Prague Talk: Recent Episodes
Radio Prague International
Prague Talk brings together the best of Radio Prague International’s interviews as a regularly updated podcast, delivered as a download to your device or available via streaming services.
Twitter: @PragueTalk Email: praguetalkpod@gmail.com
As director of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Marek Hovorka is one of the most important people in the field of documentaries in Czechia. The 44-year-old started the event while still at school and today it draws many thousands of film buffs to the usually sleepy Vysočina town every year. Ahead of the 28th edition of Ji.hlava I caught up with Hovorka to discuss the festival’s development, changes this year – and the outlook for the future.
Jana Prikryl was five, and called Jana Přikrylová, when her parents fled communist Czechoslovakia in the early 1980s and built a new life in the West. She has since gone on to become a successful poet and a top editor at the highly respected New York Review of Books. But how much did initially speaking Czech shape the writer’s approach to language? I discussed that question and many more with Prikryl, who was speaking from her home in New York.
UK public relations man Euan Edworthy has called Prague home for the last three decades. In that time he has been involved in a number of initiatives, perhaps most notably building a monument to Czechoslovak WWII RAF aviators in the city’s Klárov district, that have earned him UK honour the MBE for services to Czech-British relations. We spoke at the offices of his company Best Communications, right in the heart of the Old Town.
When Milan Babík was appointed director of the Václav Havel Library recently his name was not familiar to many. That is in large part because he had spent the previous three decades in the United States, where he effectively emigrated as a teenager, in search of educational opportunity. When I spoke to Mr. Babík at the Library, a stone’s throw from Prague’s Národní, we discussed the institution’s mission and perceptions of Václav Havel today. But our conversation began with his own early life.
The anonymous writer behind the CzechPlease social media accounts has been reviewing restaurants in Prague for over a decade and a half. Also going by the pen name Brewsta, CzechPlease has built up a large and dedicated following as Czechia’s best-known English-language food blogger. When we met at a cool Prague café, we discussed the city’s dining scene at length – but I first asked CzechPlease a little about himself.
Veronika Tuckerová has been teaching Czech Studies at Harvard University for the past decade. But she has also done extensive research into the Prague German-language author Franz Kafka. Indeed, the academic is currently preparing a book entitled Reading Kafka in Prague: The Reception of Franz Kafka in Czechoslovakia, which mainly looks at changing perceptions of the writer in the communist period, when his works were for the most part banned. I spoke to Veronika Tuckerová at our Prague studios.
The new owner of the Prague Lions discusses why he feels the time is right for American football in Europe and says it could become Czechia's thrid favourite sport.
Art expert Nicholas Lowry has Czech heritage and lived in Prague in the early 1990s. He will soon be seen as the presenter of a documentary on classic Czech graphic design.
Rosamund Johnston discusses her book on Czechoslovak Radio, 1948–1969. How "communist" was the station? And what happened to staff after the Soviet invasion?
Academic Peter Zusi discusses teaching Czech literature, his new book on the Czech avant-garde and Karel Teige and his teenage rock band with a future movie star.
Half-sisters Eva Paddock and Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines were 3 and 9 when trains organised by Nicholas Winton and others saved them from the Nazis. They share their story.
Englishman Ed Ley on his fascinating social media project recording the stories of the streets of Prague, one by one.
Prague-based filmmaker Kaveh Daneshmand on how his homeland Iran manages to produce great films despite severe restrictions, whether he could ever move back and much more.
Writer and biographer Jan Novák discusses Miloš Forman, the Mašíns, Václav Havel and Milan Kundera, as well as sharing some of his family's own eye-popping stories.
In a broad and revealing interview, US Ambassador to Czechia Bijan Sabet discusses everything from his time as an early Twitter investor to his love of photography.
Why is the Czech economy so deep in the doldrums? And how to turn things around? Tomáš Dvořák, who has described Czechia as "the sick man of Europe", offers some insights.
Top Czech jazz pianist and composer Emil Viklický discusses his successful career, numerous collaborations (including big jazz names, and Václav Havel) and much, much more.
Academic Roman David has fascinating insights into how the Czech justice system, and society, dealt with the transition to democracy after the 1989 fall of communism.
Englishman Simon Johnson heads the Czech branch of developers Crestyl. They are behind Prague's major Savarin Palace project, Libeň Dock and much more besides.
Mirek Gosney on Building Hitler's Empire, a documentary about the Nazis' massive forced labour system, under which his own great-grandfather worked in Germany during WWII.
Petr Kratochvíl on a new paper he co-authored which says Russia’s war on Ukraine is novel in that it is also a fight against gender and sexual equalities, with Moscow presenting itself as a defender of traditional values against the "decadent" West.
Jindřiška Bláhová, editor of a new book looking at the history of Karlovy Vary film festival pre-1989, shares fascinating insights into the event in the Cold War era.
Foreign policy expert Benjamin Tallis on neo-idealism, and why the term applies to Jan Lipavský, and what the Ukraine crisis means for the future of the EU.
Veteran DJ Jana Kománková discusses her new book about the Prague alternative station Radio 1, including its pirate beginnings as Radio Stalin and anarchic early years.
UK linguist Danny Bate, who moves between Prague and Edinburgh, discusses some of the joys of life in Czechia, learning the language, "annoying" aspects of Czech and more.
Arne Springorum is part of a climate crisis activist group that has been blocking the main road through Prague. He says he is willing to lose a lot for his beliefs.
Pre-1989 dissident John Bok, whose parents met in England during WWII, looks back on a fascinating life. Close at one time to Havel, he stood up to the StB more than most.
California-based author Ethan Scheiner discusses his new book Freedom to Win, centred on Czechoslovakia's 1969 ice hockey wins over the USSR, and the riots that followed.
Yulia Oleinik heads UNICEF's Czech office. She discusses how well young Ukrainians, particularly small children, have been integrated – but warns about losing those gains.
Biographer Bohumil Vostal discusses the fascinating story of Czech František Bělský, the only sculptor ever to create busts of four generations of the UK royal family.
Jakub Cigler is perhaps THE architect of modern Prague. His studio is behind the redesign of Wencelsas Square and is also involved in the huge overhaul of Masaryk Station.
Director Michal Bregant on the creation of the National Film Archive under the Nazis, the restoration of classic Czech movies and how the NFA saved many treasures.
Co-founder Leon Jakimič discusses his plans to make international lighting and glass installation producers Lasvit Czechia's first new global luxury brand – and much more.
Pavel Trojan was appointed head of the Prague Spring International Music Festival last year. He Czechia's top classical event -- and his own sometimes suprising background.
The recently installed UK ambassador to Prague, Matt Field, discusses Czech-British relations, learning Czech, his experience of life in the city so far and much more.
Michal Horáček, co-writer of several of Czechia's best-loved songs, shares some great stories about his family, the Velvet Revolution, his bid for president and far more.
US journalist Mark Baker discusses the plans of communist Czechoslovakia's secret police to employ a honey trap operation to recruit him as a spy against his own country.
Architecture expert Adam Gebrian on recent development projects in Prague, including the remodeling of Wenceslas Square and the major overhaul of the Masaryk Station area.
Jiří Přibáň discusses the "gloves off" approach adopted by candidate Andrej Babiš ahead of round two of the presidential election and what he feels a Babiš win would mean.
The Czech minister of foreign affairs discusses a whole host of subjects, including Ukraine, sanctions, economic diplomacy, China, the name Czechia – and his core values.
Outgoing UK ambassador to Prague Nick Archer discusses a whole range of subjects, from matters of state to the things he has most enjoyed about life in the Czech capital.
Ivan Chvatík worked closely with Jan Patočka, helping organise underground seminars for the great Czech philosopher, and since his death has done more than anybody to keep his legacy alive. Chvatík shares stories about his clandestine activities in Communist Czechoslovakia, the deaths of his parents when he seven and much more.
Some are concerned tensions in Czech society could intensify this winter. What can the government do to prevent further radicalisation? We ask extremism expert Jan Charvát.
Historian Mark Cornwall is an expert on Czech-German relations. He is preparing a book to be entitled Queer Bohemians and another on treason under the Habsburg Empire.
Documenary maker Tomáš Bojar discusses his new film Good Old Czechs, which follows the intriguing stories of brave airmen who constantly risked their lives in WWII.
Helen Epstein on her father Kurt Epstein, a Jewish Czechoslovak athlete who insisted on taking part in the 1936 "Nazi Olympics" and is the subject of a new exhibition.
Digital anthropologist Marie Heřmanová discusses Czech politics and social media, how much we should share on the internet and many other aspects of our online lives today.
Photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková documented her own turbulent life, and minorities such as homosexuals and Romanies, in the final decades of communism in Czechoslovakia. Some of her best known pictures come from an underground gay and lesbian bar in Prague called T-Club. In those years Jarcovjáková had no real hope of showing her often raw, black and white work publicly. However she eventually did find acclaim, including through a major 2019 exhibition in France’s Arles that really made her name internationally.
The leaders of the newly established Czechoslovakia should have done far more to ensure its stability. So says historian Professor Igor Lukeš, in an interview that also looks at 1990s Czech politics, NATO enlargement, Russia and much more.
Martin Klíma was a prime mover behind the November 1989 student gathering that sparked the Velvet Revolution. He has since found enormous success with role-playing games, including as co-founder of the hit company Warhorse Studios.
When Dana Huňátová joined Czechoslovakia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late 1989 she literally came across a red telephone to Moscow. As head of office of new minister Jiří Dienstbier she was closely involved in the deep overhaul of the ministry required after four decades of communism.
František Vrábel is an expert on Russia’s infiltration of Czech society via sophisticated online disinformation. He discusses efforts to combat Kremlin propaganda, says regulating Facebook is key and explains his own motivations for working “mostly for free” in this area.
Has Putin dangerously lost touch with reality? And how are things most likely to play out now, following the launch of his brutal war against Ukraine? Leading Czech expert on Russia Michael Romancov discusses those questions, and others pertaining to the Czech Republic.
Roman Máca has recently been monitoring a rise in activity among pro-Russian voices on the Czech internet, linked to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The security expert has also been drawing attention to radical individuals, some of whom he calls Putin’s Czech “legion”.
Linguist Julie Sedivy’s family left Czechoslovakia when she was two and when they settled in Canada she gradually lost most of her Czech. In her book Memory Speaks has many interesting things to say about memory, language, identity and migration.
Adventurer Benedict Allen used to be referred to as a “new Indiana Jones”. The English writer and broadcaster, who now lives here in Prague, shares some of his stories with us in this interview.
For three decades Glen Emery has been one of the best-known foreigners in Prague. The charismatic Canadian was a pioneering bar and club operator in the city back in the “Wild East” days of the early 1990s – and has many great stories from that period.
Pavel Klusák, author of a new book on Karel Gott, discusses several of the most contentious points in the singer’s career – and the qualities that made him his country’s biggest ever pop star.
Children’s author and illustrator Peter Sís, the subject of a new documentary, discusses how the Czech version of Nicky & Vera differs from the original, the fact his kids were models for David Černý’s baby sculptures – and a collaboration with David Bowie that never happened.
Indian-born Czech citizen Hrishabh Sandilya used to run nightspots and work in education in Prague. But then he took a rather different turn, co-founding an NGO in Cyprus that is helping equip migrants for success in their new countries.
Joe Yanosik is the author of A Consumer Guide to the Plastic People of the Universe. As well as exploring the legendary Czech underground group’s discography, it also delves deep into the Plastic People’s fascinating history.
Journalist Hynek Pallas grew up in a notable Czech household in Sweden, where his family settled after being forced out of Czechoslovakia. From their home, his father Jiří ran the label Šafrán 78, releasing music by artists that were banned by the Communists.
In a new Czech-language book, travel writer and journalist Mark Baker brings to life the Czechoslovakia of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when communism gave way to capitalism at breakneck speed and everything seemed possible. He looks back on that fascinating period in this interview.
Historian Martin Nekola has just brought out Czech New York, a book detailing the Czech community in the Big Apple, where 40,000 once lived on the Upper East Side. Here he discusses many interesting aspects of the Czech impact on the city, from early arrivals to the post-1948 emigres hounded on suspicion they were Communist spies.
Ireland’s ambassador to Prague discusses her background and inspirations, approach to the job – and how she connects with the Irish community, Czech representatives and other diplomats in this trying period.
Edita Kudláčová is about to take over as Head of Radio and Audio at the EBU in Geneva. The outgoing creative chief at Czech Radio has lots of interesting things to say about the future of the medium, podcasting – and how public service broadcasters can reach new audiences.
Czech academic Jakub Hlávka (30) has advised NASA and is currently working on US government Covid programs. Here he speaks about his flourishing career, broad range of interests – and “giving back” to his homeland.
Nicholas Winton’s story has inspired millions. That of Vera Gissing, one of the children he saved, is less well-known. Now children’s author and illustrator Petr Sís has brought them together in the beautiful, moving new book Nicky & Vera.
In The Last Ghetto: The Everyday History of Theresienstadt historian Anna Hájková recreates the world of Terezín (its Czech name), which the Nazis used as a transit ghetto during the Holocaust. Here she discusses its social hierarchies, detailing how they relate to ethnicity and language, as well as influencing access to food and even arts events.
As director of the Czech branch of Transparency International, Ondráčka headed legal challenges to Andrej Babiš that resulted in the European Parliament finding the Czech PM in conflict of interest. Now he himself is entering politics, with new party People Pro.
What do YOU do to keep your spirits up in these Covid times? In this special edition we put that question to over a dozen interesting people, from the artistic chief of Karlovy Vary film festival to the Canadian ambassador to Prague.
DJ Tomáš Vydra has been sharing his deep knowledge of classic blues and rock on Prague’s Radio 1 for decades. He was previously a professional tennis coach – and was locked up with his parents in his early teens when the family returned to Communist Czechoslovakia after a stay abroad.
Though still in his mid 20s, Jindřich Andrš recently won the coveted prize for best Czech documentary at the Jihlava film festival. His A New Shift follows a laid-off miner in Moravia Silesia seeking to start again as an IT guy – and allowed Andrš to see a different side of Czech society.
Danish historian and translator Peter Bugge was recently honoured for helping promote the good name of the Czech Republic. Here he discusses very different visits to Prague in the mid-1970s and at the time of the Velvet Revolution, translating Czech literature and much more.
With the US elections drawing extremely near, we asked the head of the Czech branch of Republicans Overseas about President Trump’s record, style and chances of defying the polls – and much more besides.
Why are Czechs behaving differently during the current Covid-19 wave than they did in the spring, when – amid a wave of solidarity – the country was seen as relatively successful in tackling the crisis? Veteran sociologist Jan Hartl offers some explanations in this interview.
Julia Bryan is international chair of Democrats Abroad. This interview with the long-time Prague resident takes in how overseas voters can impact domestic polls, why Democrats Abroad endorsed Bernie Sanders, the obstacles overseas voters can face and much more besides.
YouTube star Bald and Bankrupt now lives here in the Czech Republic. In this interview the Englishman discusses his fascination with everything Soviet, the future of Belarus, his Covid experiences and much more.
Krištof Kintera is known for thought-provoking, witty sculptures that frequently have a kinetic energy. Here he talks about his methods, the “adventure” of discovering beauty in unexpected places – and almost having a heart attack the first time he visited Prague’s paradise of electronic junk.
UK travel writer and Trigger Happy TV creator Dom Joly discusses a “magical” year in Prague in the early 1990s, when he didn’t apply himself much as a diplomat with the European Commission but did develop a deep and abiding love of the city.
The European Commission’s vice-president for transparency and values discusses whether Facebook et al should regulate political content, disinformation targeted at EU states by Russia and China and a host of other issues.
Adéla Horáková quit a top law job to devote all of her energies to campaigning for marriage equality. This wide-ranging conversation takes in everything from her own experiences of coming out to the possibility of the mistreatment of the LGBT community seen in other CEE states also appearing in the Czech Republic.
Lukáš Houdek runs Hate Free Culture, a state agency combatting hate speech, and is also a photographer, artist and radio documentary maker. Here he discusses his own path to human rights and much more.
Top Czech movie star Anna Geislerová has won plaudits for her role as Václav Havel’s wife Olga in the biopic Havel. Here she discusses playing Olga Havlová, her own encounters with the Havels – and way more.
Under the name Las Saboritas, Ana Hernandez Blackstad and Alison Maciejewski have done over 300 Twitter reviews of Prague restaurants in recent years. Here the former discusses how the city’s dining scene is being impacted by the coronavirus crisis.
Sound designer Juraj Mravec moved to London to find out why UK and US films sounded better than Czech ones. He has since worked on the likes of The Crown, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders and other top TV shows.
Czech missionary Petr Jašek was subjected to humiliation and violence when placed in a cell with prisoners from ISIS in Sudan, where he was caught carrying out covert missionary work.
Over 15 years, Adam Štěch travelled the world searching out, visiting and documenting often obscure modernist buildings. The result is the highly impressive book Modern Architecture and Interiors.
The US journalist and writer discusses Franci’s War, her Prague-born mother Franci Rabinek Epstein’s candid and gripping account of surviving the Holocaust.
The Honest Guide man on how the coronavirus crisis is impacting tourism in Prague – and whether the city really can attract new types of visitors.
Czech-born, UK-based illustrator Lukáš Novotný is the author of Modern London. Here he talks about the book’s distinctive style, plans for another volume from NYC, Czech modernist architecture, his unusual profession of paper engineer – and working at London’s little-known lighthouse.
The top economist, who has been advising the Czech national coronavirus task force, gives his verdict on the government’s handling of the impacts of the epidemic – and shares his views of just how bad things may get before they get better.
Amos Chapple recently created a stunning collection of images of Prague’s rooftop statues. The New Zealand photographer, who has immersed himself in Czech history, describes the project as a love letter to the city.
Student Greta Stocklassa explains why she has chosen to be in Sweden, which has kept large parts of its society open, rather than the Czech Republic, which imposed a strict lockdown in a bid to combat the coronavirus.
Czech Television’s former man in Beijing on the likely consequences of China’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic – as well as his experiences reporting from conflict zones for CNN.
Radek Špicar, vice president of the Czech Confederation of Industry, discusses the challenges facing the economy, post-coronavirus unemployment, at-risk sectors and much more.
Sociologist Daniel Prokop on Czech varieties of populism, how low pay leaves some voters not caring what system they live under and how the education system perpetuates inequality.
One of the most noteable names in Czech dance, Miřenka Čechová draws on her often agonising experiences as a young ballet student in a new autobiographical novel. But Baletky (Ballet Dancers) also celebrates the Prague of the wild 1990s.
Born Pavel Ort in Prague, Paul Ort (83) is a very successful orthopaedic surgeon in New York. His stories of boyhood in wartime Prague are hair-raising while his escape from Czechslovakia was also dramatic.
Eda Kriseová joined old friend Václav Havel at a “Kafkaesque” Prague Castle when he became president. The writer and ex-dissident recalls the lingering odour of Husák, and way more besides, in this broad-ranging interview.
Adam Ondra is one of the planet’s top rock climbers and has to be seen in action to be believed. With many world titles to his name, the 27-year-old is targetting more success at the Tokyo Olympics.
A Czech-born, Dutch-based confectioner and holder of the prestigious French diploma Master of Confectionery Arts, Mirka van Gils Slavíková is currently one of the judges on the Czech edition of the popular show the Great British Bake-Off.
Ivan Král, who played with Patti Smith and Iggy Pop, died on Sunday at the age of 71. Listen back to this comprehensive 2006 interview with the Prague-born musician, who was a legend to many Czechs.
Failed presidential candidate Jan Sokol explains why he is strongly against the current direct election of head of state – and offers stinging criticism of incumbent and old friend Miloš Zeman.
Did the Communists want to kill Jan Patočka? And what did Charter 77 actually achieve? Professor Jan Sokol shares his views.
How do Czechs and Americans differ when it comes to friendship, parenting, education and way more? Who better to ask than American Diary author Jana Ciglerová.