One on One | All stories

Marie Gabánková is a noted portrait artist, painter and teacher. She was born in Ostrava and left Czechoslovakia with her family shortly after the Soviet invasion of 1968, aged just seventeen. She has lived in Canada ever since and has had a book of her works published in England, and had such noted figures as singer-songwriter Karel Kryl and writer Josef Škvorecký sit down for portraits. When I met up with her I began by asking Marie what memories she has of her youth in Czechoslovakia.

Anyone who has been to Prague is extremely likely to have seen some of the work of artist Jiří Votruba. Posters, postcards and t-shirts bearing his distinctive brightly-coloured images of Franz Kafka, the Golem, and Prague landmarks are on sale throughout the city. Indeed, they themselves help form the image of the Czech capital for many visitors.

My guest today is Josef Čermák, a very sprightly 88-year-old Czech who was born in 1924 in a small village called Skury just outside of Prague. He studied law and in 1949 emigrated to Canada and he’s lived here ever since. He has served as the president of both the Czech and Slovak Association of Canada and also Sokol, Canada, and he is also the author of a number of books, including It all Began With Prince Rupert – The Story of Czechs and Slovaks in Canada.

The sultry voice of young Sara Vondrášková there in the song Lay Down, which has launched her from the cafes and clubs of Prague to the silver screen, as the title song for the new Czech film noir Ve Stínu. The jazz student’s bewitching contralto and modern compositional sensibility is giving her some well earned prominence in the next generation of singer/songwriter/composers. Our guest in this edition of One on One, Sara Vondrášková tells us first of all how she’s begun to move away from her home ground in jazz.

There are thousands of Westerners in Prague, but it’s highly likely that none of them are as well known to ordinary Czechs as Dan Brown. He’s a Canadian-born theatre director and actor who for the best part of a decade has been regularly appearing on one of the Czech Republic’s most popular soap operas, TV Nova’s Ulice, or The Street.

Join us for Part 2 of our interview with 38-year-old Czech para-cyclist Jiří Ježek, a gold and silver medal holder from the London Paralympics. London was Jiří’s fourth appearance at the Games and his medal finishes there saw him become the most successful para-cyclist in history.

In today’s One on One my guest is 38-year-old Czech para-cyclist Jiří Ježek, a gold and silver medal holder from the London Paralympics. London was Jiří’s fourth appearance at the Games and his medal finishes there saw him become the most successful para-cyclist in history.

As Czech political parties roll out their campaigns for the senate elections next month, supporters of gender equality are worried that not enough women are making it into the upper echelons of Czech politics. The Prague-based NGO Fórum 50%, which advocates equal representation of men and women in politics, has recently launched a campaign titled “Time for change?!” that promotes quotas in Czech politics, trying to get 30% female candidates on every political party’s ballot. I spoke to Jana Smiggels Kavková, the director of Fórum 50% about how quotas

Daniel Rossi Silva is a professional Brazilian football player who plays for the Czech top league team SK Sigma Olomouc. Before he has become one of the most respected defensive midfielders, there, he also played in Japan. How does he deal with different cultures? The 31-year old athlete speaks Portuguese, English, Italian and – surprisingly – very good Czech.

Vávra Hradílek was the first athlete from the Czech National team to clinch a medal at the XXX Summer Olympic Games in London this year. The kayaker, who has a vibrant personality and is both thoughtful and sharp on issues, discusses what it was like to win silver, as well as how he hopes to use his new-found fame.