Culture & Customs

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.

The giant trunk appeared out of nowhere, a huge box that looked like a Versace suitcase left behind by a giant alien. To this day, its appearance and disappearance are a mystery.

Some Russian legislators have an unwavering faith in the ability of laws to rid society of all its evils. Noise? Bad news? The stench of garlic? The end of the world? No problem - just ban 'em all!

When the music you sing is banned, when the entire genre is identified with the enemy, how do you find the courage to keep singing? Just ask Boris Grebenshikov!

The first-ever English version of Uncle Gilya’s masterpiece, Moscow and Muscovites, translated by Brendan Kiernan and published by Russian Life Books, debuts today. It’s our way of saying “Happy Birthday” to Uncle Gilya (today is his 158th!). English-language readers around the globe win as well – this translation is at least 90 years overdue!

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

What does the rating of RuNet’s most popular blogs have to do with history textbooks? Join us on an excursion into conspiracy theories, falsified history, and government ideology – RuNet’s standard fare!

It's that time of year again: dancing toys, mice, and candy, waltzing flowers, presents coming to life... But was this time of year always so closely tied to the Nutcracker?

Explore a rich dessert named after the gourmand and minister of finance under Tsar Alexander I: Guriev Kasha.

Just beyond Krasnoyarsk is a national park catering to adventurous travelers. Recent upgrades show what Russia’s national park system could become.

In our Trends section, editor Maria Antonova looks at Twitter accounts by dead writers, sex ed through literature, and poll results at psychiatric facilities in Moscow...