REEES Faculty Spotlight: James Pickett
Faculty Spotlight on the University of Pittsburgh’s historian of Russia and Central Asia–James Pickett.
January 21, 2021
Menu
REEES Faculty Spotlight: Iknur Lider
Faculty Spotlight on the University of Pittsburgh’s Turkish instructor Iknur Lider.
January 21, 2021
The Soviet-Third World Cultural Nexus
Guest: Rossen Djagalov on From Internationalism to Postcolonialism: Literature and Cinema between the Second and the Third Worlds published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.
January 15, 2021
Dmytro Dontsov and Ukrainian Nationalism
Guest: Trevor Erlacher on Ukrainian Nationalism in the Age of Extremes: An Intellectual Biography of Dmytro Dontsov published by Harvard University Press.
January 8, 2021
Belarus Protests in Pittsburgh
I attended a Belarus solidarity rally in Pittsburgh. Here’s what some of the protesters told me.
January 4, 2021
Scandal
Surkov and Neo-Nazis?
My latest for Russia Magazine, “Did Vladislav Surkov Help Fund Neo-Nazis?“: It’s long been rumored that Vladislav Surkov funded and directed football hooligans and Russian
February 28, 2014
Pussy Riot’s Passion
My review, “Demystifying the media caricatures of Pussy Riot” of Masha Gessen’s Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot has been published in
February 7, 2014
Sochi’s Exploited Labor
My new Russia Magazine column, “Sochi’s Workers: Invisible and Expendable,” “The final stage in such a massive undertaking is always difficult,” Putin told officials in a
December 19, 2013
Putin to Pardon Khodorkovsky
Putin is pardoning Mikahil Khodorkovsky. “In regard to Khodorkovsky, I’ve already said that Mikhail Borisovich must submit the corresponding papers [for a pardon] in accordance
December 19, 2013
Will Pussy Riot be Amnestied?
Will Pussy Riot, several Bolotnaya participants, and all Greenpeace activists be amnestied? So reports Izvestiia: The president has jointly decided with human rights activists who
December 9, 2013
Pavlensky’s Body in Protest
This week’s Russia Magazine column, “The Power of Pavlensky’s Nailed Body,” The image of Petr Pavlensky sitting on the cold, wet cobblestone of Red Square
November 16, 2013
Volgograd Bomber’s Mysterious Passport
One of the more curious and controversial aspects of the Volgograd bombing was how quickly the Russian media released the passport of Naida Asiyalova, the
October 22, 2013
Russia’s Prisoners Labor for the Market
This week’s Russia Magazine column, “The Gulag but Now with a Brutal Commercial Grin,” The political and moral power of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s letter describing the
October 3, 2013
Russia as a Rhizome State
My review of Alena Ledeneva’s Can Russia Modernize? Sistema, Power Networks, and Informal Governance for Russia Direct, “Sistema: How power works in modern Russia,” In
September 17, 2013
Russian Homophobia
If you want a sense of the extent homophobia is entering Russian public life, here is what Dmitrii Kiselev, who’s wikipedia page describes him as
August 10, 2013