History Extra podcast A Soviet road trip through 1930s America
May 28, 2024
Historian Lisa Kirschenbaum discusses the intriguing journey of two Soviet satirists, Ilf and Petrov, as they road trip across America in the 1930s. From encounters with President Roosevelt to experiencing racism in Jim Crow America, their journey offers a fascinating look at US-Soviet relations and cultural observations.
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Famous Satirists Who Wrote As A Duo
- Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov wrote every sentence together and became beloved Soviet satirists.
- Their novels The Twelve Chairs and The Little Golden Calf read like road trips before they made one across America.
A Rare Soviet Privilege Became Diplomacy
- Travel outside the USSR was rare and a privilege, so Ilf and Petrov acted as cultural ambassadors in 1935.
- Normalized US–Soviet relations in 1933 enabled such high-profile literary exchanges.
Admiring American Know‑How, Not Its System
- Soviets admired American technology and wanted to borrow it to industrialize quickly in the 1930s.
- They pursued 'American-ization' of techniques while building a distinct socialist state.