You may have heard of Tuva because of its stamps. But the Siberian Russian republic is so much more, offering a curious mixture of deep cultural traditions, natural beauty, and mortal danger.
What makes them forsake their families and spend long months in isolated, Spartan cabins perched along the shores of the Baltic? The birds, of course. It’s all about the birds.
When a general retires, a village can be in real danger. Because a general cannot ever really retire, and he may or may not have the sort of useful skills that the local folk require.
The insect world had a sort of heyday in post-revolutionary Russia. We visit an exhibition devoted to this topic and explore what it all means.
The history of Russia since 2008 has been to repeatedly lop off appendages – nose, ears, digits – to spite itself. Obsessed by erroneous threats, it has invaded its neighbors, quashed all democratic activity, rigged votes, interfered in foreign elections, harbored and/or enabled international cybercrime… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The government wants to close down Memorial, while at the same time not be seen as the sort of repressive state that brought about the need for a Memorial. Lose-lose balancing act.
Our bimonthly roundup of news on Russia most others missed.
An excerpt from the new book, The Gambler Wife, a glimpse into the life and motivations of Dostoyevsky's very successful wife.
A short excerpt from the beginning of The Tsarina's Daughter, a novel about the life of Elizabeth I.
August 27, 1698, was a day of historic importance for the grooming of the Russian male. It was then that Tsar Peter I (known to history as “the Great”), armed himself with scissors and undertook to mercilessly clip beards from the faces of summoned noblemen and boyars.
Late January 2022 marks 125 years since the first thorough count of the Russian Empire’s population was begun in 1897. What was the significance of this endeavor, how was it carried out, and what were its results?
In Russian, neither a Scrooge nor a Plyushkin be!
Some thoughts on George Turberville, who served as secretary in the embassy of Queen Elizabeth I to Russia’s Ivan IV, and was one of the earliest observers (and reporters) of Russian mores.
In this issue's language insert, we look at French words that have made their way into Russian. (Link to article downloads PDF of the page.)
Revies of a book on one of the true-crime sources for Crime and Punishment, and a collection of Teffi's stories.
The pirog is quite capable of holding the flag as the most important dish in Russian cuisine. It is a filling, generous, and hearty meal, containing all the major food groups (vegetables, animal protein, grains, and bread) rolled up in one.
We decided to look back on the year that was, to discover which online stories got the most reads and shares in the last year. Out of over 300,000 pageviews, these are three new posts from the past 12 months that came out on top.
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