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Saturday is the 170th anniversary of the birth of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, founder and first president of Czechoslovakia and one of the most important figures in Czech history.

On the 29th of February 1920, the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia adopted a Constitution formally establishing a democratic republic with guaranteed equal rights for men and women – including the right to vote. We look back at the life’s work of suffragette Františka Plamínková, a feminist teacher and activist turned politician. Together with Milada Horáková (her protégé and eventual successor in the Senate) she helped ensure principles of equality enshrined in the Constitution were actually put into practice.

In 2011, UNESCO proclaimed February 13 as World Radio Day. It is a celebration of radio as a powerful medium and its role in serving diverse communities of listeners worldwide and promoting their interests. To mark the occasion several partner radio stations held a debate on diversity and how it is reflected in their work. The debate was hosted by Radio Canada International and involved journalists from SWI Swiss.info, Radio Poland, Radio Romania International and Radio Prague International.

In this programme, the last in the current series looking at Czech history through the archives, we get a flavour of the Cold War. The archives throw up some curious stories: a man in love with a drill, a Czechoslovak cosmonaut celebrated in song, a campaign against noisy rockers with long hair, and some Cold War dramas – tales of defectors and spies. And we end with the strange, sad story of the Red Elvis. But first to the glowing dawn of the new regime in 1948.

Czech interest in African American culture goes back to the 19th century. When Antonín Dvořák spent three years in the United States in the 1890s he explored African American and Native American musical traditions, seeing parallels with the Czech experience of living under Austrian domination. In the Czechoslovakia of the 1920s and 30s, interest in American jazz spread rapidly and Native American culture was romanticised in the so-called “tramping” movement. After the war communist Czechoslovakia was quick to point to discrimination and segregation

In this programme, the eighth in our series mapping this country’s history through the radio archives, we start with the dramatic events of the last days of the war in Prague. The radio played a major role in the Prague Uprising, and through the archives we can map how the city liberated itself from the German occupiers. In the two years that follow, the radio archives give us a picture of a Czechoslovakia returning to some kind of normality, but in February 1948 everything changes. We tell the story as it was heard on the airwaves.

As the new year arrives we look back at some of the biggest Czech hits of 2019 in Radio Prague International’s New Year’s Eve music show. The bands and artists include the award winning music legend Karel Gott, Xindl X, Czechoslovak Superstar finalists Ben Cristovao, Miro Smajda and Emma Drobná, as well as accomplished veterans Support Lesbiens. Last but not least, there is Lake Malawi who got into last year’s Eurovision Song Contest Finals in Tel-Aviv with their song Friend of a Friend.

The late Václav Havel is famous around the world as a statesman and symbol of human rights and democracy. Rather less well-known is that Havel was also a very enthusiastic cook. This year many of the dissident-turned-president’s recipes were gathered in a rather delightful cookbook entitled Kančí na daňčím (Wild Boar on Venison).

As the year draws to a close all of us here at the English department of Radio Prague International would like to thank our devoted listeners the world over for their dedication to the station, for being with us and taking the time to drop us a line or write an email to share your views about what you found particularly interesting and what you’d like to hear more of on Radio Prague International.

Czech Christmas wouldn’t be complete without traditional Christmas carols. To mark the occasion, we’ll be listening to an album entitled Christmas for Grown-Ups or Vánoce dospělých. The album was recorded by the Concept Art Orchestra, a leading Czech jazz band, and offers a slightly different take on the traditional seasonal repertoire.