Culture & Customs

Over the 70-year lifespan of the “most equal and democratic nation” known as the Soviet Union, just a handful of women rose to the rank of ambassador. A few more have attained this level since 1991, yet diplomacy in Russia remains largely a male preserve.

A rather adequate look at the rise of "adekvatny" and "neadekvatny" in colloquial speech.

Who, what, where, and why: the kerfuffle over a few aviation cadets and their posting of a slightly racy video online. And how average Russians rose to defend them.

Things worth knowing on the travel front.

On International Women's Day, our Children of 1917 project, and a colleague who will be missed.

Some creative prisoners decided to sculpt a full-scale model of a Topol-M mobile, intercontinental missile launcher. Out of snow.

Traditional celebrations like Maslenitsa are accompanied by new ones, like Chinese New Year. The party never stops!

Today, we officially put to print the book for our Children of 1917 project: Resilience: Life Stories of Centenarians Born in the Year of Revolution.

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...

Russians practice their rights: heated debate, voting in North Korea, and not getting any more survey calls. 

There's a new Russian-language detective show on Netflix. It's a bit like Gogol meets House meets Sherlock. 

Let's go to Nizhny Novgorod to hear a Russian rendition of the song of the year. And then, lets meet some puppies and a vodka thief.