July/Aug 2009


Current Issue

July/Aug 2009

July/Aug 2009

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Table of Contents

Here is what you'll find in our current issue:

7: Pity the Miliman Maria Antonova
When Denis Yevsyukov went on a shooting rampage in a Moscow supermarket, it turned public (and presidential) attention toward the most corrupt of Russia's public institutions.

19: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Tamara Eidelman
In the spring of 1939, world war appeared inevitable. Hitler was on the march in Europe and the Soviet Union was looking to avoid war for as long as possible. By August, Stalin had decide to cast his lot with Hitler... { Translation by: Nora Favorov }

21: Socialist Realism Tamara Eidelman
Socialist Realism, a new art form devised by Stalin and Maxim Gorky, was pronounced to the world as the henceforth official path of Soviet art in August 1934. We look back... { Translation by: Nora Favorov }

23: Alexander Godunov Tamara Eidelman
The god-like ballet dancer Alexander Godunov defected on August 23, 1979. It was a dramatic event, riveting the world for 3 days. And Godunov did not fare so well in the US after his defection. { Translation by: Nora Favorov }

26: Gogol 101 Mikhail Ivanov
In which columnist Mikhail Ivanov impresses upon his son the importance of reading Gogol, sharing several important Gogolisms along the way.

28: The Beauty Hunter Brett Forrest
Anton Alfer has a problem. He is a model scout in the land of models. Fifty percent of the world's top models issue from the former Soviet Union. Alfer has to choose which girls will make it and which won't.

34: Soviet Karelia Irene Woodhead
Eighty years ago, thousands of Finns who had emigrated to America were convinced to return east, to create a new, Finnish homeland in the Soviet Republic of Karelia. Things did not work out exactly as planned.

42: The 1959 Kitchen Debate Yale Richmond
Fifty years ago this summer, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and American Vice President Richard Nixon sparred before the media, debating the merits of Capitalism versus Communism on the site of the first-ever American Exhibition in Moscow. It set the stage for 40 years of cultural exchanged.

48: We Have No News... Anastasia Osipova
Vladimir Mukusev, once a media star, has been persona non grata on Russian television for a decade. We hand him a mike. { Translation by: Paul E. Richardson }

51: Walking for the Tsar Stella Rock
Ninety years after their assassination in Yekaterinburg, the Romanov Royal Family has become an object of intense devotion and veneration.

60: Farm Preserves Darra Goldstein
While variety may be the spice of life, it is the simplest food that fosters friendship, especially when it is offered from the heart. Columnist Darra Goldstein remembers her time as a guide at a US Exhibit in Moscow and shares a recipe for salted mushrooms.

62: Summer Reading Paul E. Richardson
Selections include: The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight; Londongrad; Kamchatka; Red Sky, Black Death; Wave of Terror; Ballerina (DVD)

64: Khrushchev v. Nixon John Jacobs
John Jacobs was press officer for the first ever American Exhibit in Moscow. He offers a first-hand view of the Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate.

PLUS:

Note Book:   Quotes, facts, news briefs and other noteworthy items...

Events Calendar: Russian events going on outside Russia.

Practical Traveler:  The latest from the travel front ...

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