Prompt Cast
The Remarkable Story of the Lykov Family: Surviving in the Siberian Wilderness for 42 Years
TLDR The Lykov family fled to the remote Siberian forests to escape persecution by the Soviet Union and lived a primitive and isolated life for over four decades. Despite facing constant starvation and losing three of their children, the family managed to survive and rebuild their rye crop before being discovered by geologists.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
In 1978, a Soviet helicopter pilot discovered the astonishing and remote habitation of the Lykov family in the Siberian forests.
01:33
In response to persecution by the Soviet Union, the patriarch of the Lykov family, Karp Lykov, took his wife and two children and fled to the remote hills to practice their old beliefs as old believers.
02:44
The Lykov family disappeared into the Siberian wilderness, where they had two more children and lived a rough life, cooking with birch bark, hunting with traps, and making their own clothing and shoes.
03:53
The Lykov family lived in a one-room burrow, constantly on the edge of starvation, and miraculously managed to rebuild their rye crop after a devastating loss.
05:09
The geologists encountered the first humans the Lykov family had seen in 42 years, and the family initially refused their offer of food but accepted salt, as they had never spoken to anyone outside their family before.
06:24
The Lykov family gradually accepted gifts from the geologists and three of the four children died within three years of their first encounter with the outside world, while the father and the last remaining member of the family, Agafia, chose to remain in the family home in the woods.
07:40
Agafia requested that the team from vice.com bring a chicken and a goat when they visited her, and the executive producer of the podcast thanks everyone for their support and mentions the show's Facebook group and Discord server.
