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For many years Jana Fraňková was the regular interpreter for President Václav Havel when he welcomed foreign visitors and travelled abroad. Fraňková was one of the few Czechs of her generation to graduate from Oxford University and following her return to Prague in the 1970s was harassed by the secret police for translating for Charter 77. She was also involved, she told me at Radio Prague’s studios, with the Jan Hus Educational Foundation, a group of Western academics who provided underground support to intellectuals in Czechoslovakia.

The journalist Veronika Bednářová has been closely associated with the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for many years. Her main job there is as editor-in-chief of the Festival Daily newspaper, but she also is well-known for moderating press conferences with some of the world’s biggest movie stars. When we sat down just before the 52nd edition got underway, I asked Bednářová when she had gone to Karlovy Vary for the first time.

Professor Igor Lukeš teaches at Boston University and has written extensively on modern Czech history, the Cold War and contemporary developments in Central and Eastern Europe. When we spoke recently the conversation took in everything from his increasingly sympathetic view of Neville Chamberlain to his own arrival in New York in the late 1970s. But I first asked the renowned historian about his early life in communist Czechoslovakia.

The young Prague-born writer Jaroslav Kalfař has received a great deal of attention in the international media for his debut novel Spaceman of Bohemia, which combines elements of science fiction with references to Czech history and mixes absurd humour and moral questions. Kalfař lives in New York and wrote the book in English. When we spoke recently, the author – who has drawn comparisons with several of the greatest modern Czech novelists – was on one of his first visits back to his native city since moving to the US.

This week sees the release of the first episode of Genius, a new National Geographic series on the life of Albert Einstein that was filmed here in the Czech Republc. The older Einstein is played by Geoffrey Rush, the Oscar-winning Australian actor known for movies such as Shine and The King’s Speech. While Rush was still in Prague he spoke exclusively to Petr Dudek of Czech Radio’s Radiožurnál on a host of subjects – including playing the famous Einstein.

One of the biggest retail outlets to open in Prague in recent years has been Hamleys, the first Central European branch of the famous UK toy shop. Hamleys was brought to the city by entrepreneur Pavel Čmelík, who had previously introduced other British brands, such as shirt- and suit-maker T.M. Lewin, to the Czech Republic. When we spoke at his office overlooking the bustling Na Příkopě St., the conversation took in pricing, Czech tastes and other aspects of his franchise-based business. But I first asked Čmelík about his own background.

A lot of Czechs might not recognise Robert Polo by appearance. But many undoubtedly know the American’s rich and distinctive voice – and Dr. Bob persona – as a prominent presenter on the radio stations Metropolis, Expres and, currently, Color Music Radio. Polo is also a leading voice artist in the Czech Republic, as well as an in-demand compere of live events. When we spoke, he told me he had already been a broadcaster for some years prior to his arrival in Prague in 1994.

While many young European travellers visit Indonesia for its idyllic beaches and cheap lifestyle, Jakub Freiwald and his partner Jana recently spent several months helping fight the country’s major refuse problem by leading rubbish collection teams on the island of Lombok. When we spoke, Freiwald told me that the pair, who had initially helped set up a school in Indonesia, had been inspired to collect garbage by Trash Hero, a project originally started in Thailand by another young Czech.

Petr Janyška is the head of the Czech Literary Centre, a recently created state agency that aims to promote the country’s writers internationally. Originally a translator, Janyška was one of the founders of the weekly Respekt before working for many years as a diplomat. Before getting on to his plans for the Czech Literary Centre, I asked him during a recent meeting about his own connection to books and writing.

One of the most thought-provoking films at this year’s One World festival of human rights documentaries in Prague has been I’m Not Afraid. It follows the assisted suicide of Eli, a Dutch woman who has been suffering from extreme anxiety for most of her life. To discuss the ethics of euthanasia involving people in mental rather than physical pain, I spoke to another protagonist in the documentary, Eli’s psychiatrist – and the man who approved and assisted her voluntary death – Dr. Frederick Polak.