Latvia Weekly

Happy first day of school to Latvia's students and teachers! In honor of the new year, Joe is joined by one of his new colleagues and two of his media club students at Jelgava Spidola State Gymnaisum to discuss some of the changes taking place in education this year, as well as the top stories of the week including a new step towards municipal reform, fire safety violations, and a list by CNN of t...

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia celebrate 30 years since the important "Baltic Way" protest against Soviet occupation while Rīga inaugurates its third(!) mayor of 2019, PNB Bank's owner sues to stay open, and the Kariņš government tepidly supports Minister of Education Ilga Šuplinska (JKP) in her ongoing conflict with the University of Latvia. Otto and Joe not only discuss these stories and more, bu...

Joe and Otto are back in Rīga to celebrate the annual city festival and discuss the ECB's sudden closure of PNB Bank (formerly Norvik) as well as major updates to long-running stories such as the road to a new Mayor of Rīga, a compromise in regional reform, increased heat in the showdown between the University of Latvia and Minister of Education Ilga Šuplinska, and much more! Opening and closing m...

The Holocaust will always be one of the darkest chapters of Latvian history, and it is up to historians like Richards Plavnieks, Assistant Professor of History at Florida Southern College, to chronicle this painful period. Joe sits down with Dr. Plavnieks to discuss his work studying the infamous "Arājs Kommando" as well as his experiences growing up as a Latvian-American on both sides of the Atla...

With time ticking before an August 20th deadline set by opposition parties, in which Rīga City Council must agree upon a new mayor or face extraordinary elections, former Mayor Nils Ušakovs phones in from Brussels with an offer that key independent councillors seem eager to refuse. Joe and Otto discuss potential stalemate-breaking scenarios as well as a scandal-plagued bridge, a showdown over the...

Otto has returned to Latvia to celebrate a major anniversary with Joe! No, not the show's 40th episode, but the 100th birthday of Latvijas Dzelceļš, the country's rail authority! Other topics of discussion include major updates to the Kariņš government's plans, a drought in the south of Kurzeme, a new US ambassador to Latvia, and a bridge that belongs to no one in desperate need of repairs. Openin...

After 58 days and over 1500 km of cycling, Latvian-Australian Kris Akenfelds has brought his journey across Latvia to a close and joins Joe once again in Jelgava to tell stories from the eastern half of his journey as well as some of his major takeaways from spending summer all throughout the Latvian countryside. Photo Credit: Ivo Kruusamägi https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Al%C5%ABksn...

With Otto and Olevs still away in America, recently returned cross-country cyclist and regular contributor Kris Akenfelds sits down with Joe to discuss more trouble at Latvijas Radio, the country-wide blocking of a Russian news portal, countryside residents' opinions of regional reform, and whether to regulate parking of the newly popular electric scooters.

With debate season in full swing back in his home country of America, Joe sat down this week with Latvian Debate Association "Quo Tu Domā?" board members Rasmuss Filips Geks and Edgars Klētnieks to discuss bringing critical thinking to the classroom, building logical arguments, evaluating information sources and much more. Take a break from arguing with your Facebook friends for an hour to listen...

As the New Conservative Party (JKP) signals that their willingness to cooperate with the rest of the Kariņš government coalition is running low, the government searches for a solution to the Latvian Radio funding crisis. Otto phones in from Washington DC to discuss these topics with Joe and much more, including a possible rise to minimum wage, a Latvian national being held captive by Iran, and gre...

For the first interview episode in some time, Joe sat down with freelance journalist and voice of "The Baltic Reports" podcast Anna Ūdre to discuss a wide range of topics including the pros and cons of working as a freelancer in Latvia, the relationship between politicians and media, the role of advertising in funding public media, and much more!

Despite the short amount of time between episodes, there was plenty for Joe to discuss with Otto in his first time back on the show this month, with developments in the Baiba Broka bribery case, threats by Jaunā konservatīvā partija to sack Rīga city council altogether, major economic statistics released for the first half of 2019, and much more! They were even finally able to finally call Latvian...

After more than a month as "president-elect," Mr. Egils Levits was finally handed the keys to Rīga castle by outgoing President Raimonds Vējonis. On the other side of town, former Nacionālā apvienība mayoral candidate Baiba Broka spent time in very different accommodation — a jail cell in Čiekurkalns after being detained by KNAB agents over bribery allegations. Join Olevs and Joe as they break dow...

As if there wasn't enough political drama this week with KNAB announcing a status of "suspect" for former Mayor Nils Ušakovs just days before assuming his duties as an EU parliamentarian, the resignation of the entire temporary supervisory board of Latvenergo as well as major developments in the ongoing green energy subsidy corruption debacle certainly kept things interesting. Join Joe and Olevs a...

While Rīga City Council might be quickly running out of ways to avoid a messy early election, Otto and Joe certainly aren't in danger of running out of issues to discuss, with major topics such as the final 2026 Olympic decision, the rejection of a civil partnership bill, and the dismissal of the entire Latvenergo energy utility's board all happening throughout what was expected to be a slow news...

Join Joe as he sits down with Latvian-Australian Kris Akenfelds, who is halfway through a 2-month cycling journey along Latvia's entire border and a few places off the track. Kris recounts some of the most interesting places he's been to and people he's met, as well as a brush with the supernatural and a few life-changing moments along the way. Photo credit: Bhavishya Goel https://www.flickr.com/p...

Līgo, Līgo! In honor of this year’s quickly approaching midsummer celebration, Joe sat down with 2x2 Latvian youth camp volunteer Austra Apsīte to discuss Jāņi traditions, clear up midsummer myths, and even share some traditional Līgo music. Whether you're a midsummer newbie or a lifelong "Jāņa bērns," you're likely to learn something interesting about this important time of the year for Latvian c...

With small cracks starting to appear in Attistibai/Par! and giants fissures widening in KPV LV, Joe and Olevs discuss the stability of both parties as well as the coalition as a whole. Other major topics include updates in health and financial reforms, an increase to teachers' salaries, a knockout performance by Briedis, and a sad day of remembrance for all Latvian people.

In this next installment of the summer interview series, Joe sits down with local archaeology assistant Jānis Tomašuns to talk about some of the surprises hidden throughout Latvia just a few centimeters below the ground as well as his experience going on digs throughout the country.

What began as Joe and Olevs' going away party for Otto ended in disaster thanks to the abnormally tropical weather overheating Joe's laptop and erasing the first ever episode all three had recorded together. Sadly, the loss of a podcast episode was far from the most serious consequence of the heatwave, with severe thunderstorms, hail damage, and drownings being reported throughout the country. Joi...

This week, Joe returns to the University of Latvia's Theology Faculty to sit down with Professor Valdis Tēraudkalns and lecturer Ņikita Andrejevs to discuss their work with the Latvian Bible Society in editing the most recent translation of the Bible to Latvian and the challenges of producing a work that can satisfy Latvia's diverse Christian community, as well as why theology is worth studying in...

Now that the book has been closed on the presidency of Raimonds Vējonis and the mayoralty of Nils Ušakovs, it's time for Otto and Joe to look back and evaluate the time these men spent in two of the three most high-profile jobs in Latvian politics and what their legacies will likely be. Opening and closing music "Pane in the Glass" by Lee Rosevere is used with a Creative Commons 4.0 attribution li...

Latvia has a new president and Rīga has a new mayor, but one of them might not be able to hold onto his job for very long. Before joining Kris Akenfelds by phone to hear about the latest on his 50-day his cycling trip across the country, Otto and Joe break down the latest drama both on Rīga city council and in the KPV LV parliamentary faction as well as good news for rail and air travelers, not so...

With travel likely on many people's minds now that the summer weather looks to be here to stay, we sat down one again with Leading Expert Mārtiņš Enģelis from the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA)Tourism Department and the Capital R blog, this time to discuss the state's tourism strategy, the explosion of "alternative tourism," Rīga's hotel building craze, and some advice on choos...

Before they get into major stories of the week including more corruption drama in Rīga, changes to airport taxi regulations, and Latvia's dumbest arms dealer, Otto and Joe are joined via phone by regular contributor Kris Akenfelds who has started a 2-month bike journey along the country's entire border. In addition to the regular weekly discussions of Latvian news, Kris will be calling in each wee...