Editor’s notes:
Natasha Lance Rogoff has a great website with more information. Click here to visit.
The audiobook, hardcover, and Kindle versions of Muppets in Moscow are all available at this link.
Show notes:
Ed and Ron were honored to welcome Natasha Lance Rogoff to The Soul of Enterprise. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the timing appeared perfect to bring Sesame Street to millions of children living in the former Soviet Union. With the Muppets envisioned as ideal ambassadors of Western idealistic values, no one anticipated just how challenging and dangerous this would prove to be. In Muppets in Moscow, Natasha Lance Rogoff brings the story to life. Lance Rogoff, a young American television producer fluent in Russian, was chosen to lead a crew of hundreds of American and Russian artists, producers, educators, writers, and puppeteers to create the Russian adaptation. During the production, against the backdrop of bombings and the assassination of her Russian broadcast partners, Lance Rogoff and the team remained determined to bring laughter, learning, and a new way of seeing the world to children in Russia. In her book, she illuminates how cultural clashes colored nearly every aspect of the production, from the show’s educational framework to scriptwriting to the new Russian Muppets themselves, often pitting Sesame Street’s Western values against nearly four centuries of Russian thought. In spite of the challenges, the show would go on to become a major hit, airing for over a decade. Muppets in Moscow explores post-Soviet societal tensions that continue to thwart the Russian people’s efforts to create a better future for their country. More than just a story of a children’s show, it provides a valuable perspective of Russia’s people, their culture, and their complicated relationship with the West that remains more relevant than ever today.
About Natasha Lance Rogoff
Natasha Lance Rogoff is an award-winning American television producer, filmmaker, and journalist who has produced television news and documentaries in Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union for CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS. Lance Rogoff executive produced Ulitsa Sezam, the Russian adaptation of Sesame Street, between 1993 and 1997. She also produced Plaza Sesamo in Mexico. In addition to her television work, Lance Rogoff has reported on Soviet underground culture as a documentary director and magazine and newspaper writer for major international media outlets. Today, she produces content for television and digital platforms and is the CEO and founder of an ed-tech company. An associate fellow in Harvard University’s Art, Film, and Visual Studies department, she divides her time between Cambridge, MA and New York City.
Use these notes to follow along with the show:
Segment one:
Natasha’s story starts long before her book, Muppets in Moscow. She changed her name at 16 and briefly moved to Venezuela for a summer to learn how to speak Spanish. She was fascinated with other cultures from a very young age.
What was it like to live in Russian during the Cold War? “It was a period of stagnant Soviet leaders but also an incredibly vibrant underground culture.” —Natasha Lance Rogoff
So how did Natasha end up bringing Sesame Street to Moscow? “Totally randomly” was her tongue in cheek answer and the book goes into the details. More information here: https://www.natashalancerogoff.com/
When bringing Sesame Street to the former Soviet Union, the whole idea was that the show would reflect the country’s values and culture, not that it would be a carbon copy of the American show.
Segment two:
Sesame Street, in part, teaches children about society. While in Moscow, Natasha suggested, “What about a lemonade stand?” The suggestion was met with horror (in a funny way) as it was illegal in the USSR to sell on the streets as an independent.
When creating content for Sesame Street in Russia, it was challenging because there wasn’t an opposition to Capitalism itself. However, it was more about a lack of understanding because the Russian people did not know how it looked.
In Chapter 5 of Muppets in Moscow, Natasha describes a financing meeting with 12 prominent men. She was the only woman in the room. Shockingly, the management team at Sesame Workshop said “no” to financing by the Russian Mafia :)
Every Sesame Street international production involves bringing foreign staff and partners to Sesame Workshop in Manhattan. In segment two today, Natasha describes the gap in knowledge and understanding between the US and Russian staff.
Segment three:
While working hard to bring Sesame Street to Moscow, the office in Moscow was raided by soldiers. The soldiers STOLE Elmo! Seriously, Elmo was stolen by Russian soldiers and the full story is in the book, Muppets in Moscow. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538161281/
There is a book trailer for Muppets in Moscow and it is WORTH an entire one minute of your time. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iF_c2dgels
Segment four:
During auditions for Sesame Street while in Moscow Natasha, quite obviously, needed children. She was looking forward to the beautiful soprano voices. Each choice of song by the children grew more and more depressing. More in the book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538161281/
The memes that go around today with “Russia for Russians” show classic Soviet images with the words like “sadness is for Russians”. This is reminiscent of Natasha’s time during the child auditions.
A big THANK YOU to Natasha Lance Rogoff for joining us today. Her book, Muppets in Moscow is AMAZING and available now at this link https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538161281/
Bonus Content is Available As Well
Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.
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