Foreigners love to moan about Latvia's roads and road users. The dangerous drivers, the disrepair, the lack of signs, the inability to parallel park. Let's imagine I've written all those pieces and you've read them and found them a bit disappointing.
Pensioners and others with health problems are being targeted by unethical advertising campaigns in which fictitious medical professionals recommend the use of humble vitamin pills to cure everything from deafness to parasitic infestation, an LSM investigation reveals.
On October 2, we ran a story about an extraordinary series of emails published online between American oncologist David Gorski, and Lelde Lapa, Assistant of the business development department of the International Virotherapy Center (IVC) which has an office in Riga but is officially based in Dubai.
It is unthinkable that a medical professional -- or even a business professional -- would intentionally foist a bogus cure onto a cancer patient.
Just because you like taking part in torchlight parades doesn't necessarily mean you're a Nazi.
This week the Minutes from Latvia podcast features British historian Philip Ruff, whose decades-long researches have cast new light on a fascinating period in both Latvian and British history.
Riga is the best city in the world through which to walk with your head tilted back at an angle of thirty degrees.
Most of our 'Things of Latvia' are lighthearted observations on national quirks in this, the best of the Baltic states. But this one is different. I write it with a bottle of tranquilizers to hand and according to how things go, I may have to take one, two or possibly the whole lot.
Back in January 2016 LSM reported on Riga-based Peace Ambassadors for Iraq (PAFI), an organization that describes itself as "an internationally-oriented, non-governmental organization that is dedicated to achieving peace in Iraq and the Middle East."
The Minutes from Latvia podcast is back and this week the guest is Agnese Kleina, a writer, publisher, artist, entrepreneur and avowed style leader in Latvia.
Norbis is a young man. He is very popular. Why? He plays video games and says hello.
The Latvian love of foraging for wild mushrooms is a matter of record. Indeed, while Latvians like to regard it as a national oddity (treating with barely-concealed disdain the claims of French and Italians to be keen on fungal foraging) the great mushroom hunt is in danger of becoming a cliche.
A favorite party question of mine to foreigners is: "What do you think is the most popular flavor of potato chip in Latvia?"
Podcast number 21 sees Renaissance man Tom Crosshill (a.k.a. Toms Kreicbergs) entering the pod to talk about his dizzying array of interests.
One hundred and twenty five kilometers from Riga on the Vidzeme highway, just before the turning for the town of Smiltene is the little 'Jautrais ods' ('Merry mosquito') cafe. The food there is good, fresh and cheap.
In recent years I have developed an obsession, probably unhealthy, with 'Latvian Radio Theater'. These are radio plays exhumed from the archive and broadcast after 10 p.m. in order to fill up time that would otherwise be hard to fill. They deserve a wider audience.
The pod is bedecked with festive streamers and the cheap champagne is flowing in copious amounts as we reach the landmark of 20 podcasts.
Latvian is not the easiest language to learn - at least for English speakers - but it's nice that many visitors to the country do go to the trouble of learning a few words, such as 'Sveiki' (Hello), 'Lūdzu' (Please) and 'Paldies' (Thank you).
The Minutes from Latvia podcast is back, this time with a business-oriented flavor.
If April is 'birch month' when every self-respecting Latvian is gulping down gallons of birch juice, July might be regarded as its evil sibling, 'Latvānis month.'
Following the publication of our feature about potholes earlier July 14, we were surprised to receive a furious reaction from one reader who accused us of slandering the fair city of Alūksne by using a picture of potholes there that he claims no longer exist.
The Minutes from Latvia podcast is back in a musical frame of mind as we are joined by acclaimed contemporary composer Eugene Birman.
The Minutes from Latvia podcast returns, and this week we boldly go where no podcast has gone before, across the final frontier into space.
The editor of the magazine responsible for releasing an astounding series of transcripts of conversations between Latvia's so-called "oligarchs" said June 30 that the scandal could not be ignored.
Exciting news June 14. Latvia will have another European Capital of Culture in 2027. That gives us just ten years of flattery and free goody bags in order to win an honor that would be ours anyway.
Touchdown! Slam dunk! Home run! Gooooooooal! The Minutes from Latvia podcast is back.
Really I should have taken the bus to Daugavpils, as this started at a bus stop. Specifically, it started at a bus stop in Cesis, a smallish town located in what might be described as north-central Latvia. It ended in Daugavpils, a large-ish city in what could certainly be described as the far south-east of the country.
