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Constantin Kinsky was born in 1961 in Paris, France, to one of the oldest aristocratic families of Bohemia in French exile. Educated in France, he became a successful investment banker and strategic consultant and advised the Czech governments of Josef Tošovský and Miloš Zeman thus helping to save the Czech banking system during the crisis of the late 1990´s.

A new project run by a team of foreigners living in Prague aims to map ethnic restaurants in the city. The Czech Friendly team pinpoints authentic family-run foreign restaurants, pop-ups and food trucks and present them through a printed map and a mobile app. It also collects the best authentic recipes and presents the life stories of the places’ owners. I spoke about the project with Ekaterina Kokkalou, who is a part of the Czech Friendly team:

Petra Kvarčáková is one of the few professional milliners in the Czech Republic. She learned the craft in Britain – among others she studied with the legendary milliner of the Queen Mother, Rose Cory. A few years ago, she established her own brand called La Modista- offering tailor-made hats of all kinds of materials and styles. When I met with Petra Kvarčáková, I first asked what attracted her to the millinery craft:

Barbora Pokorná and Lukáš Nápravník are two young Czechs who found their second home in New Zealand. The couple has been running a website called Czech Kiwis, where they share their knowledge about the country and provide all sorts of services for Czechs who want to travel, work or study there. I met with Lukáš and Bára during their recent visit to Prague and I started by asking them about their very first visit to New Zealand:

For several years now, a group of Czech enthusiasts have been involved in developing and supporting a skateboarding community in Burma. The country, now transforming from a former military dictatorship, has been going through dynamic changes, giving rise to various subcultures, including skateboarding. I spoke to Jiří Pasz, one of the founders of the Initiative Czech on Board with Myanmar about the local skateboarding scene, but I first asked him how he got the idea to launch this project:

The Czech Republic boasts a unique network of art schools focused on music, ballet, drama and visual arts. The institutions, which are quite generously subsidized by the state, are open to kids from the age of five. Just recently, a nationwide project promoting the so-called "zušky" took place around the country, giving the children and their teachers a rare opportunity to show their skills to the public. The happening was initiated by the Magdalena Kožená Endowement Fund, which was established to promote art education in the Czech Republic.

For the second year now the city of Brno has hosted a week-long festival commemorating its rich multicultural past. The Moravian capital, once home to large German and Jewish communities was deprived of its minorities during and in the aftermath of the Second World War. Under the umbrella title “Meeting Brno” the festival’s multiple events try to shed light onto some of the glorious as well as painful moments in the city’s history and discuss the issues of guilt, revenge, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Did you know that some of the best marmalades are produced in the Czech Republic? At least according to a prestigious British competition called World’s Original Marmalade Awards 2017, which recently took place in Britain’s Cumbria. Marmalades produced by Jozefína Růžičková from South Bohemia won nine medals in competition with over 2,000 marmalade makers from around the world. What’s more, her products are now being sold by Fortnum & Mason, one of the most luxurious department stores in London. I spoke to Jozefína Růžičková during her visit to

Psychiatric care in Central and Eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic, is ineffective and heavily underfinanced, suggests an international study, which has just been published in the prestigious US journal The Lancet Psychiatry. In most of the post-Communist countries, mental health care still relies on large psychiatric hospitals and there is a huge stigma connected to mental health problems. I spoke to Doctor Petr Winkler from the National Institute of Mental Health, who headed the international team of experts, and I first asked him to

Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša was recently appointed one of the two principal guest conductors at London's Philharmonia Orchestra. Simultaneously, Jakub Hrůša is the Chief Conductor of Bamberg Symphony, Permanent Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic and Principal Guest Conductor of Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. I contacted him by phone in Paris, where he is currently on tour and first asked him when he became involved with music: