A new issue of Liberal Arts in Russia is out. Kira Ilina (HSE): The Academic Study in the 1990s and 2000s of the History and Practice of Awarding Academic Degrees and Titles in Russia. Bruce Etling, Hal Roberts, and Robert Faris (Harvard): Blogs as an Alternative Public Sphere: The Role of Blogs, Mainstream Media, and TV in Russia's Media Ecology. From Stasis, Artemy Magun (EUSP): The Russian Protest Movement of 2011–2012: A New Middle-Class Populism; and Anna Zhelnina (EUSP): “Hanging Out,” Creativity, and the Right to the City: Urban Public Space in Russia before and after the Protest Wave of 2011–2012. Alexander S. Skorobogatov (HSE): A Provocative Event, Media, and Religious Choice: The Pussy Riot Case as a Natural Experiment. Sophie Pinkham reviews Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot by Masha Gessen. Dmitry Kiselev is redefining the art of Russian propaganda: Joshua Yaffa on how nobody exploits basic human insecurity and fear quite like Putin's favorite TV host. Slawomir Sierakowski on Putin’s Cold New World. Tunku Varadarajan in the best way to punish Putin: No World Cup. Abby D. Greutman on Putin and business: Good or bad? Anastasia Denisova on how Vladimir Putin’s divorce story was constructed and received, or when the president divorced his wife and married the country instead. The back door: Quinn Norton on how a hacker helped ProPublica expose Russia’s secret infusions of cash to the embattled Syrian government. Max Seddon goes down the rabbit hole with Russia’s mysterious leakers: A series of sensational leaks have made the Anonymous International a hot topic for Kremlinologists, but who are they?
