Panorama | All stories

Czech scientists from Brno’s Masaryk University have been involved in polar research since the 1980s and since 2006 they have their own polar station in Antarctica –the Johann Gregor Mendel station. For the duration of the polar summer a team of scientists from Masaryk University works at the station doing glacier research and collecting data relating to the impact of global warming on micro-organisms. The sixteen-member- team is just back from its 2014 expedition and this week I talked to the head of the team Pavel Kapler about its work.

Overcoming the language barrier is one of the main hurdles Romany children face on starting school and is one of the oft-cited reasons for putting them in “special schools” for children with learning disabilities. Deputies in the lower house are now engaged in a debate on whether to introduce a special dual-language curriculum for Romany children.

In recent years, the Czech Republic has seen Russia as an increasingly important economic partner. Czech exports to Russia have grown tenfold over the past decade, and about 70 percent of Czech oil and gas imports come from that country. But the ongoing crisis in Crimea has highlighted the risks of the Czech economy’s exposure to Russia. In this edition of Panorama, I discuss the implications of the Crimea crisis for the Czech-Russian relations with deputy foreign minister Petr Drulák and commentator Erik Best. I first asked Mr Drulák to sum up

An opinion poll conducted by the STEM agency in February of this year shows that trust in EU institutions has dropped to an all-time low, sliding from 60 percent in 2009 to a mere 34 percent this year. The dramatic slump in support comes at a time when the new center-left government has announced a change of course –vowing to bring the Czech Republic back to the EU mainstream. I spoke to the head of the STEM agency Jan Hartl about what’s behind the loss of trust and what are the present pro-EU government’s chances of turning around Czechs’ increasingly

The crisis in Ukraine continues to fill the front pages of Czech dailies and in addition to the political implications of Russia’s aggressive policy in the region, there are growing economic concerns for Czech producers who do business on eastern markets. The country’s annual exports to Ukraine are worth 33.5 billion and its exports to Russia, which have grown tenfold in the past decade, now reach 116 billion crowns annually. I spoke to the vice-president of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic Radek Špicar to find out how the crisis

As Europe and the U.S. grapple with the monumental task of helping Ukraine to fend off its economic collapse, NGOs and charities are working on a smaller scale to help the people of Kiev return to a normal life in the aftermath of weeks of political crisis and violent street protests. The leading Czech charity People in Need was among the first to respond to the crisis, sending doctors and medical staff to the embattled Maidan square where demonstrators came under fire from police units.

Ana Maria Janků was born in Argentina, but her link to her roots and in particular to Czech classical music is strong, thanks to the influence of her Czech parents. Today she is taking her own and her parent’s Czech legacy further by promoting Czech music at the Czech cultural centre in Buenos Aires. When she visited Radio Prague’s studio a few days ago we spoke about the fulfillment this brings her and why her work at the center has become the pivot of her life.

In its policy statement approved this week, the new centre-left government promises to bring the Czech Republic back to the EU mainstream, reaffirm its commitment to EU integration and take a more active part in shaping the EU’s future. I spoke to Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Petr Drulák about the Foreign Ministry’s priorities and began by asking him how it would go about erasing the country’s troublemaker image in the European Union.

Ever since Czech TV began broadcasting its own version of BBC’s show Who Do You Think You Are, many people have developed an interest in finding more about their own history, about who their ancestors were, where lived, and what they did. In this edition of Panorama, we discuss the boom in genealogy with researcher Blanka Lednická who a few years ago left her IT job and set up her own genealogy business.

Just two decades ago grandparents played a key role in a child’s upbringing. Cohabitation of three generations was the norm and even if that were not the case the role of babysitter or nanny was practically non-existent because grandparents automatically took over whenever the need arose. Since the fall of communism opened up new opportunities, things have changed. Young families now live alone and their elderly parents often either work or live too far away to help out. While this gives both sides greater freedom and independence to live as they