February 24, 2022 Bass Guitar, Baby Goats, and a Break for Guys In this week's Odder News: a rocker's dream, a holiday for men, and goat saviors. Animals Gifts Holidays Men Music Odder News
February 17, 2022 Cute Cats, a Lost Dog, and Insect Exes In this week's Odder News: kitty subscriptions, sketchy sledding, and spiteful Valentines. Animals Business Holidays Sports Urban Life Odder News
February 10, 2022 "Slush Funds," Spotify, and a Subway Surprise In this week's Odder News: cartoons, a tiny apartment, and an alpaca using the metro. Animals Business Film & TV Urban Life Odder News
February 03, 2022 Slip-ups, Icicles, and (Not So) Sneaky Thieves In this week's Odder News: a propaganda failure, fishing robots, and a cross-dressing bandit. Law Politics Science Odder News
January 27, 2022 Population, a Pistol, and Pregnancy Problems In this week's Odder News: under-the-radar pets, dangerous tomfoolery, and a pregnant lady's trek through the mountains. Animals Moscow Rural Life Sports Odder News
January 20, 2022 Good Deeds, Gas, and Gasless Cars In this week's Odder News: Kanye comes to town, free gas for eternity, and a young language prodigy. Children Music Pop Culture Transportation Odder News
January 13, 2022 Grinches, GPS Art, and Gordon Ramsay In this week's Odder News, Russians are not happy with their gifts, an underwater winter wedding, and cooking for President Putin. Food & Drink Gifts Humor Sports Odder News
January 06, 2022 Weak Stomachs, Romanov Reboot, and Ciao to 2021 In this week's Odder News: the weirdest New Year's show ever, the most eco-friendly person ever, and great news for Russia's orphan care system. Children Film & TV Moscow Pop Culture Odder News
December 30, 2021 Phallic-Shaped Ice Rinks, Flying Dyed Morozes, and Frightening Elevators In this week's Odder News, stay out of the elevator, be careful where you ice skate, and Ivan Urgant says goodbye to 2021 in grand fashion. Holidays Pop Culture Sports Transportation Odder News
December 23, 2021 Bunkers, Beglov, and Bad Weather In this week's Odder News, next year will be better, St. Petersburg's mayor should move to Africa, and bunkers are hip. Architecture Int'l Relations St. Petersburg Odder News
December 16, 2021 Yappy, Gigolos, and Timofei Chalamov In this week's Odder News, gigolos must be stopped in Russia, Yappy might take over TikTok, and "Timothée Chalamet" promotes Russian pastries. Environment Int'l Relations Internet Odder News
December 09, 2021 Evil Etsy, Nutcracker Shortages, and Rudolph on His Way In this week's Odder News, Etsy is a threat, a reindeer tries to race a Russian train, and "The Nutcracker" is much harder to see in Russia than in the U.S. Animals Internet Theater Transportation Odder News
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
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
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.
A Taste of Chekhov This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
October 30, 2021 Happy 200th, Dostoyevsky! On this, the occasion of the great writer's 200th birthday, we offer some links to stories we have published about him over the years, as well as some cool videos. Happy reading and viewing! History Literature Russia File
January 10, 2014 Why Don't Russians Smile? It is a common trope that Russians never smile. Which of course is interpreted to mean they are unfriendly, gloomy, sullen – positively Dostoyevskian. This, of course, is a complete misreading of body language and cultural norms. Culture Humor Language Russia File
September 07, 2021 Using Laughter to Cope These eight outstanding Soviet comedies show some of what has made Russians laugh over the past century. Most are still watched today. (First in our new series on learning about Russia through its films.) Culture Through Film Russia File
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
March 17, 2019 When Russian Cuisine Turns Georgian Why is Georgian food so popular in Russia? Turns out there's more to it than deliciousness. Culture Food & Drink History Russia File
November 18, 2016 Famous Americans with Russian Roots America is a land built by immigrants. We researched famous Americans with Russian roots and offer this compilation. History Reference Russians Abroad Russia File