January 01, 2020 Ringing in the Plump New Year It’s that time of year: Americans are busy making — and breaking — their New Year’s resolutions. Russians are too smart to put themselves through such torture. Health Language
November 01, 2019 Baby, It's Cold Inside Every autumn, Russians only have one question: Когда начнётся отопительный сезон!? (When are they going to turn on the heat?)
September 01, 2019 Climate Chaos and Fall Colors On the language of fall and a changing climate. Environment Language
July 01, 2019 No, Nicely If it’s hard to gracefully say “no” in English, how much harder is it in Russian, where dissembling requires linguistic gifts that you might not have yet developed? Customs Language
May 01, 2019 Spring has (Not) Sprung In early March, when Moscow is still buried under more than a meter of snow and people are buried under many inches of fur and heavy wool, there is nothing more annoying than Instagram photos of daffodils, forsythia and cherry blossom buds. Customs Humor Language
March 01, 2019 Funny Little Characters If a Russian fox met an American fox, would they get along? If Russian folklore is to be trusted, the answer is a definite нет (no). Language
January 01, 2019 Are You Old-School or New-Format? Some thoughts on backwardness, falling behind, and the challenges of change. Language
November 01, 2018 How Can I Thank You Enough? To thank (blagodarit) is one of the Russian language's most beautiful words. We go in for a deep dive. Humor Language
September 01, 2018 What's So Funny? After declensions, cases, aspect, verbs of motion, pronunciation, and all the other trials of the Russian language, there is one more thing to learn: quotes, jokes and allusions. Let's do this. Film & TV Humor Language
July 01, 2018 Those Lyin' Eyes These days, if you are reading Russian periodicals in order to improve your Russian language skills, you are getting lots of practice in ways to lie. Journalism Language
May 01, 2018 The Gentle Art of Borrowing On how recent foreign borrowings is shaping the Russian language. Language
March 01, 2018 Are You Out of Your Mind? A rather adequate look at the rise of "adekvatny" and "neadekvatny" in colloquial speech. Humor Language
February 22, 2022 to February 22, 2032 Russian-Language Gallery Tour Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, NY Russian-language tour exploring our collection in depth, second Sunday of each month at 1 pm. Free, reservations required Art Exhibit
February 28, 2022 to February 23, 2032 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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...
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
September 14, 2019 Eight Russian Desserts To Make Your Mouth Water Forget vodka – dessert is the best part of Russian meals. Culture Food & Drink
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
September 01, 2019 Bite Marks Is Russia somehow different from other nations, or is it just like any other? History Int'l Relations
February 03, 2018 12 Myths/Truths About Russians and Vodka Think you know your vodka? Take this True/False quiz (just 12 items) about Russians and their vodka and see if you are right about that... Food & Drink
September 01, 2013 Why Russians Don't Run 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
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
