Bringing the Muppets to Moscow
Natasha Lance Rogoff’s daunting task of making Sesame Street in post-Soviet Russia. Along the way, she’d face mobsters with shark tanks, bankruptcy, and the kidnapping of Elmo.
In the early 90s, American journalist Natasha Lance Rogoff was covering the collapse of the Soviet Union – until the Muppets came calling, and she was tasked with bringing Sesame Street to Moscow. After decades of communism a new Russia was emerging, but could it embrace a US TV show?
Creating Ulitsa Sezam was a daunting challenge for Natasha. She would have to overcome a huge culture clash and, along the way, face mobsters with shark tanks, bankruptcy, and the kidnapping of Elmo. Natasha has written a book called Muppets in Moscow: The unexpected crazy true story of making Sesame Street in Russia.
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Maryam Maruf
Ulitsa Sezam archive is courtesy of Sesame Workshop
(Photo: Natasha Lance Rogoff with the Russian Muppet, Businka. Credit: Courtesy of Irina Borisova)
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcasts
- Wed 8 Feb 2023 12:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Wed 8 Feb 2023 18:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Wed 8 Feb 2023 23:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 9 Feb 2023 00:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service South Asia
- Thu 9 Feb 2023 03:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except South Asia
Contact Outlook
Info on how we might use your contribution on air
Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected