The Russian Spectrum: An Inosmi In English

This about Blogging, tagged , was written by for on May 15, 2013 .7 Comments

You’ve had to wait too long for this. But it is finally here. The Russian Spectrum – translating everything worth translating from the Russian media. I’ll keep it brief. (1) We need translators! If you can proficiently translate from Russian into English, I will be very happy to have you on board. First, the bad […]

The English Inosmi: The Russophere vs. The Russian Spectrum

This about Blogging, tagged , was written by for on May 7, 2013 .3 Comments

Another day, another Internet project. Or more specifically, reviving an old project – the “English Inosmi” concept of translating articles and blog posts from the Russian media for a Western audience. The only problem was that I was perpetually dissatisfied, even if at a subconscious level, with the name: RossPress*. An elementary problem which I had somehow overlooked […]

The Russia Debate – The New Forum For Russia Watchers

This about Blogging, tagged , was written by for on May 6, 2013 .11 Comments

I submit that the Russia watching community has no shortage of opinionated blogs, mercenary “information projects,” and warring factions of “CIA jackals” and “Kremlin bots.” What it greatly lacks, however, is a neutral, well-moderated meeting ground where a diversity of voices could engage in free and vigorous debates about all aspects of Russian politics, economics, and history. In […]

DLotK Progress: The Chapters

This about Blogging, tagged , was written by for on April 19, 2013 .10 Comments

Just to confirm that progress on DARK LORD OF THE KREMLIN is in full swing, with about 40% of the first draft done. I am aiming for publication around October. Here are the chapter titles to whet your appetites – as you can see, I spare no tired trope when writing about the Putin kleptocracy. […]

Book Review: Matt Forney – Confessions of an Online Hustler

This about Blogging, tagged , , was written by for , on March 21, 2013 .2 Comments

Confessions of an Online Hustler by Matt Forney, published in 2013. See the Amazon version of this review. Rating: 4/5. Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: This book isn’t for the casual reader. Despite the title, it’s not a “life interest” story with a morass of prurient and scandalous details, nor is it […]

FINAL POLL: Russia Voices Or RossPress?

This about Blogging, tagged , was written by for on January 31, 2013 .7 Comments

For background see here, here. Russia Voices is good because it powerfully hints at what the project is all about: Giving the Anglo-sphere some sense of what Russians from all sides of the political spectrum are saying. But downside is it’s similar to Voice of Russia (a radio station), and besides, the more “intuitive” RussianVoices.com […]

Vote On The Name For The “English Inosmi”

This about Blogging, tagged , was written by for on January 27, 2013 .23 Comments

As long-term readers will be aware, I am working on two big projects: A book on myths about Russia, and a website specializing in translating articles from the Russian press into English. (The idea being that even if it does nothing else, Western institutions will no longer be able to credibly say Russia’s level of […]

Da Russophile Is Now Five Years Old

This about Blogging, tagged , was written by for on January 25, 2013 .5 Comments

I have recently been cleaning up my old posts. When I moved from Sublime Oblivion to here, the pictures remained hosted at the old site (there were too many of them to auto-import). So I’ve been going through ancient posts, manually reattaching pictures (so that they are now hosted at wordpress.com) and making the categories […]

Five Years Of Blogging

This about Blogging, tagged , was written by for on January 24, 2013 .7 Comments

It all began on January 9, 2008. It began, as it is now, as Da Russophile over at blogger. And I was a Russophile then, perhaps unreasonably so. That said I did do some useful work back then. I am most proud of the demographic models by which I predicted: Russia will see positive population growth starting from 2010 […]

FINAL: Vote For Best Title

This about Blogging, tagged , , was written by for on September 11, 2012 .9 Comments

And the final results are: Putin Derangement Syndrome 14 Dark Lord of the Kremlin 27 No preference / can’t decide which I hate more 13 Surprised to see such a clear lead for DLK… thought it’d be closer to a tie. But it’s my favorite too, so Dark Lord of the Kremlin it will be. […]

Vote On The Title!

This about Blogging, tagged , , was written by for on September 9, 2012 .18 Comments

Feel free to suggest the appropriate title/subtitle combination for the book, or to propose new ones. EDIT 9/11: And the final results are: Putinophobia 3 Putin Derangement Syndrome 10 Through Western Eyes 7 When the Truth Doesn’t Matter 7 Kremlin Maligned 0 False Truths 1 Potemkin Russia 2 Manufactured Russophobia 4 If It’s About Russia, […]

Books I Will Be (re-)Reading While Writing My Own

This about Blogging, tagged , , was written by for on September 8, 2012 .11 Comments

It’s already a pretty big list, so I won’t be taking nominations for more. I hope to write reviews of all of them as they’re (re)read. The Return (Daniel Treisman) – the best Russian politics books out there. 5/5 Armageddon Averted (Stephen Kotkin) – TBR (to be read) Putin (Chris Hutchins, Alexander Korobko) – TBR, […]