July 27, 2021 Starry-Eyed and Vaccinated By Haley Bader Covid’s got a sun sign, and Russian television personality and astrologer Vasilisa Volodina is out to break the virus some bad news. Film & TV Health Humor Pop Culture Russia File
July 24, 2021 An Architectural Crime; or, Shedquarters By Griffin Edwards A new village police station, unveiled with much pomp, occupies what appears to be a repurposed corrugated metal shed. Cities & Towns Government Humor Russia File
July 12, 2021 Cracking the QR Code By Haley Bader In Moscow, a pair of legs with hot red stilettos on one end and a plush purple QR code at the other flounced down a Moscow street and into a restaurant. Government Health Humor Moscow Russia File
July 08, 2021 Animals, Animals, Animals... and Faking Your Own Kidnapping By Amanda Shirnina In this week's Odder News, Russian highway drivers stop for a duckling crossing, a woman fakes her own kidnapping and pays for it, and what does it signify if two black sphynx cats cross your path? Animals Humor Internet Pop Culture Odder News
July 01, 2021 Dumb and Dumber By Michele A. Berdy In Russian, as in English, it isn’t nice to call someone “stupid.” But sometimes you just have to say it. Humor Language
June 29, 2021 Britney's Plight Takes Flight, And Putin's "Troops" Speak Out By Haley Bader News of Britney Spears’s recent appearance in court has crossed the globe, and a well-meaning group of supporters in Russia have taken offense at her plight. Humor Internet Music Pop Culture Women Russia File
June 23, 2021 Putin's Pretty Pensive By Haley Bader “Everything in the world displeases me, but, above all, my displeasure in everything displeases me.” – “Darth Putin” on Twitter parodies Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments after his meeting with Joe Biden on Wednesday, June 16 Government Humor Int'l Relations Internet Quote
June 10, 2021 Inbreeding Animals, Escaping Arrestees, and Zhiguli Is Back By Amanda Shirnina In this week's Odder News, we have mutant dolphins, wild rappers, and (of course) vintage Zhigulis. Animals Humor Music Pop Culture Odder News
June 08, 2021 Stubborn as a Swan By Alexandra Curtis Honk honk! There's a swan in the middle of the road. Animals Humor Internet Russia File
May 01, 2021 The Post Office By Darya Grebenshchikova The only things in the village more important than the post office are the store that carries bread and the walk-in clinic. But when you come right down to it, the post office really is the bigger deal. Cities & Towns Humor Rural Life
April 26, 2021 The Cat Dragged In...? By Haley Bader A student from the Russian city of Perm got caught out like a cat on a hot tin roof this week when he found himself volunteering to save a feline stuck in a window frame. Animals Cities & Towns Humor Russia File
April 14, 2021 Hairy Hijinks By Haley Bader “Find someone who’s tall, get him to put on a suit, turn the fur inside out and run around in crowded places, shout so that the tourists will notice – but they won’t catch him. Of course, then you must mark him and let him be silent, so he won’t blurt out anything unnecessary somewhere." – On April 10, former governor of Kemerovo Oblast Aman Tuleyev admitted to dalliances with a local legend. Ten years prior to his confession, Tuleyev arranged a rendezvous at Azasskaya Cave in the Shoria Mountains with none other than Bigfoot. While the furry darling shied away, Tuleyev was nevertheless charmed. Cities & Towns Government Holidays Humor Regions Quote
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
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
Resilience ~ The Russian Version (Переживем) 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.
Bears in the Caviar Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Marooned in Moscow This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
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.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Russia Rules From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Little Golden Calf Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
The Moscow Eccentric Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
The Samovar Murders The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
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.
May 07, 2015 The Most Useful Russian Inventions By Eugenia Sokolskaya What do radio, television, the periodic table, and helicopters have in common? Russians were involved in developing all of them – and more! Reference Science
August 22, 2016 Magical Kefir By Philip Seifi Kefir is the most popular fermented milk in Russia. But it did not get there overnight. Kefir and Russia have a long history... Food & Drink History
August 22, 2020 Sad Smiles and Kremlin Corruption By Paul E. Richardson Recounting a 2008 meeting with activist Alexei Navalny, before he rose to prominence. Government Politics
July 01, 2013 The Russian Bees Will Save Us By Paul E. Richardson American bees are dying from mysterious causes, putting our agriculture at risk for lack of pollinators. Russian bees might be part of a solution. Agriculture Environment Science
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
May 26, 2016 Two Miracles of Russian Love Poetry By Anatoly Liberman On the occasion of Pushkin's birthday, we offer a post on the challenge of translating his most famous love lyrics, "Я вас любил," with a bonus look at Innokenty Annensky's "Среди миров." Literature
