During a recent trip to Russia, I visited two Soviet “lifestyle” museums, which are essentially collections of everyday items from Soviet times. Soviet-era telephones, mailboxes, clothes, and posters line the walls of these museums. At the Soviet nostalgia museum in Kazan, a jacket made entirely from Communist Party books was on display and a drum set was available for guests to play. At the museum in Moscow, guests would have to answer a series of questions on Soviet history in order to leave. The irony of being trapped in a Soviet museum was not lost on me. In post-communist Russia,