October 29, 2021 Quote-Unquote Eternal Flame By Griffin Edwards Due to a gas shortage, one former Soviet city has been forced to shut off a war memorial: an "eternal" flame that was never supposed to stop burning. Cities & Towns Economy Int'l Relations Military War Russia File
September 03, 2021 Grace, Poise, and Firepower By Griffin Edwards Belarus opens Russia's eight annual tank biathlon with tutus and Swan Lake. Culture Military Music War Russia File
September 01, 2021 The Panic By Tamara Eidelman By mid-October of 1941, Moscow seemed on the verge of falling to the Nazis. German troops had reached the city’s edge, and there were rumors of fascist tanks closing in. History Military Moscow War
August 01, 2021 Soviet Terror of the Skies: Marina Raskova and the Night WItches By Griffin Edwards The bravery with which the all-female 588th Night Bomber Regiment defended the Soviet Union from Nazi invasion earned them a legendary nickname. History Military War Women
July 04, 2021 Eisenstein's Mythic Masterpiece: Alexander Nevsky By Griffin Edwards The legend of Russia's heroic defender passed into Stalinist myth with some help from one of the 20th century's most famous filmmakers. Art Film & TV History Language War
May 13, 2021 Victory Day, Vaccination Drives, and Mass Marriage By Amanda Shirnina In this week's Odder News, Victory Day surprises, ideas to increase vaccination, and a mass wedding in the sky. Health History Holidays War Odder News
May 12, 2021 Get You With the Big Gun By Haley Bader “Simple and reliable, like a Kalashnikov assault rifle.” – Putin's assessment of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, broadcast on television channel Russia 24 on May 6. Government Health Military War Quote
April 21, 2021 Centenarian Ship Weathers Every Storm By Amanda Shirnina One of the world's largest and most famous sailing training ships celebrates 100 years in the water. History Transportation War Russia File
April 20, 2021 Repeat Offenses: Mothers Grieve a Spectacular Repast By Haley Bader It was not the first time, and is likely not the last: a woman chose the wrong spot for her spectacular repast... Will they ever learn? Cities & Towns Customs Food & Drink War Women Russia File
March 04, 2021 Lesser-Known Art of the Siege of Leningrad On Display By Amanda Shirnina Some little-known art from a civilian eyewitness to the Siege of Leningrad is public both at one of the blockade museums in St. Petersburg and in a new book. Art Biographies St. Petersburg War Russia File
February 02, 2021 The Zoo Animals Who Outlasted the Hermitage Cats By Amanda Shirnina The Leningrad Zoo kept its animals alive during the siege – the 77th anniversary of which was commemorated this week. Animals History St. Petersburg War Russia File
December 22, 2020 An Apocalyptic Aircraft Heist By Griffin Edwards A Russian military aircraft designed to withstand nuclear war has met its match: burglars. Law Military War Russia File
November 04, 2021 to January 07, 2022 Yuri Gorbachev at The Byrne Gallery The Byrne Gallery | Middleburg, VA An exhibition of the vivid oil and enamel paintings of internationally-acclaimed artist Yuri Gorbachev Art Exhibit
November 12, 2021 to December 12, 2021 Stage Russia presents Dmitry Krymov's "Boris" in HD Nationwide | Multiple Cities, A special in cinema presentation of Dmitry Krymov's award-winning production featuring Mikhail Filippov, Viktoriya Isakova, Maria Smolnikova and 2021 Golden Mask Award Winner, Timofey Tribuntsev. Film
October 15, 2021 to April 03, 2022 Icons for Our Time: Orthodox Art from Around the World Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA Fifteen contemporary icons from fifteen countries explore iconography today. Presented in celebration of the museum's 15th Anniversary. Art Exhibit
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.
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.
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.
The Latchkey Murders Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
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 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.
Resilience: Life Stories of Centenarians Born in the Year of Revolution 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 Samovar Murders The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
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.
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.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
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 31, 2020 Inside Brighton Beach's Babushka Beauty Pageant By The Editors A lovely short film on Brighton Beach's Your Highness Babushka Beauty Contest. Culture Pop Culture Russians Abroad Women Video of the Week Russia File
March 14, 2020 Coronavirus Coping: Russian Lit has the Answers By The Editors Russian literature has an answer for everything. In the times of coronovirus, this is your guide. Art Literature CVSG
March 01, 2019 Crime and Punishment By Fyodor Dostoyevsky W.W. Norton has released a new translation, by Michael Katz, of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic novel. We excerpt here the novel’s opening. Literature St. Petersburg
December 19, 2016 10 Things (And 5 Jokes) You Didn't Know About Brezhnev By Alice E.M. Underwood Soviet leader Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev would have been 110 on December 19. There are plenty of fun facts and surprising jokes behind the eyebrows. History Humor Politics
February 20, 2014 Russian Genealogy By Ginny Audet A comprehensive listing of resources, online and off, for researching your Russian roots, courtesy of Ginny Audet. History Reference
