Keith Gessen
Keith Gessen, a contributing writer at The New Yorker, was born in Moscow and grew up outside of Boston. He is a founding editor of the literary magazine n+1 and the author of two novels, including, most recently, “A Terrible Country.” He is also the author of “Raising Raffi,” a book of essays about parenting. He teaches magazine journalism at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and has been contributing essays and features to The New Yorker since 2006.
How Russia Went from Ally to Adversary
The Cold War ended. The United States declared victory. Then things took a turn.
Russia, One Year After the Invasion of Ukraine
Last winter, my friends in Moscow doubted that Putin would start a war. But now, as one told me, “the country has undergone a moral catastrophe.”
How the War in Ukraine Might End
In recent years, a small group of scholars has focussed on war-termination theory. They see reason to fear the possible outcomes in Ukraine.
Liberals, Radicals, and the Making of a Literary Masterpiece
Ivan Turgenev achieved greatness with a novel detested by almost everyone he cared about.
Russia’s Republic of Grief
One of the country’s poorest regions, Dagestan, is also the region that has lost the most men to the war in Ukraine.
Preparing for Home Birth
Our baby would be in good hands with his mother. The weak link was me.
A Ukrainian Novel Looks Between the Lines of War
Andrey Kurkov writes about bombs, bees, and the ordinary business of being human in wartime.
The Destruction of Ordinary Lives in Kyiv
Some of the apartments at Chornobylska 9A, in one of the Ukrainian capital’s many “sleeping neighborhoods,” survived, more or less intact, but others were obliterated.
The One Place in Lviv Where the War Is Never Far Away
The names of the places that families are fleeing create a map of human suffering.
What Is Distance Learning For?
Ms. V did this with eighteen kids, every single day. How hard could it be for us to do it with one kid, our own?
Why Did I Teach My Son to Speak Russian?
When bilingualism isn’t obviously valuable, you have to decide what you think of the language.
How Stalin Became Stalinist
Puzzling out how the idealistic Soviet revolutionary came to preside over the bloodiest regime of his time.
Polar Express
A journey through the melting Arctic, with sixty-odd thousand tons of iron ore.
How Russia Went from Ally to Adversary
The Cold War ended. The United States declared victory. Then things took a turn.
Russia, One Year After the Invasion of Ukraine
Last winter, my friends in Moscow doubted that Putin would start a war. But now, as one told me, “the country has undergone a moral catastrophe.”
How the War in Ukraine Might End
In recent years, a small group of scholars has focussed on war-termination theory. They see reason to fear the possible outcomes in Ukraine.
Liberals, Radicals, and the Making of a Literary Masterpiece
Ivan Turgenev achieved greatness with a novel detested by almost everyone he cared about.
Russia’s Republic of Grief
One of the country’s poorest regions, Dagestan, is also the region that has lost the most men to the war in Ukraine.
Preparing for Home Birth
Our baby would be in good hands with his mother. The weak link was me.
A Ukrainian Novel Looks Between the Lines of War
Andrey Kurkov writes about bombs, bees, and the ordinary business of being human in wartime.
The Destruction of Ordinary Lives in Kyiv
Some of the apartments at Chornobylska 9A, in one of the Ukrainian capital’s many “sleeping neighborhoods,” survived, more or less intact, but others were obliterated.
The One Place in Lviv Where the War Is Never Far Away
The names of the places that families are fleeing create a map of human suffering.
What Is Distance Learning For?
Ms. V did this with eighteen kids, every single day. How hard could it be for us to do it with one kid, our own?
Why Did I Teach My Son to Speak Russian?
When bilingualism isn’t obviously valuable, you have to decide what you think of the language.
How Stalin Became Stalinist
Puzzling out how the idealistic Soviet revolutionary came to preside over the bloodiest regime of his time.
Polar Express
A journey through the melting Arctic, with sixty-odd thousand tons of iron ore.