Contains strong language.

8 April 2026
38 minutes
Available for over a year
The poster boy for yearning, F. Scott Fitzgerald came to epitomise the American dream. But is the author of The Great Gatsby really so great after all? Pierre Novellie, Rachel Fairburn and Slim dive between the covers and find some red flags in the roaring twenties.
Additional material: Miriam O’Byrne and Katie Sayer
Researcher: Miriam O’Byrne
Recording Engineer: Dom Boucher
Sound Editor: Kate Mac
Production Coordinator: Liz Tuohy
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
The producer was Katie Sayer. Evil Genius with Russell Kane is a BBC Studios Audio Production for BBC Sounds.