The Idiot - Chapter 1

Summary

Serial: "The Idiot" – Chapter 1 (Release: March 26, 2026)

Overview:

The premiere of "The Idiot" is a riveting personal family narrative told by journalist M. Gessen. The episode explores the elasticity and eventual breaking point of a Russian-Jewish immigrant family, centering on the increasingly outrageous actions of Gessen’s cousin Alan. What begins as a story about family migration, estrangement, and quirky reunions evolves into a jaw-dropping account of cross-border child abduction, criminal accusations, and ultimately, an alleged murder-for-hire plot—a transformation that rattles the entire extended family.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights:

1. Family History and Character Introductions (00:33–03:00)

• Elasticity of Family:
  Gessen opens with an evocative metaphor: "My family, if I had to give it an adjective, is elastic." The narrative traverses decades, migrations, and the family’s capacity to adapt and include new, sometimes incompatible members.
• Alan’s Background:
  Alan, Gessen’s cousin, is described scathingly: "Alan is a clown, a blowhard, a pompous ass" (02:05). Listeners learn of his checkered professional background, a dubious entrepreneurial streak, and globally peripatetic lifestyle.
• The Beginning of Trouble:
  In 2019, out of the blue, Alan arrives in the US with his five-year-old son (O), leaving behind his wife Priscilla and baby daughter in Russia. The announcement to the American family is chillingly transactional and suspicious.

2. Family Reaction & Moral Dilemmas (04:45–06:30)

• Reluctance to Interfere:
  The family, especially Gessen’s father, avoids intervention. “He would never call the authorities on his sister and nephew” (03:51), demonstrating a culture of family loyalty over external help.
• Empathy for Priscilla:
  Priscilla, Alan’s wife, reaches out to the family in anguish: “I beg you, please, to help me get my son back…if you are unable to help me, then just ignore my message” (04:45).
• Family Apathy:
  The message is met with deliberate indifference:
  • Family Member: “I received a long, long letter from Priscilla, but I just ignored it.” (04:45)

3. Gessen’s Secret Intervention (07:30–12:00)

• Becoming a Double Agent:
  Gessen quietly connects with Priscilla to help her locate her son and begin the legal process under the Hague Convention.
  • Gessen: “I was a double agent now. I tracked Lena, Alan and O through their Facebook posts…” (10:47)
• Observing Alan’s Parenting:
  Despite the high drama, Alan appears to be an attentive father, investing in O’s education and hobbies.
  • Gessen: “Alan seemed like a great dad. Kind, attentive, devoted and fun.” (11:53)
• Temporary Resolution:
  Eventually, after a convoluted legal back and forth, Priscilla and her daughter reach the US. The custody case results in both parents gaining access, and for a moment, “I figured my job was done. My time as a double agent, long over.” (12:02)

4. Escalation to Criminality (13:50–16:00)

• The Montreal Arrest:
  Alan tries to leave for London with O without informing Priscilla and is arrested in Montreal:
  • “Alan was arrested in Montreal at the airport when he, Leana and O were waiting to board a flight to London without apparently Priscilla's knowledge. This time Alan went to jail.” (13:50)
• Family’s Dismissive Attitude:
  The family processes Alan’s repeated involvement with law enforcement with a surprising lack of gravity:
  • “We acted like it was absurd. I entertained my friends with stories of my serial kidnapper. Cousin.” (14:00)
  • Lena’s overdramatic updates, including a video of Alan in “a striped uniform, singing her Russian prison song.”

5. The Shocking Climax: Murder-for-Hire (16:00–21:44)

• The ‘Bomb’ in the Family:
  During a camping trip at the family’s Cape Cod home, the FBI appears at dawn:

  • Family Member: “So they came. They brought some huge, huge tent…I never saw such a tent before, with a lot of furniture, lights and devices.” (16:30)
  • Gessen: “Because it was summer, my father’s house was full…Some people in the house and Alan, Lena and the kids in the tent. And then around 6 the next morning, the dog Altin started going nuts. Someone was banging on the front door.” (17:15)

• Alan’s Arrest:
  Alan is led away in handcuffs; the children and Lena are also taken by federal agents:

  • Family Member: “But by that time, because of all this noise and commotion and Altin’s barking, Alyosha woke up…” (17:49)

• The Shocking Charge:
  The arrest paper reads “murder for hire.”

  • Gessen: “It was Priscilla. Alan, it seemed, had hired someone to kill Priscilla.” (19:32)

• Family Reaction and Disbelief:
  The accusation shatters the family’s elastic tolerance:

  • Gessen: “This was when it felt like we snapped. I certainly snapped. I was shocked at how shocked I was…How does something like this happen? How had it happened right here in my family?” (19:44)

6. Next Steps and Cliffhanger (21:00–End)

• Reflection as Reporter:
  Gessen prepares to dig in as a journalist, planning to find the fuller truth from Priscilla, warning:
  • “What she told me was so much worse than what I thought I knew. That’s next time from Serial Productions and the New York Times.” (21:38)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On family elasticity:
  • “My family, if I had to give it an adjective, is elastic.” (00:33) — M. Gessen
• On Alan’s personality:
  • “Alan is a clown, a blowhard, a pompous ass.” (02:05) — M. Gessen
• On indifference to Priscilla’s plea:
  • “I received a long, long letter from Priscilla, but I just ignored it.” (04:45) — Family Member
• On playing double agent:
  • “I was a double agent now.” (10:47) — M. Gessen
• On Alan’s shock arrest:
  • “Alan was arrested in Montreal at the airport when he...was waiting to board a flight to London without apparently Priscilla’s knowledge. This time Alan went to jail.” (13:50) — M. Gessen
• On the murder-for-hire revelation:
  • “It was Priscilla. Alan, it seemed, had hired someone to kill Priscilla.” (19:32) — M. Gessen

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:33–03:00 – Family background, Alan’s introduction
• 04:45–06:30 – Priscilla’s plea, family indifference
• 07:30–12:00 – Gessen becomes a double agent, legal efforts
• 13:50–16:00 – Alan’s arrest in Montreal, family’s attitude
• 16:00–21:44 – The murder-for-hire plot, Alan’s final arrest, family stunned
• 21:44–end – Gessen’s resolve to investigate, teaser for next episode

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Tone & Style

The episode mixes dark humor, candid family portraiture, and journalistic rigor. Gessen’s narration is wry, at times bitingly critical, but also introspective and empathetic. The family banter and matter-of-fact responses heighten the sense of surreal normalcy in the face of escalating calamity.

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Summary Statement

“The Idiot” Chapter 1 introduces a jaw-dropping real-life family saga. What starts as a story of migration and familial eccentricity quickly turns into an international drama, culminating in an alleged murder plot. With sharp narration, unsettling revelations, and a deft exploration of divided loyalties, this episode sets up a deeply personal—and highly cinematic—investigation into how even the most elastic families can eventually snap.

Transcript

[Narrator]

One sweet, melty bite of a Hershey's bar and suddenly I'm right back, sitting on the front porch with my grandmother on a slow summer afternoon. She doesn't say much, just breaks the bar in half and hands me a piece. I open my mouth to say whatever a 9 year old wants to say, and she replies with a low

[M. Gessen]

listen.

[Narrator]

So we sat there listening. That was the first time I learned that quiet can feel full. Hershey's it's your happy place.

[M. Gessen]

My family, if I had to give it an adjective, is elastic. 45 years ago, my parents, my little brother and I came over to this country from the Soviet Union, extending the family across continents. Over the decades, the family my father really stretched to absorb spouses in laws even though they spoke a different language. Children, both biological and adopted ex spouses who chose to stick around, and eventually grandchildren. Over those same decades, as in any family, people made bad decisions, said things they hoped no one would remember, got mad at each other, held grudges, came around, and the family stretched as needed. And then it snapped. Someone did something that bad, that shocking. That person was my cousin Alan. He and his mother, my father's sister Lena, came to the US from Moscow in 1990 when Alan was 15. They stayed with my parents and brother for almost a year. By the time they arrived, I no longer lived at home, so I didn't have much of a relationship with them. Never really wanted to because I didn't like my aunt. And as Alan grew up, I realized, even from a distance, that I didn't particularly like him either. Alan is a clown, a blowhard, a pompous ass. He would call himself an entrepreneur. He started his first business in college. He hired students to ghost write papers for other wealthier students. He went to law school and got fired from his first job. He later told me this was because his fine legal mind made the other lawyers insecure. Then he lived in Russia, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, working a series of increasingly shady jobs. In Africa, he was involved with diamonds and worked with an Israeli company that provided security for mining. If someone had set out to write an unlikable international huckster character, they couldn't have laid it on any thicker. Allen married a Zimbabwean woman. Word in the family was that she had been that country's beauty queen. They had two kids. Last I knew, all of them, including my aunt Lena, were living in Moscow. And then in the summer of 2019, everyone on the American side of the family got a Facebook message from Alan informing us that he had arrived in the US with His five year old son, who I'm going to call O, Alan wrote. They'd come for O to, quote, commence his studies. I repeat, O was five. His wife, he wrote, was still in Russia with their baby daughter. They had separated. Allen added ominously, things are less than amicable. She might make attempts to contact you with requests detrimental to mine and O's interests. I immediately texted my brother Keith, who was closer to Alan. So our cousin has kidnapped his son and abandoned his daughter. The answer would appear to be maybe, my brother responded, just a note. This isn't the big shocking thing I was talking about earlier, but we're still a few years away from that. I called my dad. He told me that Alan had just shown up at his house on Cape Cod without warning. His five year old son was with him, as was Lena, my dad's sister. I asked my dad if we should do something about the maybe kidnapping, like, I don't know, contact the FBI. This was the wrong thing to say to a guy who grew up in the Soviet Union. He would never call the authorities on his sister and nephew. What he did do was post a picture of oh on Facebook, perhaps a message in a bottle for oh's mom. Sure enough, my father immediately heard from her. Her name is Priscilla. Priscilla wrote to my dad describing the ordeal she was enduring. She said she had gone on a short business trip to Zimbabwe, and when she returned, she discovered that Allen had left with her son. It had been about a week, and only now, from seeing my father's Facebook post, was she learning anything more. Priscilla wrote, I beg you, please, to help me get my son back, or to at least speak to him. Please do not tell them I have written to you. If you are unable to help me, then just ignore my message.

[Family Member]

I received a long, long letter from Priscilla, but I just ignored it.

[M. Gessen]

My father can be quite literal. So what did you think was going on then? Did you think she was lying or.

[Family Member]

Honestly, I didn't pay much attention. I don't know. No, I understood that something was wrong with their marriage, but beyond that, no.

[M. Gessen]

Like I said, my family is elastic to keep it that way. My father preferred not to know too much. And it wasn't just him. My three younger brothers, their partners, my own grown son, assorted friends of my father's, everyone acted like, hey, sometimes men and their mothers just change continents with a five year old in tow. And here was the thing. They were fun. My father loves having family around. The whole reason he lives in a big house on Cape Cod is so that his Four kids and five grandkids gather around him. But the house has seen better days and all the kids and some of the grandkids have busy lives. Alan and Lena and O's arrival on the scene breathed new life into the house and the family. Lena would come up with ridiculous activities like let's Write the Guess and Family Anthem and was always taking black and white pictures that made us all look like more stylish versions of ourselves. Alan was always driving up in his Tesla with new gadgets and tales of new business ventures. I found him ridiculous, but my youngest brothers and my oldest son hung on every word. Alan would sit on the couch with these very young men and scroll through pictures of women on Tinder. They all looked like models. Alan was bald as a billiard ball and had a giant protruding belly. He claimed that he had matched with all of those women. After a while, Alan was eager to talk about why he had taken Al. He claimed that Priscilla was a bad mother. She partied all the time. She did drugs. She cheated on Alan. To me, these sounded like good reasons to get a divorce, not to take your child from his mother. Lena had her own complaints. She said Priscilla didn't read to her child and perhaps even worse, didn't read books herself. The only book she kept in the house, Lena claimed, was the Bible. I thought, wait, this was why Lena and Alan took Priscilla's son away. There are a few things that I think justify separating a kid from his parent. But Lena and Allen didn't seem to think that much justification was required. I couldn't stop thinking about what Priscilla must be going through. Without telling anyone in the family, I decided to reach out to her. I had met her only a couple of times and barely had a sense of her. I knew that she worked in fashion. I knew from Lena that Priscilla's father owned a huge farm in Zimbabwe. And I knew that she would have no reason to trust me. I wasn't sure she'd respond. I texted her that I knew only Lena and Allen's side of the story. Priscilla wrote back right away. She was stuck in Russia. Her daughter, whom I'll call Elle, had been born via surrogacy because Priscilla was unable to carry a pregnancy to term. The baby was eight months old, but Priscilla still didn't have a birth certificate for her, which meant that they couldn't leave the country. We traded short messages back and forth. Our exchange was friendly but guarded. I didn't want to overstep, and I think Priscilla tried to say only what needed to be said. It was enough for me to sense that she was in anguish and I was horrified. How could this woman's child just be taken away from her? How could my family just sit by? And what was going to happen to oh now. Priscilla told me that the Russian police would not help her. The Zimbabwean embassy said that she could file a petition under the Hague Convention, a treaty that specifically addresses situations when one parent abducts a child and takes them to another country. But Priscilla needed legal help in the us I could be useful here. I called a friend who connected Priscilla with a person in the Justice Department who specializes in these kinds of cases. Priscilla also needed Lena Allen and O's physical address in the States so she could begin the Hague process. This I could definitely help with. I knew that they'd left Cape Cod for New York, which is where I live. I invited my aunt, cousin and nephew over for dinner. Alan was away on business, so Lena arrived with O, who got conscripted into a human pyramid by the young people of my household. As I slid turkey steaks into the oven, I asked Lena the question all New York City parents ask all other New York City parents, where will O go to school? He was about to turn six. Lena said that she had no idea how schools even functioned in the city. Do let me explain this to you, I said and took out my phone. What is your address? Let's see what district that is. Bingo. I had their address. I sent it to Priscilla. Some weeks later, apparently on a lark, they moved to Massachusetts. I figured out that address too. I was a double agent now. I tracked Lena, Alan and O through their Facebook posts, messages to the family, chat, and occasional weekends at my father's house on Cape Cod. When they moved to a new house, I let Priscilla know if I had news about O. I texted Priscilla. Sometimes she'd just ask for reassurance that he was alright from all the men in my family. My father, my three brothers and my son. My I hid the fact that I was in touch with Priscilla. I thought they'd see what I was doing as disloyal and might rat me out to Alan. My daughter knew it was a little bit exciting, but it also gave me an excuse for maintaining peace with my newly enlarged family. But the more I hung out with them, the more I just hung out with him. O was growing. Alan and Lena were building a life. I watched. Sometimes I caught myself thinking that it was a pretty good life. Alan, Lena and O moved into a farmhouse in Concord, Massachusetts. Lena furnished it stylishly. They seemed to spend most of their time actively raising O. They enrolled him in Jewish school, Violin lessons, fencing, horseback riding. And I'm sure I'm still forgetting something. They dressed, oh, like a tiny little gentleman, complete with brogues and fedora hats. And by some sort of miracle, the result wasn't annoying. Paul was a delight. Curious, entertaining without being overbearing and unfailingly polite. He seemed happy. Whatever damage being separated from his mother had done, I couldn't see it. What I could see was that he was doted on and thriving. To put it another way. And it wasn't easy for me to admit that I was seeing this. Alan seemed like a great dad. Kind, attentive, devoted and fun. Two years passed like this. Eventually, Priscilla and Elle, who was now a toddler, made it to the United States. I hadn't messaged with Priscilla in over a year, but I heard from my father that Priscilla's claim, filed under the Hague Convention, was going to be heard in federal court in Boston. The case would probably drag on for a while, but I assumed that Priscilla would now be able to see her son. And then, there it was. On social media, Priscilla posted a picture of herself embracing O. I liked the picture. I figured my job was done. My time as a double agent, long over. About four months later, Allen was arrested for kidnapping O. Not for the time he took O from Russia. This was new. That's after the break.

[Commercial Voice]

Critics and audiences agree.

[Family Member]

What the hell is this place?

[Commercial Voice]

Only three letters describe they WILL kill you. Wtf?

[M. Gessen]

Splendid.

[Commercial Voice]

USA Today calls it bloody and bonkers.

[Commercial Voice 2]

Are you ready to die?

[Commercial Voice]

IGN declares it's electrifying. Action, cinema and popcorn. Entertainment to the max.

[M. Gessen]

How many of you are there?

[Commercial Voice]

It begs to be seen in a packed theater.

[M. Gessen]

Please remember to clean up the blood.

[Commercial Voice]

Wow. They will kill you. Now playing only in theaters. Rated R under 17. Not admitted without parent.

[M. Gessen]

So good.

[Commercial Voice 2]

So good.

[Family Member]

So good.

[Commercial Voice 2]

Spring styles are at Nordstrom Rack stores now and they're up to 60% off. Stock up and save on Rag and Bone, Madewell, Vince, All Saints and more of your favorites.

[M. Gessen]

How did I not know Rack has Adidas?

[Commercial Voice 2]

Why do we rock for the hottest deals?

[Narrator]

Just so many good brands.

[Commercial Voice 2]

Join the Nordy Club to unlock exclusive deal discounts. Shop new arrivals first and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite Rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack.

[Narrator]

One sweet, melty bite of a Hershey's bar and suddenly I'm right back. Sitting on the front porch with my grandmother on a slow summer afternoon. She doesn't say much, just breaks the bar in half and hands me a piece. I open my mouth to say whatever a 9 year old wants to say and she replies with a low shh.

[M. Gessen]

Listen.

[Narrator]

So we sat there listening. That was the first time I learned that quiet can feel full. Hershey's it's your happy place.

[M. Gessen]

Alan was arrested in Montreal at the airport when he, Leana and O were waiting to board a flight to London without apparently Priscilla's knowledge. This time Alan went to jail. But no, this arrest and what Alan did to get himself arrested weren't the things that shocked my family. We didn't exactly act like Alan's arrest was normal. We acted like it was absurd. I entertained my friends with stories of my serial kidnapper. Cousin Lena kept the family updated with overdramatic notes on the Facebook family chat and at least one video from Canada in which Allen, wearing a striped uniform, sings her Russian prison song. It looked like a cartoon. Allen spent a couple of weeks in Canadian detention, then another few weeks in a jail in upstate New York, and was finally released on his own recognizance to await trial in Massachusetts. O was now living with Priscilla. Allen got out of jail in February 2022. A couple of months after that he sent out a missive on the family chat, a self important as the one that began this whole story. This time he was telling us that he and Priscilla had resolved their battle, which actually turned out to be true. They would now have shared custody of both kids. Alan said he was very pleased. I thought my God did you have to go through all this absconding with your son twice, keeping him separated from his mother for more than two years just to arrive at a standard 5050 custody agreement? The this child support and shared custody is the boring end of this crazy story. I felt a little relieved and a little dumb, like maybe I'd bought too fully into other people's drama. Kidnapping charges against Allen were pending. They would later be dropped. And still Priscilla was able to reach a peace agreement with Allen. After all he'd apparently put her and their son through. Well, maybe this was just the way they did things, with extreme flair.

[Family Member]

Then the kind of exotic part started.

[M. Gessen]

Then it happened. The thing, the bomb that went off in the middle of my family.

[Family Member]

So the day before Ellen called me and said that he promised his he kids to take them camping.

[M. Gessen]

July 2022 under the new custody arrangement. It was Alan's weekend with the kids. He asked my dad, hey do you mind if me, my mom and the kids camp out in Your backyard on Cape Cod.

[Family Member]

I said, of course. So they came. They brought some huge, huge tent. I never saw such a tent before, with a lot of furniture, lights and devices.

[M. Gessen]

Solar charges, rugs, two full ma. A treasure trunk with treasures. I guess it was very Alan Awesome. Spectacular. Ridiculous. Though later it occurred to me that this time at least, there may have been a point to this. He wanted everyone to remember his camping trip to my father's backyard. Because it was summer, my father's house was full. Two of my younger brothers, one of them with his girlfriend, were there. Everyone had a nice dinner together and then went to bed. Some people in the house and Alan, Lena and the kids in the tent. And then around 6 the next morning, the dog Altin started going nuts. Someone was banging on the front door.

[Family Member]

So I opened the door a bit because not to let Altin out. Also, I didn't put my trousers on yet. And the guy, the policeman, said, where are state police? Could you step out with your phone?

[M. Gessen]

My dad is surprised, but he's not panicking. He goes to get his pants and his phone.

[Family Member]

But by that time, because of all this noise and commotion and Altin's barking, Alyosha woke up.

[M. Gessen]

Alyosha is my cousin's Russian diminutive, Alan.

[Family Member]

And he came to the house to see what was going on. And police figured out that they are looking for him and not for me.

[M. Gessen]

FBI agents go around the house banging on doors and make everyone sit down on the couches in the living room. No one understands what's going on. But soon, through the picture windows that look out on the backyard, they see two male FBI agents take Alan away in handcuffs. Then a female agent escorts the kids to another car. They all drive off. State troopers follow. Lena leaves too. And did you know, once everybody left, did you have any idea what he had been arrested for?

[Family Member]

Not immediately. But then I learned from Lena about that. She was totally lost. But the only thing she knew that what was in this paper they gave him? What?

[M. Gessen]

What was in the paper?

[Family Member]

Oh, that he is arrested for. I don't. I didn't. I don't remember. But murder for hire was there. Yes.

[M. Gessen]

And did you have any idea who he might have hired somebody to murder.

[Family Member]

You? No. It didn't take long.

[M. Gessen]

It was Priscilla Allen, it seemed, had hired someone to kill Priscilla.

[Family Member]

The question was if it was true or not. That's another story.

[M. Gessen]

Some of us took the news in faster than others. The day after Allen's arrest, my brother Keith and I had a fight over the Justice Department press release. Which identified the target only as PC. I was saying that it was obviously Priscilla, whose last name begins with a C. He was saying that it was obviously not Priscilla. Lena kept telling everyone that Alan had been set up by business rivals or Russian agents or the FBI or someone. But over the course of a few days, it sank in. My cousin had been caught hiring someone to murder his ex wife, the mother of his children. This was when it felt like we snapped. I certainly snapped. I was shocked at how shocked I was. It's not that I felt bad for Alan or Lena. It's just how does something like this happen? How had it happened right here in my family? In between our silly dinners and chess games and kids birthday parties? In theory, I knew that this kind of thing can happen in any family. Anyone's first cousin could be plotting murder. Upstanding citizens are always turning out to be secret criminals. And I wouldn't even call alone Alan an upstanding citizen. But it's one thing to know and another thing to understand. I'm a reporter at some of the hardest times of my life. Like when I faced a dire medical diagnosis. I put on my reporter's hat and ask everyone a lot of questions. It has allowed me to wrap my mind around unthinkable things. Before, Allen was in jail awaiting trial. So my project had to begin with Priscilla, who was thankfully alive. What she told me was so much worse than what I thought I knew. That's next Time from Serial Productions and the New York Times. I'm M. Gessen and this is the Idiot.

[Family Member]

Someone's got it in for me.

[M. Gessen]

They're planting stories in their pr.

[Family Member]

Whoever it is, I wish they cut it out quick. But when they will, I can only guess.

[M. Gessen]

The Idiot was reported and written by me, M. Gessen and produced by Daniel Guillemet with Andrei Barzemka and Lica Kramer of Liba Liba Studios. Our editor is Julie Snyder. Additional editing by Ira Glass and Sarah Koenig. Research and fact checking by Ben Phelan and Marisa Robertson. Texter Original score by Alison Layton Brown. Additional music from Dan Powell and Marion Lozano. The show was mixed by Phoebe Wang with additional mixing by Katherine Anderson. Additional production by Phoenix Die Bennett at Serial Productions. Ende Chubu is our supervising producer. Mac Miller is our associate producer. Video production by Sean Devaney. Art direction from Kelly Dove. Art by John Kern. Credits music by Bob Dylan. At the New York Times, our standards editor is Susan Wessling. Legal review by Al Amin Sumar, Dana Green, Jackson Bush and Tim Tai. Our senior operations manager is Elizabeth with Davis Moore, and Sam Dolnick is deputy managing editor of the New York Times. To find out about our upcoming shows and more about this show, sign up for the [e-mail] serialnewsletter.

[Family Member]

You still know how to breathe.

[M. Gessen]

The Idiot is a production of Serial Productions and the New York Times.