This week for BuzzReads, Miriam Elder discusses Pussy Riot, the Russian activist group everybody’s heard of but few understand. Read her story and these other great features from around BuzzFeed and the web.
What Does Pussy Riot Mean Now? — BuzzFeed
With all eyes on Russia, two members of the country’s most notorious band of shit-stirrers are free after nearly two years of political imprisonment and enjoying the rock-star treatment during their first trip to the U.S. But the group’s unlikely journey from art-school project to international icons shows just how rotten Russia has become and how much the mission has changed. Read it at BuzzFeed.
Sergey Ponomarev / DAPD / AP
Inside the Iron Closet — GQ
A must-read story by Jeff Sharlet about what it's like to be gay in Putin's Russia. "The Russian closet has always been deep, but since last June, when the Duma began passing laws designed to shove Russia's tiny out population back into it, the closet has been getting darker." Read it at GQ.
Photograph by Yuri Kozyrev for GQ
A Miracle Put on Ice — SB Nation
Everyone remembers the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won gold at Lake Placid. But what do people remember about the 1984 squad? "Nothing," their coach now says. "Most people remember nothing." Read it at SB Nation.
Getty Images / Via sbnation.com
A Valuable Reputation — The New Yorker
Esteemed biologist and Berkeley professor Tyrone Hayes was approached by a chemical company called Syngenta fifteen years ago to study the herbicide atrazine. When he began publishing about its harmful effects, Rachel Aviv writes, the company began a campaign to ruin him. Read it at The New Yorker.
Photograph by Dan Winters for The New Yorker
