Though many of us did not notice, April 9, 2010 was a historic day for humankind. When the shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station, three women, Naoko Yamazaki, Stephanie...
The Moscow Metro is the second most heavily used metro system in the world and, by far, the most beautiful one. With a history dating back to 1935, it is its own ecosystem, containing myths, legends...
Kyiv's Gogolfest has both grown and remained distinctly itself - not the easiest feat to pull off. Combining theater, music, visual art and workshops, the festival is the brainchild of Vlad Troitsky,...
This may seem like an odd question to ask in the aftermath of the murder of Russian human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, but please bear with me. The mainstream of Russian society is, I would...
Three months ago, an authoritative Russian daily, Izvestia, began a series on an issue that, at first glance, looks like tabloid fodder. Of course, Izvestia is no tabloid, and this is no ordinary...
The following review contains spoilers. Of course, if you are familiar with Nikolai Gogol, you probably know how the film ends. If you are not familiar with Nikolai Gogol, you should be. When I...
This is a special edition of this column. Yesterday, in broad daylight, in the center of Moscow, a human rights lawyer and a journalist were gunned down. Lawyer Stanislav Markelov was most famous for...
Earlier this week, many Ukrainians were outraged that President Yuschenko did not appear to be doing enough to solve the present gas spat between Russia and Ukraine. Although reports vary, some place...
Andrey Chikatilo, one of the most gruesome serial murderers in the history of the world, grew up with stories of Holodomor. His mother said that his older brother, Stepan, whose birth and death have...
I didn't find out about this murder in Irkutsk, Russia, on the news. I discovered this first through the blog of a friend of a friend. An independent media source has highlighted this incident, the...
