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?

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?

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.

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.

Svetlana! Svetlana!

The Last Laugh

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/05c55d03-a235-4a9c-a703-afde00ffc78d/transcript

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?

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?

Back to the USSR

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/041ff89e-ee77-47c5-b06c-afd601682009/transcript

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.

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.

Divorce Taliesin Style

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/3e673c5c-3f72-42a5-8bdb-afcf01454ed2/transcript

Just a few months into her whirlwind marriage, Svetlana finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at 44 — much to the displeasure of Olgivanna.

Just a few months into her whirlwind marriage, Svetlana finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at 44 — much to the displeasure of Olgivanna.

Baby Bump

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e799fc7f-730b-436d-9207-afc80151aa4c/transcript

The Last Laugh

Svetlana! Svetlana!

In 1 playlist(s)

Svetlana! Svetlana!

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips