March 01, 2009 The Hunger Artist Gogol's writing is intensely sensual - full of rich tastes, smells, sights and sounds. We consider how his fixation on food and digestion influenced his storytelling, how, as Nabokov put it, "the belly is the belle of his stories."
March 01, 2009 Baltic Outpost Kaliningrad is unlike anywhere else in Russia. Half German, half Russian, it perches on the Baltic coast, uncertain where the winds of history might blow it.
March 01, 2009 Murder in Broad Daylight The murders of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in the context of the endangered climate for journalism in Russia.
March 01, 2009 After the Crisis Russia needs to prepare now for the post-recession world, by looking at how it supports and invests in Russian industry, particularly in the natural resource sphere.
March 01, 2009 Verses, Vodka and Royalty Reviews of Verses and Versions; The King of Vodka; The Last Days of the Romanovs; The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan. Plus brief reviews of some potboiler thrillers, some worthy, some not so much.
March 01, 2009 Uchites 02 The second edition of our Uchites language insert, sponsored by Russkiy Mir Foundation, uses the life and works of Nikolai Gogol to explore grammar, build vocabulary and facility in reading Russian. Language
February 20, 2009 Afghanistan: A Second Chance? Thirty years ago, in 1979, the Persian Gulf was a tinderbox. On January 16, following months of uprisings, the Shah of Iran was overthrown. One month later, it looked like Afghanistan’s turn. The Soviet-backed thugs running the country had imposed radical social reforms, sparking a civil war and threatening pro-Soviet rule... History Int'l Relations Politics Russia File
