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For many Czechs, Easter goes much further beyond the Christian tradition of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The popular pomlázka, or whipping of women with braided willow sticks, is just one of the customs that have survived around the country from before the arrival of Christianity. Today, they form part of original Czech folklore with roots that go back many centuries.

A few weeks ago, the world celebrated the 200th birthday of one of the great composers of all time, Frederic Chopin, who was born just outside Warsaw in 1810. As elsewhere, Chopin’s anniversary year is being celebrated in the Czech Republic – and with good reason. Although in the course of his short life Chopin spent just a few weeks in Bohemia, his links to the Czechs are far from superficial. When he was a child, his first piano teacher was the Czech, Vojtěch Živný; many years later Chopin spent some of the happiest days of his life in the West

Alphonse Mucha’s grandson John Mucha is the head of the Mucha Foundation, which manages the legacy of the great Czech Art Nouveau artist. He launched the successful Mucha Museum in the centre of Prague during the 1990s, and has recently being holding talks with the city’s authorities on the long-delayed creation of a dedicated home for Mucha’s extensive work the Slav Epic.

John Mucha is the grandson of the great Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist Alphonse Mucha. His parents are also noteworthy; his late father Jiří was a journalist and writer, while his Scottish mother Geraldine, who is 92, still composes music. John himself heads the Mucha Foundation, which conserves the family’s collection and promotes the artist’s work internationally. His home in the Czech capital, situated opposite the gates of Prague Castle, contains a breathtaking array of Alphonse Mucha memorabilia and artworks and is described

Dr. Helena Illnerová is a biochemist, and one of the top minds in the Czech Republic. She is involved in practically every major academic committee there is in the country, from the council of the National Museum to that of Charles University; until 2004 she was the chair of the Academy of Sciences, and she currently heads UNESCO in the Czech Republic. It was with the study of biorhythms, though, that Dr. Illnerová’s work began in the 1960s, when she discovered that mice exposed to light for short periods of time in the night would have their hormones

In this special New Year’s Day programme, we look back at some of the best of our interview programme One on One in 2009. Among those featured: Catholic intellectual Martin C Putna, historian Igor Lukeš, academic Peter Demetz, former Radio Prague man John Tregellas, jazz musician Rudy Linka and the great American cartoonist Robert Crumb.

Back by popular demand, it’s the New Year’s programme on Radio Prague! In this year’s edition Jan Velinger and Christian Falvey spoof talk radio as well as popular shows like Czechs Today. Along the way they also cover topics such as drinking in the workplace, cute sound technicians, and the future of the station in 2010.

Prague is sometimes romantically called the City of a Hundred Spires. You can probably count even more overlooking the capital from Prague Castle or hills offering a view of the Vltava valley. Looking down on the city, the spires and towers rise up, and of course many of them have bells inside.

In today’s special Christmas show on Radio Prague we’ll introduce you to what is undoubtedly the most famous piece of Czech Christmas music, Jakub Jan Ryba's "Česká mše vánoční" or "Czech Christmas Mass".

Exactly 20 years ago, Czechs and Slovaks were celebrating their first Christmas for four decades without a hint of official disapproval. While the communists tolerated the trappings of Christmas – with Christmas trees and traditional Czech Christmas carp in abundance – their tolerance of Christian traditions was never more than skin deep. In the 1950s, priests and members of religious orders were often locked up for their beliefs, and the brief reforms of the 1960s were followed by another wave of persecution, following the Soviet-led invasion