Hosts discuss the movie K-19: The Widowmaker,  a 2002 historical submarine film directed and produced by Kathryn Bigelow. This movie has everything:  crazy accents, nuclear almost-meltdowns, Harrison Ford, a bunch of counting, and Liam Neeson's guns that are too big to fit in the submarine.  ..read more

The hosts talk about a classic Soviet comic science fiction film Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Occupation (Иван Васильевич меняет профессию) directed by Leonid Gaidai in 1973.  The film has a time-travel machine, singing horses, Ivan the Terrible in modern times, as well as a thief and a building manager from Soviet union times ruling Russia back in the 1500s. This movie crazy and we loved it.  You can watch this Soviet classic here with English subtitles:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a50qT9bW2Qo ..read more

If you call yourself a milk mushroom, get in the basket! and other Russian proverbs.  ..read more

Hosts discuss Russian Eurovision participants over the years- including creepy sisters,  babushkas with a dancing oven, Dima Bilan, and Dima Bilan again. Learn about Russian's successes and failures at the beloved (by some) European music contest. Links to the Eurovision performances discussed in this episode: Alsou, 2000  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw_Yg7j7ocs Olsen Brothers (winners of the year 2000) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C76xn52ZbhA  TaTu, 2003 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bbGao-OxOU Dima Bilan, 2006 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA9VdXSsneo Dima Bilan ..read more

Hosts discuss 2019 Russian movies. Most of them involve tanks, some kind of war, and a mashup of animated movies. You can watch the trailers of the movies discussed below: ПИКОВАЯ ДАМА: ЗАЗЕРКАЛЬЕ/Queen of Spades https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4puHTUU-as  Breakaway/Otryv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOFunu19cWI Loud Connection/громкая связь https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlKA6Gccn0U Saving Leningrad/ Spasti Leningrad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF3YJUrEj4Y T-34 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1UDvi5xL9w Beanpole/ Dylda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfWhQXg4GrA Billion ..read more

Hosts tell each other Russian jokes (called anecdotes by Russians) about Russian circus, animals, Vovochka, and the Soviet Union. Lean our favorite jokes about talking cows, swimming green turds, and dick wallets.  ..read more

The hosts discuss quarantine measures and how they are handling the lockdown in Russia and the US. We talk horse meat, distancing in Russian grocery stores, and why Leysan can't figure out Russian online ordering.  Russia closed its borders on March 30 to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The measure came into force at all vehicle, rail and pedestrian checkpoints, and applies to Russia's maritime borders. Russia has also enacted region-wide stay-at-home orders for residents.  ..read more

Answering riddles or bribing your way to your bride, kissing as guests yell "Bitter!" and other Russian wedding traditions. Amie and Ryan try to tackle some of the Russian riddles to find out that the answer is almost never "communism".  ..read more

Ryan, Amie, and Leysan talk about different games and toys that children in the Soviet Union enjoyed in late 80s and early 90s.  ..read more

We are back from a very long break! We are sorry for being away for so long and hope this episode about very strange Russian idioms will make up for our long absence.  When does a lobster whistle on a mountain? Is a toad strangling you? Follow Amie and Ryan as they try (and fail) to decipher the meaning of Russian idioms  Try to play along and see if you can guess any of the idioms correctly!   ..read more