Russian Life: May/June 2012
Cover: Vadim Makhorov |
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7: Cycle of Violence
The public is outraged by a police abuse scandal in Kazan. How far does it stretch, and why is the Kremlin not following up with serious reforms?
Politics
8: Pseudonyms and other News Items
Our pages of news in our Note Book and Travel Notes sections cover items as varied as a treasure trove of tsarist era flatware found in St. Petersburg, presidential gaffes, Paypal arriving in Russia, hunger protests, floating churches, and activists' passing.
Note Book
12: World Records and World Championshiops
As Russia readies for the summer Olympics, pole-vaulting records continue to be broken, a tennis star agrees the World Cup may be beer-filled.
Sports
16: Peace Be With You
This issue's Trends section deals with the division of Russian society over the Pussy Riot scandal. Discourse has been, shall we say, less than civil.
Religion & Spirituality
19: Izmail Ivanovich Sreznevsky
A pathbreaking scientific investigator of Slavic linguistics, Sreznevsky nonetheless helped fan the flames of nationalism and pan-Slavism.
History
:: Translation by
Nora Favorov
19: Nixon Visits Moscow
In 1972, Richard Nixon became the first sitting president to visit the Soviet Union. Another decade of Brezhnevian decline was to follow...
History
:: Translation by
Nora Favorov
19: Just Between Us
A consideration of less than politesse descriptions of the other sex - what men say about women and what women say about men, when they are each speaking to those of their own gender...
Language
:: Illustrations/Images by Victor Bogorad
23: Yevgeny Vakhtangov
A noted actor, writer and director, Yevgeny Vakhtangov led a very strange and extraordinary life indeed.
Theatre
:: Translation by
Nora Favorov
27: Victor Tsoy - Interview and Lyrics
This issue's Uchites insert offers a glossed interview with rock legend Victor Tsoy, plus a gloss of the lyrics from one of his most famous songs.
Uchites
28: Extreme Russia
Roofing and spelunking underground passages are so 2011. So says 22-year-old Vadim Makhorov, whose photos from atop vertiginous towers, about crumbling Soviet-era factories, and inside tunnels of working metro systems have wowed internet users and made his blog one of the most popular in Siberia.
Photo Feature
:: Illustrations/Images by Vadim Makhorov
34: Victor Tsoy
No rock musician has had such a profound, lasting effect on Russian culture as Victor Tsoy.
Music
:: Translation by
Paul E. Richardson
36: Japan's White Russian Hurler
There is not a single Russian-born player in the American Baseball Hall of Fame. Yet if the tide of history had flowed just a bit differently, Victor Starffin might well have ended up in Cooperstown alongside Ruth, Gehrig, Killebrew and Mays.
Sports
44: Secrets of the Northern Wind
The Russian North is rich in superstition and mysticism. Monsters... UFOs... shape-shifters... dwarves living underground... There seems no end to the stories.
Regions
:: Translation by
Peter Morley :: Illustrations/Images by Nikolai Gernet
52: Cinema in the Round
Before IMAX, before 3-D movies, there was Cinema in the Round. Come with us on a visit to the world’s longest functioning cinema of its type, where films are shown simultaneously on 11 massive screens.
Film & Television
:: Illustrations/Images by Alexei Sovertkov
60: A Magic Tablecloth
One of the most vivid images in Russian fairytales is that of the skatert-samobranka, a self-spreading (and self-cleaning) tablecloth. We consider this magical mystery and offer a recipe for delightful pirozhki.
Cuisine
:: Illustrations/Images by Anastasia Balatyonysheva
62: A Wealth of Literature
Our review shelves were overloaded this month, necessitating more and shorter reviews. There is both great fiction (Scar, by the Dyachenkos; The Twelve Chairs, by Ilf & Petrov; The Time of Women, by Elena Chizhova; 50 Writers) and non-fiction including two Putin-focused histories and a remarkable look inside Soviet era labor camps.
Under Review
64: Painting Hidden Worlds
A visit with Maria Kachanova, a young icon painter striving to create works of art in keeping with this centuries long tradition.
Religion & Spirituality
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