Some thoughts on George Turberville, who served as secretary in the embassy of Queen Elizabeth I to Russia’s Ivan IV, and was one of the earliest observers (and reporters) of Russian mores.

The insect world had a sort of heyday in post-revolutionary Russia. We visit an exhibition devoted to this topic and explore what it all means.

Revies of a book on one of the true-crime sources for Crime and Punishment, and a collection of Teffi's stories.

"Ancient instincts work – I licked the thing."

–  Hermitage artist-restorer Galina Fedorova discovers a candy stuck to the ball gown of Grand Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, sister of Tsar Nicholas II.

A delightful Soviet winter tale about children, a big holiday tree, and the true meaning of Christmas: communism.

The stories behind three iconic pieces of Russian art.

In which we learn about the strong-willed and brilliant Anna Dostoyevskaya, the wife of Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Catherine the Great's injunction to get vaccinated has recently emerged from a private collection.

An abandoned crypt found on a Russian school's property takes the phrase "bored to death" to a whole new level. 

A thoroughly incomplete list of ways to scratch your Dostoyevsky itch ahead of his 200th birthday.

Russia and Ukraine have a long history of disputes over beloved territory, to say the least… But this time, it’s Gogol.

"In connection with the incident, the State Hermitage was forced to apply to the prosecutor's office of St. Petersburg with a statement to conduct a prosecutor's check and assess the actions of a citizen for possible violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation, including in terms of public insult to the memory of the Defenders of the Fatherland.”

– Press Service of the St. Petersburg Hermitage, announcing it would be reviewing an artist’s behavior for potentially insulting the veterans of the Patriotic War of 1812.