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When Slovak businessman Richard Galovič acquired the Favorit brand name of former Czechoslovakia’s famous but long defunct bike producer, some wondered whether it wasn’t a mistake. Since, Galovič has proven doubters wrong, now producing and selling luxury city bicycles under the Favorit name in the Czech Republic and abroad. At a glance the retro-style bike appears unassuming but in fact it is full of surprises, boasting top craftsmanship and top materials such as a carbon fibre frame. The bike you can buy today is certainly not your grandad’s Favorit,

The relatively rapid and bloodless Velvet Revolution that swept the communists from power in Czechoslovakia in 1989 and replaced them with a set of civic activists, mostly with little past experience of power, lived on in the memory of many.

Czech Political Prisoners: Recovering Face is the title of a book of photographs and texts by Jana Kopelentová-Rehak, a Czech anthropologist based in the US city of Baltimore. When the Šumava-born academic was in Prague recently we discussed the political prisoners, or “mukls”, she met and how they were marked by their experience of brutal communist labour camps. But first we spoke a little about her own life, starting with a key encounter in the 1980s, when she was taken in by Charter 77 signatory Miloslava Holubová.

Czechoslovak Independence Day is an annual national holiday in the Czech Republic, which marks the founding of the Czechoslovak state back in 1918. For this special programme, I am joined by noted Czech historian, and expert on all matters Czech and Slovak, Professor Jan Rychlík.

The late Czech president, Václav Havel, who died five years ago, would have turned 80 on Wednesday, October 5. Celebrations of his life and legacy are taking place at home and abroad. In this special program on Radio Prague we recall the heady days of the Velvet Revolution that swept the dissident playwright from jail to Prague Castle.

September 28 is the Feast Day of St. Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia. The son of a duke, Wenceslas ruled the country from 922, when he was 15, to his untimely death at the hands of his brother Boleslav on September 28, 935. The day is celebrated as 'Czech Statehood day', and is a public holiday. In this special program Dominik Jůn visits the town of Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav, where Wenceslas was murdered on his way to mass. His guide is Petra Fialová from the town’s Information Centre.

Walking through the streets of Prague, you might run into a young man with Asian features. Out of curiosity, you might ask him where he comes from, and to your surprise, he answers: “I’m Czech.” The term ‘Banana kids’ refers to the second generation of Vietnamese immigrants, who are ‘yellow on the outside and white on the inside’. With its author Huyen Vi Tranová amongst the collage of voices, the following programme reflects not only on being a foreigner in one’s home country, but also on the inter-generational clash of values.

Radio Prague is today celebrating the 80th anniversary of its first, shortwave broadcast. Obviously the medium of radio has changed enormously since 31 August 1936, particularly in recent times with the advent of the internet. To look at where radio is at today, and where it may be headed in the future, I spoke to Graham Dixon, a former managing editor at BBC Radio 3 who is now head of radio at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Geneva. My first question concerned the biggest changes Mr. Dixon has seen in his three decades-plus in the radio

In this, the last programme in our series to mark Radio Prague’s 80th birthday, we travel eastwards looking at links between India and Czechoslovakia both before and after the Second World War as captured in our archives. In the 1920s and 30s cultural links were strong, despite the huge differences and distance between the two countries, and many of these links survived even in the time of the Cold War. David Vaughan has more.

This week in our series to mark Radio Prague’s 80th birthday we feature a recording made in the summer of 1946, when Radio Prague was exactly ten years old. A. J. P. Taylor was one of the best known and respected historians of mid-twentieth century Britain, and on a visit to Czechoslovakia he predicted a future for the country that would combine pluralist, parliamentary democracy with communism. David Vaughan has more.