Have you heard M. Gessen's podcast The Idiot? I've read three of their books:

• The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
• Surviving Autocracy
• The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy

The books are mostly about Russia, fascism, humanity, and a story about the two brothers who committed the Boston Marathon bombing. They're all humanistic stories, ones that tell people in more than two dimensions.

Now, the podcast is a little different because Gessen has made it about their 'least-liked cousin'.

The podcast is North American white-person-formatted: it goes on for too long and is kind of on valium at times. The exchanges between Gessen and their cousin are marvellous, not to mention FBI transcripts.

I won't give away information about the plot but the cousin is a very manipulative, scheming, lying, and treacherous individual, to say the least.

Is the podcast worth it? Yes, it is. Even though it goes on for too long at times, it's insightful and frustrating. I wish I could reach through the ether and slap the cousin, but then again, they just sound like a drab psychopath.

Gessen's way of reporting what happened is the interesting stuff to me. They're always good at cutting through faff and getting to the person behind it all: motives, thoughts, ways of thinking. The gist of the podcast enthralls, especially letters and conversations, but Gessen's style also shines through.

I long for another of their books.

#podcast #author #humanism