Guides
Five new guides and four restored archive articles, each with its sources and the date we consulted them.
New guides
- Seven myths about Russian women, checked against the data
Stereotypes on family, looks, marriage and money, each stamped MYTH, FACT or IT DEPENDS with its source.
- What “mail-order bride” meant, and what it means now
From nineteenth-century newspaper matches to picture brides, telebridges and the internet.
- IMBRA explained from the text of the law
The US International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, section by section: what brokers must collect, disclose and never do.
- The fact-check toolkit: how to test any claim yourself
Five questions, the primary sources worth bookmarking, and a worked example with real figures.
- Realistic expectations: a plain list before you travel or commit
Language, distance, timelines, money and family, without fantasy and without cynicism.
Restored archive articles, with a fact check
- When Russia first met the West on television
The late-1980s telebridges that opened a conversation between two publics. Restored archive article, with a fact check.
- Dating Russian women: what the marriage agencies never tell you
An archive essay on agency advertising and family myths, with its claims re-checked.
- How to handle cultural differences in a cross-border marriage
An archive essay on shared references and patience, with practical additions.
- Why do Russian girls look like models in online photos?
An archive essay on posed photographs, with a note on what a photo cannot prove.