October 17, 2019 Things to Avoid After Drinking Vodka Fall starts on a harmonious note, Putin’s meeting with the Saudis — not so much. Also, happy birthday to vodka! Food & Drink Int'l Relations Regions The Weekly Russia File Russia File
September 28, 2019 The Twitter Wars of the Russian MFA All of Twitter’s a stage for the Russian Foreign Ministry to promote its view of World War II. History Int'l Relations Internet Russia File
September 01, 2019 Bite Marks Is Russia somehow different from other nations, or is it just like any other? History Int'l Relations
July 01, 2019 People Like Us The features in this issue have something in common. And it's not necessarily what you might expect. Economy Environment Int'l Relations
May 02, 2019 The Robots are Having a Whale of a Time There are wondrous things under the sea… but don’t get in too deep over your head. Humor Int'l Relations Regions The Weekly Russia File Russia File
May 01, 2019 You Be the Judge There is never a shortage of political-cultural land mines on which to trod when one’s brief is to cover all things Russian. Culture Int'l Relations Politics
February 07, 2019 A Whole New World (of Nuclear Weapons) Whether you think INF stands for Instant New Fear or Internationalism Never Falters, this week’s got you covered with both politics and otherworldly events. Environment Humor Int'l Relations The Weekly Russia File Russia File
January 31, 2019 Art Theft Made Easy and Pizza vs. the New Cold War Whether it’s stealing a favorite painting, living your Russian dream, or feeding your supposed enemy, these Russians channel Nike and Just Do It. Environment Humor Int'l Relations The Weekly Russia File Russia File
November 16, 2018 Operation Infektion This week, the New York Times released a well-researched, well-produced series of three videos on Russian and Soviet disinformation activities against the US and the rest of the world. Every Russophile needs to watch them. Int'l Relations Politics Russia File
October 18, 2018 Of Rockets and Ruptures Falling objects, family feuds, and friendly felines dominated our attention this week. Humor Int'l Relations News The Weekly Russia File Russia File
September 20, 2018 Ice Age Part 10, Coming Soon to a Russia Near You The weather in Russia this week was chilly with a hint of thaw, at least regarding science and political relations. Int'l Relations News Politics Science The Weekly Russia File Russia File
August 02, 2018 A Round of Russian Rescues Everybody receives a lift, from a stranded hiker, to the planet, to two boys who are actually doing just fine. Humor Int'l Relations News The Weekly Russia File Russia File
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
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.
Murder and the Muse KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
May 26, 2016 Two Miracles of Russian Love Poetry 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 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
June 22, 2020 Why Invading Russia was Hitler's Downfall June 22, 2020, marks the 79th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Russia that changed the course of WWII and, perhaps, history itself. History Social Issues War Russia File
August 22, 2020 Sad Smiles and Kremlin Corruption Recounting a 2008 meeting with activist Alexei Navalny, before he rose to prominence. Government Politics 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 15, 2017 Who Invented the Ancient Slavic Gods, and Why? How it was that in the eighteenth century Russian mythology was trumped-up in the Western manner? Who wanted it? And where did we get Lel, Yarilo and Zimtserla? We explain everything you'd want to know about Russian fakelore. Culture History Literature Religion Russia File
