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The Czech Republic currently has the worst record in Europe in underage drinking. In the past twenty years the number of teenagers who drink alcohol has doubled and according to an OECD report over 40 percent of 15-year-olds admitted to drinking on a regular basis. So what is driving teenagers to drink in such high numbers and why has nothing been done to curb the problem – those are questions I put to the head of the government’s National Anti-Drug Agency Jindřich Vobořil.

Social exclusion is becoming an increasingly serious problem in some parts of the country. According to statistics the number of excluded localities has doubled in the past decade with over 115,000 people now living in poverty in 600 such localities. To find out more about the problem and what’s being done to combat social exclusion I spoke with Deputy Human Rights Minister Martina Štepánková, who supervises the work of the government’s Agency for Social Inclusion.

A consortium of 18 Czech non-governmental organizations working with migrants last week issued a document in which it outlines the basic principles the country should adhere to in dealing with immigrants. The principles relate to the country’s asylum policy, social rights, education, work and other spheres. I spoke to the head of the Organisation for Aid to Refugees Martin Rozumek about their concerns and what triggered the joint initiative.

Selling the concept of agro-tourism to a nation of country cottage lovers who spend most of their weekends in the country is not an easy task, but slowly it is taking root. A growing number of farms in the Czech Republic are now offering more than just a weekend in the country. They entice visitors with home-made food from their own farm products, horse-riding, making home-made cheese, butter or bread, milking cows, feeding goats and a wide variety of other activities that urban dwellers are no longer familiar with.

Nabil Hamadeh is a member of the approximately 2,000 strong Syrian community in the Czech Republic. Although he has strong ties to the Czech Republic and settled here five years ago he has relatives in Syria and is one of many who have been watching the worsening humanitarian crisis there with growing concern. I spoke to Nabil about the situation in his homeland, the migrant crisis and Europe’s response to it and first wanted to know how he came to be living in Brno.

The Prague Vintage Fair is an annual fashion event which presents authentic vintage clothing in the context of contemporary fashion trends. Now in its third year the fair will revolve around a “Dress for Love” theme inspired by the film The cook, the thief, his wife and her lover by Peter Greenaway. So if you thought vintage rules out sexy – pay a visit to the Prague Vintage Fair on 26th and 27th of September 2015 at the New Town Hall. I spoke to model and project manager Nora Barnhart about what’s in store for visitors this year and how the idea

An exhibition called “Václav Havel through the lens of Jiří Jírů” has just opened at the Czech centre in Prague. It offers a selection of photographs of Václav Havel taken by his personal photographer during his first term in office as Czech president. At the exhibition I talked to Jiří Jírů about some of the photographs on display and how he had come to work for Vaclav Havel.

One of the mainstays of a new school law that is to take effect in 2016 is securing inclusive education for children in schools nation-wide. This concerns not only children with physical and mental disabilities but children from socially disadvantaged families and children from the Romany minority who often end up in so-called practical or special schools with a limited curriculum. Although a series of education ministers have tried to change this practice the country has not so far made significant progress in embracing the concept to inclusive

John Mucha is the grandson of the famous Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha and president of the Alphonse Mucha Foundation. Last week he visited Radio Prague’s studio to talk about his latest project –a Mucha exhibition at the Russell-Cotes Museum in Bournemouth and ambitious plans to open a Mucha museum in Paris. I first asked him to tell us more about the exhibition at Russell-Cotes.

The migrant crisis in Europe remains very much at the forefront of media attention. How many migrants can Europe take in, how much responsibility should the Czech Republic accept and is the country prepared to deal with the challenge of resettling hundreds of foreign migrants - are questions that have triggered heated debate in the media, political circles and, not least, pubs around the country. I spoke to the head of the Centre for Integration Vladislav Günter about some of the problems involved and began by asking whether the country was adequately