Category Archives: Blog

When my colleagues and I were living in the desert in Sudan, we found this man to be an excellent source of supplies…

I took this photo while traveling through the Russian countryside–when I was living in St. Petersburg. This pastoral tableau struck me as a scene from a different time. This woman was the only person I saw on the road, as I journeyed through this small town…

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Islamic revolution today in Iran, large crowds gathered in Tehran–after two new missiles were launched last night to kick off the festivities. President Rouhani marked the revolution’s anniversary by critiquing the U.S., while some political prisoners were granted their freedom. The congratulations and commemorations weren’t limited just to Iran–as political and religious figures in Lebanon (along with Tajikistan’s head of state) lent their support to Iran on this contentious day of remembrance…

Some of my favorite memories from living in Russia come from my experience of training in capoeira with an intense (but friendly) group of Russian capoeiristas. Their warm-up wasn’t just a jog around the gym–but 20 minutes of non-stop sprints.

There’s been much made about the differences in sports training (and even piano pedagogy) between Russia and the United States. In my personal experience on the tennis court and in the capoeira roda in Russia, I found that my Russian counterparts optimized each moment of practice (with no breaks or time to chat)–while still having fun (as you can see in the video below)…

For thousands of years, survival was linked to our ability to kill
and destroy. Today and in the future, survival will depend on our
capacity to live in peace with other men and with nature. Modern man
needs to reprogram his mind. He needs to channel in another direction
the energy used in war and in the killing of other men and animals.
We think capoeira can make a contribution to this process.

— Nestor Capoeira

Soon enough, we’ll all be returning to the water…and I’ll be reuniting with the turtles…the weather’s warming up…

In the talk above, C. Brian Rose, the James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania and curator-in-charge of the Mediterranean Section at the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, gives the Plenary Address at ASOR’s 2013 Annual Meeting. The talk, entitled “Cultural Heritage Protection in Zones of Armed Conflict: Lessons Learned and Future Strategies,” looks at how archaeologists, museums, cultural organizations, and military forces have mobilized (or not mobilized) to protect heritage caught in the crossfire of multiple armed conflicts in the Middle East…

Out in the desert in Sudan, my colleagues and I didn’t have much to do in the evenings–after we excavated each day in the sand. So we turned our attention at night to the stars–to excavate the sky…

I was excited to see that a number of these rare color photos of the Russian Empire from a hundred years ago were taken in some of my favorite spots on the Silk Road–like Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan…

With tomorrow marking the 35th anniversary of the Iranian revolution, an Op-Ed from today’s NYTimes calls for religious pluralism in Iran…

Today, like almost every other day, Syrian jets fired rockets into northeast Lebanon…

The Economics and Politics of Russia’s Stagnation 2.0

Wednesday, February 12, 2014
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Columbia University
Kraft Center, Rennert Hall (606 West 115th Street)

Sergei Guriev has been a leading public intellectual in Russia. He was pressured to leave Russia in the wake of a controversial investigation into his role in preparing a report evaluating the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky at the request of then president Medvedev.

“If I keep listening to Beethoven’s Appassionata, I won’t be able to finish the revolution,” Lenin reportedly once said. If you happen to live in New England, you can hear the New England Conservatory perform Beethoven’s revolutionary “Appassionata” (Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57) next week in person…

While studying Russian at St. Petersburg State University in Russia (and re-connecting with my Russian roots), I took a side trip to Moscow, where I ran into Lenin in this train station. These days, Lenin statues throughout the former Soviet Union are prime sites of protest and contention–just like Lenin’s tomb…

I’ve heard a number of first-time visitors to Russia report that they were surprised to see the “hammer and sickle” (☭) still displayed on some prominent buildings in St. Petersburg and Moscow. This week, the hammer and sickle symbol was back in the news, since a giant hammer and sickle float appeared in the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Meanwhile, a few die-hard members of Communist party in Russia have been busy protesting the Olympics in Sochi…