Unpacking the Seductive Power of American Consumerism and the Culture It Creates with Roja Gashtili

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Roja Gashtili about their mutual obsession with power and money, being first generation, the myth of meritocracy, especially when it looks somewhat successful, the financial anxiety that comes along with pursuing writing, the amount of generosity and wealth it takes to do that, nepo babies and why we’ve seen such an uptick on “eat the rich” movies.

Roja Gashtili worked on the Oscar­-nominated, No End in Sight and was an associate producer at MTV. She produced the Refinery29 Shatterbox film, "Jack & Jo Don't Want To Die."

With her filmmaking partner, Julia Lerman, Roja wrote and directed "Rita Mahtoubian Is Not A Terrorist" at AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Their short, “Pinky,” was a Refinery29 Shatterbox film. They have sold pilots to FX, Amazon and AMC. Recently, they wrote on Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Mr. Corman for Apple TV+.

This episode also features a segment called Slow and Steady with Leo, where Leo Aquino (@queerandtranswealth), an award-winning author, poet, and anti-capitalist personal finance expert, shares their poetry alongside their grandfather's.

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount, for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. 

Thank you to Samantha McVey and Anney Reese, the Stuff Mom Never Told You Podcast hosts, for lending us their voices for our special PSA.

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

Please enjoy!

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