PLEASE NOTE THE EVENT LOCATION HAS CHANGED.

THE EVENT WILL BE HELD IN THE BALLROOM AT THE COUNTRY CLUB OF NORTH CAROLINA.

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 the memoir Muppets in Moscow, Natasha Lance Rogoff brings the story to life and will be at The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines to chat with Kimberly Daniels Taws about her experience and the book. Registration is free and books will be available for sale at The Country Bookshop before and during the event. Following the conversation there will be time for audience questions and Natasha Lance Rogoff will also sign copies of the book.

Natasha Lance Rogoff, a young American TV 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 of Sesame Street. 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 and across the former Soviet empire.

In her book, she illuminates how cultural clashes imbued nearly every aspect of the production, from the show’s educational framework to scriptwriting to the new Russian Muppets themselves, open pitting Sesame Street’s Western values against nearly four centuries of Russian thought. In spite of the challenges, the show went on to become a major hit, airing for over a decade.

Muppets in Moscow explores post-Soviet societal tensions that con>nue to thwart the Russian people’s efforts to create a beSer future for their country. More than just a story of a children’s show, it provides a valuable perspectives about Russia’s people, their culture, and their complicated relationship with the West that remains more relevant than ever today.

Muppets in Moscow is a finalist for the prestigious 2023 Pushkin House Book Prize and the recipient of awards from: The Benjamin Franklin Independent Book Publishers Associa9on (IBPA) for Best New Voice (Silver Medal) and Best Audiobook in Nonfic9on (Silver Medal), and the Independent Publishers Book Awards for Best First Book (Gold Medal).

Natasha Lance Rogoff an award-winning American television producer, filmmaker, and the author of the bestselling book, Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia. Her TV

programs have aired on PBS, NBC, and ABC News. Lance Rogoff execu>ve produced Ulitsa Sezam, the Russian adaptation of Sesame Street from 1993-1997. She also produced Plaza Sesamo in Mexico.

In addition to her television work, Lance Rogoff has reported on Soviet underground culture since 1983, including articles about the persecution of Russian rock musicians and the LGBTQ community. During the 1988 Regan-Gorbachev Moscow Summit, Lance Rogoff served as Special Consultant to NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. Lance Rogoff embedding herself with hardline Russian na>onalists and filmed the 1991 PBS award-winning film, Russia for Sale: The Rough Road to Capitalism which also aired on ABC’s Nightline with Ted Koppel. Since 2015, Lance Rogoff has been the CEO of an ed-

tech company, distributing KickinNutri9on.TV, a children’s educa>onal program about kids cooking and health equity. In 2017, Lance Rogoff returned to Moscow and filmed, Russian Millennials Speak Openly About America (2017), viewable on YouTube with several million views. Lance Rogoff is currently an Associate in the Art, Film and Visual Studies Department at Harvard University. She divides her time between Cambridge, MA and New York City.