March 04, 2024 Words from Behind the Glass Box A playwright and a theater director were arrested for a play criticizing ISIS. After months in jail, they spoke from their defendants' glass box. Art Culture Dissent Political Prisoners Theater Russia File
December 27, 2023 Closing Curtains for a Cancelled Show A theater canceled a show after the playwright was convicted for "spreading fake news about the Russian army." Art Dissent Law Politics Theater Russia File
May 07, 2023 Detained for Criticising ISIS A director and a playwright were arrested for "promoting terrorism," for a play that criticizes how the Islamic State recruited Russian women. Art Culture Theater War Women Russia File
March 19, 2023 20 Years for Rehearsing a Play? A young playwright in Tolyatti is threatened with 20 years in jail for rehearsing a play with his students. Art Education Film & TV Theater Russia File
January 24, 2023 Where Are the Actors? The Ministry of Culture began inspecting Moscow theaters after a famous actor made an obliquely anti-war statement in an interview. Culture Dissent Government Theater War Russia File
July 09, 2022 A Theatrical Ousting Moscow is replacing the anti-war directors of the Gogol Center. Art Culture Dissent Moscow Theater Russia File
July 07, 2022 A Failure to Perform The International Platonov Arts Festival in Voronezh, has been canceled due to current political conditions. Art Culture Music Theater Russia File
April 28, 2022 Golden Mask of Support Ksenia Sorokina gives her Golden Mask award to jailed anti-war activist Sasha Skochilenko. Art Military Politics St. Petersburg Theater War Women Russia File
March 27, 2022 Loving the Homeland and Leaving It Too A powerful, deep interview with one of Russia's leading artists and humanitarians, about her decision to leave Russia. Int'l Relations Interview NGOs Theater Women Russia File
February 12, 2022 All the Village Is a Stage Performance art, adventure, and psychedelia in a Russian village. What more could you want? Art Cities & Towns Culture Environment Rural Life Theater Russia File
December 09, 2021 Evil Etsy, Nutcracker Shortages, and Rudolph on His Way In this week's Odder News, Etsy is a threat, a reindeer tries to race a Russian train, and "The Nutcracker" is much harder to see in Russia than in the U.S. Animals Internet Theater Transportation Odder News
July 29, 2021 Chefs, Cockroaches, and Cat Cafes In this week's Odder News: raccoon rescue, low light, and cats, both homeless and elite. Animals Internet St. Petersburg Theater Odder News
November 11, 2023 to September 15, 2024 Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East and West Wende Museum | Culver City, CA This exhibit highlights the resilience and creative power of people deprived of their freedom or their own place to live. Art Exhibit
February 28, 2022 to December 31, 2024 Free Russian Language Guided Tours Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY Russian-speaking guides conduct tours of the museum's highlights every Monday at 11 am. Art Exhibit
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 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.
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.
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 Little Humpbacked Horse A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
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.
Driving Down Russia's Spine The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia.
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.
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 Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
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.
April 06, 2020 A Russian Gift A look at how the Jesuits, Pope Francis, and Georgetown University all share an interesting connection to Russia. History Int'l Relations Religion Russia File
May 07, 2015 The Most Useful Russian Inventions What do radio, television, the periodic table, and helicopters have in common? Russians were involved in developing all of them – and more! Reference Science Russia File
May 26, 2016 Two Miracles of Russian Love Poetry 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 Russia File
August 22, 2016 Magical Kefir 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 Russia File
May 09, 2020 Russian/Soviet War Movies You Can Stream Some of the best Russian and Soviet films about World War II that you can stream online. Film & TV Reference War Culture Through Film CVSG Russia File
April 23, 2014 Peace, Land, Bread Peace! Land! Bread! This was the battle cry of the 1917 October Revolution (old calendar) that changed the history of Russia and indeed the entire world. Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the tsars concentrated on centralization of their power and control. The most common way of doing this was to take power away from the nobility, appeasing them by giving them dominion over their land and workers. This soon developed into the oppressive, slave-style condition known as serfdom. History Russia File