In 1967, Joseph Stalin’s daughter braved her way over the Iron Curtain, secret memoir in tow, and landed in America as the Cold War’s most famous defector. At 4... More
In 1967, Joseph Stalin’s daughter braved her way over the Iron Curtain, secret memoir in tow, and landed in America as the Cold War’s most famous defector. At 4... More
Available Episodes
5 of 11
The Last Laugh
After pinballing around the world for two decades, the only thing Svetlana has left is her story. But what will it take for the world to hear it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/04/2023
36:43
Back to the USSR
Svetlana keeps searching for a place that feels like home. Could it be America? Could it be England? Could it be… Russia and the children that she left behind 18 years ago?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/04/2023
33:18
Divorce Taliesin Style
Svetlana reaches a breaking point at Taliesin. But as she tries to move forward into the next chapter of her life, her past continues to haunt her.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
27/03/2023
28:47
Baby Bump
Just a few months into her whirlwind marriage, Svetlana finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at 44 — much to the displeasure of Olgivanna.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
20/03/2023
33:08
Mother Knows Best
The honeymoon phase ends quickly for newlywed Svetlana as she chafes against communal life at Taliesin — and its overbearing leader.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In 1967, Joseph Stalin’s daughter braved her way over the Iron Curtain, secret memoir in tow, and landed in America as the Cold War’s most famous defector. At 40 years old, Svetlana had left everything behind for a new life in the West and the chance to finally share her story. What she found instead — a controversial commune in the Arizona desert built by Frank Lloyd Wright, a whirlwind marriage dictated by destiny, and a Montenegrin matriarch with dreams of immortality — was far more complicated. In Svetlana! Svetlana! neurotic playwright Dan Kitrosser unravels the weird and wild life of his greatest muse.