February 16, 2014 Parlez Sochi? By Mikhail Ivanov Russian Life Sports Editor Mikhail Ivanov was interviewed by Radio Canada (in French) in the aftermath of the US-Russia hockey match on February 15. Listen to the audio here. Sports
February 13, 2014 Because Curling is Not Funny Enough! By Mikhail Ivanov Life without humor is dull. And that is even true when it comes to sports. Here at the Olympics, one cannot be exclusively focused on “ochki, goly, sekundy” (points, goals,seconds). So, time to look at the lighter side of things in Sochi. Humor Sports
February 09, 2014 Take Plenty of Vitamin D to Sochi By Mikhail Ivanov So you, dear readers, think that the Olympics is all about sports? Nay! It is of course all about the souvenirs! And about how a miserly correspondent is supposed to buy them in sufficient quantity for the many friends and family left behind on the "mainland" while he is "roughing it" in Sochi... Humor Sports Travel
February 07, 2014 What the Bleep is Going on in Sochi? By Paul E. Richardson Why is it that the Twitter hashtag #sochiproblems has more followers than the Twitter feed for the games? How is it that all we hear from the Western press is negativism, while from the athletes and local observers there are only raves for the fantastic facilities? Why do pictures of double toilets and unfinished hotels continue to flood the inter-tubes? And what idiot gave the order to kill puppies in Sochi? Culture Humor Sports
February 06, 2014 1980 Olympics: Songs and Cartoons By Eugenia Sokolskaya With the Winter Olympics set to kick off in Sochi tomorrow, we take a look back at the rich cultural legacy of the last Games Russia hosted. Culture History Sports
February 04, 2014 Our Sports Editor Arrives in Sochi By Mikhail Ivanov Sometimes the life of a sports editor is trying: back of the bus treatment, spotty food, rough accommodations. But Sochi, as Russian Life sports editor Mikhail Ivanov reports, is a breath of fresh air for this seasoned sports reporter. Sports
January 30, 2014 7 Things We're Loving About the Sochi Olympics By Paul E. Richardson It’s now just 7 days until the start of the Sochi Olympics and here at Russian Life we are getting pretty excited. Sure, it’s our thing to get excited about all things Russian. But it’s more than that. Here are 7 reasons we’re particularly amped. Sports
January 01, 2014 The Original Pair By Daniel Boltinsky Their 1964 Olympic win at Innsbruck started a winning streak in pairs skating that has not bee, and likely never will be, equaled. So why have Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov not been invited to Sochi? Sports
January 01, 2014 Assessing the Damage By Mikhail Ivanov Olympic host countries typically garner many more medals than their average take at a games. We look at Russia's prospects and what their victory could "cost" Russia. The story includes a two-page guide to the games, with a schedule of events and maps of the venues. Sports
September 01, 2013 Why Russians Don't Run By Paul E. Richardson A tale of two long distance road races – Russia’s oldest and its most prestigious – and what they tell us about the state of running and fitness in Russia. Sports
May 01, 2013 The Lure of Elbrus By Marina Marshenkulova Each year, thousands of hikers are drawn to the Caucasus, convinced it will be no problem to scale Europe’s highest peak. After all, it’s only 18,510 feet, and a rail car can take you up to the base camp at 12,500 feet. But Elbrus is a devious mountain. Sports
March 01, 2013 Countdown to Sochi By Maria Antonova One year from the opening of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, we look at some of the less conventional bits of news about the coming games. Sports
May 01, 2021 to May 31, 2021 20th Annual Russian Arts and Culture Festival Virtual | N/A, N/A The City of West Hollywood administration invites everyone to join a virtual celebration of Russian Arts and Culture this May. An array of musical events, activities for kids, workshops, virtual tours, concerts, contests, interviews with interesting people, and much more will comprise a month-long celebration. The program of our events will be published on the website of the festival and in the Facebook group. Festival
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
The Spine of Russia This coffee table book is the photographic journal of an epic 6000-kilometer road trip. The book includes over 200 compelling images of Russians and Russian places met along the way, plus a dozen texts (in both English and Russian) on everything from business to education, from roads to fools.
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.
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.
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.
The Latchkey Murders Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
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.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
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.
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.
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.
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.
April 06, 2020 A Russian Gift By Mark C. Medish A look at how the Jesuits, Pope Francis, and Georgetown University all share an interesting connection to Russia. History Int'l Relations Religion
August 22, 2016 Magical Kefir By Philip Seifi Kefir is the most popular fermented milk in Russia. But it did not get there overnight. Kefir and Russia have a long history... Food & Drink History
March 15, 2017 Who Invented the Ancient Slavic Gods, and Why? By Kasya Denisevich 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
March 17, 2019 When Russian Cuisine Turns Georgian By Tiffany Zhu Why is Georgian food so popular in Russia? Turns out there's more to it than deliciousness. Culture Food & Drink History
September 01, 2019 Returning from Afar By Benson Bobrick An excerpt from Benson Bobrick’s new book, a memoir of his life and work as a writer. Memoir Travel
March 20, 2020 Vodka vs. Coronavirus By Margaret Godwin-Jones Russia’s Ministry of Health discussed ways vodka can affect the coronavirus (spoiler alert: not much). Food & Drink Health CVSG Russia File
