Culture & Customs

Dostoyevsky’s chance visit to a museum led to a chilling, life-changing encounter with an artist long dead, but whose work was very much alive. It would make an appearance in the writer’s next novel. 

In this week's Odder News, gig work gets some much-deserved attention, Muscovites "celebrate" the imminent lockdown by going nuts, and the wild comes to the streets of St. Petersburg.

"Sauerkraut that can almost completely solve the problem with dysbiosis. This is because it contains a fairly large amount of dietary fiber, which is a good nourishment for your microflora, and immunity largely depends on the work of the intestines.”

– Nutritionist Andrey Solotarev on what might be good for the gut.

A new statue in Kurgan is decidedly not the cat's pajamas, and after less than a week on display is being taken down due to public outcry.  

If you don't know short-lived Soviet rock musician Igor Talkov, you should. His St. Petersburg mural is under threat.

In this week's Odder News, the most amazing cakes you have ever seen, Russia's Suez Canal moment, and how do 100 kids sound?

"Because of e-sports, we are losing future great athletes who could become Olympic champions.”

– Svetlana Zhurova, State Duma Deputy and Olympic Champion, commenting on the recent (sedentary) victory of the Russian cybersports group Team Spirit.

An indignant social media user called out an artist for her choice of subject in the heart of Kazan, but there’s another side to the story – a backside, if you will.

One Russian city is taking moonshine off the streets by offering a trade: groceries in exchange for booze.

What better way to celebrate the shifting seasons than with a review of the delicious things you might find stored away in a Russian pantry for colder days. Recipes included!

In which a lucky kitten gets to see a good portion of Russia from the cabin of a very kind truck driver. 

In this week's Odder News, don't drink and drive your tractor, ticket-taking grandmothers are surprisingly entertaining, and the Russians win the new space race by a hair.