The Edward Institute for Village Studies: A post-mortem
A chat with James Corbett about my adventures in rural Russia
I recently had the honor of speaking with James Corbett about the rise and fall of the highly prestigious Edward Institute for Village Studies:
Our discussion is also available on James’ website and YouTube.
A catalogue of Edward Institute dispatches can be found here.
It still amazes me that in two short years, we went from this:
Why I went to the village
In January 2022, I received a peculiar but highly intriguing e-mail proposition: Would I be interested in buying a house in a village I’d never visited, located in an oblast I’d never been in, as part of a burgeoning collective farm-thing being organized by two city slickers from St. Petersburg who had no idea what they were doing?
To this:
Goodbye, Russia: FSB closes Edward Institute until... 2050
After being deported from Russia for unexplained reasons in July, Katya, co-founder of the Edward Institute for Village Studies, the most reputable institute for higher village learning in Novgorod Oblast, wrote a letter to the Federal Security Serv…
I think the main takeaway is that Chickenhof must be rebuilt so that we can all gather for CHIEF 2026 and talk about the deep stuff (potatoes).
Be well, internet friends —
Riley
Governments eventually ruin everything.
Very interesting. I feel I totally understand your relationship with Andre as I had a friend like that at school, a force to be reckoned with who would get me to do things I didn't want to do, and I'd be glad I'd done them.