April 28, 2021 Russia's Days Off By Haley Bader “Russian means rested." – Twitter user @zhenya_indigo appreciated a surprise long holiday for the first ten days of May in the Russian Federation. Earlier in the week, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the request of Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, when she proposed consecutive days of holiday for Russia’s citizens. In addition to Labor Day on May 1 and Victory Day on May 9, the population will have the fourth through the seventh to rest. “If you think that it is necessary, well, we will do so,” Putin said in response to the proposal. History Holidays News Quote
March 19, 2021 Coming Up Roses By Amanda Shirnina After one year of pandemic, Russia's economy is looking dandy while others are on the verge of collapse. Or so says new research. Economy Int'l Relations News Russia File
March 04, 2021 Poisonous Furniture, Rugs, and Rail Carts By Amanda Shirnina In this week's Odder News, report yourself to the police for easy snow removal, watch out for poison in your sofa, and don't forget to wipe your feet on the rug on the way in. Int'l Relations News Transportation Odder News
March 01, 2021 News Notes By The Editors News and readings of note from all around Russia. Cities & Towns Culture News
February 08, 2021 Christopher Plummer's Last Station By Amanda Shirnina In memory of actor Christopher Plummer, who died last week at age 91, we look back at his role as a dying Leo Tolstoy in the 2009 film, The Last Station. Biographies Film & TV News Russia File
February 04, 2021 Sports, Sleep, and the State Duma By Amanda Shirnina This week's Odder News features Russian athletes making international news, low-tax sports gear, and more opportunity for restful shut-eye. Government News Sports Odder News
January 25, 2021 It's a Dog's Life (in Russia) By Alexandra Curtis Icy winter waters were no threat to a talented reporter who dove in to save a puppy from the cold. Animals News Regions Russia File
January 06, 2021 Russian Medics Recognized By The Editors “In the Russian Federation, we have witnessed the heroic dedication, professionalism, and selflessness of all medical workers in the fight against COVID-19. From the first days of the pandemic, they worked on the front line and risked their health and lives every minute.” – From a report by Hans Kluge, Director of the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Melita Vujnovich, representative of the organization in Russia, on Russian medical workers’ stellar performance throughout the pandemic Health News Quote
January 05, 2021 Frozen Ramen Challenge By Margaret Godwin-Jones Russians are taking advantage of sub-zero temperatures to participate in the frozen Ramen challenge. Customs News Russia File
January 04, 2021 Wedding Guest of Woe By Margaret Godwin-Jones A couple in Kaliningrad has been jailed for posting a photo of their wedding. Espionage News Russia File
January 01, 2021 That's Mr. Cat to You By Margaret Godwin-Jones This is how 2021 should start: a cat in Ulyanovsk was rescued from a trash compactor and awarded a government post. Animals News Russia File
December 30, 2020 Heroes and Inflation By The Editors “A person who would personify the hero of 2020, according to Russians, is honest, decent, and fair (13%). Of the options proposed, Russians most often referred to the heroes of the year as doctors and medical workers (55%), as well as EMERCON employees who save people in emergency situations (31%).” -Results from a poll by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM)on who Russians consider to be the heroes of 2020 News Statistics Quote
May 01, 2021 to May 31, 2021 20th Annual Russian Arts and Culture Festival Virtual | N/A, N/A The City of West Hollywood administration invites everyone to join a virtual celebration of Russian Arts and Culture this May. An array of musical events, activities for kids, workshops, virtual tours, concerts, contests, interviews with interesting people, and much more will comprise a month-long celebration. The program of our events will be published on the website of the festival and in the Facebook group. Festival
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.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
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.
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.
The Latchkey Murders Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
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.
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.
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.
301 Things Everyone Should Know About Russia How do you begin to get a handle on the world's largest country? This colorful, illustrated guide will get you started...
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.
October 14, 2016 Five Wild Facts about St. Basil's Cathedral By Alice E.M. Underwood On October 14, 1991, St. Basil’s Cathedral was reopened after six decades. Here are five fun facts in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Cathedral’s rebirth. Culture History Religion
September 01, 2019 Bite Marks By Paul E. Richardson Is Russia somehow different from other nations, or is it just like any other? History Int'l Relations
November 01, 2020 Tsarina: In the Winter Palace By Ellen Alpsten Catherine I finds herself at a turning point upon the death of her husband, Peter the Great. History Literature
March 20, 2020 Vodka vs. Coronavirus By Margaret Godwin-Jones Russia’s Ministry of Health discussed ways vodka can affect the coronavirus (spoiler alert: not much). Food & Drink Health CVSG 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
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
