Our latest video segment is fished out of one Russia's most ridiculous tv-programs, Heartfelt Confessions. Meet Mr Shahov - prophet, alien worshipper, poet, family man. We've subtitled his rants/teachings for your viewing pleasure.

In light of the pending Bernie Madoff indictment, we thought we’d revisit one of our favorite Ponzi schemes: MMM. The Mavrodi brothers, Sergei and Vyacheslav, along with third “M” Marina Muravieva, scammed their countrymen out of roughly $1.5 billion in the mid-’90s by promising investors a ridiculous 1,000% return on what would now be called "micro" investments. They were so good at promotion that by 1994, Boris Yeltsin had to issue a decree forbidding companies to advertise based on projected earnings. But while Madoff’s securities fraudulence leaves us with only sorrow, anger and debt, MMM left behind a rich cultural legacy in addition to those things. We’re talking, of course, about their TV commercials.

A special edition of Russia! will hit bookstores on Dec. 1. Its cover story is the seizure of the Lenta retail chain by the U.S. fund TPG Capital and VTB, a major Russian bank.