My life, my music

From an early age Krešimir Mišak has been writing, broadcasting on the Croatian Radio's educational programmes, and with a keen interest in science fiction he has fronted the program On the Edge of Science on Croatian Television for 20 years. He is also a guitarist and frontman of the rock band Hakuna Matata, so there’s plenty to talk about!

Lidija Petkovič has been part of the Radio Si team for a long time which is reason enough to discover more about her life and likes. Over the past years she has also been to the Glastonbury festival in the UK and there have been many reports from her on Facebook. I thought it would be a great opportunity to discover her music likes and her experiences of this amazing event.

Today’s journalism rarely offers a chance to get behind the face of many people in our society. My Life, My Music offers conversations that allow time to understand how the guest has reached their goals and what is important to them. Along with 8 tracks of music chosen by the guest the programme takes a journey though many different personal philosophies with inspirational guests from all walks of...

Visiting Slovenia to meet and engage with new business partners Jean-Philippe Schepens fascinated me with his very different approach to company structure even the title he gives to his partners, “Tribe” gives a very good indication of their equal value. He is inspiring on so many other levels, if you have concerns about artificial intelligence, self-determination and even the idea that we should...

This month VAL 202 celebrates 50 years of broadcasting. This much loved and respected radio station has a very loyal following and that’s not surprising as it offers music and conversation based around music and the artists that they feature. Music Producer Andrej Karoli invited me to their Ljubljana studios at RTV Ljubljana to talk about VAL202 as well as his own personal thoughts on music and mo...

This week the show is with a musician who has recently made 3 recordings. Her own music is great with a voice that is deep and captivating as is her personality. So many experiences to discover from professional English translation to teaching in vocational colleges, a great love of animals and also being a radio host herself. As a result, this was a great fun conversation to have and I know Vesna...

Recently my guest this week returned to Slovene television screens to act in the role of lawyer Borut Žalar. I thought it would be interesting to discuss the life of an actor, particularly one who is so well known. Rok Vihar started his acting when he was still at secondary school as one of a small group who started a school acting group in co-operation with the National Theatre in Maribor. More t...

What do you really know about fusion technology and how it really can solve the green issues by providing safe energy in quantities that means no dependency on fossil fuels? Whilst my guest is not a nuclear physicist she is directly involved in this technology as a material chemist developing the materials that we need to effectively collect the energy of a fusion reaction. Saša Novak has been inv...

Klemen Fajmut is an economist, is an experienced expert in real estate and in particular green spatial planning. But there is a very important part of his professional life as with Masters in anthropology he views Spatial planning and real estate from an anthropological perspective. He is also a traveller, and he likes to get close to the cultures of the places he visits and learn from their socie...

Statler Gilifen left America with the idea of spending 3 months exploring Europe. Somehow this became 3 years when he found himself in Slovenia and fell in love. Of course, this was just the start and many years later as their children grew older the family moved back to his home, America where he still lives. I met him several times whilst he was here and thought his stories would make a great pr...

It was in March 2013 that I first spoke on this show to Saša about her journey to become a much-respected pianist and music teacher. At that time she was about to leave Slovenia to join her husband in Edinburgh. This interview picks up the story and discovers she is now working at the 3rd most respected music school in the world, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. (QS World University Rankings b...

The guest this week has many managerial roles, from tourism to events and music festivals. Jure Sodja is also a great champion of the Bohinj region of Slovenia and if you have visited, you will know why. He is the perfect person to discuss how Slovenia needs to market itself to the outside world. He also manages the band Sam’s Fever, so if you’re a fan of Elvis’ music then there’s another reason t...

January is often the time when we sit down and consider holidays for the year ahead. Many Slovenes will wish to travel outside their land, and some will want entertainment too. Cruises can offer both of these things without much hassle and a knowledge of exactly what it will all cost. Matjaž Tomanič has experience in this and Požejdon is his company that has many suggestions on how to enjoy a brea...

Dolores Hunsky is a poet and writer and although she had an idea for a book of cat poems she never really considered publishing until she met Venesa Erjavec on a course at Maribor University. Venesa is an artist and agreed to illustrate her poems. The resultant book is charming and whilst you might consider it to be aimed at children it has equal value for all as the reader discovers everything fr...

This week is quite a journey starting in Dubai. My guest Tjaša Ban has business activities in many countries and this year, most notably, in Dubai during Expo 2020 so I felt it was a great opportunity to also discover Slovenia’s involvement in this event. Green installations are high on the list of projects that Tjaša talk about and the music list brings a few tracks that were new to me and possib...

How do our much-loved doggy friends actually communicate with and understand humans? Could we detect emotions in dogs by tracking their facial features? Marie Claire Pagano is from the UK but is often here as her partner is Slovene. I invited her to the studio to explain her research into these questions which she is carrying out at the University of Newcastle.

Ever wondered what it is like to be the boss at the bank? My guest this week is just that, John Denhof is President of the management board and CEO of Nova KBM. He originates from the US and has travelled the world helping financial institutions but this time he has rather fallen for Slovenia and thinks he will make a base here. We talk about investing and the financial world’s responsibility for...

The British Ambassador to Slovenia Tiffany Sadler has been here for a full year now so I felt it was time to have a conversation and discover what she feels about the country she is Currently working in. Not only did I discover her thoughts and love for Slovenia but also a fascinating insight into her time spent on an earlier post to Burma and her conversations with Aung San Suu Kyi. Of course, th...

It’s rare for someone to become super popular in the world of music almost overnight, it’s also amazing for a Slovene song to achieve nearly 9 million hits on YouTube but Challe Salle has achieved both these things and more. With a new video being released this week I invited him to join me in the studio and a more down to earth guy you cannot imagine. Find out what’s important to him and why he’s...

If you are interested in a really holistic approach to education, then my guest in this show is a breath of fresh air. How to engage our children in learning and growing at school is what John Marshall Newton is all about. He comes from America and brings a broad world-wide experience to Slovenia as the Director of the Ljubljana International School.

Over a period of a few months, art historian Kanika Gupta has been an activist-in-residence at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. She is here to continue her work cataloguing artifacts and images that were originally brought to the museum by Slovenes in the early 1900s. This collaboration with the Museum’s Indian collection started back in 2018. Her residency also includes an authorial artistic perf...

Nastja Bremec Rynia began her career in ballet and modern dance when she was just six years old. Michal Rynia began his career as a hip hop dancer in Poland becoming Polish National Champion several times and five times has held the title of World-Champion Hip-Hop dancer. They met at the CODARTS – Rotterdam Dance Academy in The Netherlands. Today they run a Dance studio in Nova Gorica and travel a...

Edin Zubcˇevic´ is from Sarajevo. he has produced hundreds music and other events from chamber music concerts to big arena pop-rock shows and is the founder of Jazz Fest Sarajevo. Since 2018 he has also been the co-curator of the Ljubljana Jazz Festival in Slovenia alongside Bogdan Benigar. Last year the festival was on-line but this year it’s available to all with outside stages that are free to...

Today’s journalism rarely offers a chance to get behind the face of many people in our society. My Life, My Music offers conversations that allow time to understand how the guest has reached their goals and what is important to them. Along with 8 tracks of music chosen by the guest the programme takes a journey though many different personal philosophies with inspirational guests from all walks of...

As we approach the summer and anyone with children maybe considering the next step after primary school I felt it would be useful and interesting to talk someone from a well respected secondary school. I was lucky to be able to discuss the topic with the Deputy Principal of Prva Gimnazija Maribor, Mrs Irena Smole. Some of her responses may surprise you but you will be assured that the schools have...