March 15, 2021 Blini on a Budget By Alexandra Curtis In honor of Maslenitsa, Russian health experts encourage citizens to limit their intake of one of the holiday's most beloved foods. Food & Drink Health Holidays Russia File
March 12, 2021 Snowmen Acquitted! By Haley Bader All charges against a group of snowmen, embroiled in a recent controversy, have been dropped. Humor Politics Regions 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 09, 2021 Rapping for Russia By Alexandra Curtis With Russian teenagers in mind, plans are being made for "The First All-Russian Festival of Patriotic Rap." Culture Government Music 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
March 08, 2021 The Tram from Hell By Alexandra Curtis Leave it to Russia to come up with the absolutely most punk-rock way to remove snow. Humor Transportation Urban Life Russia File
March 05, 2021 A Cold-Blooded Eviction By Alexandra Curtis Surprisingly, a two-bedroom Russian apartment does not make an appropriate habitat for this 13-foot long python. Animals Cities & Towns St. Petersburg Russia File
March 04, 2021 Lesser-Known Art of the Siege of Leningrad On Display By Amanda Shirnina Some little-known art from a civilian eyewitness to the Siege of Leningrad is public both at one of the blockade museums in St. Petersburg and in a new book. Art Biographies St. Petersburg War Russia File
March 02, 2021 Just Ten More Minutes By Griffin Edwards A Russian gamer was forced to forfeit a cash prize of $16,000 after his dad turned off the internet. Family Media Sports Russia File
March 01, 2021 Wine Flights in Flight By Alexandra Curtis Aeroflot is offering a short excursion flight for those interested in getting a quick taste of air travel— and wine. Food & Drink Moscow Travel Women Russia File
February 26, 2021 Get Your Cold War On By Amanda Shirnina Cold War nostalgia is dripping from the recently aired Russian miniseries "The Optimists: Caribbean Season." Espionage Film & TV History Russia File
February 25, 2021 Have Your Cake By Haley Bader On February 18, the Moscow Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (CK) released a stern reminder for Russian youth who might be considering a stint in theft, robbery, extortion or other shenanigans after their fourteenth birthdays. Education Government Law Social Issues Russia File
May 01, 2021 to May 31, 2021 20th Annual Russian Arts and Culture Festival Virtual | N/A, N/A The City of West Hollywood administration invites everyone to join a virtual celebration of Russian Arts and Culture this May. An array of musical events, activities for kids, workshops, virtual tours, concerts, contests, interviews with interesting people, and much more will comprise a month-long celebration. The program of our events will be published on the website of the festival and in the Facebook group. Festival
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.
Fish: A History of One Migration This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
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 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.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
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.
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 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.
Survival Russian Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
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.
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.
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.
May 26, 2016 Two Miracles of Russian Love Poetry By Anatoly Liberman On the occasion of Pushkin's birthday, we offer a post on the challenge of translating his most famous love lyrics, "Я вас любил," with a bonus look at Innokenty Annensky's "Среди миров." Literature
January 10, 2014 Why Don't Russians Smile? By The Editors It is a common trope that Russians never smile. Which of course is interpreted to mean they are unfriendly, gloomy, sullen – positively Dostoyevskian. This, of course, is a complete misreading of body language and cultural norms. Culture Humor Language
March 17, 2019 When Russian Cuisine Turns Georgian By Tiffany Zhu Why is Georgian food so popular in Russia? Turns out there's more to it than deliciousness. Culture Food & Drink History
September 01, 2019 Bite Marks By Paul E. Richardson Is Russia somehow different from other nations, or is it just like any other? History Int'l Relations
September 14, 2019 Eight Russian Desserts To Make Your Mouth Water By Tiffany Zhu Forget vodka – dessert is the best part of Russian meals. Culture Food & Drink
May 09, 2020 Russian/Soviet War Movies You Can Stream By Yuliya Ballou Some of the best Russian and Soviet films about World War II that you can stream online. Film & TV Reference War CVSG
