November 01, 2023 An Old Man and his Dog When everyone wants you to focus on the now, but you are still reckoning with what is missing Culture Customs Journalism Rural Life
September 20, 2023 Pilgrimage Under Shelling: "Shana Tova" From Uman Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 35,000 Hassidic Jews went on a pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine, for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Customs Religion Transportation Travel War Russia File
February 11, 2023 "Glory to Siberia," A Desecration to the Anthem? The Kontinental Hockey League told Team Siberia to stop fans from singing "Glory to Siberia" during Russia's national anthem. Customs Government Law Sports Russia File
January 10, 2023 It's My Church Now The Primate of Ukraine conducted Christmas Liturgy in a Kyivan cathedral formerly used by the Moscow Patriarchate. Culture Customs History Religion War Russia File
September 22, 2022 A Crime Against Passion Crimean wedding-goers were arrested and fined after playing a patriotic Ukrainian song at their reception. Culture Customs Law Social Issues Russia File
July 17, 2022 Forced Integration, Continued Russia's streamlined passport process, offered to residents of Kherson and Zaporizhia, has been expanded to include all Ukrainian citizens. Customs Government Int'l Relations News War Russia File
April 03, 2022 Pysanky for Peace Ukrainian Easter pysanky are a colorful symbol of peace and prosperity. As the country resists Russian aggression, there are ways to support Ukrainian pysanka makers, learn to decorate your own Easter egg, or join a local event to learn about this unique tradition. Art Culture Customs Holidays Russia File
March 16, 2022 A Recipe for Peace On Gogol, how culture and help ease the spirit, and a treasured Ukrainian recipe. Culture Customs Food & Drink Russia File
March 01, 2022 Watch Where You Step In recent months the Russian press corps has been honing its euphemistic language skills, wondering how to talk crap. Customs Humor Language
February 18, 2022 Punk Rock, Folklore, and Putin In which we unpack what Putin had to say about Ukraine while in France and what it's got to do with a punk band and a folk ditty. Customs Geography Government Int'l Relations Journalism Media Russia File
February 09, 2022 A Not-So Sobering Message “About the dangers of alcohol, volumes have been written on the benefits of more than one brochure! From lack of education, we walk for five days and crawl for two! And, on Saturday morning, Russia from space looks like.” – An unintelligible sign alerting Muscovites to the effects of alcohol. Cities & Towns Customs Food & Drink Moscow Social Issues Quote
January 26, 2022 Marriage is No Laughing Matter The Rostov Oblast puts new limitations on the behavior of wedding-goers. Cities & Towns Customs Family Government Law Russia File
November 11, 2023 to September 15, 2024 Visions of Transcendence: Creating Space in East and West Wende Museum | Culver City, CA This exhibit highlights the resilience and creative power of people deprived of their freedom or their own place to live. Art Exhibit
February 28, 2022 to December 31, 2024 Free Russian Language Guided Tours Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY Russian-speaking guides conduct tours of the museum's highlights every Monday at 11 am. Art Exhibit
Steppe / Степь This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Jews in Service to the Tsar Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
301 Things Everyone Should Know About Russia How do you begin to get a handle on the world's largest country? This colorful, illustrated guide will get you started...
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
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.
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.
East of the Sun: The Epic Conquest and Tragic History of Siberia The very word Siberia evokes a history and reputation as awesome as it is enthralling. In this acclaimed book on Russia’s conquest of its eastern realms, Benson Bobrick offers a story that is both rich and subtle, broad and deep.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.
Fish: A History of One Migration This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
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.
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...
March 14, 2020 Coronavirus Coping: Russian Lit has the Answers Russian literature has an answer for everything. In the times of coronovirus, this is your guide. Art Literature CVSG Russia File
October 14, 2016 Five Wild Facts about St. Basil's Cathedral On October 14, 1991, St. Basil’s Cathedral was reopened after six decades. Here are five fun facts in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Cathedral’s rebirth. Culture History Religion Russia File
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. News Russia File
February 24, 2023 Russia's Year of Horror After a year of horrific war, why does a magazine like Russian Life continue? Why not simply wash our hands of it and walk away? Culture History Journalism War Russia File
February 03, 2018 12 Myths/Truths About Russians and Vodka 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 Russia File
April 06, 2020 A Russian Gift A look at how the Jesuits, Pope Francis, and Georgetown University all share an interesting connection to Russia. History Int'l Relations Religion Russia File