Dispelling Myths about the Global South, Mamis and the Papis, and the Colonization of Food with Victoria Bouloubasis | The Buddy Ruski Show (Ep. 28)
On episode 28 of the Buddy Ruski Show, Justin talks with freelance journalist, food writer, podcaster and filmmaker Victoria Bouloubasis.
My guest is Victoria Bouloubasis.
Victoria is a journalist and multimedia producer based in Durham, North Carolina. She shared what it's like growing up as the child of immigrants, moving from North Jersey to Clemmons, North Carolina at age 7, and how being a "restaurant kid" shaped her relationship with food and food culture.
Victoria would go on to study Journalism and Spanish at UNC-Chapel Hill with ambitions to publish magazine features. She recalls learning the strict publishing standards that she's still a stickler for to this day, and having to pass "the test" that terrified many aspiring student journalists.
After college, she became a contributing writer, and eventually the Food Editor, at INDY WEEK, a Triangle-based alt-weekly newspaper. Victoria credits her editors with giving her the freedom to explore different aspects of the food industry, including working conditions for farmers and factory employees, and the history behind some of our favorite dishes.
How many stories have you read where the lede starts and there's all this praise from the start about this celebrity or person we're supposed to care about. I feel like immigrants in stories aren't treated that way. I want to give them the same type of treatment and normalize the playing field of how these identities are expressed in media and presented but in a much more real, less cheesy way.
When she's not on the search for her next feature, Victoria performs with the DJ collective Mamis and the Papis.
Victoria publishes stories using a variety of media disciplines including podcasts and documentary film. Her work “aims to dispel myths about the Global South—its people and places—against the backdrop of complex social, political and personal histories." You can find links to her work on her website.
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