One on One | All stories

In this week's One on One, Ian Willoughby meets a young American woman called Megan King, who is the only foreigner working at the Czech non-governmental organisation, the Center for Democracy and Free Enterprise. Their conversation takes in - among other issues - the level of civic involvement in the Czech Republic, how Megan's organisation tries to teach Czechs to engage more in local politics

Rob Cameron's guest on this week's One on One is Pavla Francova, a young woman who's already achieved much in her life. She's a cross country skier and middle-distance runner with five medals under her belt. She's an English translator and interpreter and teaches Czech to foreigners. She has considerable artistic talent, recently providing the illustrations for a new book. And she's achieved all this despite being totally blind since the age of 15. To hear her story, tune into this week's One on One.

In this weeks's One on One Ian Willoughby's guest is Ondrej Pilny, who is the director of the Irish studies programme at Prague's Charles University. Their conversation takes in - among other things - Ondrej's experiences at a university in Ireland, the poor pay which makes life unpleasant for academics in the Czech Republic, and what it's like working at one of the oldest universities in Europe. Listen to Ondrej Pilny and Ian Willoughby in conversation in One on One.

Jan Bradac is the managing director of Falcon film, a Czech distribution company that holds a theatrical licence for Sony and Buena Vista Int'l here in the Czech Republic. Jan took over at Falcon five years ago when he was 27, just two years after starting at the company as a sales manager; today Jan is known to everyone who is anyone in the film business here. As managing director of Falcon he oversees bringing block-busters like Spider-man to Czech screens. Jan also puts a lot of stock in Czech films (such as this year's The Year of the Devil

In this week's One on One Ian Willoughby's guest is Jarka Stuchlikova. Mrs Stuchlikova left Prague in 1969 to live with her anthropologist husband and children on an Indian reservation in Chile. Following political changes in the country, the family had to leave, eventually settling in Northern Ireland. After many years there Jarka Stuchlikova now lives in Prague once again. Listen to her incredible story in One on One.

Rob Cameron's guest on One on One this week is Dr Scott Leischow, head of the Tobacco Control Research Branch of the U.S. National Cancer Institute. A recent study on tobacco addiction suggested that as many as 70 percent of smokers want to give up smoking. But how can doctors help them kick the habit? Why has the World Health Organisation classified tobacco addiction as a disease? And is there any hope for anti-smoking campaigners, here in the smoker-friendly Czech Republic? For answers to these and more questions, tune into this week's One on

Thousands of Czechs, especially young people and students, were faced with the question of whether to stay or leave the country when Russians tanks destroyed the Prague Spring in 1968. Miroslav "Mirku" Jezek was one of them, and in many ways his story is typical of that of his generation. Mirku first lived in Germany, before eventually moving on to, among other places, China

Rob Cameron's guest on One on One this week is Kumar Vishwanathan - an Indian community worker living in north Moravia. Kumar has spent much of the last decade looking for ways to bring the local Roma community closer to majority society, and advocates a number of controversial measures - including dialogue with far-right skinheads and a "Coexistence Village", where Roma and white families will live side by side. Tune in to this week's One on One to find out more.

In the communist era many Czechs left the country to escape the oppressive regime. Nowadays Czechs move abroad for more positive reasons, for work or simply to enjoy the experience of living in a different culture. Vojtech Komarek has been living in Australia for three years, and in One on One he talks to Ian Willoughby about the Australian 'fair go' mentality, the government's immigration policies and the kind of work that young Czechs often end up doing. That's in One on One.

Rob Cameron's guest on this week's One on One is Karel Kucera - head of the Academy of Popular Music and also Managing Director of the Czech branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Join them as they discuss the role of the Academy in promoting Czech pop music, the fight against the illegal copying of CDs, and why Czech radio stations could do more to showcase up-and-coming new bands.