The Idiot - Chapter 5
3/26/202629 min
Allen will almost certainly be released in a few years. What should M.’s family do with a guy who refuses to own up to his own crime? Can he be re-integrated into the family? Should he be?
While M. has grown increasingly compassionate toward Allen, they learn their family has been moving in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Priscilla has been trying to make a life without Allen. But Allen’s mom has other plans.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Masha Gessen· Host0:29
My father was born on December twenty-fifth, so ever since we moved to the United States forty-five years ago, his birthday has been a national holiday and the start of winter break for his kids and then grandkids. Everyone gathers at his house in Cape Cod. Everyone, not just the birthday man, gets gifts. Lena and Alan used to come, of course, but now it's Priscilla who comes with the kids.
Speaker 5· Soundbite0:55
[laughing] [speaking Ukrainian] No, no.
Speaker 30:59
[laughing] [speaking Ukrainian] Whoa, whoa. [laughing] Whoa, whoa.
Masha Gessen· Host1:02
[laughing] My father always has his wife take a picture of him surrounded by his children, me and my three brothers, and grandchildren, seven of them, including L and L. This past December, we gathered for my father's eighty-first birthday.
Speaker 31:19
Okay. [speaking Ukrainian] Oh, a new glass.
Lena· Soundbite1:23
Oh, yay.
Masha Gessen· Host1:25
At some point during that party, I got an email from