{"id":7107,"date":"2026-08-14T08:16:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/?p=7107"},"modified":"2026-08-14T08:16:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:16:21","slug":"podcast-dives-deep-into-updikes-rich-in-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/2026\/08\/14\/podcast-dives-deep-into-updikes-rich-in-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast dives deep into Updike’s ‘Rich in Russia’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Book Odyssey<\/strong>, a he-said\/she-said podcast with 649 subscribers, posted a discussion of John Updike’s short story “Rich in Russia” on July 26, 2026. At the time of this writing the episode had zero likes or dislikes, but, their inexplicable mispronunciation of Updike’s Jewish alter ego as “Besh” aside, it deserves more followers. These literary explorers are entertaining and thought-provoking to listen to as they discuss Updike’s story in great detail and contexts that listeners can perhaps identify with: fish-out-of-water travel experiences, imposter syndrome, social obligations, etc. Or, as they put it, “This deep dive explores John Updike’s brilliant literary satire, where travel becomes a mirror reflecting the contradictions of politics, culture, and the creative mind.”<\/p>\n

The podcast’s stated “Key Takeaways”:
\n\u2014Follow Henry Bech’s unusual journey through Cold War Russia and Romania
\n\u2014Explore the struggles of a writer searching for meaning and inspiration
\n\u2014Examine the difficulties of cultural exchange across political boundaries
\n\u2014Discover Updike’s clever use of metafiction and fictional autobiography
\n\u2014Analyze themes of identity, creativity, isolation, and artistic ambition<\/p>\n

“Rich in Russia” was first published in the January 31,1970 issue of The New Yorker<\/em> and included as a chapter in Bech: A Book<\/em>, published later that same year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here’s the link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book Odyssey, a he-said\/she-said podcast with 649 subscribers, posted a discussion of John Updike’s short story “Rich in Russia” on July 26, 2026. At the time of this writing the episode had zero likes or dislikes, but, their inexplicable mispronunciation … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":818,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,6,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasts","category-first-person-singular","category-updike-in-context"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/818"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7107"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7110,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7107\/revisions\/7110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}