Culture & Customs

Catherine I held the title of Empress 40 years before her more famous, “Great” namesake. As the first woman to rule Russia, she had great qualities of her own.

Russians love bread, and you are going to love this recipe for Whole Wheat Bread with Seeds.

Some gifted young athletes are excelling at the world’s favorite sport – football (aka soccer) – which is amazing given that they are all legally blind.

A look at Russian dreams and memes.

The Republic of Georgia is a land of exquisite paradoxes that are sometimes lovable, sometimes infuriating.

There are many ways to learn music, but just one 
“Russian Way,” as cellist Marianne Ide finds out.

Russia's annual spring draft began April 1. This dinosaur gets harder to kill with each passing year.

“It was a lot of fun during the Rivolushun. And I won’t never forget the Russian Rivolushun.” In which we look at the 1917 revolution through the eyes of schoolchildren at the time.

Continuing scandal, new demonstrations, a sesquicentenial and a linguistic smackdown. Just another week here at TWERF.

A random query led us down a rabbit hole to see how online translation engines are humming these days. Won't you join us?

One hundred years ago, in 1917, Russia was wracked by revolution, famine, foreign war, and domestic unrest. And yet, throughout 1917, babies were born, lives were started. 

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.