48 episodes

Paulina Stevens grew up in an insular Romani American family, destined to leave school, marry young, and become a fortuneteller. By 17, her fate was sealed — until she decided to leave it all behind. "Foretold" follows Paulina as she navigates the consequences of her decision to leave her community and redefine her identity. Hosted by Los Angeles Times reporter Faith Pinho, "Foretold" will take you past the neon "psychic" signs and trendy tarot cards to unravel myths and stereotypes that have followed the Romani people for centuries.

Foretold Los Angeles Times

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.6 • 1.4K Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

Paulina Stevens grew up in an insular Romani American family, destined to leave school, marry young, and become a fortuneteller. By 17, her fate was sealed — until she decided to leave it all behind. "Foretold" follows Paulina as she navigates the consequences of her decision to leave her community and redefine her identity. Hosted by Los Angeles Times reporter Faith Pinho, "Foretold" will take you past the neon "psychic" signs and trendy tarot cards to unravel myths and stereotypes that have followed the Romani people for centuries.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    This Was Foretold

    This Was Foretold

    In the “Foretold” finale, learn the fates of Paulina and her daughters.

    • 32 min
    The Fallout

    The Fallout

    Paulina grows estranged from her family and turns to her ultimate battle: the fight for her children in court.

    • 44 min
    A Prism

    A Prism

    In the beginning, Faith thought Paulina was giving her a hot news tip about psychics and scams. Years of investigation revealed something else.

    • 38 min
    Your Laws vs. Our Laws

    Your Laws vs. Our Laws

    Paulina has to choose: Does she take her custody case through the Romani judicial system? Or turn to the American courts?

    • 49 min
    New Territories

    New Territories

    Paulina's new clients give her a peek into their outside world, and there’s no going back.

    • 47 min
    The Train Station

    The Train Station

    Now married, Paulina moves in with Bobby’s family in Orange County and is met with a host of expectations.

    • 45 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
1.4K Ratings

1.4K Ratings

Marezein ,

Amazing Podcast; Everyone should hear it!

I have been interested in the Romani culture for quite some time. It honestly parallels my own culture in so many ways. I truly admire Romani people for not only knowing their history but cherishing it. I think Paulina’s story is a perfect example of how nuanced our relationship with culture can be. We can love our culture so much but also feel suffocated by it. I wasn't surprised that Paulina learned to love her culture through time because honestly, what she hated was people’s interpretation of what it meant to be Romani. She later learned that she is Romani no matter what and no one could take away her heritage even if they blackballed her in the end. I’m glad she found love and community within the Romani activist movement and I think her voice should be heard and valued within it.

Every story is not black and white; right or wrong its so complicated and I think the podcast did a great job of highlighting that. Bravo, Faith and Bravo, Paulina! It was a great ride with you both. Keep sharing about your culture because people want to hear it and its too beautiful to hide away.

tacokate ,

Great podcasting

Excellent story telling - really captures the humanity of the subjects

Emkay Tela ,

Don’t know if this needs to be 9 episodes

Listened mostly because recent genealogy and DNA testing revealed part of my family is Romanchel. I’m a graduate of UT Austin and sorry I never knew about Dr. Hancock when I was a student there. However, Paulina’s story otherwise is very typical of young people from very conservative backgrounds in deciding to Rebel or not.

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