July 16, 2021 Not Cu-Cumbersome for Prisoners By Haley Bader It looks like a penal colony in Russia’s Oryol region has met the challenge of prison reform with a solution as cool as a cucumber. Agriculture Social Issues Russia File
July 01, 2021 New GULAG? By The Editors Russian authorities have found a new way to boost the country’s sluggish economic growth while also solving the shortage of construction workers: prison labor. Politics Social Issues
July 01, 2021 Cheburashka in the Fog By Natalya Beskhlebnaya Just a little over a year ago, Russia was rocked by revelations that one of its most venerated authors of childrens’ fiction subjected his daughter to abuse in a cult. Children Literature Social Issues
June 30, 2021 Nice and Refreshing By Griffin Edwards Russia announces "Sputnik Light," the not-actually-low-cal version of their Sputnik V vaccine. Government Health Social Issues Russia File
June 30, 2021 The Rainbow Menace By Haley Bader “The demand for primitive toys suggests that not all of society, but a certain stratum, are inclined to simple decisions. Our society is approaching a situation where we will collapse into the abyss of simple solutions to complex issues.” – Russian psychologist, politician, and head of the Department of Personality Psychology at Moscow State University Alexander Asmolov warns of the risks of Simple-Dimples, Squishies, and Pop-its Children Health Social Issues Quote
May 28, 2021 Congrats to Mikhail Kubar! By Griffin Edwards A Yakut school's graduating class consisted of only one student, which means he receives all of our congratulations. Children Education Rural Life Social Issues Russia File
May 01, 2021 Spring at Last By Paul E. Richardson The maple sap has finished running, the peepers are filling the hours about dusk with their chorus, and the daffodils and crocuses have taken center stage. Social Issues
May 01, 2021 Aiming for RuNet By The Editors Russia’s crackdown on internet freedoms reached a fever pitch this spring as the government attempted to slow Twitter traffic in response to the microblogging platform’s alleged refusal to delete banned content. Government Internet Social Issues
April 13, 2021 Computer-Judge Finds You Guilty By Griffin Edwards Russian authorities are planning to make laws that computers can understand and, by extension, adjudicate. Government Law Science Social Issues Russia File
March 24, 2021 Who is Manizha? By Alexandra Curtis Singer, activist, and Eurovision prospect Manizha uses her art to both mock and baffle her critics. Film & TV Music Pop Culture Social Issues Women Russia File
March 11, 2021 Intrigue at the Monastery By Haley Bader Sredneuralsk Monastery becomes an action-packed place as police enter in search of a murder suspect. Religion Social Issues Russia File
March 08, 2021 An Army Gift for Women's Day By Griffin Edwards Leningrad Oblast's military commissioner has a solution to those pesky exes: send them to the army. Military Social Issues Women Russia File
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
Murder at the Dacha Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
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.
Murder and the Muse KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
April 23, 2014 Peace, Land, Bread By Eugenia Sokolskaya 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
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
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
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
September 01, 2013 Why Russians Don't Run By Paul E. Richardson A tale of two long distance road races – Russia’s oldest and its most prestigious – and what they tell us about the state of running and fitness in Russia. Sports
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
