raymond-gureme/ https://eriac.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/RAYMOND-GUREME-new.pdf https://www.romarchive.eu/en/voices-of-the-victims/genocide-holocaust-porajmos-samudaripen/ Ro…
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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, intricat…
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World Roma Federation: International Roma Day on April 8th
47:12
47:12
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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 Fe…
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Good Morning Romanistan 6: A better or worse world
32:52
32:52
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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 Th…
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Robin Badaire, The Scarlet Witch, and Romani comic book characters
59:51
59:51
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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…
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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…
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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. ❄️By Jessica Reidy / Jezmina Von Thiele and Paulina Stevens
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Halloween Creature Feature Listener Stories
35:25
35:25
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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 s…
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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 Fou…
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We had such a magical time talking to Katelan Foisy, and our musician Viktor Pachas took over for Paulina in a pinch! We hope you enjoy this chat on art, magic, and spooky stories! Katelan V. Foisy is a visual artist, and writer who specializes in vintage style mixed media art and photography. Her art is featured on The Smashing Pumpkins Tours such…
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Spooky Stories x O Verda Darano Crossover!
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43:00
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O Verda Darano takes over Romanistan! We talk with Pierce & Raquel Horvath, brother & sister duo of Dead Scared Entertainment, and the Romani storytelling podcast O Verda Darano. Raquel & Pierce tell some of their favorite scary stories to kick off spooky season with us, and be sure to catch season 3 of O Verda Darano too. We’ll be popping up in on…
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We got to interview Toby G about the Netflix series Infamy, and his incredible work with Street Factory. Read our review of Infamy here! Toby Gorniak MBE (Aka- Toby G) is a Multi-award-winning transformational coach, Author, Tedx Speaker, Hip-hop artist, Entrepreneurs & Netflix Actor. Using his personal life experiences, Hip Hop culture, love, kind…
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We were so lucky to speak with Soltan about his track, "Romany Adventures" from the album Gorilla Warfare, a collaboration with Shaq. You can listen to the song in its entirety anywhere you listen to music. Soltan is the stage name for bass music's most enigmatic producer from the Middle East. Soltan first called the attention of the bass music sce…
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Romani Feminism with Dr. Ethel Brooks
1:02:40
1:02:40
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We're so delighted to share this conversation with Ethel Brooks! We discuss feminism, Romani history, women's labor, fortune telling, and more! Ethel Brooks is Chair of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Associate Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Sociology at Rutgers University. Brooks is a Tate-TrAIN Transnational Fel…
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Good Morning Romanistan 5: We're Not Rich... Yet
32:20
32:20
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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:…
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It’s time to talk chib! We spoke with Erik Decker, our Romani language teacher, about all things language. Erik Decker is a Romani language teacher of Roma and Sinti origin and Director of the Branislava “Papùsha” Weiss Romani Language Online School, a project of the World Roma Federation (WRF) Heritage and Cultural Institute. He taught Internation…
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Good Morning Romanistan 4: No Dark Secrets
37:47
37:47
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In this episode Paulina and Jez catch up on current events, listener questions, and talk a bit about what we can and can't do with the podcast. We love you. Articles we mention: Jez's Bustle articles on tarot for the month of July 2023 and for summer love. ROMA FACING ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM IN A TIME OF CLIMATE CATASTROPHE— ERRC Ivanna Nikolic's Inst…
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Florian Tacorian and Social Media Representation
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We're back to our beloved interviews! Florian Tacorian is a Romani educator, actor and student at the University of Florida. He has built a large platform on TikTok and YouTube under the name @florida.florian where he teaches millions of people about Romani people, history, and culture, as well as, the importance of proper and accurate Romani repre…
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Paulina and Jez discuss the last two episodes of Foretold (episodes 8 & 9), and share their feelings on how tricky it can be to try to represent a culture, even if it’s your own story. We’re grateful for the Los Angeles Times for taking on this story and spotlighting Romani people, and we encourage everyone to read the essay series that the LA Time…
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Foretold Debrief 6 and 7: Saw a Gypsy One Time in a Window
27:25
27:25
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Paulina and Jez catch up on episodes 6 and 7 of the Los Angeles Times podcast series Foretold, with special attention to the backlash Paulina is getting, her boundaries, and thoughts about telling such a dramatic part of her story. We also discuss the pressure of representing all Roma, which we can't and don't claim to, and how we're handling a lot…
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Foretold Debrief 4 and 5: a detailed, decadent, dense slice
29:15
29:15
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Jez asks Paulina and special guest Gina Merino (episode 1 of Foretold) what they think about episodes 4 and 5 of the Los Angeles Times podcast series, Foretold. We discuss traditional marriage expectations, normalized abuse, and the complexities of representation. CN: sexual abuse/ assault. Gina Merino was born and raised in the Muchwaya Romani Vit…
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In this 3rd episode of Good Morning, Romanistan! we share what's going on with us, and what's happening around the world, including Barvalo, prosperity spells gone awry, Ederlezi celebrations, kittens, and more! We suggest you check out season 1 episode 4: Ederlezi, Ivana Nikolic @roma__dancer, poet and teacher Diana Norma Szokolyai, 50 ways to sup…
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Foretold Debrief 2 and 3: Paulina was a f***ing delight as a 5 year old
19:29
19:29
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In this episode of Romanistan, Paulina and Jez debrief episodes 2 & 3 of Foretold, the LA Times podcast series centered on Paulina’s life. If you haven’t heard it yet, check it out on any podcast platform. In this episode, we discuss Paulina’s early years in school and what it was like having her kindergarten abd first grade teachers interviewed, a…
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Rowena Marin is a Romani woman, author of Who Am I in the World, and Global Agency Lead at Google, in New York. She is the co-founder of The School of Reinvention - a company meant to help people align with their passions and purpose. Rowena comes from a closed community of Silversmith Roma from Romania and managed to succeed in her career through …
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Foretold Episode 1 Debrief: A Broad Weird Line
23:49
23:49
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As you may know, Romanistan co-host Paulina Stevens Verminski is featured in a new podcast series by the LA Times, Foretold. Jez interviews Paulina to break down the first episode and reflect on how hard it is to tell your story, particularly a complex one, and represent your culture. This is the first of what we hope are many debriefing episodes, …
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Good Morning, Romanistan 2: Cat in Heat and Romanistan Babies
50:53
50:53
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Welcome to our second GMR episode! We talk personal and relatively current events, answer listener's questions, and pull a tarot card. Shoutouts to @anyatheodora1, ally & Turkish bellydancer @aslirakkas, @roma__dancer, @errcinsta, Lolo Lovina, and the new podcast Foretold by the LA Times, which feature's Paulina's life story. Fundraiser for Roma an…
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We had such a wonderful time chatting with the sparkling Alice Psychic! For over 10 years Alice Psychic has been a noteworthy leader in the Spiritual space. You may know Alice from her work as the Psychic Next Door on social media but Alice can also be credited with contributions to the Twinflame movement, the rise in chiromancy and shedding a posi…
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Good morning, Romanistan! Here’s our first talk show. We hope you like it. You can get the full, unedited version for $5 a month on our Patreon, or you can donate to our Ko-fi fundraiser to support us. Here are some links for you to explore! “The Roma Artist Sewing a New History for Her People” New York Times, about artist Malgorzata Mirga-Tas “Rom…
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Herbal Medicine with Jennileen Joseph of Sastimos Holistic Health
56:26
56:26
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Jennileen Joseph of Sastimos Holistic Health brings herself as a Rroma woman into how she approaches all aspects of herbalism and Ayurveda, encouraging people to understand healing from a lens of relationship to land and community. The stories of plants and people are intertwined, as they have grown alongside one another since time immemorial. Jenn…
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Welcome to our generic winter holiday special! In this episode, we share some of our favorite seasonal traditions, with stories from Piroska, Aidan the Boujee Mystic, Katelan Foisy, and Anya! Paulina and Jez make some tarot predictions for 2023, and we share our personal intentions as well. We thank our donors for this year, and we ask you to help …
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Jake Cieslinski of Cieslinski Goods and Kushti Bok Aromatics
45:15
45:15
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Jake, otherwise known as Kardos Cieslinski, is a life long learner and dabbler. He grew up in between music and the trades. He worked in the coffee industry for 10 years, went to school for neuroscience which turned to film, and finally psychology. For graduate school he went to Berkeley for architecture then dropped out. He has lived in six differ…
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Romani Bath and Beauty with Meghan Ores of Luludi
55:54
55:54
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We had the joy of talking with natural beauty maven Meghan Ores, owner and operator of Luludi, an all-natural online bath and body shop. Meghan Ores is 44 and Hungarian Romani on her father's side, French and English on her mother's. She was born in Wisconsin, but moved around alot and found her way back to Wisconsin again 2 years ago. She currentl…
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Rumen & Rumyana Hulmequist on adoption, siblingship, & activism
41:03
41:03
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Paulina & Jez interview adopted siblings Rumen & Rumyana Hulmequist about transracial adoption identity, their stories, and the activism & entrepreneurship they are engaged in now. 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 sta…
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Special for this Halloween, Jez & Paulina tell spooky stories with their friends Kiki Robinson And Ylva Mara Radziszewski from The Living Altar. Join us for ghosts in the most haunted AirBnB in Washington state, a strange creature stalking through Brooklyn's nightlife, and another dimension in Alameda California. Check out The Living Altar Oracle D…
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Dead Scared Entertainment: A Romani Horror Media Company
47:36
47:36
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Paulina and Jez had a terrifying good time chatting with Pierce and Raquel Horvath of Dead Scared Entertainment, a Romani-run horror media company. Detroit born and living in Chicago, Pierce and Raquel Horvath are Hungarian Slovak Bashalde Romungre raised within Roma tradition with a modern twist. Growing up, Pierce was a passionate bat biologist-t…
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Paulina and Jez interview each other about the art of dream interpretation & divination to kick off our spooky season themed episodes this October. This episode also launches the first advice column, and we invite listeners to write in with their problems, and we will pull a tarot card each and give you some advice as best we can. Take it with a gr…
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Caren Gussoff Sumption and Science Fiction
49:02
49:02
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Paulina & Jez had a blast chatting with Caren Gussoff Sumption about her writing career and her latest sci-fi novella, So Quick Bright Things Come to Confusion. Caren Gussoff Sumption is a writer and editor of Romany ancestry, living near Seattle, WA. The author of 5 books and more than 100 short stories, Caren's been awarded a Hedgebrook Elizabeth…
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Konstantin Polyakov on Music as Therapy and Adoption
39:55
39:55
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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 na…
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The End of the Tattoo Series: Meesha Ratzlaff
30:50
30:50
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In this episode, we end the tattoo series... for now! Paulina and Jess interview Meesha Ratzlaff, a multidisciplinary Romani tattoo artist based out of Vancouver, BC., Canada. Meesha’s personal works are largely based and reminiscent of renaissance imagery and architecture, paying homage to her motherland and heritage of the Czech Republic. As a ta…
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International Relations: Tattoo Artist Priya Kaur Handa
38:08
38:08
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In this episode, Paulina and Jess talk with Priya Kaur Handa, our international relations (gadje/non-Romani) guest about the traditional roots of tattooing as a sacred or healing practice, and her work as an intuitive tattoo artist. Priya is a tattoo artist based out of Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised in the Bay Area, California, Priya grew up …
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Wes is a tattoo artist living in New Orleans, Louisiana, working at Hell or High Water Tattoo. Growing up in Kansas he relied heavily on the library and a mentor to learn about painting, often bringing home stacks of books he’d study instead of his schoolwork. He decided to devote his life to “low-brow” art after realizing how accessible, practical…
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In this episode, Paulina and Jess chat with tattoo artist Amelia Hearts as part of our tattoo artist series. Amelia Hearts currently lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and specializes in multiple tattoo styles from realism to neotraditional, watercolor, and illustrative. She has been tattooing for 13 years, and absolutely loves it. She’s currently t…
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Is America Really Number 1? Bonus Episode
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15:28
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In this bonus episode we ask, is America really number 1? Find out what we mean. CW: Gun violence Take a look at https://linkin.bio/everytown to get involved. 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 fundraise…
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Happy Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Pride Month, and Happy LGBTQ+ Pride Month! We're celebrating with mini interviews with LGBTQ+ Roma exclusively on Instagram Live, so follow us there for the celebration. This interview doesn't really have anything to do with pride month specifically, but we have a delicious discussion with Mark Adams, co-owner of th…
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Interview with Aurora Luna, aka Baby Recklesss, artist and occultist
50:27
50:27
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Aurora Luna is a full-time multimedia artist, musician, writer, and tarot reader/astrologer (Western & Jyotish) whose work is heavily informed and influenced by myth, magic, and mystery. Paulina and Jess have a fascinating conversation with Aurora about their artistic work, their spirituality, and the creative process. Follow their work on TikTok a…
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