Thursday marks exactly 50 years since the opening of the first section of the Prague metro, running between Kačerov and Florenc on the C line. Today there are 61 stations and three lines. But did you know that there is also a secret metro station, known as Klárov? Classified as confidential, it was one of the best-kept secrets of the Communist era.

The 2024 Ice Hockey World Championships are set to begin this Friday in host cities Prague and Ostrava. The tournament, which brings together 16 teams, will take place over the course of two weeks. But how is the Czech team expected to perform on home ice? I put that question and more to Czech Television Sports commentator, Michal Dimitrov.

Frýdlant, a town of about 7,400 inhabitants in Czechia’s Liberec Region, certainly has a Kafkaesque feeling about it. You arrive there only to find that the people you arranged to interview suddenly don’t have time to meet you, saying they are sure that one day, however, one day you will meet – uncannily reminiscent of Kafka’s unfinished last novel ‘The Castle’, where the protagonist desperately tries to gain access to the fortress where the mysterious authorities who govern the village he has been summoned to reside.

Among the books nominated for the prestigious Magnesia Litera Award this year was a graphic novel called Arnoštova cesta, describing the life story of the great Czech Jewish writer Arnošt Lustig. I met with his daughter Eva, a writer and documentary filmmaker herself, to discuss the book, and also to talk about the Arnošt Lustig Foundation, which she is in charge of. However, I had to start by asking about an onion which she took out of her handbag upon entering the studio:

Singer song-writer Aiko will represent Czechia at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with her empowering song called Pedestal. The 24-year-old singer, who was born in Russia, won the Czech national round, leaving behind six other finalists. This Thursday, she will appear in Eurovision’s semi-finals:

The Czech Constitutional Court has ruled to abolish forced sterilization for individuals who want to make an official sex change. Czechia is one of the last few EU countries enforcing the sterilization requirement. The change, which will necessitate an amendment to the law, should come into effect in mid-2025. Trans advocate Lenka Králová, told me more about the situation and how she is feeling on this historic day.

The Prague metro is celebrating 50 years of service this week with a number of special events for the public. People can visit an exhibition on the history of the metro, ride on the historic first trains that opened the Prague subway or play a geo game that will take them to all the stations around the city.

One of the final two Czechoslovak RAF veterans still alive today celebrated his 100th birthday on Thursday. Jiří Pavel Kafka, also one of the “Winton children”, marked his centenary in the hangar of Prague’s Kbely military airport in the company of family and army representatives.

The National Gallery at Prague’s Kinsky Palace has been converted into a hockey fans paradise for a new exhibition titled “Get on the ice! Ice Hockey and Skating in Art”. The exhibit showcases skating and hockey in Czech fine art throughout the years, but as I discovered, the sport represents much more to the people of Czechia, and has deep roots in the nation’s political and social identity.

Karel Raab trained as a locksmith in view of taking over the family firm, but his yearning to create art was stronger. He started out by creating small pieces for his garden in his spare time. They soon got noticed and enabled him to turn his hobby into a thriving business.