Radio Prague International - latest broadcast in English

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes show: Skepticism high in Czechia regarding Putin’s willingness to stop the war; Lucy and Selam come to Europe: 3.3 million-year-old hominin fossils to go on display at National Museum; and, for our feature, “Other places and languages become possible”: Oxford scholar Rajendra Chitnis on the value of studying Czech literature. Enjoy!

This weekend edition of Czechia in 30 Minutes features something a little different: a short story by Karel Čapek, one of the most famous Czech writers. Written in the early 1930s and later published in his collection Apocryphal Tales, On the Decline of the Times humorously shows that every generation believes the present is worse than the past. It’s a witty reminder that many of our “unprecedented” worries may be as old as humankind itself.

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes Show: Selected Czech pharmacies to offer flu vaccinations this autumn; the world hasn’t changed much since Hanzelka and Zikmund, says exhibition curator; and in our feature, we meet Brendan McNally, author of a book on Martha Dodd – a spy for the Soviet Union who spent decades in Prague. McNally learnt about her from a Czech colleague when he first moved to the city.

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes Show: Letní Letná festival offers Prague a carnival of the best new circus and theatre; Czech junior athletes among Europe’s best, breaking records; and, for our feature, another edition of our Prague Off the Beaten Track series, this time in Divoká Šárka. Enjoy!

News; Escaped wolves spark search and safety measures in Šumava National Park; The favourites triumph in the World Yo-Yo Contest, for the second time held in Prague; A trip to Ratibořice Chateau, where European nobility and Russian Tsar Alexander I met; Chomutov Zoo, from an open-air heritage museum to a vistas of free-roaming wildlife.

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes show: Foreign Minister Lipavský in Ukraine: Czechia backs Kyiv before Alaska Summit; Prague’s Lesser Town boasts 70 historic house signs, which once served in place of numbers; and in our feature, we look back at Jakub Ferencik’s interview with historian Ivan Puš about the history of Jewish identity and belonging in Czechoslovakia. Enjoy!

Oscar nomination announced, Czechia unveils new national logo, escaped lion shot dead, hiking around Czechia

In this weekend edition of Czechia in 30 Minutes, Vít Pohanka speaks with Julia Kňažková, a Slovak who has made her home in the picturesque South Bohemian village of Holašovice. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is famed for its perfectly preserved Baroque farmhouses and centuries-old village layout — and for the everyday life that continues behind its painted façades.

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes show: The negative impact on Czech foreign tradedue to US tariffs; experts at Czech Academy of Sciences investigate sleep; and, for our feature, an interview with Aleš Březina, director of the Bohuslav Martinů Institute and co-curator of the festival ‘Martinů and His World’, celebrating the legacy of the great Czech composer at Bard Music Festival. Enjoy!

News; Karel Zeman’s Journey to the Beginning of Time turns 70 – a Cold War cinema classic; Czechia’s iconic “Knödel Express” not being written off just yet; RPI visits Jihlava Zoo in the Vysočina Region.

Marlene Dietrich at Grebovka, Czech food at EXPO 25 and award-winning Czech writer Marie Dočkalová

Czechs abroad register to vote in elections, after 40 years Prague has a new railway station, brewing beer at home abroad and the story of Silvester Muller.

The International Day of Remembrance for the Roma and Sinti Holocaust is marked on 2 August — the date when over 4,000 Roma were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944. In this weekend edition of Czechia in 30 Minutes, we speak to Michaela Küchler, Secretary General of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, about her family’s Czech roots, her mission to preserve the memory of the Roma genocide, and the tragic history of the Lety camp.

News; Mendel’s microscope now on display at London's Science Museum; Pardubice student fixes potholes with dazzling mosaics; Michael Tate, founder of UK-based Jantar Publishing, on Prague Talk.

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes show: Czechia defies trend: No recognition of Palestine, yet; Brno unveils Milan Kundera's final resting place; and, in our feature, we look back at Ruth Franková’s interview with Adam Plachetka, one of Czechia’s foremost opera singers, who this year celebrates ten years since his debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Enjoy!

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes show: World Esperanto Congress for 2025 meets in Brno; fireflies named insect of the year 2025, as their glow disappears from Czech summer nights; and, for our feature, we will explore another one of Czechia’s ZOOs, in our summer series "Stories from Czech ZOOs" - this week from Olomouc. Enjoy!

News; The US premiere of Smetana’s opera Dalibor is being staged at Bard College with all-American cast; Prague Pride is “more important than Christmas” for Czech transgender activist Lenka Králová; Simon Rawlence shares the story of his father-in-law Věněk Šilhán: from Communist Party secretary for a week, to a banished dissident and signatory of Charter 77.

News; Envelope with Masaryk’s last words to be opened in September; Velké Březno chateau holds possible oldest group photograph in the world; Prague as a 15-minute city? Interview with Zdeňka Havlová, a researcher at the Prague Institute of Planning and Development.

In the weekend edition of Czechia in 30 Minutes, journalist and podcaster Julie Urbišová talks about adapting to life in the U.S., raising bilingual children, and teaching school yoga. Born in the Hlučínsko region of Czechia, she now lives in New Orleans, where she helps children unwind in a world full of noise and pressure. Her story is one of resilience, cultural blending, and small daily acts of balance—told in her own voice in Czechia in 30 Minutes.

Today on Czechia in 30 Minutes: ‘Masters of avoiding humans’, Golden jackals captured on camera in Pálava, South Moravia; Prague Pride returns to celebrate LGBTQ+ lives and ask “where my home is”; and, in our feature, Ian Willoughby is back with his Prague Talk series, where this week, he speaks to Czech-Vietnamese director Dužan Duong.