August 28, 2015 Why Stalin Called Andrei Platonov "Scum" – with 8 Quirky Quotes Andrei Platonov spawned many an incongruous image and incomprehensible sentence. Compared by some scholars to James Joyce, he was critiqued by Stalin himself, yet he avoided prosecution. We dig into his challenging literary style. History Literature Russia File
August 09, 2015 Caught in the Crossfire: The Annexation of Estonia After just 22 years of independence, in 1940 Estonia was overrun by Soviet troops. The Estonian Socialist Republic was set up in the wake of th Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in violation of nearly all existing legislation. And Stalinism's evils had the Estonians, just a year later, greeting German invaders with open arms. But trading one totalitarian dictator for another didn't solve the problem. History Russia File
July 25, 2015 I'm Vysotsky: The Legend of Russian Songwriting Everyone in the Soviet Union knew his songs, despite constant censorship and troubles with the Soviet regime. To this day, any Russian will recognize his raspy singing voice and silly falsetto. But what was the great Vladimir Vysotsky like in person? Culture Russia File
July 13, 2015 The Tower of (Isaac) Babel July 13 is the anniversary of Isaac Babel's birth. Now celebrated as one of teh great writers of the twentieth century, he had a very difficult time gaining acceptance during his lifetime, and repeatedly suffered from antisemitism, official and otherwise. History Literature
July 13, 2015 Join Us. Get a Book. Why can’t we get along with Russia long term, nor can Russia seem to long enjoy our company? Our Spine of Russia project aims to find out. Int'l Relations Travel Russia File
July 01, 2015 War and Peace: 7 Fun Facts How many characters are in Tolstoy's War and Peace? Could it have been any shorter? Did Tolstoy himself love it or hate it? Find out the answers to these – and more! – questions in this quick list of little-known War and Peace facts. History Literature Russia File
July 01, 2015 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... Literature Fiction
July 01, 2015 War and Peace One hundred and fifty years go this July, the first part of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace was published.
July 01, 2015 Northern Mozzarella In response to Western sanctions, Russian counter-sanctions, and Russians' love of cheese, a northern monastery is using experience and equipment from Italy to make fine soft cheeses.
July 01, 2015 Stalin, Mythology and Faberge Reviews of "Stalin: A New Biography of a Dictator," by Oleg Khlevniuk; "The Great Glass Sea", by Josh Weil; and the documentary "Faberge: A Life of its Own."
July 01, 2015 The Joy of Soviet Cooking Anna Kharzeeva is learning to cook, Soviet style, from her grandmother. We listen in, and get a fresh new recipe for summer shchi (soup).
