January 01, 1990

Butina, Babies, and Baby-making


Butina, Babies, and Baby-making
Baby Blues

1. The times they are a-changin’ for Russians in the United States and other Western nations, and not always for the better. This video highlights the experience of young Russians and other Eastern Europeans living in the United States. They are facing both greater suspicion from Americans and greater divisions within the community itself. American suspicion can be traced to election-hacking and, more recently, the Maria Butina affair, while internal division is often generated by differing opinions on the current Russian government and its practices. But, on the upside, there is as yet no shortage of Russian restaurants and clubs in the US.

2. For the first time in a decade, Russia’s population has decreased. The announcement by the government statistics agency Rosstat follows a May United Nations report that predicted the Russian population will fall by 11 million by 2050. But the Russian government is not taking the news lying down. President Vladimir Putin has promised to spend $8.6 billion over the next three years on programs that will encourage Russians to have more babies.

3. To continue the theme... A Russian Orthodox archbishop in charge of family affairs recently agreed with Pope Francis that sex is a gift from God and to be enjoyed. Of course, the usual terms and conditions apply: the archbishop clarified that sex is only to be enjoyed between a married couple. That caveat aside, there is so far no word on a joint Putin-Church pro-sex, pro-babies tour that no one is talking about. It’s all very hush-hush.

In Odder News:

Moscow dog show

Photo: Парк культуры и отдыха “Красная Пресня”

  • Russian pups hit the runway in Moscow’s first doggie costume show

  • In a very Putin way, Putin tested Kalashnikov’s newest sniper rifles

  • Excessive and, unfortunately, effective: men wielding an axe robbed a taxi in Moscow

Quote of the Week:

“Sex is a component of love… but only love within marriage.”

— Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, on the ins and outs of sex in Orthodox life

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Some of Our Books

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

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.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

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.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
The Latchkey Murders

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...

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