The Idiot

Journalist M. Gessen’s cousin Allen rubbed everyone in their family the wrong way, an annoying windbag who moved from one hustle to another. To win his custody dispute with his ex-wife, he tried to get her deported. He kidnapped their son and fled the country — twice . And finally, he was arrested by the FBI for hiring a hitman to kill her. With relatives holding different opinions on Allen’s actions, Gessen decided to dig deeper into the family dynamic. After talking with the people at the center of the affair, Gessen came to the conclusion that Allen is an idiot. In “The Idiot” from Serial Productions and The New York Times, M. Gessen recounts what happened when their pompous cousin is implicated in a murder-for-hire plot. They offer a grim-yet-humorous look at a family dynamic punctuated by co-dependence and irritation. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE IDIOT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: I'm living on the air in Cincinnati . For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com. This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio . Click to find out more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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The Idiot is an episode from Crime Writers On...True Crime Review by Partners in Crime Media.

This episode is 00:46:42 long.

This episode was published on Apr 13, 2026.

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