Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. The day was chosen to be the Holocaust Memorial Day. Martin Bednárik talks to Madeline Vadkerty, an American based in Bratislava, Slovakia. She is professor, author and researcher dedicated to the topic of documenting the Holocaust. Madeline's first encounter with Slovakia was in the 1990s. She c...

Patka and Ben discuss the past week and look ahead to all the great stuff Slovakia has to offer in the upcoming week.

Iconic anti-war poetry by the iconic Slovak poet Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav can be seen in a unique performance not only in English translation at the Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav Theatre in Bratislava. The language spoken on stage combines English with German, French, Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Polish and Russian. Vienna-based Slovak director David Paska worked with Bratislava and New York-ba...

Natural disasters, such as last summer’s catastrophic floods in central Europe and the fires currently ravaging California, are becoming increasingly common. While not solely caused by climate change, these events have grown more frequent and severe, largely due to rising ocean and atmospheric temperatures. Additionally, industrial and residential pollution has degraded the quality of our air, wat...

Ben Pascoe talks with senior economic analyst, Tibor Lörincz about Slovakia's economy, consolidation, hacking attacks and real estate market.

January is generally the coldest month of the year, which makes for the best conditions for "otužilci", or in English, people who like to practice cold-water immersion. We asked wellbeing coach Michal Páleník and professional in cold-water immersion Vladimír Pauco from Zdravé otužovanie organization about how to practice this activity safely and what are its benefits and risks.

News overview: A group of Slovak MPs visited Moscow, praising the Russian President Vladimir Putin while a trip of another group of MPs to Kyiv was postponed because of security reasons. Slovak Prime Minister tries to arrange a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ben and Patka discuss the past week and look ahead to what is happening in the next week.

The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, visited Slovakia and spoke about the idea of holding the Olympic Games in three neighbouring countries - Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. The newly appointed executive director of the International Visegrad Fund, Linda Kapustova Helbichova, presents her plans for the next three years. Culture news also about the latest meeting of the...

Rerun of the interviews with Martina Ivanová about the Slovenčina v Pohode project, Mária Koscelníková about localisation for the Slovak market and Maroš Brojo about SGDA.

Ben Pascoe talks with former Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavol Demes, about the current situation in Slovak foreign policy and civil society.

Recent data from Eurostat show that over 14% of Slovak population lives on the poverty line. In this show, we are going to explore the problem of growing poverty in Slovakia. You are also going to hear from experts: sociologist from SAV Zuzana Kusá and trade unionist, activist and analyst Ján Košč from initiative Pracujúca chudoba.

The Interview: Marek Šulík, the filmmaker behind the film Ms President about the presidential mandate of the first female Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová. Martin Bednárik asks the director what was the making of the film like, what secrets about the presidential mandate of Zuzana Čaputová will the audience learn, and if Zuzana Čaputová liked the film after it was done. And – why is the film about...

Patka and Ben recap the last week in Slovakia and look ahead at events around the country that could be interesting for our listenters.

Jeweller and designer Petra Toth explains what it means to be inspired by one's roots, and the details that caught her eye while researching folk costumes in the Rusyn village of Mikova in eastern Slovakia.

Light pollution is an increasingly widespread problem that causes profound negative effects on the human body and the natural world. This fact has led some to push for measures that aim to mitigate these effects. The first to recognize the problem and call for change were astronomers. In this episode, we travel to the darkest place in Slovakia, Poloniny dark sky park, to experience something most...

Ben Pascoe sits down with the publisher of newspaper Dennik N, Lukas Fila to discuss how the newspaper came to be and what has changed in the Slovak media over the past 10 years.

A bark beetle disaster in Brezno, the launch of a non-fiction book about the 2022 terrorist attack in Bratislava, a thunderstorm that ended the Pohoda Festival in Trencin, a tribute to the legend of independent theatre production and a Roma Holocaust expert talking in Kosice. All this in the final round of the year 2024 in the English section of Radio Slovakia International, the public broadcaster...

Ben and Patka discuss the past week in Slovakia and look ahead to interesting upcoming events.

Interviews with Mirta Lourenco, UNESCO chief of media development and media and information literacy, Noel Curran, Director General at EBU, Cilla Benkö, Swedish Radio Director General about the role of public media.

On the 1st of January 2025, we bring you a special New Year's edition of Slovakia Today, presenting highlights of the year 2024. Enjoy!

In this Monday show, Patka is going to talk to the general director and headmaster of the newly opened high school Skyro, that is the first one in Europe focused on AI technologies. You are also going to hear an opinion of experts from Národný inštitút vzdelávania a mládeže about incorporating the AI into the education as we know it.

Ben and Patka talk Silvester traditions and look around the country at the different New Year's eve celebrations.

On the second day of Christmas, Christians commemorate the first martyr, St Stephen, who was stoned to death for his faith. Another important Stephen known in this region of Europe was King Stephen of Hungary, who was also very devoted to God. That is why today on Radio Slovakia International we are going to dedicate a special programme to Stephens or Stefans and to Hungary, or rather to the symbo...

Christmas in Slovakia has evolved significantly in recent years. Climate change has made a white Christmas less predictable, and the consumption habits of the modern Western world have lessened the appeal of handmade, locally produced goods. However, there are individuals and communities across the country who are preserving traditions and shifting their priorities, making Christmas in Slovakia a...