On August 31, 1999, a handmade bomb exploded in a popular Moscow shopping mall. I was there, and watched rubble, dust, and screaming erupt around me. Read more about the event and my changing understanding of this experience in an essay over at Pacific Standard.
In The Origins of Totalitarianism Hannah Arendt argues that totalitarian rule is truly possible only in countries that are large enough to be able to…
"What country are we living in and in what year, when priests bless half-drunk nationalists that pelt people with rocks while the police look on…
Continue reading → “You’re not always prepared for so much feeling”
Just read a lovely experimental essay about immigrant identity and longing. It's a piece by Anna Prushinskaya up at The Millions. An excerpt: I set alarms to call…
Continue reading → Our Soviet Grandmothers and Our Love of Russian Words
UPDATE: [1:46 pm]: Samhita over at Feministing says it way better than I can: "I ask not 'where is occupy?' but what will it take…
Continue reading → Today is the 1 Year Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street
From an op-ed by singer/songwriter/author Alina Simone in the Wall Street Journal: But as recent headlines make clear, we still haven’t managed to outrun some of…
For the last two days, Muscovites have been taking to the streets to protest the recent (and rigged) Russian parliamentary election results. They have been…
Continue reading → Moscow Protests: Quick Summary & Takeaways
The Russian Government has marked the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) by once again banning Moscow Gay Pride. Moscow's Deputy Mayor Ludmila Shvetsova cites…
Yesterday, I introduced eight or so people to the joy that is Chocolate Babka. If you don't know this food, god's biggest gift to the…
I was going to continue my new weekly Russia Roundup of Humor tradition, but the biggest piece of Russian news isn't really funny. So I'm…
Tanya Paperny 