Gary Shteyngart on a Lonely Week on the World’s Largest Cruise Ship

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Author and seasoned travel writer Gary Shteyngart had never been on a ship larger than the Staten Island Ferry before he embarked on the inaugural voyage of the “Icon of the Seas,” the world’s largest cruise ship. Proudly sporting a “Daddy’s Little Meatball” t-shirt that he hoped would be a conversation starter and aiming to make new friends, Shteyngart instead experienced loneliness and despair. He chronicles his experience in the Atlantic Magazine piece “Crying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship Ever.” Shteyngart joins us to talk about this journey, his life as a travel writer and the vacations that can make you feel part of — or alienated from — the rest of the world. Guest: Gary Shteyngart, writer. His latest piece for the Atlantic is titled "Crying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship Ever"; author, "Our Country Friends, "Little Failure: A Memoir," and "Super Sad True Love Story." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Kikiweedy Podcasts comes from Rancho La Puerta, a resort with 85 years of wellness experience.
0:07.4	Three and four-night August vacations include sunrise hikes, water classes, yoga, and spa therapies.
0:14.2	Rancho LePuerta.com
0:15.7	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:23.5	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:29.8	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an
0:35.5	unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion.
0:43.6	The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th.
0:51.9	Tickets on sale now at Broadwaysf.com.
0:56.0	From KQED.
0:59.0	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:03.0	The cruise ship might be the most contentious form of travel. Some people absolutely love them,
1:12.6	spending weeks on board each year. Others can't stand them. Novelist and season travel writer
1:18.6	Gary Steingard had never been on a cruise when he signed up to write an Atlantic magazine story
1:23.6	about life aboard the inaugural voyage of the world's largest cruise ship, the icon of the seas.
1:30.3	He'll tell us all about what it was like, and we'll get your stories too about travel that's gone awry.
1:37.3	What are we looking for on vacation and how often do we find it?
1:41.3	That's all coming up next after this news.
2:05.6	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. You may know Gary Steingart for his novels, like one of my personal favorite super sad true love story, the hilarious absurdistan or his most recent novel, Our Country Friends.
2:13.6	He's also worked on the TV show, Succession, and written essays for the New Yorker and done a bunch of travel writing.
2:19.3	His most recent piece takes on the niche genre of the literary figure on the cruise ship,
2:24.3	as he managed to finagle his way into a suite on the inaugural voyage of the icon of the seas, the largest ever cruise ship.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.