August 18, 2016

Michael Phelps, Russia's swimming champ


Michael Phelps, Russia's swimming champ

Olympian Update 
A special section during the Rio Olympics

In the biggest turn of the Olympics, Michael Phelps now swims for Russia!

meduza.io

Okay, no. Still, despite the Blagoveshchensk banner featuring Phelps’s new and improved swimming cap, Russia has yet to snag a swimming medal – though the medal count of 41 (and counting) now covers a tight silver in women’s wrestling, a medal in every color for gymnast Aliya Mustafina, and a particularly violent boxing match. With three days left in the Olympics, can Russia maintain its fourth-place ranking in the medal count?

New Decrees and Nooscopes

1. You visit the Kremlin, you get the onion domes, the tsars’ bodily remains, and more golden artifacts than you can shake a Fabergé egg at. But there’s plenty more that’s been off-limits for centuries, and a new decree is now opening up more such public spaces in the Kremlin. President Putin approved a list of new routes and spots to visit, including an archaeological dig, an old cathedral, and possibly a new museum. Not a bad way to spend a vacation.

2. Anton Vaino says he can use a “nooscope” to measure unseen things that impact the economy, and most folks can’t make heads or tails of it. So why is he replacing one of Putin’s top dudes? After Sergei Ivanov, head of the presidential administration, was unexpectedly replaced by Vaino, the bureaucrat’s academic past has been unearthed, nooscope and all. Maybe it will help explain the spate of replacements hitting Putin’s old guard.

3. The governor of Novosibirsk has signed a law prohibiting migrants from working in 16 professions. If you were planning on moving to Novosibirsk to become a teacher, taxi driver, or accountant, you’re out of luck. No hunting and breeding of wild animals either, and believe it or not, no work as an interpreter. The authorities describe the decision as a move to “ensure national security” as well as increase employment opportunities for Russian citizens. We can only hope Novosibirsk doesn’t run out of interpreters for wild animals.  

Quote of the Week

“The market is a manifestation of life. The brightest manifestations of life occur in its condensation: in certain points, certain lines, certain spatial-temporal formations.”

—The intro to “The Capitalization of the Future,” an article on economic theory (sort of) by Anton Vaino, the Kremlin’s new chief of staff.

In Odder News

  • Andrei Tarkovsky, renowned for his dark and complex film directing, also dabbled in Polaroids. And auctioneers are going crazy about it.
  • A Hare Krishna follower has been detained for illegal missionary work under the new anti-terrorist law. Maybe his voice was just off-key?
  • How to make the best of flooded streets? By wakeboarding through central Moscow, of course.
meduza.io

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955