Radio Prague International - latest articles

The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR) is at home not only in Studio 1, but also on the most prestigious Czech concert stages: in the Rudolfinum, the Municipal House, and the Bethlehem Chapel. At the same time, it performs just as naturally on international stages, where over decades it has built a reputation for exceptional vitality, tonal culture, and an ability to present Czech music in its best light.

Neil Bermel is Professor of Czech Language and Linguistics at the University of Sheffield, where he has been teaching for nearly three decades. He was among the scholars who gathered in Prague for the Seventh World Congress of Bohemian Studies and, during the event, received the Josef Dobrovský Medal for outstanding contributions to Czech studies. I sat down with him to talk about what first drew him to the Czech language, who chooses to study Czech today, and the challenges and opportunities facing the field.

More than six centuries after Jan Hus was burned at the stake in Constance, historians are taking a fresh look at one of Czech history's defining figures. Medievalist Eva Doležalová of the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences explains why modern research is moving beyond centuries of myth to rediscover the real Jan Hus.

Rising temperatures and declining oxygen levels are causing more frequent fish die-offs in Czech rivers, prompting new efforts to monitor and protect freshwater ecosystems. Scientists and water authorities are deploying advanced technologies to track water quality and better understand how climate change is reshaping aquatic life.

An exhibition now on display at Prague's Holešovice Market Hall explores what it means to grow up between two cultures. Little Hanoi: Next Generation combines large-scale portraits with personal stories to introduce the children of Vietnamese immigrants who settled in former Czechoslovakia decades ago. Ruth Fraňková went along to find out more.

Over the past weekend, Czechia experienced an extreme heatwave that broke all previous records, with the highest temperature ever measured on its territory reaching 41.9°C. But was this just an isolated weather event, or a glimpse of what summers in Central Europe will increasingly look like in the future? If the latter is true, how do we adapt to steadily rising temperatures, what does this mean for cities and daily life, and is there any realistic chance that global warming could still be slowed or even stopped?

The jubilee 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival gets under way in the West Bohemian spa town on Friday. 2026 also marks 80 years since the event’s foundation, an anniversary that the organisers say places Karlovy Vary in a most exclusive club.

Many people have been suffering from the heat here in the Czech Republic, with all-time record temperatures registered on consecutive days at the end of last week. One group particularly at risk in such extreme weather are the homeless community.

Prague Zoo has welcomed a new Cape fur seal pup, the great-grandson of the legendary Gaston, whose dramatic escape during the devastating floods of 2002 made headlines around the world. I discussed the latest arrival and Gaston's lasting legacy with Prague Zoo spokesperson Filip Mašek.

Scholars from 25 countries have gathered in Prague for the 7th World Czech Studies Congress, held this year under the theme Literature and Languages in Dialogue. I spoke with Dalibor Dobiáš, a researcher at the Institute of Czech Literature at the Czech Academy of Sciences and one of the congress organisers, about this year's programme and how the field of Czech studies is evolving.

Who should represent Czechia at the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara has become the latest flashpoint in the conflict between President Petr Pavel and the government. Political commentator Martin Čaban of Seznam Zprávy told Vít Pohanka that the quarrel has little to do with defence policy itself.

After nearly nine years in Prager's Cubes, Prague's Centre for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP) is closing its current home as the landmark brutalist building undergoes a long-awaited renovation.  Just before CAMP closed its doors on Sunday, I caught up with its director, Štěpán Bartl, to discuss the move, the renovation and what lies ahead.

An American choreographer working with local residents on the banks of the Sázava River. Performances filling historic courtyards, streets and parks. KoresponDance has grown into an international celebration of contemporary dance rooted in the Czech countryside.

A huge concrete wall in Prague's Ruzyně district is being transformed into one of Europe's longest collaborative murals. Thirty artists from Czechia and abroad are taking part in the project, which will become a permanent open-air gallery. RF went to see the artists at work.

Czech politics are currently dominated by a Constitutional Court ruling allowing President Pavel to attend a NATO summit next month, despite the Babiš government’s efforts to block him. But what will actually happen in Ankara? I discussed the situation with Otto Eibl, a political scientist at Masaryk University.

Where land was once drained, water is now being held back. Forest managers in Western Bohemia are reversing decades-old practices by creating ponds and wetlands designed to retain moisture and support a more diverse forest landscape.

Chef, food writer and cookbook author Evie Harbury is the author of My Bohemian Kitchen, which introduces international readers to Czech food through recipes and personal stories. Inspired by her childhood between England and the Czech Republic, the book also draws on family memories and traditions. I caught up with Harbury during a recent visit to Prague to talk about her grandmother's influence on her cooking, the inspiration behind the book, and why she thinks Czech cuisine remains one of Europe's most overlooked culinary traditions.

The Czech national team's World Cup campaign ended with an early group-stage exit, leaving supporters frustrated and demanding answers. Karel Häring, chief football commentator of Canal + Sport,  believes the disappointing performances cannot be blamed on the head coach or the players alone. Instead, he says the tournament exposed long-standing structural weaknesses in Czech football.

Four hundred years ago, the elephant Hansken was a European attraction that also visited the town of Mladá Boleslav. Today, in the same place, a metal sculpture of her has been created as part of the 13th edition of the Metal Symposium, which once again brought several international artists to the city.

St. Vitus Cathedral, the dominant feature of Prague Castle, is known as the site of coronations, state funerals and major religious ceremonies. For nearly a century, however, it has also attracted filmmakers.

The clash between the Czech head of state and the cabinet over who should attend the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara has now reached the highest court in the land. On Tuesday President Pavel  challenged the government’s decision to exclude him from the official delegation, on the grounds that it violated his constitutional rights.

The 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which begins next Friday, is set to welcome absolute Hollywood royalty, in the form of Dustin Hoffman. Other names just revealed by the organisers include actors Juliette Binoche, Jeffrey Wright, Kevin Bacon and – making his third visit – Harvey Keitel. I spoke to Karlovy Vary’s artistic director, Karel Och, after Tuesday morning’s announcement.

Markéta Vondroušová, the Czech tennis star who won Wimbledon in 2023, has been handed a four-year ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency. The ruling comes despite the former champion's insistence that she has never doped and has never tested positive.

Czech Television and Czech Radio employees held a warning strike on Monday over government plans to replace license fees with state budget funding, over fears that the planned reform would jeopardize their independence. The strike was reflected in broadcasts throughout the day across all channels except children's programming.

Czech archaeologists have announced a remarkable discovery in south-eastern Moravia: an almost perfectly preserved Roman jug found in a 1,500-year-old grave. The vessel is thought to be several centuries older than the burial itself and survived even though the grave was robbed long ago.

From its earliest days, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR) has been more than just a performer – it has been a source of inspiration. Dozens of works were written specifically for its musicians and for the possibilities offered by radio broadcasting.

On a former Soviet military base in Central Bohemia, drones now replace tanks as Ukrainian veterans help test and develop the next generation of unmanned aircraft. Their battlefield experience has become one of the Czech defence industry's greatest assets, helping shape products now supplied not only to Ukraine but increasingly to NATO countries.

After enjoying success as a pop singer in the MTV era, Julian Lennon has since focused much of his attention on other fields, including photography. A small exhibition drawn from his book Life’s Fragile Moments has just opened at the Leica Gallery in Prague, a city he has visited repeatedly. I spoke to Lennon at a press preview.

With summer approaching and the climate crisis progressing, it is likely that new temperature records will once again be recorded at Prague’s Clementinum meteorological station with more than 250 years old tradition. Nevertheless, scientists point out that data collected there should be interpreted with caution.

One of the country’s biggest music festival, Metronome , begins in Prague on Friday. This year’s headliners – Nick Cave, Sting and Tom Odell – will be familiar to Czech audiences, though the 10th anniversary edition of the event is set to take place at a new venue. I spoke to Metronome’s founder David Gaydečka.

Classical music and unusual venues will come together in Prague's Troja district from Thursday as the Troja Festival returns for its third edition. Running until June 23 and themed Between Heaven and Earth, the festival aims to connect music with some of the city's most distinctive settings. Ahead of the event, I spoke with one of its founders, Martina Výrková, and first asked her how it all began.

Few Holocaust testimonies are as vivid and comprehensive as the illustrated diary created by Alfred Kantor. Born in Prague in 1923, the young Jewish artist was deported to Terezín in December 1941 as part of the first transport of men sent to establish the ghetto. Two years later, he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he was imprisoned in the so-called Terezín Family Camp before being transferred to the Schwarzheide concentration camp in Germany. Against all odds, Kantor survived. After enduring a death march in the final months of the war, he returned to Terezín, where he was liberated in May 1945. In the months that followed, he reconstructed his wartime experiences in an extraordinary album comprising 127 watercolours, drawings and written commentaries. The result is both a deeply personal memoir and an invaluable historical document. Acquired very recently by the Auschwitz Museum, the album is now considered one of the most significant artistic testimonies created by a Holocaust survivor. We met Agnieszka Sieradzka, art historian at the Auschwitz Museum, to discuss the importance of this unique work.

Prague’s Jiřího z Poděbrad Square officially reopened on Wednesday following a major renovation lasting over two years. Officials say around 170 trees have been added to the well-known public space, but critics say it is not green enough.

For climbers, El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park is what Mount Everest is for mountaineers. This spring, Czech climber František D'Agostino achieved something that only a handful of people have ever done. Together with American climber Samuel Stroh, he free-climbed the legendary El Niño route on El Capitan in a single day. Just a few days later, the pair returned to tackle another demanding route on the wall, Golden Gate, this time in a 26-hour push.

A 17th-century engraving by Wenceslas Hollar has returned to the Beneš Villa in Sezimovo Ústí after spending decades with relatives of the Czechoslovak President in the United States. For the family, the donation is not only the return of a work of art, but also a symbolic act of remembrance, reconciliation and homecoming.

After years of fundraising, design work and construction, the new organ for St. Vitus Cathedral is finally complete. Built in Spain, inspired by a Czech natural landmark and funded by public donations, the instrument will be inaugurated with a ceremonial service and concert at Prague Castle.

For nearly 25 years, Libuše Salomonovičová has been piecing together the stories of Jewish families connected to Ostrava in the northeastern Czech region of Moravia-Silesia. Now the 89-year-old researcher has donated her life's work, a unique archive containing records on some 33,000 people, to Ostrava's City Archive.

The Czech Entomological Society has named the praying mantis Czechia’s Insect of the Year for 2026. Once found mainly in southern Moravia, this striking predator has spread across much of the country and is now turning up in places where people would hardly have expected to see it a few decades ago. Researchers are also asking the public to help track its spread, while keeping an eye on other mantis species that may soon reach Czechia.

People around the country can now experience a trip into space through virtual reality. A special rocket-shaped simulator called SpaceBuzz is touring the country, offering visitors a chance to embark on a virtual space mission and view Earth from the perspective of astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Czechs are famous for their love of cottages, cabins and weekend retreats. But while this tradition has often been explored as a social phenomenon, far less attention has been paid to the architecture behind it. A new exhibition at Prague’s Museum of Applied Arts, called The Modern Cottage: An Architectural Phenomenon , aims to change that, tracing the evolution of cottage architecture from the interwar period to the end of socialism. I sat down with its curator, architectural historian Adam Štěch, to find out more.

The Babiš government is preparing a major tightening of the country’s drug policy, marking a significant departure from the more liberal approach pursued in recent years. The proposals on the table include a clamp down on kratom sales, tightening regulations on cannabis growers and users, and expanding the powers of municipalities and police.

Zdena Mašínová, whose family played a major role in modern Czech history, has died at the age of 92. Her father was a WWII resistance hero, while her brothers dramatically escaped from communist Czechoslovakia – leading to Mašínová and other family members suffering serious repercussions.

A sound designer trained at FAMU in Prague, Victoriia Kralko spent months collecting phone calls and messages from Ukrainians separated by war - soldiers, refugees, families waiting for news. Born in Prague to Ukrainian parents, she turned this material into Hovory (Calls), an audio series that recently won Czech audiobook of the year 2025. This interview was recorded last Friday. A few hours later, one of the main character of the first episode, Serhiy - the Azovstal defender whose wife Mila had been leaving him daily voice messages for over four years - was freed in a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine.

The Czech Republic boasts one of the densest library networks in Europe. But who exactly uses these libraries, and what do their reading habits look like? Drawing on data from roughly 17 million loans made over three years at Prague's Municipal Library, data journalist Michal Kašpárek uncovered a number of intriguing patterns. At what age do men and women read the same books? Who are the library's ‘super-users’? And how do readers' interests change over the course of a year? Ruth Fraňková spoke to Kašpárek about what the data revealed.

Eighty-four years ago, on June 10, 1942, the Nazis annihilated the Central Bohemian village of Lidice in retaliation for the assassination of Acting Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich by Czechoslovak parachutists. In one of the most brutal reprisals of WWII, they shot 173 men, deported the women to concentration camps, and murdered most of the children or took them away for Germanization. The village was razed to the ground.

The biggest event in football, the World Cup, gets underway this week. Czechia, appearing in the tournament for the first time in two decades, will take on South Korea in their first game in Mexico’s Guadalajara on Thursday. But what are the Czechs’ chances of making a splash in North America? I discussed their prospects with journalist Jiří Hošek of Canal+ Sport.

Czech astronaut Aleš Svoboda is on track to become the first Czech citizen to visit the International Space Station. The European Space Agency has signed an agreement with the US space company VAST that could see him fly to the ISS next year, and take on the key role of pilot.

Czech linguists are helping preserve the language of one of Central America's Indigenous peoples. They are racing to record the stories of El Salvador's Nahuat Pipil before they disappear with the last generation of storytellers.

Two Czech Roman Catholic priests killed by the communist regime were beatified in Brno at the weekend. Jan Bula and Václav Drbola were hanged after a show trial in the 1950s, the darkest decade of the totalitarian era.

For generations, the town of Vamberk has been synonymous with lace-making. Now its most famous craft has earned a new distinction: the exquisite Vamberk bobbin lace has become the first Czech craft product to receive European protected geographical indication status.