It is surreal that we are still locked in the never-ending debate over whether military intervention on behalf of democracy and human rights is good, when the current administration has been extremely explicit they are not intervening on behalf of democracy and human rights
Iran, by the way, are supposed to be playing New Zealand in California in their opening World Cup game in just over 15 weeks time.
There is still an Ural Airlines flight from Yekaterinburg to Dubai flying over Iran. Most flights I've taken to Dubai, whether from Moscow, Istanbul or the UK have flown over Iran. No more, I guess.
Took me a while to get round to reading this but what a story. The New Yorker at its best www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Some interesting reporting absolutely and needlessly destroyed by the Guardian's art department www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
In all my years here, I can't remember such sustained snowfall in Moscow over a 2-3 week period. It's been snowing for about 4 days straight now and a couple of weeks ago we had 5 continuous days of snowfall. I remember heavy snowfall, especially in 2017, but never so prolonged.
Btw, interested into what you thought I meant? Maybe that can inspire another article....
Even more reason for me to add a clarification!
I know, I realised that after. I sometimes forget that not everybody is aware of things I take for granted. But yes, the French, Spanish, Italian, German, Nordic correspondents are still here. I will add a line now.
Kotelnaya Weekly, with some thoughts about why that New York Times Russia correspondent job speaks to a wider disaster for the future of Russia coverage in the Anglosphere -- the rest of the West's journalists are largely still here, btw kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-...
Ferocious blizzards for the lat 12 hours in Moscow. It's brutal out there. My walk to Krasnoe Beloe just now was like a full polar expedition.
The second instalment of Kotelnaya Weekly, on the film of the Thaw era, what I think is a disaster for Russian journalism, how Viktor Tsoi and Kino taught me Russian and reflections on the Tsoi exhibition in St P.
kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-...
The second instalment of Kotelnaya Weekly, on the film of the Thaw era, what I think is a disaster for Russian journalism, how Viktor Tsoi and Kino taught me Russian and reflections on the Tsoi exhibition in St P.
kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-...
Non Moscow post, sorry, but what a win for my one-time local team Galatasaray. I remember a few special Champions League nights there. What a place. www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2k0...
It's quite something to see EU bankers begin to say the same sorts of things about Visa and Mastercard and payment processing that Russian bankers were saying from about 2010 onwards www.ft.com/content/fcc2...
Last week in Moscow - Indian restaurants, the Turkish and Russian languages and their approach to ethnicity, Cubans clearing snow in Krasnogorsk kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-...
My monthly trip to Falanster to pick up Russian journals followed by a walk to Clovelly, a pub in Moscow made up completely of antique furniture from a village in Cornwall
The first Kotelnaya Weekly, a collection of things from around Moscow and the internet that I found interesting in the last 7 days. This week: masala, a beerhall, Adam Tooze's Chinese 1989 and ethnicity in the Turkish and Russian languages kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-...
I have no idea what the word "Exclusive" means in journalism anymore. In what way are these articles on the FT exclusives? They're summaries of emails the whole world has access to. What is exclusive about reading publicly-available emails and writing a story about them?
I wonder how this can possibly classed as an "exclusive" when it's just quoting emails that are available to every person with an internet connection?
It might sound strange, at minus 13, but there's a hint of spring in Moscow today. The sun is shining, so much so that I've had to open the windows in my flat because it's too warm, birds are chirping and the ice is melting. We're creeping steadily towards zero from next week.
Wow, Industry season 4 is terrible, just designed to shock. It's popularity, and the more money HBO spend on it and its promotion, is inverse to quality. The first season was great, but nobody watched it so HBO made sure the second season was previewed everywhere and it became a hit.
Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead, but everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed β Elvis Costello in 1980 perfectly describing Moscow in 2026
To be fair anything is better than a Brit in Canada who hasn't been to Russia for nearly two decades writing a book about how all Russian children are soon to be Nazis, based on conversations he had on Telegram with people in Berlin
I'm sure this book will be great, depending on which questions you want it to answer. The one it seems to be answering is what do they think on Perviy Kanal talk shows and what does Medvedev post after 12 pints.
The last few years have been extremely instructive about the publishing industry in the UK and US. 1) Make bold overarching claim (about Russia in most cases) 2) Use popular semi-academic buzzwords 3) Ensure a complex explanation of something quite simple 4) Pander to reader bias
Even worse when you're three hours ahead.
Burger Kingβs operations in Russia have been totally unaffected by sanctions, so much so that they now have a range of frozen Burger King products in Russian supermarkets
I donβt think Iβve seen this much snow since the winter or 2017/18
After a few days of near-constant snowfall, itβs minus 20 and blue skies in Moscow today. Municipal workers are on roofs, shovelling snow onto the ground. If youβre sat by the window, watching huge chunks of snow fall in front of you, it feels a bit like a drive-in car wash.
