Bernie Sanders and his wife honeymooned in the USSR


Of the many interesting details in The Guardian's big profile of Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-proclaimed socialist running a dark horse presidential primary campaign against Hillary Clinton, this one stuck out: Sanders' 1988 honeymoon with his wife Jane in the former Soviet Union. The honeymoon doubled as a diplomatic trip that Sanders made to the city of Yaroslavl, 160 miles northwest of Moscow, when he was the mayor of Burlington, Vermont. According to audio that survived the trip:
After receiving a rundown of central planning, Soviet-style, from Yaroslavl's mayor, Alexander Riabkov, Sanders notes how the quality of both housing and healthcare in America appeared to be "significantly better" than in the communist state. "However," he added, "the cost of both services is much, much, higher in the United States." [The Guardian]
Another highlight of Sanders' mayoralty was the ode to socialism that was written for him by poet Allen Ginsberg.
Entitled Burlington Snow, it begins with lines about “Socialist snow on the streets" and "Socialist kids sucking socialist lollipops" and ends: "Isn't this poem socialist? It doesn't belong to me anymore." [The Guardian]
Read the whole profile at The Guardian.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.
-
August 30 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump's role reversal and King George III
-
5 bullseye cartoons about the reasons for mass shootings
Cartoons Artists take on gun worship, a price paid, and more
-
Lisa Cook and Trump's battle for control the US Fed
Talking Point The president's attempts to fire one of the Federal Reserve's seven governor is represents 'a stunning escalation' of his attacks on the US central bank
-
RFK Jr. names new CDC head as staff revolt
Speed Read Kennedy installed his deputy, Jim O'Neill, as acting CDC director
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich thrower
Speed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodus
Speed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda