Observations · Society
What exactly are we celebrating today? It is a question to which, by and large, nobody has a coherent answer. In the calendar the day is called “Spring and Labour Day”. To quarrel over spring seems odd, particularly since everyone marks its arrival on 22 March already, while the notion
Archaeology · Archive · Faith · Books · Moscow · Museums · Science · Education · Ethnography
From the famous Prigov: “Just stepped out of the bath, and already I remember nothing.” A month is built much the same way. So let me propose recalling the main things from April's publications in the digest. 🎭 At the Taganka Theatre, Alexander Zolotovitsky has staged “Three Sisters”, in
Faith · Cinema · Observations
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
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
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
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
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. 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
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
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
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
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