February 23, 2015 Decoding Leviathan Leviathan is not, as virtually every mainstream critic has presumed, “anti-Russian.” I watched the movie resolutely prepared to intensely dislike it. I fully believed it would shamelessly pander to an American public eager to see a film that demonized Putin and made the country seem like a hellish landscape of unsalvageable bleakness. But that was not at all the case. Culture Film & TV Russia File
February 14, 2015 The Sino-Soviet Love-Hate Relationship On Valentine's Day 65 years ago, the USSR and China signed their Treaty of Friendship. But their budding romance was not to last: just six years later the relationship went south, and nothing has been as rosy since. History Int'l Relations Russia File
February 03, 2015 Who's Out to Get Russia? As oil prices drop, the Russian economy finds itself facing an ever bleaker future. Is someone targeting Russia? Russian bloggers weigh in. Economy Russia File
January 31, 2015 An Amazing Ride! We have just finished our 45-day Kickstarter project for the book Red Star Tales, and we are speechless. Almost. Literature Russia File
January 15, 2015 Trotsky on Trotskyites How can you be accused of wanting to restore the bourgeoisie when all you've said is that the current policy isn't anti-bourgeoisie enough? Leon Trotsky responds to the nonsense dominating Soviet courtrooms in the 1930's. History Russia File
January 03, 2015 Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of All Russias Tsar Ivan IV had a bit of a temper. When you look at his record of dramatic self-exile, tyrannical persecution, domestic abuse, and abrupt changes of heart, you realize that the current meaning of "Terrible" fits him quite well. History Russia File
January 01, 2015 First Book For centuries, the Russian Church strove to shield Muscovy from foreign influences, believing that they would weaken faith and put the kingdom in peril.
January 01, 2015 1715: Peter and the Kunstkamera The year 1715 began with several innovations introduced by Tsar Peter I.
January 01, 2015 Snapshot Stats and graphs on everything from Russians leaving the country, to Google search trends.
January 01, 2015 Send in the Clones Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against communists, per se. Some of my best friends were communists.