April 01, 2021 Earth Hour, Eurovision, and Eggs By Amanda Shirnina In this week's Odder News, the lights go out for Earth Hour; egg sandwiches get their due; and a huge crack opens up in a St. Petersburg apartment building. Environment Food & Drink Health Pop Culture Odder News
March 17, 2021 A Paw-some Recovery By Alexandra Curtis Rescuers at the Amur Tiger Center are always happy to lend a helping hand (or paw) to tigers in need. Animals Environment Regions Russia File
March 16, 2021 Draining the Tanks By Amanda Shirnina The Russian Duma is seriously considering putting a slow end to the dolphin and whale display industry. Animals Business Environment Russia File
February 16, 2021 Snow Leopards Dream of Electric-Fenced Sheep By Alexandra Curtis This creative conservation project benefits both the endangered snow leopards in the Altai region and local farmers and their livestock. Animals Environment Regions Rural Life Russia File
February 08, 2021 Mimosas (The Flower, Not the Drink) in Sochi By Alexandra Curtis Unusually warm weather brings bright yellow blossoms to the region much earlier than normal. Agriculture Cities & Towns Environment Russia File
February 01, 2021 Plenty of Penguins By Alexandra Curtis Eight little penguin chicks make for one very lucky aquarium in Russia's Far East. Animals Environment Russia File
January 28, 2021 Whatever Floats Russia's Boats By Haley Bader It’s plain sailing for the Russian Federation along the Northern Sea Route, thanks to melting ice caps. Economy Environment Transportation Russia File
January 25, 2021 The Kingdom of Eternal Permafrost By Amanda Shirnina With abnormally cold weather in Yakutsk, Russian TV news channels have been promoting the city's Kingdom of Permafrost and annual ice sculpture competition. Cities & Towns Culture Environment Russia File
January 19, 2021 Speedos in January By Amanda Shirnina Pack your bikinis and speedos: it's time for Russian winter! Cities & Towns Environment St. Petersburg Russia File
January 01, 2021 Ascending Anik By Vitaly Berkov Our intrepid Far Eastern explorer gets it into his head to trek through uninhabited wilds in order to ascend his region’s tallest peak. Not all goes to plan. Environment Regions Travel
January 01, 2021 Kamchatka Tragedy By The Editors Russian scientists are researching the cause of a massive die-off of marine life off the coast of Kamchatka in October. Environment Government Regions
December 16, 2020 Shrek Lives in Kirov Oblast By Griffin Edwards Russia has everything, including Shrek's house. Environment Film & TV Media Rural Life Russia File
May 01, 2021 to May 31, 2021 20th Annual Russian Arts and Culture Festival Virtual | N/A, N/A The City of West Hollywood administration invites everyone to join a virtual celebration of Russian Arts and Culture this May. An array of musical events, activities for kids, workshops, virtual tours, concerts, contests, interviews with interesting people, and much more will comprise a month-long celebration. The program of our events will be published on the website of the festival and in the Facebook group. Festival
April 29, 2021 to April 29, 2021 Communism Through the Lens: Everyday Life Captured by Women Photographers Zimmerli Museum | New Brunswick, NJ The exhibition Communism Through the Lens: Everyday Life Captured by Women Photographers in the Dodge Collection highlights the unique – and often overlooked – photographic innovations by women who shaped the history of photography during the 20th century. Art Exhibit
May 02, 2021 to May 02, 2021 Three Sisters Live Stream Performance Online - Pushkin House | London, Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters probes the lives and dreams of Olga, Masha, and Irina, former Muscovites now living in a provincial town from which they're desperate to escape. In this powerful play, a landmark of modern drama, Chekhov masterfully interweaves character and theme in subtle ways that make the work's climax seem as inevitable as it is deeply moving. Theater
Woe From Wit (bilingual) One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
The Spine of Russia This coffee table book is the photographic journal of an epic 6000-kilometer road trip. The book includes over 200 compelling images of Russians and Russian places met along the way, plus a dozen texts (in both English and Russian) on everything from business to education, from roads to fools.
The Best of Russian Life We culled through 15 years of Russian Life to select readers’ and editors’ favorite stories and biographies for inclusion in a special two-volume collection. Totalling over 1100 pages, these two volumes encompass some of the best writing we have published over the last two decades, and include the most timeless stories and biographies – those that can be read again and again.
Marooned in Moscow This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
At the Circus This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Resilience ~ The Russian Version (Переживем) Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.
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.
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.
The Little Humpbacked Horse A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
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.
Russia 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.
August 22, 2016 Magical Kefir By Philip Seifi Kefir is the most popular fermented milk in Russia. But it did not get there overnight. Kefir and Russia have a long history... Food & Drink History
September 14, 2019 Eight Russian Desserts To Make Your Mouth Water By Tiffany Zhu Forget vodka – dessert is the best part of Russian meals. Culture Food & Drink
July 01, 2013 The Russian Bees Will Save Us By Paul E. Richardson American bees are dying from mysterious causes, putting our agriculture at risk for lack of pollinators. Russian bees might be part of a solution. Agriculture Environment Science
May 26, 2016 Two Miracles of Russian Love Poetry By Anatoly Liberman On the occasion of Pushkin's birthday, we offer a post on the challenge of translating his most famous love lyrics, "Я вас любил," with a bonus look at Innokenty Annensky's "Среди миров." Literature
November 01, 2020 Tsarina: In the Winter Palace By Ellen Alpsten Catherine I finds herself at a turning point upon the death of her husband, Peter the Great. History Literature
February 03, 2018 12 Myths/Truths About Russians and Vodka By The Editors Think you know your vodka? Take this True/False quiz (just 12 items) about Russians and their vodka and see if you are right about that... Food & Drink