This American Life

807: Eight Fights


Listen Later

Nadia's family is split between Russia and Ukraine, which is pretty common. And when Russia invaded Ukraine, it didn’t just start fighting on the battlefield. It sparked family conflict, too. An intimate story of the war from writer Masha Gessen. 
Prologue: An extended family, and eight fights. (1 minutes)
Fight #1: Luka’s parents – Nadia and Karen – try to figure out where to take him once war breaks out. (6 minutes)
Fight #2: Nadia and Karen have been arguing over Russian-ness since they needed to pick a school for Luka. (10 minutes)
Fights #3 and #4: Nadia remembers the times that Luka’s father would suggest going to Crimea for vacation, as if it wasn’t Ukrainian land occupied by Russia. And she remembers a present that Karen once gave Luka––the sort which had to be smuggled into the country. (6 minutes)
Fight #5: Nadia tells the story of her father, Alex, who lives near Bucha, and how differently he and she view the Russian atrocities there. (10 minutes)
Fight #6: Nadia tells the story of her mother, who lives in Russia, and how she won’t do the one thing Nadia keeps asking her to do. (2 minutes)
Fight #7: Karen sends Nadia a photo which drives them to a final showdown. (12 minutes)
Fight #8: Nadia’s step-father works for the Russian government. How to manage that? (4 minutes)
Epilogue: Nadia and Karen’s son, Luka, who most of these fights are about, gets the last word. (3 minutes)
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

This American LifeBy This American Life

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

86,535 ratings


More shows like This American Life

View all
TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

22,004 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,986 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,185 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,579 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,733 Listeners

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

38,831 Listeners

The Moth by The Moth

The Moth

27,174 Listeners

Invisibilia by NPR

Invisibilia

21,617 Listeners

99% Invisible by Roman Mars

99% Invisible

26,253 Listeners

Snap Judgment by Snap Judgment and PRX

Snap Judgment

11,676 Listeners

Heavyweight by Pushkin Industries

Heavyweight

17,797 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,759 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

16,358 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,145 Listeners

The Retrievals by Serial Productions & The New York Times

The Retrievals

10,263 Listeners