The Atlas Obscura Podcast The Family That Tried To Escape History
Mar 12, 2026
Sophie Pinkham, author and journalist who writes about Russia and its environment, tells the story of the Lykov family who lived in total isolation in the Siberian taiga. She recounts their discovery by Soviet geologists, the harsh realities of life inside a one-room cabin, the role of Old Believer faith in driving them into the forest, and the strange modern contrasts around Agafia.
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Geologists Discover A Family Living Alone In The Taiga
- A Soviet geology helicopter found a single, actively tended house deep in the Siberian taiga in 1978.
- Geologists landed with gifts and a gun, and discovered Karp Lykov and his children who'd lived isolated for ~40 years.
A Family Surviving Repeated Famines In One Room
- The Lykov household was one cramped log cabin where food scarcity was constant and children suffered severe deficiencies.
- They ate boiled leather in famines, ran out of carrots, and Agafia had never tasted bread when first encountered.
Religious Purity Drove Radical Withdrawal Into The Forest
- The Lykovs were Old Believers who fled religious reforms and ultimately retreated farther after Soviet pressures.
- Small liturgical changes became existential; they left communities, avoided state requirements, and sought total isolation in the forest.
