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Job Offer for Trump
October 07, 2020

Job Offer for Trump

“Note: this is parody, using #deepfake technology (but the job is there, Donald).”

– Tweet from Kremlin-funded network RT, promoting an ad about its coverage of the US election

Pop Star Politics
September 23, 2020

Pop Star Politics

“Just know that you don’t give away your loved one… Belarusians, we are a force.”

– a group of Belarusian and Russian pop singers, singing in a patriotic music video to support President Lukashenko

Happiness, Ants, and a Cold Winter
September 02, 2020

Happiness, Ants, and a Cold Winter

“Alla Borisovna [Pugacheva] drank not the elixir of youth, but the elixir of happiness.”

 – A fan’s post on Maxim Galkin's Instagram account, in reaction to a new photo of the couple

Can't Mask This
August 26, 2020

Can't Mask This

“If the government thinks that it [wearing masks] is necessary, it should provide them free of charge, just like shoe covers are provided free of charge in medical organizations.”

– Alexander Saversky, President of the Russian organization League of Patients' Defenders, who started a petition against wearing masks
On Melons and Vacationers
August 12, 2020

On Melons and Vacationers

“You risk getting an upset stomach, but there is no scientific evidence for this fact.”

- An announcement from Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, on the incorrect way to eat melons

Rumors and Mistakes
August 05, 2020

Rumors and Mistakes

“I have nothing to share.”

– Comedian Maksim Galkin in response to journalists asking him about rumors of divorce between him and his wife, the musical icon Alla Pugacheva.

Protest Poems and Start of School
July 29, 2020

Protest Poems and Start of School

“Are all these really mercenaries? // In Moscow, their voices are heard already! // The column went more and more powerfully. // They do not ask or pray, // They want the will to reach // All the ears of the people. // And there is no task to borrow, // No, it’s not their roof that is sliding. // ‘We are not stupid, we are not stupid!’ // Ah, those who don't want to hear them.”

– Sergei Shnurov, leader of the band Leningrad, and a politician and producer, who used a poem on Instagram to announce his arrival in Khabarovsk to check out the protests occuring there in response to the arrest of governor Sergei Furgal

On the Benefits of Coffee
July 22, 2020

On the Benefits of Coffee

“Coffee is good. I don’t know where we got coffee from – it’s like a sin, like drinking champagne in the morning... Coffee is good, remember that. You can love it or not love it, but you cannot blame it and say that it is harmful. ”

– Dr. Alexander Myasnikov, dispelling misconceptions on the dangers of coffee

 

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EVENTS FOR RUSSOPHILES

Roma Rhapsody
June 15, 2024

Roma Rhapsody

Capital One Hall | Tysons, Virginia

The Washington Balalaika Society Orchestra's Spring Concert, Roma Rhapsody, will be at 7:30 pm on Saturday June 15, 2024.

Songs of Faith, Love and Delight! June 7
June 07, 2024

Songs of Faith, Love and Delight! June 7

St. Mark's Episcopal Church | Berkeley, California

San Francisco's Slavyanka Chorus invites you to a concert featuring a colorful tapestry of folk songs and sacred hymns by renowned women composers.

Songs of Faith, Love and Delight! June 8
June 08, 2024

Songs of Faith, Love and Delight! June 8

First Congregational Church | Palo Alto, California

San Francisco's Slavyanka Chorus invites you to a concert featuring a colorful tapestry of folk songs and sacred hymns by renowned women composers.

Songs of Faith, Love and Delight! June 9
June 09, 2024

Songs of Faith, Love and Delight! June 9

Star of the Sea Church | San Francisco, California

San Francisco's Slavyanka Chorus invites you to a concert featuring a colorful tapestry of folk songs and sacred hymns by renowned women composers.

A Few of Our Books

The Little Golden Calf

The 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.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

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

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Russian Rules

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.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

Popular Articles

Using Laughter to Cope
September 07, 2021

Using Laughter to Cope

These eight outstanding Soviet comedies show ​​some of what has made Russians laugh over the past century. Most are still watched today. (First in our new series on learning about Russia through its films.)

Russian Life Takes a Pause
March 07, 2022

Russian Life Takes a Pause

As the world reels from the horrific, criminal events being perpetrated in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin, the Russian state, and the Russian military, all of us who nurture a love for Russian people, their culture and history, have been heartbroken. It is not easy to remain a Russophile when suddenly, all across the globe, the adjective “Russian” has become toxic.

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.

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