Faith · Cinema · Observations

The 2026 American film Project Hail Mary, which is, incidentally, excellent in every respect, and was based on the novel of the same name, reached Russian cinemas not under its original title, «Project Ave Maria», but in an adapted version, on what ground

The 2026 American film Project Hail Mary (incidentally, excellent in every respect), based on the novel of the same name, reached Russian cinemas not under its original title, «Project Ave Maria», but in an adapted version (on what grounds, it is unclear), «Project End of the World», which in principle

Archaeology · Geography · Science

Warsaw archaeologists find ten amber workshops from the 3rd and 4th centuries in Mazovia

Around AD 98, Tacitus writes in the «Germania» that the Baltic Aestii gather amber in the shallows, make no use of it themselves, sell it raw to Roman merchants, and are amazed at the price. The typical Roman view of neighbours as barbarians, mere suppliers of raw material, is being

The East · Observations · Society · Humour

With a Light Wave of the Hand, Donald Trump Becomes an Elegant Turkmenbashi, Whose Face Stood at Once on Banknotes, School Textbooks and State Documents, and in Whose Honour the Months of the Calendar Were Renamed

For the 250th anniversary of the United States, the State Department will issue a special print run of passports bearing Trump's face and signature on the inside cover, over the text of the Declaration of Independence. American passports have never before carried a living president. Trump's

Art · Monarchies · New York · Pop Culture · Society Pages

King Charles III and Camilla attend King's Trust gala dinner at Christie's in New York

Yesterday King Charles III and Camilla dropped in at Christie's in New York. Not for the sale, it must be said, but for a gala dinner in aid of the King's Trust, which turns 50 this year. At the preview of lots for the forthcoming sales,

Archive · Faith · Books · Science · Rome · Saint Petersburg

Twenty-second manuscript of Caedmon's Hymn from the early 9th century found in Rome

Now let us praise the all-ruling keeper of heaven, the Lord's almighty power, his good and wise counsel and the creation of the giver of glory, how he, the eternal sovereign, gave a beginning to every wonder. He made a lofty roof for the children of earth,

Society · Humour

“Mr President, you recently said that if it were not for the United States, Europeans would be speaking German

“Mr President, you recently said that if it were not for the United States, Europeans would be speaking German. I venture to suggest that if it were not for us, you would be speaking French.” When playing the Anglo-American game of the subjunctive mood, the main thing is not

Archive · Moscow · Society · People

Castro's forty-day visit to the USSR in 1963 after the Cuban Missile Crisis

Fidel Castro and the ballerina Maya Plisetskaya after a performance of Swan Lake. On 27 April 1963 Castro flew secretly to Murmansk in a Tu-114 and spent forty days in the USSR, the first visit by the Cuban leader to the Soviet Union. Khrushchev needed to mend relations after

Cinema · Moscow · Heritage · Humour

Ilyukhina, that photo where you seem to be sneaking into the Kremlin is legendary

In real life, one ought to be rather careful with such objects, of course. Besides fines and arrest, such a prank could carry several other cheerless consequences: a preventive entry in the databases of the security services, registration with a psychiatrist, referral for compulsory psychiatric evaluation and, naturally, compensation for

Archaeology · Science · Nature

Palynological analysis of pollen in a Roman ship's resin revealed where it was repaired

Among the archaeological methods of which the general public seldom hears, one of the most delicate lies hidden: palynological analysis. The method studies plant pollen. Microscopic grains, measuring a few thousandths of a millimetre, fall from flowering trees and grasses by the billion and settle everywhere: on the ground, in

Archaeology · London · Science · Humour

Hoaxes from Psalmanazar and Piltdown Man to the Sokal affair and bixonomania

Around 1700, a young man of obscure origins was wandering about Europe. He went through several legends before settling on the most advantageous of them, announcing himself a native of the island of Formosa. Under the name of George Psalmanazar he made his way to London, where he found a

Listings · Moscow · Coming Up · Art · Museums

Five exhibitions of coins and medals in museums this week

Small-scale plastic art is seldom the star of a museum display. Yet for how much these works can tell us about the history and culture of a country, few things can compare. This week's recommendations are devoted to exhibitions of coins and medals that deserve particular attention,

NB! · Moscow · Observations · Nature · Humour

And what is wrong with the short-term memory of all those Muscovites who have fallen into hysterics over snow at the end of April?

And what is wrong with the short-term memory of all those Muscovites who have fallen into hysterics over snow at the end of April? It falls, as a matter of fact, quite regularly even in June

Alexandr Radayev