July 07, 2023 Rolling in Rubles St. Petersburg introduces a resort fee for tourists, with penalties for non-payment. Cities & Towns Economy St. Petersburg Russia File
June 25, 2023 A Day To Remember in Rostov-on-Don The Wagner Group occupied Rostov-on-Don on June 24. What was it like in the city? Cities & Towns Military News Politics War Russia File
June 24, 2023 Prigozhin's Uprising Russia's home-grown mercenaries have taken over Rostov-on-Don and threaten to march on the capital. Cities & Towns Dissent Military Moscow War Russia File
June 05, 2023 Blowing Out Candles for Navalny On June 4, Alexei Navalny's birthday, demonstrators took to the streets to demand his release. Cities & Towns Dissent News Politics Russians Abroad Russia File
March 20, 2023 A Visit Amid Tensions A certain president and indicted war criminal visited occupied Ukraine. Cities & Towns Dissent Politics Russia File
March 19, 2023 Don't Wear a White Coat An art group in St. Petersburg put up a sculpture criticizing Russian society's blind-sightedness on the war. Art Cities & Towns Dissent Politics Pop Culture Russia File
March 08, 2023 A Painter's Protest A Crimean artist who painted a political message was beaten and forced to publicly apologize to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Art Cities & Towns Dissent Government Russia File
February 27, 2023 A Wall of Resistance A Russian shopkeeper's picture went viral after using the walls of his shop to express opposition to the invasion of Ukraine. Cities & Towns Dissent Rural Life War Russia File
February 21, 2023 Riding through Russia A female Russian motorcyclist has set a world record for riding from Magadan to Mirny across permafrost. Cities & Towns Geography Travel Women Russia File
February 05, 2023 Stalin Returns to Volgograd A new bust of Stalin has been erected in Volgograd, raising questions about the identity of the city. Cities & Towns History War Russia File
February 01, 2023 A Ban on Russian Kyiv-Mohlya Academy has banned the Russian language inside the institution. Cities & Towns Education Language Law Social Issues Russia File
January 22, 2023 Flowers for Dnipro Russians across the country spontaneously mourned the victims of their country's January 14 missile attack on Dnipro, Ukraine, which crushed an apartment building. Cities & Towns Dissent Politics War Russia File
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A Taste of Chekhov This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
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.
Jews in Service to the Tsar Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
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.
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.
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.
March 20, 2020 Vodka vs. Coronavirus Russia’s Ministry of Health discussed ways vodka can affect the coronavirus (spoiler alert: not much). Food & Drink Health CVSG Russia File
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
February 24, 2023 Russia's Year of Horror After a year of horrific war, why does a magazine like Russian Life continue? Why not simply wash our hands of it and walk away? Culture History Journalism War 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
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 Russia File
September 14, 2019 Eight Russian Desserts To Make Your Mouth Water Forget vodka – dessert is the best part of Russian meals. Culture Food & Drink Russia File