4 ms·

Well, vkontakte is the local fb equivalent. The rest is google translate if you don't know the language. I'm not even sure how do you mean to understand an enti

Well, vkontakte is the local fb equivalent. The rest is google translate if you don't know the language. I'm not even sure how do you mean to understand an entire culture without bothering to learn its language because everything you learn will be biased due to many factors: translators, curators, survival bias (you will learn only from english speaking russians willing to talk in english). Maybe try to find russian movies and books translated in english and maybe some russian music, but it won't be a comprehensive understanding.

nomilk 5y ago
I should have been more specific. I'm interested in a 'crash-course' kind of way. Mostly to improve my understand of social, economic and political views/pressures/ideas among the populace. Definitely interested in cultural views too, although learning the language won't help me in the very short term.
- gostsamo 5y ago
  Still, it is like asking "crash course in understanding americans". It will be hard not to fell in a stereotypes trap. A few books that might help you with a glimps into modern Russia are: "Absurdistan" by Gary Shteyngart. "ДухLess by Sergey Minaev Maybe "Epidemy in Hell" by George Zotov as something more comical that can give you a feeling.
- marttt 5y ago
  I would recommend the books "Putin's Russia" and "A Russian Diary" by the late Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya [1, 2, 3]. In 2006, she was shot dead at her apartment building in central Moscow. The murder still remains unresolved. Politkovskaya was a contributor to the Kremlin-critical Novaya Gazeta. According to Wikipedia, seven of its journalists have been murdered since 2000 [4]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putin%27s_Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putin%27s_Russia 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Russian_Diary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Russian_Diary 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novaya_Gazeta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novaya_Gazeta

nomilk 5y ago

I should have been more specific. I'm interested in a 'crash-course' kind of way. Mostly to improve my understand of social, economic and political views/pressures/ideas among the populace. Definitely interested in cultural views too, although learning the language won't help me in the very short term.

gostsamo 5y ago
Still, it is like asking "crash course in understanding americans". It will be hard not to fell in a stereotypes trap. A few books that might help you with a glimps into modern Russia are: "Absurdistan" by Gary Shteyngart. "ДухLess by Sergey Minaev Maybe "Epidemy in Hell" by George Zotov as something more comical that can give you a feeling.
marttt 5y ago
I would recommend the books "Putin's Russia" and "A Russian Diary" by the late Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya [1, 2, 3]. In 2006, she was shot dead at her apartment building in central Moscow. The murder still remains unresolved. Politkovskaya was a contributor to the Kremlin-critical Novaya Gazeta. According to Wikipedia, seven of its journalists have been murdered since 2000 [4]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putin%27s_Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putin%27s_Russia 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Russian_Diary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Russian_Diary 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novaya_Gazeta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novaya_Gazeta