We are excited to announce a weekly series of 15-minute informal virtual Zoom lectures about memes and viral video on the Russian Internet, presented by our very own Eliot Borenstein. Each lecture will be followed by a moderated, on-line discussion, as well as just more general chat for anyone who feels like staying on-line. The lecture will subsequently be uploaded to YouTube.

Lecture Sixteen: What Does the Stoned Fox Say?

When a Welsh taxidermist put a stuffed fox on eBay in 2012, she had no way of knowing she was launching a memetic sensation in Russia. Nor could she have possibly imagined that her fox would be identified as a threat to Russian public morals. Why did so many people see so many different things in the image of this slightly bizarre animal?

Watch the event recap on YouTube here.