Finding Natasha
4.5/5
Critic Rating
In the early 70s, Debbie Gayle was one of Britain’s most promising young ballerinas. At the age of 17, she was chosen to go to the Soviet Union and become the first Westerner to train at Russia’s finest ballet academy. It was a dream come true for her, but just a few months later, things took a near deadly turn for her. She made it out of the country thanks to a young girl named Natasha who she never saw or heard from again. In Finding Natasha, Debbie’s son Jake Warren – a journalist and podcaster – sets out to understand...
Critic Reviews
Score: 4.5
Fiona Sturges • Financial Times • May 30, 2021
"What I will say is that Warren has crafted an atmospheric series that reveals as much about memory and family dynamics as about the weird world of Soviet ballet. Because, while on the surface this is a tale of an adventure gone wrong, there is a deeper theme about parent-child relationships and the ways families struggle to communicate. …"
Score: 4.5
Francesca Turauskis • Pod Bible • May 17, 2021
"Finding Natasha is about the right length. But it did leave me wanting to know more. I wanted to learn about Debbie, and I found myself Googling for images of her. I wanted to read the newspaper cuttings on the cover of the pod art (it would be great to have such resources released alongside the shownotes). But more than that, Finding Natasha left me wanting to go away and learn more about my own family myths as well."
