May 25, 2021 Peter the Great's Sandbox By Amanda Shirnina The Sandfest returns to the shores of St. Petersburg with global travel themes. Art Photography Pop Culture St. Petersburg Russia File
May 18, 2021 Baikal by Birds Eye By Alexandra Curtis While manufacturers generally don't recommend you fly your drone at temperatures below freezing, that didn't stop videographer Vadim Sherbakov from shooting this amazing film depicting a frozen Lake Baikal. Art Film & TV Regions Russia File
May 12, 2021 A Monument to The Alien By Alexandra Curtis Alien or art? Scary sculptures are invading Kurgan. Art Cities & Towns Film & TV Russia File
May 09, 2021 The Past in the Past: Reading a Book about Soviet Archaeology By Griffin Edwards A sixty-year-old Christmas present reveals how Soviet archaeologists perceived their craft. Art History Science St. Petersburg
May 02, 2021 Funky Soviet Keepsakes By Haley Bader Citizens of the Soviet Union amassed many things, but of all the collectibles, perhaps the most popular was the badge (znachok). Art Culture Gifts History
April 25, 2021 Not-Russia Does Great Figure Skating By Amanda Shirnina The non-doping "Russia" won three out of four events at the recent world figure skating championships and swept the ladies' podium. Art Culture Sports
April 15, 2021 Astronaut Food, Monsieur Tussauds, and a Four-Day Workweek By Amanda Shirnina In this week's Odder News, Russia goes wild for Yuri Gagarin, a new law against potty mouths backfires, and a four-day workweek may be imminent. Art Internet Space Sports Odder News
April 11, 2021 The World's Largest Country, Made Tiny By Griffin Edwards St. Petersburg's Grand Maket Rossiya presents a droll and humorous self-reflection of Russian life. Art Cities & Towns Travel
April 08, 2021 Play-Doh, Vaccinated Pets, and Irish Whiskey By Amanda Shirnina In this week's Odder News: the Play-Doh version of Moscow, the Russian version of Irish whiskey, and the Red Bull version of ice skating. Animals Art Food & Drink Health Sports Odder News
April 05, 2021 The Soviet Creative By Haley Bader In the Soviet period, artists were treated with esteem and lived comfortably, but their privileged position also required sacrifice. Art Culture History Literature
March 25, 2021 Barbies, Oral Health, and Squirrels By Amanda Shirnina In this week's Odder News, a new Russian Barbie, Russians need to work on their dental hygiene, and squirrels attack in Vyborg. Animals Art Health Space Women Odder News
March 04, 2021 Lesser-Known Art of the Siege of Leningrad On Display By Amanda Shirnina Some little-known art from a civilian eyewitness to the Siege of Leningrad is public both at one of the blockade museums in St. Petersburg and in a new book. Art Biographies St. Petersburg War Russia File
November 01, 2021 to November 30, 2021 Yuri Gorbachev's 18th Annual Exhibition at the Byrne Gallery in Middleburg, Virginia The Byrne Gallery | Middleburg, VA Susan Byrne and Bill Byrne are celebrating their Gallery's 26th anniversary this year in Middleburg with a celebration and exhibition of the vivid oil and enamel paintings of internationally-acclaimed artist Yuri Gorbachev. Art Exhibit
June 28, 2021 to August 08, 2021 Atomic Alert!: Confronting "The Bomb" in the New Atomic Age The Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA The exhibition explores the U.S. government’s Cold War era efforts, in the 1950s, to educate Americans about what to do before an atomic attack, how to react to a sudden blinding flash, and what action to take in the aftermath of a catastrophic blast. Exhibit, Other
22 Russian Crosswords Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
The Best of Russian Life We culled through 15 years of Russian Life to select readers’ and editors’ favorite stories and biographies for inclusion in a special two-volume collection. Totalling over 1100 pages, these two volumes encompass some of the best writing we have published over the last two decades, and include the most timeless stories and biographies – those that can be read again and again.
The Spine of Russia This coffee table book is the photographic journal of an epic 6000-kilometer road trip. The book includes over 200 compelling images of Russians and Russian places met along the way, plus a dozen texts (in both English and Russian) on everything from business to education, from roads to fools.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Woe From Wit (bilingual) One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Resilience: Life Stories of Centenarians Born in the Year of Revolution Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
East of the Sun: The Epic Conquest and Tragic History of Siberia The very word Siberia evokes a history and reputation as awesome as it is enthralling. In this acclaimed book on Russia’s conquest of its eastern realms, Benson Bobrick offers a story that is both rich and subtle, broad and deep.
Moscow and Muscovites Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
At the Circus This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
March 15, 2017 Who Invented the Ancient Slavic Gods, and Why? By Kasya Denisevich How it was that in the eighteenth century Russian mythology was trumped-up in the Western manner? Who wanted it? And where did we get Lel, Yarilo and Zimtserla? We explain everything you'd want to know about Russian fakelore. Culture History Literature Religion
February 20, 2014 Russian Genealogy By Ginny Audet A comprehensive listing of resources, online and off, for researching your Russian roots, courtesy of Ginny Audet. History Reference
November 18, 2016 Famous Americans with Russian Roots By Letitia Rydjeski America is a land built by immigrants. We researched famous Americans with Russian roots and offer this compilation. History Reference Russians Abroad
September 01, 2019 Returning from Afar By Benson Bobrick An excerpt from Benson Bobrick’s new book, a memoir of his life and work as a writer. Memoir Travel
May 31, 2020 Inside Brighton Beach's Babushka Beauty Pageant By The Editors A lovely short film on Brighton Beach's Your Highness Babushka Beauty Contest. Culture Pop Culture Russians Abroad Women Video of the Week Russia File
June 22, 2020 Why Invading Russia was Hitler's Downfall By Alice E.M. Underwood June 22, 2020, marks the 79th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Russia that changed the course of WWII and, perhaps, history itself. History Social Issues War
