This year marks 200 years since the birth of the great Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. To mark the anniversary, the National Theatre in Brno has prepared a new staging of his opera Dalibor. Its British director David Pountney found inspiration in Bobby Sands, a member of the IRA who died in a hunger strike in 1981.

The great Czech novelist, playwright, journalist and travel writer Karel Čapek, is world famous for his R.U.R. or The War with the Newts, but even his biggest fans are not familiar with the sound of his voice. Thanks to a new app made in cooperation with Czech Radio that is now possible.

World War II, Cold War borders and more recently Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine – the “Czech hedgehog” has been common to all of them. The anti-tank obstacle made of metal beams is, as the name suggests, a Czech invention and dates back to the 1930s, when it was intended for border protection.

The post-Christmas months are when many Czech families hit the slopes for skiing holidays. However, recent weather patterns have thrown a wrench in those plans for a snow filled getaway. Temperatures in the country are currently well above the seasonal average, a symptom of an ever changing climate, as Šimon Bercha, hydrologist at the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, explained to me.

The Integrity of the Avant-Garde: Karel Teige and the Biography of an Ambition is the title of a book set for publication next month. Its author is US-born Peter Zusi, associate professor of Czech and Comparative Literature at the University of London. Zusi discusses his interest in Czech modernist prime mover Teige in a conversation that also takes in his own teaching work – and teenage years in a rock band with a future movie star.

Voting in the European Tree of the Year 2024 contest is currently underway. Czechia’s candidate is an unusually shaped pear tree standing in the middle of a field near the village of Mrákotín in East Bohemia.

As the population of foreigners in Czechia continues to grow, students whose native language is not Czech struggle to succeed in the education system, and are more prone to slipping through the cracks. META is an NGO based in Prague that focuses on supporting students whose mother language is different. I visited their classroom to learn more about the work they are doing.

Sixty-five years ago Czech scientist Jaroslav Heyrovský won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his discovery and development of polarography, becoming the first Czech recipient of the prestigious award. The discovery, however, was made much earlier, on February 10, 1922.

Prague classical music buffs will soon get more regular opportunities to enjoy Sir Simon Rattle in action, after the world famous conductor on Wednesday signed as principal guest conductor with the Czech Philharmonic from next season. I spoke to Sir Simon soon after the big news was announced at the orchestra’s home, the Rudolfinum.

Czechia has announced that it will abstain in the vote on an EU migration and asylum pact expected to take place later this month. According to government officials, the new draft of the proposal would reduce the possibility of effectively preventing illegal migration on the EU’s external borders.