Articles

Vanity Fair

Midnight in Moscow

The Moscow scene makes every other city’s look tame, as an indescribably wealthy few—Kremlin power brokers, star athletes, aluminum tycoons in sniper-tint glasses—drop $10,000 for a table, ignore the dawn on Stalin’s yacht, and indulge a bottomless appetite for the heartachingly beautiful women, many of whose hearts seem set only on those with bankrolls. With the tsars of the hot spots where status and souls are bartered, from the party that’s hard to crack to the one you’ll never even know about.

mp3Interview: СИТИ-FM Moscow,(3748 kb)

Vanity Fair

Communist Gonzo

Hunting weapons, women, and Uncle Joe Stalin in Transdniester, the oh-so-Soviet tinderbox.

Vanity Fair

Two Wild and Crazy Moguls

Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis are the twin geek stars of “disruptive technology.” First their file-sharing program, Kazaa, soared from Napster’s ashes. For their second act, the Scandinavian team has plans to rewire the planet—wirelessly—with their Internet phone service, Skype. And it's free. No wonder Yahoo, Google, and the other heavy guns want their number. Traveling from an industry conference in Cannes to Skype's tech headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia, meet the elusive entrepreneurs who are transforming the way the world communicates.

New York Times Magazine/Key

Manhattan on the Moskva

At the center of Moscow's building boom is a 33-year-old adventure-seeking multimillionaire with a pet boa constrictor.

TIME

The Reel Russia

Hollywood studios and Russian tycoons are teaming up to make films in Moscow. Is it worth the trouble?

Travel + Leisure

Kiev on the Rise

In the wake of the Orange Revolution, Ukraine’s capital is embracing Western ways—and investment dollars. A city in transition, with a burgeoning nightlife and an anything-goes mentality.

Fortune

Tech in a Very Cold Place

A tech boom is giving life to Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city and a former Soviet center for science. IBM, Intel—even Oprah—are paying attention.

Wired

The Sleazy Life and Nasty Death of Russia’s Spam King

He withheld pay from his employees, boasted of his sexual adventures, enraged government officials, and flooded Russia with 25 million emails a day. Then one morning, Vardan Kushnir's mother found his bloodied body on the bathroom floor, skull bashed in.

mp3Interview: BBC/NPR, “The World,”(1197 kb)

fortune

Over a Barrel in Baku

As Caspian crude begins to flow through a new $4-billion pipeline, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is consolidating his grip on power. The U.S. wants both oil and democracy—but can it have both? November’s elections suggest not.

Vanity Fair

Bottoms Up: The Great Russian Vodka Taste Test

Our man in Moscow samples 11 premium brands in one wild night.

ESPN

Crossover

They tried to hold Darko Milicic down in Europe. It didn't work there—and it's not going to work here.

Fortune

Ukraine’s Orange Revolution Comes up Lemons

A year after a popular uprising in Ukraine, hopes have soured and old rivals are at it again.

TIME

Russia in the Boxing Ring

With enough glitz, kitch and corporate sponsorships to make Las Vegas blush, welcome to the new and weird (yet weirdly underwhelming) epicenter of world boxing.

Complex

Bullets, Blood, and Videotape in Russia’s Far East

In the lawless corners of the former Soviet Union, a dangerous Russian car thief has turned his life story into one of the hottest shows on television—the real reality TV. Say "Do Svidaniya," Hollywood.

Salon

With Snoop Dogg and Girls Gone Wild at Mardi Gras

Outside, the crowd resembled an endless copulation of confused ants. Inside, a woman attached herself to the Doggfather and squirmed in the light of temporary stardom.

Unlimited

Trouble Man

Bouncer Mark Ehr is the six-foot-seven-inch reason you don’t ever want to step out of line at the toughest bar in Texas.

Killed

The Paranoia Hour: With Mike Skinner and The Streets

In no time, Skinner was teased up on cheap hooch, and he gripped the bottle all night like it was his boarding pass to the first moonshot. He had the wrath up at full blast. "I never liked you," he hissed at some poor unfortunate who got too close to the center. “I never liked you.”

Вестник Аналитики

Два Выхода

Насколько я себе представляю, у России два выхода: быть исключительно хорошей или совершенно плохой. Либо попросту вообще позабыть, что Америка думает, а лишь усесться поудобнее и получить удовольствие от кино.

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

Off the Record

The tent goes up. The cash comes in.