{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/683590e6998551779f24f8f3/6880eb34e0a86cc3ab54e911?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Gary Shteyngart: Vera, or Faith","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/683590e6998551779f24f8f3/1753279008118-413de09d-f391-431f-a5d8-b8eb1de2581e.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>Sam Leith is joined for this week's Book Club podcast by Gary Shteyngart — whose new novel&nbsp;<em>Vera, or Faith&nbsp;</em>is set in a near-future America whose politics seems to be less science-fictional by the day. It tells the unexpectedly tender story of a bright but lonely ten-year-old girl contending with her parents' failing marriage and navigating the beginnings of a friendship. Gary tells Sam how parenthood changed him as a writer, how his feelings about his Russian heritage have shifted uncomfortably in light both of the Ukraine invasion and the US's fresh hostility to migrants, and why Writers' Tears is his students' drink of choice.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.spectator.co.uk/follow-your-podcasts/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">spectator.co.uk/adfree</a>&nbsp;to find out more.</p><p><br></p><p>For more Spectator podcasts, go to&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">spectator.co.uk/podcasts</a> and to contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk</p>","author_name":"The Spectator"}