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In his October 28 address marking the anniversary of Czechoslovakia's independence, President Petr Pavel delivered a warning about complacency, political courage and the future of Czech democracy. He called for greater responsibility in national security, public finances, climate preparedness and public debate, arguing that freedom and democracy require constant effort. This special edition of Czechast presents his complete speech in English translation. As a bonus, it features a rare archival interview with legendary Czech-American filmmaker Miloš Forman, who was posthumously awarded the Order of the White Lion, Czechia's highest state decoration, in 2026.

After years of political interference in public broadcasting in Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, attention is turning to Czechia, long considered a stronghold of independent public service media in Central Europe. The government's plan to replace radio and television licence fees with state-budget funding has triggered fierce parliamentary debate and large demonstrations. In this edition of Czechast, Vít Pohanka examines the government's arguments, talks to protesters in Prague and Brno, and reports on Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's response to mounting criticism.

In this episode of Czechast, we travel to opposite corners of Czechia to explore two cities with very different histories and identities. Ostrava, once a powerhouse of coal mining and heavy industry, has to reinvent itself, while picturesque Český Krumlov has struggled with the consequences of mass tourism. Singer-songwriter Jaromír Nohavica, artist Jana Pešková and radio documentary maker Ivan Studený share their personal memories and explain what makes these places special to them.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s ANO movement failed to win a single seat in Czechia’s latest Senate elections, leaving the opposition with a comfortable majority. In this special episode of Czechast, Vít Pohanka examines the results and why low turnout calls for caution when interpreting them. He also traces the Senate’s history and explains its powers, its role as a constitutional safeguard, and why calls to abolish it have so far failed.

What made Václav Havel a leader people trusted? In Czechast, Alexandr Vondra recalls their years in the dissident movement and the transition from opposition to working at Prague Castle. Through memories of underground publishing, speechwriting and Havel’s gift for listening, he offers a personal perspective on the man and his legacy.

In this special episode of Czechast, Vít Pohanka examines the history and future of one of the most distinctive and unique features of Czech public life: a country of fewer than 11 million inhabitants divided into more than 6,200 municipalities, each normally possessing its own elected council and mayor.

Three years after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and the beginning of the devastating war in Gaza, Czechast turns to two Palestinian voices with longstanding ties to Czechia. Anthropologist Yasara Abu Ghosh and editor and translator Lamis Bartušková Khalilová reflect on their personal histories, their complex identities and their disappointment with Czech political and media responses to Palestinian suffering. Their conversations complement earlier Czechast interviews exploring Jewish perspectives on the conflict.

Czech literature will be in the international spotlight next week when Czechia becomes Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest publishing trade fair. Seventy-five Czech authors are heading to Frankfurt for the event, which runs from October 7 to 11 under the motto “ Czechia: A Country on the Coast .” Against that backdrop, Czechast speaks to Belgian intellectual-property lawyer and passionate reader Bart van Besien, whose Bookmarked Places project explores countries through their literature – and whose journey through Czech books has taken him from Bohumil Hrabal and Jiří Weil to contemporary writer Marek Šindelka.

Václav Havel, playwright, dissident and the first president of the Czech Republic, would have turned 90 on October 5. In this edition of Czechast, former Charter 77 activist Jan Urban remembers first meeting him in the final years of communist rule – and reflects on the qualities that made Havel such an extraordinary figure within the dissident movement.

Linda Zeilina-Cross first came to Prague in 2017 and eventually chose the Czech capital as the base for her International Sustainable Finance Centre. She tells Czechast that Czech scepticism towards new ideas can be frustrating, but also sees a country whose clean-tech sector is stronger than many Czechs realise. Recent political changes concern her, but she believes economic forces driving the transformation will be difficult to reverse.

What does it mean to be Jewish and Czech after October 7, 2023, and the devastating war that followed in Gaza? At Brno’s Štetl Fest, Czechast spoke to historian Anna Hájková (University of Warwick) and Israel expert Irena Kalhousová (Charles University) about antisemitism, Israel, the political left and the peculiar position of Jews in Czech society.

More than 35 years after the fall of communism, how close is the Czech Republic to the free society and free-market economy envisioned in the early 1990s? In this episode of Czechast, former Czech president and prime minister Václav Klaus argues that much of Europe is now moving in the opposite direction. Speaking to Vít Pohanka, he discusses the European Union, the euro, the war in Ukraine and the political forces challenging Europe’s mainstream.

Karen Kruger grew up in the United States unaware that her mother was Jewish and had escaped Czechoslovakia on a Kindertransport. Discovering that secret set the Holocaust educator and filmmaker on a decades-long search that resulted in Letters from Brno and repeated journeys to South Moravia. Speaking to Czechast during ŠTETL FEST, Kruger explains how confronting a painful family history gradually turned into an unexpected sense of belonging.

Václav Klaus is known internationally as a politician who has never shied away from controversy, from questioning policies designed to fight climate change to his views on Russia’s war against Ukraine. But this episode of Czechast reveals a more personal side of the former Czech president: Václav Klaus the Pražák. Born and raised in Vinohrady, he looks back on more than eight decades of life in a changing Prague – and has some typically strong opinions about the city of today.

Prague is already feeling the effects of a warming climate, particularly during increasingly intense summer heat waves. Jan Richter, a climate change adaptation specialist at Prague City Hall, believes the answer lies partly beneath our feet: giving trees enough underground space, retaining rainwater and bringing more vegetation into even the historic centre. In this episode of Czechast, he also explains how a Fulbright scholarship in the United States and the urban farms of Detroit helped shape his ideas about the resilient city of the future.