1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,960 Speaker 1: Joseph Stalin's daughter probably never imagined that by forty five, 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: she'd be married to an American, summering amongst cows in 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Wisconsin and wintering amongst cacti in Arizona, mothering a newborn baby, 4 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,239 Speaker 1: and bending off a quasi mother in law she thought 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: could maybe potentially end her. It's funny how that happens. 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: I also had different plans for my life. I thought 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,639 Speaker 1: I was going to live in New York forever. But 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: then I met the right guy who pushed me to 9 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: take a giant leap of faith and leave everything behind 10 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: to move to a city I'd never even visited. I 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: want to take You. That's a song I wrote for 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: Jordan at our wedding in Portland a few years later. 13 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: See that's the thing about choosing to spend your life 14 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: with some one. It feels like this big, scary, exciting 15 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: leap into the unknown, and then suddenly you have a 16 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: floor under you for all time. That is, unless it's 17 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: not the right person, or the right time, or the 18 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: right circumstance, and then it turns out that the floor 19 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: was made of glass and someone stomped too hard. Listen. 20 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,400 Speaker 1: There are challenges to every marriage and sped Lana was 21 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: willing to do everything in her power to make the 22 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: marriage work. But there are some challenges that are pretty 23 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: hard to overcome, like a woman in a golf cart 24 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: who might want to kill you. My name is Dan Katroser, 25 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: and this is sped Lana. Sped Lana. You wake up 26 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: in the morning, you live your day, and then you 27 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: do it tomorrow and over and over again, and over 28 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: again and over. Act one. Well, we have ruined it. 29 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: When we last left stet Lana, it was a sticky, 30 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: sweaty day in spring Green, Wisconsin, and strolling through the 31 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,519 Speaker 1: small cemetery of Budding tali Essen, she had come upon 32 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: a grave that bore her own name, stet Lana Peters. 33 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: It felt like a warning when I saw my name 34 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: set Lana Peters. So, oh my god, that's how little 35 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: finished was me and little baby Daniel Peters, who lay 36 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: dead and buried next to his mother, was an omen 37 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: for her baby Olga. I was afraid. I was afraid 38 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: for her life. And the source of that fear, missus Wright, 39 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: could I was. I was scared of her. Excuse me, 40 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:21,679 Speaker 1: I just kids. My heart starts racing like no. This 41 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: interview is recorded by Roger and Harold about thirty years 42 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: after the fact, but speed Lana still talks about Olga 43 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: Vanna as if she's right there breathing down her neck. 44 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: She tells this story about taking a walk with baby 45 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: Olga in her arms and coming across missus Wright roaming 46 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: the expansive property on her golf cart. She invited us 47 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: to sit down to the cart and we will go 48 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: on that road down to the lake. Spent Lana squeezes 49 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: onto the seat, cradling the baby with one hand. By 50 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: speed Lana's account, Olga Vana suddenly has a need for speed. 51 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: She's flying down the rolling hills, kicking up dirt. Her 52 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: passenger is panicked. She I think she could just kill us, 53 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: row astolutely. I don't know what she was, this kind 54 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: of a person, fighting, frighting, frightful person. Okay, just to 55 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: recap speed Lana things, Olga Vanna could kill her and 56 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:33,279 Speaker 1: her baby daughter and throw them into a lake. There 57 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: was only one thing speed Lana could do to ward 58 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: off the evil that was lurking around her and her daughter. 59 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: I wanted sort of protection. She wants to baptize Olga 60 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: as a sort of protection. Sped Lana was a very 61 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: spiritual person. It was her grandmother, Olga's namesake, who had 62 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: instilled in her a strong sense of faith from a 63 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: young age. Sveet Lana's father had even started out in 64 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: the seminary studying to be a priest. Of course, a 65 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: little later he all butt outlawed religion in the Soviet Union, 66 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: So you know, holidays were always a little complicated. At 67 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: the Stalins, Wes is on board with the baptism. He 68 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,720 Speaker 1: even knows the perfect spot. So in September of nineteen 69 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,720 Speaker 1: seventy one, spent Lana and West find themselves in Milwaukee 70 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: at the Greek Orthodox Church of Annunciation. Neither spent Lana 71 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: nor Wes are Greek Orthodox or Annunst. But this church 72 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and it was being 73 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: consecrated for its ten year anniversary. The Archbishop Yakovos had 74 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: come all the way from Greece for the big affair. 75 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: Hello Yakovos. So there is little baby Olga in the 76 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: arms of Yakovos, a sea of taliess and fellows waiting 77 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: in the pews before her, and behind her a painting 78 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,919 Speaker 1: of Mother Mary cradling Jesus, and I ship you not 79 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: that Mary and Jesus were modeled off of the deceased 80 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: spet Lana and her baby Daniel. This is where the 81 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: phrase WTF comes from. Little baby Olga is covered in 82 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: fragrant oils and dipped in holy water three times during 83 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: the five hour ceremony, just to put that in context. 84 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: That is one hour less than Franco Zepharelli's landmark film 85 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: Jesus of Nazareth. What's your hoss? Marbe threes, Wes is beaming. 86 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: Stet Lana dubs it the best of all possible baptisms. 87 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: Everyone is happy, everyone that is, except for missus Wright. 88 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: She was angry from the beginning. So she's angry at 89 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: the beginning, but certainly by the end she's less angry. Right, No, 90 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: in the end, she was more angry. Oh see, Olga. 91 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,919 Speaker 1: Vanna is pissed at this whole event, This event that 92 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: should have honored Francloyd right and the fellowship has been 93 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: overshadowed by spet Lana and her small, stupid baby. A 94 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:08,039 Speaker 1: baby can't make a church. As soon as the ceremony 95 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: is over, missus Wright haul's ass out of Milwaukee, skipping 96 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: the big celebratory dinner and just to be clear when 97 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: missus Wright isn't happy. It's not like she keeps it 98 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: to herself. Her absence is loud. When was returned, she 99 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: called West of course late at night, and she gave 100 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: him great talk. And when she returns to me, she said, well, 101 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: we have ruined it. You know, we have ruined this celebration. 102 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: I feel for West in this moment. He'd wanted to 103 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: do something nice for the two women he loved, and 104 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: it blew up in his face. He felt that he 105 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: had to blame. He was very easily taking blame on himself. Well, 106 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: I was at this point. I didn't even talk to 107 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: her because I thought that she was some kind of dreagon. 108 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: So West is trying to smooth things over. But then 109 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:05,559 Speaker 1: he has to go back to Iran to keep working 110 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: on his palace, obviously, and so that fall, the tally 111 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: Essen fam returns to Scottsdale and spent Lana is left 112 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: alone with her freshly baptized baby, just steps away from 113 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: the dragon woman she thinks could kill her. With West 114 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: away on business in the Middle East, the tension between 115 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: these two women escalates to an untenable level. There's the 116 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: evening spet Lana as having dinner with Olgavana and Yavannah. 117 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: Rosemary Sullivan documents this one beautifully, and Stalin's daughter she 118 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: said to Olgavana, you know West works too hard. He's 119 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: always working, He's never free. It's going to be hard 120 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: on his health. He's going to die, cries spet Lana 121 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: through gritted teeth. Olgavannah growls, so will you so pretty 122 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: frosty dinner parties. And then there's the time I'm spet Lana, 123 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: according to friends of Taliessen, threatens to burn down the 124 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,680 Speaker 1: place for the third and final time. I think that 125 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: was probably a hilarious joke, but olga Vana hires private security. 126 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:15,720 Speaker 1: On Christmas Day, it becomes clear that their differences might 127 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: be irreconcilable. Olgavana shows up barefoot at stet Lana's front 128 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: door and offers her a pair of diamond earrings a 129 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: gesture of reconciliation. Let it be known that this is 130 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: exactly the kind of olive branch that I expect from 131 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 1: anyone who has ever wronged me. But stet Lana isn't 132 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 1: having it. She throws the earrings onto the ground, exclaiming, 133 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: you cannot buy my friendship. When Olga Vanna's daughter Yavannah 134 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: hears this, she screams, I'll kill her. What surrounds tally 135 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: Essen West is desert. There's a vastness to the landscape. 136 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,319 Speaker 1: But even with those majestic mountains and that epic sky 137 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: Spetlana felt suffocated by old Vanna, Yavannah and every small 138 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: infraction to her hard fought freedom. After Christmas, she moves 139 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: out of tally Esen. She buys a house in residential 140 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:15,200 Speaker 1: Scottsdale and writes mister and Missus Peters on the deed 141 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: because her beloved husband will of course be joining her shortly, 142 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: won't he more? After the break Act two Our House 143 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: January nineteen seventy two, Don McLean's American Pie hits number 144 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: one on the billboards. Women's livers are trying to get 145 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: that equal, writes Amendment Past, and Nixon announces he's gonna 146 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,320 Speaker 1: pull seventy thousand troops out of the Vietnam War. Speed 147 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: Lana has pulled her own kind of withdrawal. After the 148 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: tumultuous autumn Back at tally Esen West, speed Lana and 149 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: West jointly purchase a house, and by jointly, of course, 150 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: that Spetlana paid for it, and West's name got to 151 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: be on it. This is a huge deal. Stet Lana 152 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 1: had been asking for their own family home for months 153 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: and months, and now she had one. A fully furnished 154 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: house in a resort area of Scottsdale called Mountain Shadows East, 155 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: cream colored with a wood shingled roof and a uniform 156 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: guard at the complex entrance. It was perfect. But West, 157 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: dear West, loyal royal charcoal broiled West. He has no 158 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: intention of ever moving in. I would say she half 159 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: believes he's going to follow her. One has to say 160 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: from the outside that he's not a courageous man. Yeah, yeah, 161 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: Wes wasn't incapable of leaving. He'd done it once before 162 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 1: as a young man with the first set Lana disillusioned 163 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: with life at tally Essen and determined to make it 164 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: on their own. West since fet Lana dramatically ran away together. 165 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: In letters from that time, West is positively vitriolic, calling 166 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: Right a scaly rascal, Olgavana a crazy, dirty feminine demon 167 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:11,839 Speaker 1: and tally Esen a canker oh Burne. But life outside 168 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,680 Speaker 1: of the womb of tally Esen was hard. West couldn't 169 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: walk on his own as an architect. He needed his 170 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 1: father figure. She married the king's daughter, and he found 171 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: his king, and he had to serve him, and he 172 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: needed his mother figure. Here's celest Davidson. He was so 173 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 1: devoted to missus Wright he practically laid on the floor 174 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: in front of her. So Wes and his bride crawled 175 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: back to tally Esen. West didn't want to be the 176 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: king of his own castle. So here's ft Lana. Married 177 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: to a knight in King Arthur's court. He's taken a 178 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: lifelong oath of loyalty and a wife and kid aren't 179 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: going to change that. But sent Lana has no desire 180 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: to join the royal court. She'd already been a princess. 181 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:00,080 Speaker 1: All she wants is autonomy and privacy, but even that 182 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: proves too much to ask. One day, at her little 183 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: house in Scottsdale, there's a knock at the door. She 184 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: opens the door a crack, still in her house dress, 185 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: and finds a male reporter from the Arizona Republic. Before 186 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,680 Speaker 1: Spetlana can close the door, the reporter has taken a 187 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: snapshot of her new single life and then asks her 188 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: about the apparent separation. She is embroiled in with West, 189 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: still living over atalis in West and she and her 190 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,319 Speaker 1: daughter in this gated community. Spetlana didn't think they were 191 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: separated in any sort of predivorce sense. She's still hopeful 192 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: that this is a transitional period of their relationship. All 193 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: she tells the reporter is that while she is done 194 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: with communal living, she is still all in with her husband. 195 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:50,840 Speaker 1: The NBC Evening News had this to report, So Stalin 196 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: Peters and the man she married two years ago seemed 197 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 1: to be headed for a divorce. The husband, William Peters, 198 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 1: said today they got married too fast and let his 199 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 1: wife walked out on them. Dalan's daughters said she objected 200 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: to communal living and that's why she moved out of 201 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: the architectural foundation for which her husband works in Arizonas. 202 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: The Arizona Republic frames the ensuing media chaos brilliantly as 203 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: a quote Dink and Lob tennis match with American spectators 204 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: looking on as Wes and stet Lana quote said their 205 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: marital linen in public. That's right? Or shall I say 206 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: that's right? With a w stet Lana and Wes both 207 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: confess their disappointments and marital failures, not to each other, 208 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: but to report after reporter. So now, in a thrilling 209 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: toward a force performance, I and I alone will perform 210 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: a selection of direct quotes from this heartbreaking media circus. 211 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: Stet Lana, I was back under dictatorial rule. I just 212 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: couldn't do it, Wes. Her mind has been conditioned by 213 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 1: years of communist training. Stet Lana. I only hope that 214 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: he will not be a pawn for others or allow 215 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: someone else to direct his private life. Wes. She rejected 216 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: a life pattern which I helped build, and I believe 217 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 1: in sped Lana. This is not a conflict between my 218 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: husband and me. He is a gentle person, Wes. I 219 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: don't want any two bits of bourbon life sped Lana. Divorce, 220 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 1: My god, I can't think of it, Wes. Divorce is 221 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 1: inevitable scene. What you just witnessed was theater. Listen. I 222 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: don't know what Wes since sped Lana said directly to 223 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: each other, or if they said anything at all, but 224 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: I do know this time must have been incredibly trying. 225 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: Sped Lana writes, I was being tormented and the press 226 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: was continually at the door or the telephone. But still 227 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: she kept holding onto the hope that her husband might 228 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 1: one day walk through the door of the house she'd 229 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 1: bought for them. I want to take a pause and 230 00:15:57,520 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: tell you how I've come to understand all of this 231 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: from spet Lana's perspective. It comes from a manuscript of 232 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: a memoir called The Faraway Music, which you've heard Cassie 233 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: reading in this podcast. The third of set Lana's memoirs. 234 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: It details her time at Taliessen. I managed to find 235 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: a copy at Amherst College's Center for Russian Studies in 236 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: western Massachusetts. In the middle of the winter, I flew 237 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: across the country to meet up with my parents, Neil 238 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: and Diane, and together we went to Amherst as snow 239 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 1: blanketed the quad. For three days, I would wake up 240 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: early and walk from the jeff In to the Russian Center. 241 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: I had to check my bags, but was allowed to 242 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: take in my phone and a notepad as I furiously 243 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: took pictures of each and every page of this mysterious manuscript, 244 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: the ones fet Lana could never convince any major publisher 245 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: to print. The Russian Center library was lined with giant 246 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: Samovars and tended to by the archivist, whose name was Nadia. 247 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: She stayed in her office as I poured over the pages. 248 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: Nadia was a Russian immigrant herself, having left her family 249 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:08,919 Speaker 1: back in the Motherland and not having seen them for 250 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: many years. I don't remember the specific thrill of each 251 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: and every page I read, but I do remember the 252 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: feeling when I reached page one hundred and thirty in 253 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: the book, the page where we are now after Stetlana 254 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: was told by her marriage counselor not to go back 255 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: to tally Esen, a scene that I could see so 256 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 1: clearly on the screen, a scene that broke my heart. 257 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: Here's Cassie reading from that page once. I could not 258 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: resist it anymore and drove to Taliesin it's dark, all 259 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: the fellows tucked into the rooms after a long day. 260 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:58,199 Speaker 1: Stet Lana walks up to the glass door of what 261 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:05,199 Speaker 1: was once her small apartment with West. My heart sank. 262 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: All was as when I left. She enters softly, and 263 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: then she sees him. I moved slowly into the sitting room, 264 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 1: and there was Wess, his back to me, barefoot in 265 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: his silk dressing gown, sitting before the television. He was 266 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: sitting like that for a while, quite motionless, and I 267 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: came closer and touched him by the shoulder, weeping. He 268 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: stands up, sad, pale, exhausted. You must go, he said, 269 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:56,639 Speaker 1: fearing that someone might see me there. You shouldn't, You shouldn't. 270 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: He was unable to say anything more, neither was I. 271 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: He walks out the door barefoot, as speed Lana follows 272 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: and takes her towards her car, parked amidst the cacti. 273 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 1: Only the stars were glittering on a deep, dark sky. 274 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: We did not talk, and then I drove away, slowly, 275 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:33,959 Speaker 1: still crying. I could see him in my driving mirror, 276 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: standing there by the roadside, the same beautiful desert road 277 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 1: through which I was driven to taliesin the first time. 278 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: That was the last time I saw it. I could 279 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,640 Speaker 1: picture it speed Lana driving through that desolate landscape, crying, 280 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 1: feeling more alone than she's ever been. She'd come here 281 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: with an American dream, money, family, peace. But as she 282 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: drives away from tali Essen that night, in the stillness 283 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 1: of the desert, I imagine all she can hear are 284 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: her darkest thoughts, her feelings of failure, her father's voice 285 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: in her head, You're a fool's ft Lana. I had 286 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 1: to stop reading that day. There was no more breath 287 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:32,880 Speaker 1: inside of me. I looked over at the archivists Naja 288 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 1: and said, it's so sad. Her life was so hard. 289 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: Naja looked at me. She nodded, half interested, half focused 290 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 1: on whatever archival Workley before her, probably mostly annoyed. An 291 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: immigrant in America herself, she probably thought, yes, most of 292 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: our stories are hard. Some of us are still living 293 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: them more. After the break Act three, less of Wes 294 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 1: Stelana wanted to be married to Wes. She tried so 295 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: hard to save their marriage, and yet the inevitable becomes official. 296 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: They agree to a divorce. Here's Rosemary. When they finally divorced, 297 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: he put the blame on her, and then he finally 298 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 1: said more honestly, I should never have let her marry me. 299 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 1: Her finances are pretty grim. Of her one point five million, 300 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: she was almost broke. There was almost nothing left. She 301 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: knew that there was no point in trying to get 302 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: support from Wesley because he didn't have a salary and 303 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: all the money he ever made went right into tally Esen. 304 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: And she wanted to not have any grounds for acrimony 305 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: or anger or complaint. She said, one day he'll understand 306 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: who I was. I cried for him, for myself, for 307 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: our small child, and gradually I felt that all my 308 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: hatred or whatever it was, was leaving me. I've lost 309 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: the game in a way, but from the other point 310 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:29,359 Speaker 1: of view, I've won something too. One day, Wes, we'll 311 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:34,199 Speaker 1: recognize that. I'm not entirely sure what she means by that, 312 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 1: but clearly spent Lana is trying to pick herself back 313 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:42,159 Speaker 1: up and start over again, like she always does. In 314 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 1: the summer of nineteen seventy two, spent Lana buys back 315 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: her old house in Princeton, New Jersey. Wes accompanies his 316 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: soon to be ex wife and daughter as far as 317 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: the Philadelphia airport, kisses them goodbye, and then immediately flies 318 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: back to tally Esen. Sped Lana is left starting over 319 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 1: with a broken heart. I know what you're thinking. Back 320 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:09,200 Speaker 1: to Princeton. Another escape, a relationship demolished, new enemies forged. 321 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 1: This is the same story again and again, a story 322 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: about breaking out of old chains and then climbing into 323 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,400 Speaker 1: new ones, a cycle of obsession and then abandonment, another 324 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: fresh start, except something's different now. Stetlana's a divorced, single 325 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 1: mother in her late forties, without the financial security she'd 326 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,479 Speaker 1: first come into in America and with a young child 327 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 1: to support, and that child, well, she grew up to 328 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,439 Speaker 1: be an adult. She's in her fifties now. She's changed 329 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,639 Speaker 1: her name, but I'll still refer to her as Olga 330 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:48,359 Speaker 1: throughout the podcast, both for consistency and because she's a 331 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 1: very private person. I've spoken to her several times over 332 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: the last year, both on and off Mike. She's a 333 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 1: wonderful storyteller who has lived a big life and gave 334 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 1: me a lot of insight into her mother. But out 335 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,480 Speaker 1: of respect for her desire for privacy, you won't hear 336 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: much of her voice in this podcast. The biggest thing 337 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: I learned from her was that in these postaliessin years 338 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: starting over again, stet Lana and Olga are everything to 339 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: each other. No matter what challenges they face, it's the 340 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: two of them against the world. I believe that without her, 341 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: Slana would have done herself in or something. You know, 342 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,520 Speaker 1: she wouldn't have made it. But as a mother once again, 343 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: a mother who tried to make peace with the loss 344 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,919 Speaker 1: of her two adult children back in Russia, the past 345 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:36,360 Speaker 1: was hard to shake. In December of nineteen seventy five, 346 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: stet Lana and Olga go to California for the holidays 347 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: to visit West's sister and brother in law. So imagine 348 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: it Christmas Day. Maybe there's jazz humming from the record 349 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 1: player or Carol's being played on the piano, eggnog being drunk, 350 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,680 Speaker 1: presents being unwrapped, a family gathering on the holiest of nights. 351 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: You can see it, can't you. A Russian emigre close 352 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,160 Speaker 1: in on fifty with a four and a half year old. 353 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: She doesn't have a job, she's all but given up 354 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: writing as a profession. The woman who was born speed 355 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: Lana Stelina was now an appendage, an American divorcee at 356 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: the end of someone else's Christmas table. And then something happens. 357 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: Set Lana gets up from the table. She makes her 358 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: way to the telephone, and she places a very long 359 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:30,439 Speaker 1: distance call. The phone rings and rings and rings, and 360 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: then suddenly someone answers if it was the evening in California, 361 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: it would be morning on the other end of the line. Bunny, 362 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: is that you, speed Lana asks a gruff voice answers. 363 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: Do you think you'd sound like yourself after nine years? 364 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:55,600 Speaker 1: That gruff voice it belongs to Svetlana's son, Joseph Bunny 365 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: as his mother called him as a child. And then 366 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: the phone goes dead. Did he hang up? Did the 367 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,680 Speaker 1: KGB intercept the call? We don't know, neither did she 368 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,200 Speaker 1: Her heart must have ached yearned it had been nine 369 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: years since she'd last heard her son's voice. You can 370 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: see her, can't you, by herself holding the receiver of 371 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: a telephone, a dial tone playing a solitary solo while 372 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,719 Speaker 1: Christmas jazz plays softly in the other room. She had 373 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,119 Speaker 1: a whole new life here in America, but that didn't 374 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:36,879 Speaker 1: erase the previous one. The characters from the last chapter 375 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: were still living on in a different book, and up 376 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,640 Speaker 1: until now, Stetlana had conditioned herself to keep those stories 377 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 1: separate so she could move on to the next chapter 378 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: in her life. But maybe this is the moment here 379 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:56,919 Speaker 1: holding the telephone, when Stetlana finally feels the urge to 380 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:00,920 Speaker 1: unify all those stories, where she feels the only way 381 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: to move forward is to go backwards. And this, my friends, 382 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: is set Lana's cycle doing the same thing over and 383 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: over again, and over and over again. So on the 384 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:32,879 Speaker 1: next episode of set Lana spet Lana, We're going back 385 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:41,679 Speaker 1: to Russia. Set Lana stet Lana is a production of 386 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:46,160 Speaker 1: iHeart Podcasts and the documentary group I'm Your Host Dan Catrosser. 387 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: The show was written and produced by me Adam Webber, 388 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: Alison Joy, and Catherine Isaac. We also serve as executive 389 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:57,440 Speaker 1: producers at the documentary group. Our executive producer is Joe Batzilouitz, 390 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 1: with production oversight by Stacy kleeger An additional support from 391 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: Tom Yellen and Gabrielle Tenenbaum. Our iHeart team is supervising 392 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: producer Casey Pegram and executive producer Maya Howard. Editing assistants 393 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,920 Speaker 1: from producers Christina Loranger and Joey pat Original music by 394 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:19,640 Speaker 1: Elan Izakov. Production counsel by slas Ekhouse, Dasty Haynes Lockoe, 395 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:24,639 Speaker 1: Clearance counsel by Ballard Sparr, Back checking assistance by Meghan Trout. 396 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 1: Special thanks to my husband Jordan Siegel and Roger Friedland 397 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,919 Speaker 1: and Harold Zelman, authors of the book The Fellowship, who 398 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,400 Speaker 1: kindly granted permission to include excerpts from their taped interview 399 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:40,160 Speaker 1: with Spetlana, excerpts from Stetlana Alujeva's book The Faraway. Music 400 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 1: are performed by Cassie Greer.