January 01, 2015 May the Borshch Be With You! The new year is a perfect time to try borshch, which has an interesting history.
January 01, 2015 Red Square Originally known as “Pozhar,” then “Torg,” Red Square is a repository of Russian historical memory, the altar of the motherland and, in general, the center of the Russian universe. But how did it all come together? History
January 01, 2015 Boris Pasternak This issue's Uchites Russian language learning section includes an excerpt from Doctor Zhivago and a poem by Boris Pasternak.
January 01, 2015 Soviet Redux It seems the more removed in time the USSR becomes, the more nostalgia grows for its symbols and traditions. Increasingly, these elements are worming their way back into Russian life. If they ever left. Social Issues
January 01, 2015 Crimean Sojourn Mikhail Mordasov has been traveling all over Crimea since the annexation last spring. He shares this moving photo feature.
January 01, 2015 The End of Pragmatism As the economy's crisis deepens, President Putin is increasingly focusing on intangibles.
January 01, 2015 Pushkin and Derzhavin On January 8, 1815 was the monumental "meeting" of Alexander Pushkin and Gavrila Derzhavin, the greatest poets of their respective generations. History Literature
January 01, 2015 A Deluge of Images and Feelings Boris Pasternak was born 125 years ago. We look back at how he has been remembered. Literature
January 01, 2015 Birthing Pains Birth was no easy thing in rural Russia in the nineteenth century, not for mother or child. All manner of bizarre and unsafe practices reigned, from being “corrected,” to getting popped in the oven, to being left alone all day while mom worked in the fields. History
January 01, 2015 The Long and Short of It Some well know short idioms actually have longer context that helps illuminate their deeper meanings.
January 01, 2015 Serov and 1905 Born in 1865, Valentin Serov was one of Russia's greatest painters of the 19th and 20th centuries. His painting, 110 years ago, of Bloody Sunday, captured the tragedy and carnage of that pivotal event.
January 01, 2015 Terror's Legacy In December 1564, Ivan the Terrible abdicated the Russian throne. The consequences were dire and continue to affect Russian society, 450 years on. History