May 31, 2022 Russia Forever? A Russian rock musician was filmed helping Russian soldiers replace a Ukrainian road sign with one reading "Russia Forever." Cities & Towns Media Music News War Russia File
May 24, 2022 An Anthem of Dissent A Russian man in Tyumen was arrested for playing the Ukrainian national anthem in public. Cities & Towns Government Music Russia File
May 18, 2022 For All Ukrainians “Now more than ever, every victory is important for Ukraine. This will further raise the morale of the Ukrainians, which is so needed now. We won not for ourselves, but for all Ukrainians." – Oleg Psyuk, member of Kalush Orchestra, winners of Eurovision 2022. Culture Film & TV Interview Music Quote
May 10, 2022 Harmonious Humanitarianism European rockers come together to help Ukraine. Internet Media Music Pop Culture War Russia File
March 17, 2022 Rapping for Peace Two of Russia's biggest rappers are taking a stance against the war in Ukraine. Music Politics Russians Abroad War Russia File
March 08, 2022 A Prayer for Ukraine In 2014, Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov wrote this beautiful short orchestral work, "Prayer for Ukraine." A German orchestra is sharing it as a symphonic symbol of solidarity and hope. Music War Russia File
March 01, 2022 The Bottlephonist The life of a street musician is not an easy one. But it is one thing to busk with a guitar or pan flute, quite another to have to set up a complex vertical xylophone made of bottles. Music St. Petersburg
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
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 15, 2022 (NOT) Morgenshtern A burgeoning new (joke) media company is founded by none other than Russia's top rapper, Morgenshtern. Internet Media Music Russia File
December 12, 2021 Russia Wrapped: A Year of Music in Review 2021 is drawing to a close, which means that we have fascinating data on popular streaming trends in Russian-language music. Internet Media Music Pop Culture Russia File
November 20, 2021 Birchpunk, an Internet Gift Despite how weird it looks, birchpunk is a fun and talented hip hop group asking important moral questions. Art Music Rural Life Science Russia File
February 03, 2022 to October 02, 2022 Tea Is For Tradition Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA The objects associated with Russian tea are tactile reminders of this important tradition and evoke warmth, home, and family. Art Exhibit
June 18, 2022 to July 16, 2022 The Art of Icon Painting Christ Chirch | Kennebunk, Maine Master icon maker and art historian, Marina Forbes, will offer "The Art of Icon Painting" workshop at the Christ Church in Kennebunk, ME. Other
February 28, 2022 to February 23, 2032 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
February 22, 2022 to February 22, 2032 Russian-Language Gallery Tour Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, NY Russian-language tour exploring our collection in depth, second Sunday of each month at 1 pm. Free, reservations required Art Exhibit
May 05, 2022 to October 02, 2022 Images of Atheism: The Soviet Assault on Religion Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA Exploring the role of visual propaganda in the Communist Party’s seven-decade war against religion (ca. 1920– 1990). Art Exhibit
April 10, 2022 to October 23, 2022 Martin Roemers: Relics of the Cold War Wende Museum | Culver City, CA On view in the Wende’s West Gallery and garden, this exhibition presents work by Dutch photographer Martin Roemers from 1998 through 2009, when he captured the structural and topographic remnants of the Cold War in both the East and West over an eleven-year period. Art Exhibit
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.
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.
Murder at the Dacha Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
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.
22 Russian Crosswords Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
May 09, 2020 Russian/Soviet War Movies You Can Stream Some of the best Russian and Soviet films about World War II that you can stream online. Film & TV Reference War Culture Through Film CVSG
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
May 07, 2015 The Most Useful Russian Inventions What do radio, television, the periodic table, and helicopters have in common? Russians were involved in developing all of them – and more! Reference Science
February 20, 2014 Russian Genealogy A comprehensive listing of resources, online and off, for researching your Russian roots, courtesy of Ginny Audet. History Reference
August 22, 2020 Sad Smiles and Kremlin Corruption Recounting a 2008 meeting with activist Alexei Navalny, before he rose to prominence. Government Politics
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