A Short Tour of the Juarez- El Paso Border
I met Sgt. Ron Martin of the El Paso police department early in the morning, and was about to climb into his car when I found my way blocked by an assault rifle, propped up against
Juarez: City of Fear
“We’re not going to die, are we Dan?” asked my friend Joe, a CBS radio reporter, shortly before we crossed from El Paso into Juarez, Mexico, murder capital of the wor
Criminal Incidences
1 Elgin officer sentenced for possession of child pornography Attorney General Greg Abbott’s campaign against sex offenders and online sex predators in Texas claimed another
Moscow By Night
In summer 2004 Akashic books published Brooklyn Noir, an anthology of crime stories set in New York’s most heavily populated borough. Although initially intended as a one-off, th
Joel Osteen: The New Face of Christianity
Forget Billy Graham and Jimmy Swaggart—the most popular and influential pastor in the US is Joel Osteen. On the surface he is modest and quietly spoken, but his belief in the
Requiem for a Tyrant
Tearing down the statue of a megalomaniac dictator is usually a joy reserved for the citizens of a newly-liberated country. But when President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmen
Andrei Platonov: Russia’s greatest 20th-century prose stylist?
An anti-Stalinist author who died in obscurity in 1951 may be the greatest Russian writer of the last century, his English translator Robert Chandler explains to Daniel Kalder Stal
Death Wish: Why Are We So In Love With Apocalypse?
It’s impossible to avoid the apocalypse these days. Whether we encounter the End in the form of news reports on Global Warming, or fears of Iran getting bomb, or plague panics su
The ‘Lost’ Books of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
When Aleksandr Solzhenistyn died aged 89 in August 2008 his reputation had been in flux for a long time. Even so, most obituaries acknowledged the power and significance of The Gul
The Truth About Fort Hood
“Every thing is what it is, and not another thing.” Bishop Joseph Butler (1692-1752) Like everybody else, when I first heard about the shootings at Fort Hood I immediately rush
Requiem for a Russian Mobster
Is it just me, or has 2009 been exceptionally rich in the deaths of legendary figures? In August, Ted Kennedy was finally reunited in heaven with Mary Jo Kopechne. In July a
The End of the World is Here Again (The Spectator)
Last weekend Roland Emmerich’s wrathful CGI God was at it again, killing billions in the name of the Holy Box Office in the film 2012. Having already caused carnage with aliens,
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Was My Father
“The name cuts both ways. It’s an inalienable fact of life in my performing career. I don’t think about it a great deal but I am often reminded that others naturally thin
Turkmenistan’s Tragicomic Publishing Revolution
When the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was invented in 1925, the literacy rate among its mostly nomadic population was somewhere between 2-3%. By 1970 not only had universal li
A Short History of Turkmen Literature
Turkmen literature began in the 18th century, thanks to Makhtumkuli (1733–1813) who composed mournful, painful poems about injustice, the decline of morals and the general harshn
Nas asas do tédio
Especial Para a Folha Berlim hoje é celebrada por sua posição de vanguarda na cultura e na música, pelo design e pela arte vibrantes, e também como um ponto de encontro brusco
Paradise, Texas
In Paradise: A Pilgrimage in Seven Stages I How to reach Paradise? This question has plagued mankind for millennia. In fact, the ancients largely despaired of entering heaven, whic
A Government Commission
AUSTIN (Texas), June 16 (Daniel Kalder for RIA Novosti) – In the early 1990s Russia was awash with mystics, fortune tellers and messiahs as the collapse of the Soviet Union had o
Сила диктаторского художественного слова
Туркменский президент Гурбангулы Бердымухаммедов – очередной тиран, пробующий себя на поприще
Last Postcard from the Golden Age
Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan was the showpiece of Turkmenbashi’s Golden Age. Originally a village, then a Russian fort, subsequently a dusty soviet settlement, the city
Poland Diary
Monday 3rd November I did not know that I was famous when I arrived in Poland, and as I spent the first couple of days probing the remote borderlands and discussing John Denver in
Vissarion Christ: Siberian Saviour
Vova the taxi driver wasn’t happy about abandoning me in Petropavlovka, a village separated from the nearest city by over a hundred miles of silent, snow-covered Siberian forest.
Daniil Kharms: Today I Wrote Nothing
For decades Daniil Kharms was known in Russia only as a children’s writer. In fact, he was the last genius of the Soviet avant-garde, providing a link from the giants of Futurism
The Bizarre Guide to Russia
When most people think of Russia just a few images come to mind: vodka, mafia and children getting caught in the crossfire between nutjob terrorists and government security agents
The Joy of the Wasteland
Hello. My name’s Daniel Kalder. I am the author of LOST COSMONAUT, a blackly humorous ‘anti-travel’ book about my wanderings in four surreal (but real) wastelands. It also co
The True Centre of the Universe
Frank Zappa once said that the most common element on the planet is stupidity. I suspect it’s boredom. I got bored today myself. Maybe you did too. If so, we’re not alone: last
The Bat Hotel
Last week I was in Deerborn, Michigan to attend the wedding of one of my best friends. I was glad to be present, but still, I was a bit disappointed that the ceremony was not being
A Brief Note on Cross- Cultural Communication
Yesterday I mentioned that I was at a wedding in Michigan recently. While I was there, I met a lot of new people and found myself telling many of the old stories again. That can ge
Tall Tales
I’m reading a biography of Jerzy Kosinski at the moment: he was a holocaust survivor who wrote The Painted Bird- a best- selling autobiographical novel about his horrifying exper
Glaubensstreit auf heiligen Hainen
Drei finno-ugrische Völker leben heute in ihren eigenen Staaten: Finnland, Ungarn und Estland. In den Weiten Russlands finden sich verwandte Völker, die aber völlig unbekannt si
Journey to the Centre of the Turkmen Universe
Two years ago I met a man from Ashgabat in a McDonald’s in downtown Moscow. We chatted for a while and once he was relaxed enough, I decided to ask about some of the bizarre stor
From THE SHYMKENT DECLARATIONS
(Excerpts from the resolutions passed at the first international congress of Anti-Tourists at the Shymkent Hotel, Shymkent, Kazakhstan, October 1999) As the world has become smalle
Lost Cosmonaut (Sample) – Tartarstan
1. It was my friend Joe who suggested going to Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. He had a thing for the Golden Horde, for Grand Tartary and all that stuff. I didn’t. I had onc
Lost Cosmonaut (Sample) – Kalmykia
Dirty Police Bastards I It happened in the bus station, as we were hailing a taxi. No sooner had we sat down, than there was a knock on the passenger window. I turned round and saw
Lost Cosmonaut (Sample) – Mari El
7. What is a Mari Anyway? The most famous Finno-Ugric nations are the Hungarians, the Finns and the Estonians. They are descended from a tribe which, it is believed, emigrated west
Lost Cosmonaut (Sample) – Udmurtia
6. My railway carriage contained four humans. Aside from me, there was an old guy in a cheap shiny Russian suit and two women. The old guy liked to touch me. He touched my knee whe