Slava Malamud
Slava Does America
“Na Zdorovye” Yourself!.. The Guide to Russian Food (Actually, Booze), Part 4
You might want to sit down for this, but drinking is a big part of Russia’s culture. In fact, you might want to literally sit down for this, since the Russian drinking ritual kind of requires you to get comfortable. Russians don’t normally go for your American party-style casual drinking, what with the circulating around holding your red Solo cup while chatting about the stock market or baseball, or whatever […] Read More
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Into the Depths: A Guide to Russian Food, Part 3
Life in Russia, as you might have heard, can be hard. This is particularly true if you don’t live in Moscow, which has traditionally been regarded as almost a separate country. Living in Russia has, at various points in history, meant dealing with a harsh climate, unfriendly neighbors, friendly neighbors who didn’t want to be, like, too friendly, neutral neighbors who kind of objected to being conquered, invading armies of […] Read More
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Pardon Our French: A Guide to Russian Food, Part 2
It is not a secret that Russia’s relationship with the rest of the world is… complicated. In fact, Russia struggles to explain its own place in it to this day. It definitely isn’t Europe, though it kind of wants to be liked by it. It probably isn’t Asia, though it goes about its business in a way not dissimilar to Asiatic empires of past and present. It claims to dismiss […] Read More
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A Ukrainian Jon Stewart Who May Bring Down Trump
Wouldn’t it be amazing if Donald Trump, the most clownish politician in memory, was brought down by a man who was an actual comedian? And wouldn’t it be amazingly appropriate if this happened for the benefit of the American audience, which is more receptive to the image of a powerful and destructive humorist more than any other in the world? This, after all, is the country that has spawned Joker, […] Read More
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The Story of Three Soups: A Guide to Russian Food, Part I
I am starting a series of “Russia Explaining” posts which will deal with our cultural and social quirks for the benefit of my curious Western audience. It can’t be just Slava Ranting About Politics all the time, even though I really feel like it a lot lately. To be sure, Russia Explaining is a bottomless rabbit hole, so I am making no promises as to the comprehensiveness of this exercise, […] Read More
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