January 06, 2022

Weak Stomachs, Romanov Reboot, and Ciao to 2021


Weak Stomachs, Romanov Reboot, and Ciao to 2021
In Odder News

In this week's Odder News, say "Ciao" to 2021, say "Privyet" to someone living intentionally with a carbon footprint of zero, and prepare for another retelling of the last of the Romanovs.

  • We were right: Ivan Urgant's (er, Giovanni Urganti's) "Ciao 2021" variety/talk show on January 1 was as weird as expected. It was completely in Italian, with Russian subtitles, with fake suntanned and coiffed audience members in 70s wear on Russia's Channel 1. The best part was President Putin's speech that ended the show: the clock struck midnight on a different tower, and Putin addressed the nation in deepfake Italian in front of the Colosseum, here. Check out the entire show – if you have way too much time on your hands – here.
  • Russian-speaking Ukrainian blogger Stas Asket is showing the world that a completely eco-friendly life is not only possible but also internet-glamorous. Asket – which means “Ascetic” – gets everything he needs from a local landfill, including food, and millions of people are watching him do it. The 25- or 27-year-old (it's complicated) was born in the rundown house he lives in, and his parents left it to him when he turned 18. Ascetic will eat nearly all food that he finds in the landfill, arguing, "There is no stale food, there are only weak stomachs." According to his pictures, Ascetic has a dog but, we are guessing, no wife or girlfriend.
  • Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin has proudly announced that Moscow has 3.5 times fewer orphans than in 2010. What that really means is that Moscow is shifting to a foster care model, so there are 3.5 times fewer children living in orphanages. A whopping 93.4% of orphaned Muscovite children are not being raised in institutions anymore. At the end of December, Sobyanin gave awards to both foster and adoptive families that are helping to solve the problem of orphaned children. The "Family of the Year" has five adopted children. Sobyanin emphasized that not terminating parental rights, but returning children to their biological parents, is the system's priority.
  • Sergei Kozlov's The Romanovs: Loyalty and Betrayal is being turned into a Russian movie, and actress Milla Jovovich wants to play Tsarina Alexandra, the wife of Nicholas II. In an interview, Kozlov and producer/screenwriter Oleg Urushev said that Alexandra was a foreigner anyway, so the native Russian-Serbian Milla Jovovich who went to school in the United States and does not have perfect Russian should be a great fit. Filming is expected to begin in late 2022. In the concept photo, does anyone else think that Jovovich looks like Nancy Kerrigan?

You Might Also Like

Reconnecting Adoptees
  • January 01, 2008

Reconnecting Adoptees

Russia remains one of America's largest sources of foreign adoption. Now, after more than a decade of cross-cultural adoptions, thousands of children from Russia are bound to begin wondering about their roots. Some, in fact, are already digging.
The World Cup Whirlwind Begins
  • June 14, 2018

The World Cup Whirlwind Begins

Is it football or soccer? Either way, TWERF prepares for the start of the World Cup by examining Russia’s chances (not great), while still paying attention to a few other stories before the madness begins.
Finding Her Russian Roots
  • July 18, 2021

Finding Her Russian Roots

How a conversation led one of 60,000 Russian adoptees in the United States on a journey to her past.
Not All Eco-Heroes Wear Capes
  • October 06, 2021

Not All Eco-Heroes Wear Capes

Meet Khokhulya: he's a Russian desman, the official eco-hero of the Kaluga Region, and now an internet personality to boot. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

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 Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

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.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian 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.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

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.

Frogs Who Begged...
November 01, 2010

Frogs Who Begged...

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
May 01, 2015

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.

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