WEBVTT - Introducing: The Last Soviet Hosted By Lance Bass

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lance Bass, and you may know me from a

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<v Speaker 1>little band called in Sync. What you may not know

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<v Speaker 1>is that when I was twenty three, I traveled to

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<v Speaker 1>Moscow to train to become the youngest person to go

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<v Speaker 1>to space. Band member is one step closer to saying

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<v Speaker 1>bye bye bye to planet Earth. I spent six months

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<v Speaker 1>learning Russian astrophysics, even flying a fighter jet with a drunk.

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<v Speaker 1>Commanders have named Lance Bass as a member of the

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<v Speaker 1>three person crew. It was the craziest experience of my life.

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<v Speaker 1>And when I was there, as you can imagine, I

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<v Speaker 1>heard some pretty wild stories. But there was this one

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<v Speaker 1>that really stuck with me. It's about a man who's

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<v Speaker 1>traveling two hundred and fifty miles above the Earth at

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<v Speaker 1>five miles a second. His name is Sergei Krikov. He's

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<v Speaker 1>a Soviet cosmonaut, and he's manning the world's only space station,

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<v Speaker 1>the Pride and Joy of the U. S. S R.

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<v Speaker 1>The year is nineteen ninety one. Sarage has been up

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<v Speaker 1>there for three months. By now, as the days bleed

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<v Speaker 1>into one another, he's starting to feel a bit space sick.

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<v Speaker 1>He's been counting down the weeks till he's due to

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<v Speaker 1>come home to his wife and family, and that's when

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<v Speaker 1>his friend, a Ham radio operator in suburban Australia, tells

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<v Speaker 1>him something shocking. She says, Sarage, something bad is happening

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<v Speaker 1>in the Soviet Union. After months strikes, protests and deepening

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<v Speaker 1>economic chaoss, people are sleeping in train stations. I gave

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<v Speaker 1>them my money, old one. We won't give you your bread.

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<v Speaker 1>Law and order seem to be breaking down bread Almi

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<v Speaker 1>almored personnel carriers on the streets of Moscow this morning

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<v Speaker 1>heading to the Kremlin. The republics that make up the

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<v Speaker 1>Union were starting to break away. They were wild scenes

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<v Speaker 1>Guti and three days his handlers on the ground tell him,

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<v Speaker 1>we can't keep this from you anymore. Everything is collapsing

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<v Speaker 1>around us, including the Soviet Space Agency. We've run out

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<v Speaker 1>of money. We can't send anyone to replace you. So

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<v Speaker 1>we're giving you a choice. You can come back down

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<v Speaker 1>to Earth's planned and abandon the station to an unknown fate,

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<v Speaker 1>or you stay as long as it takes and protect

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<v Speaker 1>the station, the final outpost of a falling empire. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the story of the three thirteen days Sergei spent

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<v Speaker 1>circling the Earth three hundred and thirteen days that change

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<v Speaker 1>our world Thanks Christ. Cars like climsy toys. Historians are

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<v Speaker 1>likely to be analyzing the events of this day for

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<v Speaker 1>generation is to come in Moscow, the Hammer and Sickle

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<v Speaker 1>is lord for the last time, and an era comes

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<v Speaker 1>to an end. Of pay changed, a rank or status,

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<v Speaker 1>everything changed. It was rather like he was a time

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<v Speaker 1>traveling I'm Lance bass And from Kaleidoscope and iHeart Podcasts.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the Last Soviet. Listen to the Last Soviet

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<v Speaker 1>on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get

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<v Speaker 1>your podcasts.