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The Soviet Imprint

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Printed in a communist youth magazine in the 1930s, Towards Soviet America visits all of capitalist America’s social injustices on the way to “Soviet America” in the center.
objects of intrigue

The Anti-Monopoly Board Game That Promoted a 'Soviet America'

In 1934, American Communists translated a Stalinist book about revolution into a children’s game. Curiously, it didn't catch on.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think August 18, 2023
music

Podcast: Bone Vinyl

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team July 31, 2023
Ligatne Secret Soviet Bunker
List

23 Places to Relive the Cold War

Tunnels, towers, and control rooms preserve an era of tension and paranoia.
Gemma Tarlach May 6, 2021
mummies

Podcast: Communist Mummies

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team April 19, 2021
abandoned

Podcast: Pyramiden

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team April 6, 2021
Vladimir Demikhov demonstrates, for an audience of experts, the implantation of an artificial heart–like device in a dog at the 18th International Congress of Surgery in Munich, on September 18, 1959.
cold war

How the United States and Soviet Union Embarked on a Macabre Surgical Arms Race

Cold War animal experimentation and the roots of transplantation medicine.
Brandy Schillace March 4, 2021
<em>Discarded Monuments, Tallinn, Estonia</em> (2015): “I found this location through a traveler’s blog. He had visited Tallinn’s History Museum and happened to wander around back, where he discovered all these statues just dumped there by the authorities. This is a good example of a place still in transition. I’ve seen photos of this location since I shot it in 2015, and the statues have been moved into more deliberate positions since then.”
statues

Meet the Photographer Hunting for the Scars of Soviet Rule

Matthew Moore captures places where monuments once stood—and then finds the statues as well.
Kerry Folan January 6, 2021
The Moog Claravox Centennial Theremin.
music

Happy 100th Birthday to the Theremin, Instrument of the Future

The theremin's mystery endures, and virtuosos are still fighting for its recognition.
Matthew Taub December 1, 2020
Is a fly is an odd decoration for a purse? Not when it hides the lens of a camera.
museums

For Sale: The Entire Spycraft Collection of New York's KGB Museum

If you ever needed a lipstick gun or a heartbeat detector, you could be in luck.
Matthew Taub October 29, 2020
Beautifully restored 19th century train inside the museum.
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Slovenian Railway Museum

This former railway facility is the oldest in Slovenia, and now houses a museum showcasing the history of steam locomotives.
Riga, Latvia

Freedom Monument

This celebration of Latvia’s freedom and independence avoided demolition over half a century of Soviet occupation.
The Northern Mausoleum.
Spassky District, Russia

Bolghar

During the Soviet era, the medieval capital of Volga Bulgaria served as a substitute for Mecca.
NASA's storied Launchpad 39A, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will send up a Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
space exploration

After 9 Years Abroad, Astronaut Launches Are Back in the U.S.A.

The blastoff this week on a SpaceX rocket—the first ever private launch—could be a big step toward commercial space travel.
Luna Shyr May 25, 2020
The "Potemkin Stairs" in Odessa, Ukraine.
Odessa, Ukraine

Potemkin Stairs

Featured in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.
Tajikistan

Shorbulak Observatory

This remote, abandoned Soviet observatory promises spectacular views for those who can reach it.
The mosaic panel "Blacksmiths of the Present," on a wall at the Institute of Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in Kyiv, was created in 1974 by artists Galina Zubchenko and Grygoryi Pryshedko.
mosaics

Preserving Ukraine’s Soviet Past, One Mosaic At a Time

“We’re trying to collect everything before it’s gone.”
JoAnna Haugen May 5, 2020
While many <em>znachki</em> (lapel pins) are miniature pieces of Soviet propaganda, the form is older than the 1917 revolution. This one celebrates toy production in Zagorsk, now called Sergiev Posad.
collections

The U.S.S.R.'s Hottest Collectibles Are All Over eBay and Instagram

“Here was a piece of history that you could pin to your lapel."
Susie Armitage April 14, 2020
Brest, Belarus

Brest Railway museum

Dozens of Soviet-era trains and carriages fill this outdoor museum.