The Idiot - Chapter 4
3/26/20261 hr 3 min
Allen finally agrees to talk … and talk and talk, for 35 hours of interviews. M. wants to understand Allen on his own terms, to try and figure out how this scion of bohemian intellectuals ended up hiring someone to kill his ex. It’s hard for M. to believe everything Allen says, but over the course of their conversations, M. comes to feel for their cousin. And they think they understand what drove him to go so far.
Our newest podcast, “The Idiot” is out now. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts.
To get full...
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsEzra Klein0:01
If you find yourself bewildered by this moment where there's so much reason for despair and so much reason to hope all at the same time, let me say I hear you. I'm Ezra Klein from New York Times Opinion, host of The Ezra Klein Show. And for me, the best way to beat back that bewildered feeling is to talk it out with the people who have ideas and frameworks for making sense of it. There is going to be plenty to talk about. You can find The Ezra Klein Show wherever you get your podcasts.
Masha Gessen· Host0:28
In April 2024, my cousin Alan was delivered to federal court in San Francisco for his sentencing hearing. It had been just under a year since a jury found him guilty of hiring someone to kill his ex-wife, Priscilla. The maximum sentence for this crime is 10 years. The cast of characters, the judge, the public defender, the prosecutor, and Alan were back in the same courtroom. All of them seemed the same, except maybe Alan. He was contrite, genuinely filled with regret, or so it sounded to me. He apologized to Priscilla, who was listening on Zoom. He promised that he would never again do anything to harm her or the children. He talked about his decision to reject a plea deal and go to trial, and for a minute, he didn't sound like Alan at all. He said that the trial had made him see himself as the jury saw him. "It was embarrassing to listen to those recordings," he said. "Your Honor, I'm prepared