Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

In this Friday show, we are bringing an extensive report from the 21st International Film Festival Cinematik with the focus on premiers of internationally acclaimed Slovak films and films shot in Slovak co-production. "Lover, not a fighter", "If pigeons turned to gold" or "Becoming Emma" among them. Culture tips invite to several festivals in Slovakia and a few shows abroad.

What do the latest PISA results reveal about the skills of Slovak students? The OECD’s 2025 assessment points to some stabilisation, but also persistent challenges in reading, mathematics and inequalities linked to students’ backgrounds. Slovakia’s Education Minister Tomáš Drucker discusses the results, the impact of the digital world and how ongoing education reforms aim to respond. Extreme heat...

This week the 21st Fjuzn Festival kicks off in Bratislava. Fjuzn is unique and is the largest multi-genre and multicultural event focused on migration and foreigners in Slovakia with national and international significance. Ben Pascoe sat down with one of the organizers, Veronika Fishbone Vlčková, to find out more about this year's festival.

In honour of the special day in Slovakia, we take a look back at some interviews explaining where this tradition comes from and why it is celebrated here.

The fourth edition of our summer series HerStories from the Capital: Remarkable Women of Bratislava brings together three women whose lives took very different paths, yet each left a lasting mark in our Capital. Bratislava tour guides Ľubomíra Černáková and Katarína Blšták Čatlošová introduce us to Helena Turcerová Devečková, a pioneering scholar, author and translator; Zdenka (Cecília) Schelingov...

As we celebrate 90 years of shortwave broadcasting abroad from what was then Czechoslovakia, I’ll be talking to our devoted listener Murali in Sweden and his family about the significance of DXing in the age of AI. Later, RSI music director Rado Mešša will invite you all to the London concert of Prešov based band IMT SMILE.

Breaking headlines of the week and feature teasers from RSI English section editors.

Throughout the summer, RSI has been running a series of readings from Slovak literature in English translation. For our English-speaking audience, we’ve been bringing you The Book of Bratislava, an anthology published in the UK by the independent publishing house Comma Press. Now, we’re bringing the series to a close with an excerpt from Eva Vozárová’s story-essay Summer in Bratislava, translated...

REPRÍZA: Marking the 30th anniversary of Child Safety Helpline, this programme examines the current state of mental health among children and minors in Slovakia. Through insights from child helpline professionals, special education teacher Jana Merašická, and a researcher from The Research Institute of Child Psychology and Pathopsychology, we explore how children’s psychological needs have changed...

The new school year has brought several changes to Slovakia, including the launch of the country’s biggest education reform in the past 20 years. At a press conference, Education Minister Tomáš Drucker, Petra Fridrichová, Director of the Formal Education Support Department at NIVaM and co-author of the new State Educational Programme, Chairwoman of the Association of Primary Schools of Slovakia Ev...

Ben Pascoe visits the special centenary exhibit at the Slovak Radio building with a special guest and introduces you to our newest colleague Octavia.

Why do people give? What does generosity really mean, and what shapes charitable behavior in Slovakia compared to other countries? To explore these questions, we speak with experimental and behavioral economist Matej Lorko. We discuss what behavioral economics reveals about human decision-making, how economists study altruism in laboratory settings, and whether charitable giving is driven more by...

RSI Sunday, music, letters from listeners and the 8th round of the Ziva Voda competition.

We take a look back at the week's headlines and some of our best stories from the past week.

Roman Bomboš brings another story linked to the centenary of radio broadcasting in what is now Slovakia. This time, he focuses on the first professional symphony orchestra in the country. Culture Tips feature two invitations – one to the international film festival Cinematik, which starts in Piešťany on 8 September, and the second to LingvaFest, a festival of foreign languages that can be studied...

How much can a simple conversation, a cup of coffee or just a little attention mean to an older person? In this programme, we meet Kristína Holecová, the creator of the Instagram profile Senior ťa potrebuje – Senior Needs You. She shares her experiences and friendships with seniors, explains why our presence can sometimes be the most valuable thing we can offer, and tells the remarkable story of a...

As housing prices continue to rise in Slovakia, finding an affordable place to live is becoming increasingly difficult. At the same time, the environmental cost of conventional construction is prompting more people to question how — and from what — we build our homes. In this edition of Green Slovakia, we explore some of the ideas behind natural, low-impact construction. Our story takes us to Zaje...

In honour of the anniversary of the Slovak Constitution, Ben Pascoe brings you interviews with constitutional experts Radoslav Prochazka and Vincent Bujňák.

Experts say that walking to school independently helps children develop self-confidence, responsibility and social skills. Yet many parents remain hesitant, concerned that public spaces and traffic conditions are not safe enough for their children. The Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava's Mesto pre deti (City for Children) project aims to change that by combining urban planning, traffic solution...

In 2026, Slovak Radio is marking 100 years since broadcasting began in what was then Czechoslovakia. For most of that time—90 years, in fact—broadcasting to audiences abroad has been an essential part of its story. While Radio Prague International is celebrating its 90th anniversary, Radio Slovakia International is marking 33 years since launching its own international service. This program is ded...

We take a look back at the week's headlines and some of our best stories from the past week.

Martina Greňová Šimkovičová revisits a report from Banská Bystrica, from Professor Ladislav Sára Street, home to a Slovak Radio studio. The report recalls Anton Prídavok and features an archival appeal from Slovak Radio urging listeners, in the final days of August 1944, not to tune in to broadcasts from Bratislava, but instead to listen to the Free Slovak Broadcaster.

In today’s programme, we will mark the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács, a turning point that profoundly reshaped Central Europe and the territory of present-day Slovakia. We will look at the battle itself, the subsequent Ottoman expansion and its lasting military and cultural impact on the region, while also exploring the Mohács 500 SK exhibition at Zvolen Castle. Our guests are historia...

The Pohoda Festival is known not only for its music, but also for its atmosphere of mutual respect, trust, and a willingness to help. What creates this exceptional atmosphere? Is it the result of the festival’s organization or the visitors themselves? And what does this tell us about the kind of community people long for today? Together with sociologist Dr. Zuzana Kusá, we seek answers to the ques...

Nova Trznica, the new market hall, is the futuristic looking building at Bratislava’s Trnavské mýto. In the past, it was a bustling market hall, an architectural wonder, the place to be in Bratislava. Recently it had fallen on hard times. Those times are past. Ben Pascoe visited the market hall and met with vendors, and organizers Peter Briatka and Illah Van Oijen, who are working hard to rebuild...