Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

What's new about Fest Anča, ArtFilm, Kvantum and Pohoda festivals in 2025? Teams, headliners, topics. Culture tips also about the final concerts of 2024/25 season in the Slovak Philharmonic.

Discussing life in Bratislava with two Irish men who found their new home in Slovakia.

A re-run of some of the interviews published before prepared by our colleague Kamila Galjuš.

Ben Pascoe attends the V4 Buisness Conference organized by the Council of Slovak Exporters. He talks with organizers and learns about the MH2 concept car. He also brings you excerpts of speeches by Slovak and Hungarian Foreign Minister and the European Trade Commissioner.

Slovakia’s biggest theatre festival Dotyky a spojenia celebrates its 20th edition this June, running from the 16th to the 21st in the city of Martin. Since its founding, the festival has become a vital platform for showcasing the diversity and innovation of Slovak theatre — from established national institutions to independent companies and emerging artists. Find out more in the interview with Rób...

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

Masked officials, accompanied by the Culture Ministry’s Chief-of-Staff, removed a bust of Cecilia Gonzaga from the Spiš Museum, prompting legal concerns from opposition MPs. Art historian Marta Herucová links the work to Donatello. The Days of Early Music festival opened with a performance by the acclaimed Sollazzo Ensemble. Founder Anna Danilevskaia spoke about the rare Leuven Chansonnier pieces...

In the programming, we will revisit an interview with Tomáš Eštok in which we’ll explore Spare Parts Theatre, an independent theatre group bringing English-language plays to audiences in Slovakia. Then you are going to hear the second episode of RSI series Window to the World – this time we will visit Slovak town of Michalovce and Spanish town Vila-Real. And finally, we will take a look at who Váv...

In this episode of Slovakia Today, we take you to the heart of Trenčín—a city with a mighty hockey legacy and a school that's been nurturing future stars for generations. As Slovakia marks 60 years of student and sports education at one of its most storied institutions, we explore how this small city has produced some of the country’s biggest hockey names. But with Slovakia finishing 12th at the 2...

Bratislava recently hosted the 4th international hobby horsing competition. Ben Pascoe attended and talked with organizers, participants and parents about this fast growing new sport.

Currently, 1,648 people in Slovakia are living with HIV. In 2024 alone, 63 new cases have been diagnosed. While proper treatment can ensure the virus poses no risk to others, including partners, societal stigma remains strong. Many people, including medical professionals, still lack sufficient knowledge about what it truly means to be HIV positive. Find out more in the interview with HIV/AIDS Slov...

A look back at the week's headlines and some of our reports.

The Bratislava Declaration was adopted last week in the Slovak capital, calling on the European Union to draft a European Act on Artistic Freedom—a legal framework designed to protect freedom of expression, creative independence, and the autonomy of cultural institutions across member states. The Days of Early Music festival kicks off in Bratislava on June 6 with a special concert by the Sollazzo...

In today’s episode, we begin with Andrea Froncová from the BROZ conservation association, who highlights the crucial role of wetlands in protecting biodiversity. Later in the show, we look at the life and legacy of Prof. Jozef Čabelka, a pioneering Slovak micrometallurgist and welding expert.

A re-run of two previously published interviews with the producer Ada Solomon who visited Slovakia during the 2025 FEBIO Fest in Bratislava and the frontman Ady Hnát from the metal-core band Etterna based in Prešov, eastern Slovakia, who has won the 2024 RadioeHead Awards in the "Hard and Heavy" category.

Ben Pascoe talks with Juraj Rizman from Post Bellum about how they help maintain the nation's memory and about his most recent visit to Ukraine.

Reintroducing Slovak musician Lotta through her music with KEXP's Kevin Cole. Shortly after the Rose festival in Dolna Krupa, western Slovakia, we map the world famous cultivars that were bred in Krupina, central Slovakia.

Weekly news digest combined with some of the stories from the past week.

The first novel ever written in the territory of present-day Slovakia has just been released in its first English translation. Martina Greňová Šimkovičová speaks with Dobrota Pucherová, one of the editors of René, or: A Young Man's Adventures and Experiences. Meanwhile, Veronika Ščepánová explains the difference between masculine and feminine nationality names to Sean from Ireland. This week's cul...

In this interview, Romana Grajcarová speaks with Slovak triathlete Nikola Čorbová, the first woman ever to win Himalayan Xtri. Čorbová reflects on this historic achievement—conquering one of the most demanding endurance races in the world—and shares what it took to prepare both physically and mentally for such an extreme challenge.

In Slovakia, research is underway both in laboratories and even on farms, as scientists work to better understand and combat infectious diseases. One of the most prominent figures in this effort is Dr. Boris Klempa, a virologist at the Institute of Virology within the Biomedical Research Center at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. In our conversation, we discussed his work on zoonotic viruses in Slo...

Continuing with interviews from the Start with Children summit recently held in Bratislava. Today Ben Pascoe talks with keynote speaker Eva Kail from Vienna and Sandra Stasselova from the Bratislava Metropolitan Institute. Also Tomas Peciar from cykloloalicia tells us about critical mass and kidical mass.

RERUN Project Disconnect aims to comprehensively and interdisciplinaryly explore loneliness and social isolation in Slovakia. In this show, we are going to talk to researcher and doctor from Psychiatric Clinic at the Slovak Medical University, Jakub Januška.

Weekly news digest followed by some of the topical stories of the past week.

Professor Jozef Šuvada, Slovakia's representative in the WHO Executive Board, explains what it means that Slovakia abstained form the WHO Pandemic Agreement. Culture tips invite to Night of Churches, Circus l'Art and BRaK among other events. Veronika and Sean dive into another Slovak phrases usefull for English speakers.