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Professor Otto Pick was one of nearly 700 Jewish children who escaped the Nazis on a transport to the UK organised by Nicholas Winton, a British diplomat based in Prague. He says he only became aware relatively recently that he was on the now famous “Winton train” and does not know how his family managed to get him on board and save his life.

In this special program we speak to the singer and songwriter Marta Töpferová about her newest album Milokraj, her relationship to her home country and her love of Moravian folk music.

Wherever you are in the Northern Hemisphere, it is likely that sometime around now you are marking one of the dozens of religious or cultural holidays that celebrates the beginning of spring. In this year’s Easter Monday special, we look at the ancient origins some of the peculiar traditions and trappings of the Czech spring celebration.

Czech President Václav Klaus leaves offices on Thursday, as his second term at the helm of the country expires. Mr Klaus has been one of the country’s most distinct public figures of the post-communist era. Credited with creating a democratic political system and carrying out economic reforms in the 1990s, his presidency has been marked with controversies over his strong views on a number of issues, from global climate change to the EU.

For Czechs and Slovaks, New Year’s Day has a special meaning as the independent Czech and Slovak Republics emerged 20 years ago today. But what strained their relations while they were still living in one country? Why did Czechoslovakia split against the wishes of most of its inhabitants? And what lessons can be learned from the history of their common country? In our special New Year’s Day programme, we discuss these issues with Jan Rychlík from the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University, and political scientist and historian Juraj Marušiak

On this last day of 2012, Radio Prague has prepared a special music show inspired by some of the events and particularly the mood of the past year. Much of this year in the Czech Republic was marked by corruption and political scandal. We take a look at some of the music that was inspired by these events, and also glance back at Czech songs that have expressed disgruntlement and protest against the political system of the time.

In this Christmas special I look at the work of visionary filmmaker Karel Zeman and talk to his daughter Ludmila – acclaimed children’s book author & illustrator. Also highlighted: the new Karel Zeman Museum in Prague and a visit by Grade 2 schoolchildren.

A traditional Czech toyshop is full of hums, whirrs, rattles and whistles; such is the diversity of the toys that for generations have been made in Bohemia and Moravia. In this special Christmas programme we look at this country’s toy making traditions. I’ll be joining Ivan Karhan, who knows all there is to know about Czech toys and toymakers – past and present.

On Christmas Eve, most Czech families will like every year sit down to special dinner before rushing to the Christmas tree. They will unwrap their presents and some might sing a few carols, and even engage in some traditional Christmas customs such as floating walnut shells, halving an apple or even pouring melted led. But most people are just likely to sit back and watch TV which each year features all the popular fairytales. But what happens in families with mixed backgrounds? How do they celebrate Christmas and explain the different traditions

Among those closest to Václav Havel was Michael Žantovský. The two were among the founders of the opposition Civic Forum in the whirlwind period of the Velvet Revolution, which toppled Czechoslovakia’s Communist regime after four long decades. Soon after Mr. Havel was elected president on December 29 1989, he made Mr. Žantovský his press spokesperson – and part of a team at Prague Castle that had to learn double-quick how to run a country.