Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

RERUN: Listeners Tribune

On the occasion of the Constitution Day of the Slovak Republic, we bring a brief history of constitutions valid in this territory. At the same time, you can hear a rerun of the Encore! Series in which we mapped the history of 95 years of radio and 65 years of television broadcasting in our country. The final part of the series was revising the period of the 1990’s, i.e. the period in which the current constitution was established.

Dutch photographer Kadir van Lohuizen has been documenting effects of climate crisis for several years now. In Slovakia, he is currently opening a call for photographers based in Central Europe, to join him in documenting climate problems happening "in their back yard". On the show we will also revisit the recently observed anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising through stories of people, who took part in it.

Repeat – Although many young Slovaks would like to study at a prestigious university abroad, they often lack the confidence that they will succeed in what appears to be a difficult application process. To address this problem, Slovak and Czech students who are already studying at Cambridge in the UK have set up a special programme to invite their younger counterparts to visit the university, helping them to apply and giving them a glimpse of the real student life there. Jonathan speaks with Cambridge undergraduate student Ronald Doboš, who currently heads up the programme. – Is there intelligent life to be found on any other planet but our own, anywhere else in the universe? Within the past century or so this question has been the focus of much scientific research and has cost government treasuries a lot of money. But have the results of this so-called Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, or SETI, justified all the effort and cost? Jonathan speaks with astro-biologist Tomaš Paulech about just this question.

Climate change and droughts affect agriculture in Gemer region. ZOO Bojnice also faces problems with food for animals due to droughts. New Museum of Chemical army opens in the village of Čereňany, Prievidza district.

The role of public Slovak radio in the Slovak National Uprising was mapped in our "Encore!" series dedicated to 95 years of radio broadcasting in Slovakia. As "Scénická žatva" turns 100, RSI talks to Jakub Molnar also about his book on the event that is considered to be the longest run festival of amateur theatre in Europe.

Coinciding with Kharkiv City Day (August 23) and Ukraine Independence Day (August 24), the Hope for Kharkiv launched in Bratislava a global series of cultural events within the Hope for Ukraine project. Michael Jacobsen of the Center for Future Europe talks about how Bratislava became the first European city to host the event in support of Ukraine. On the Wednesday show, we also look back on the recent European Athletics Championships, where the Slovak sprinter Jan Volko achieved his best result so far.

Why are scientists so interested in the recent discovery of a very well-preserved lizard from the age of the dinosaurs? Jonathan speaks with Andrej Černanský from Comenius University’s Laboratory of evolutionary biology, who was directly involved in the discovery and is the lead author of a recently published article about it in a top scientific journal. – Repeat: The introduction of any new technology, it seems, has its risks as well as its benefits, and Artificial Intelligence technologies are no exception. Jonathan asks Juraj Podroužek, of the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies in Bratislava, about the difficult question faced by many governments today of whether or not to allow the installation of biometrics facial recognition cameras in public spaces, and about the dilemma this question poses for policy makers.

Slovakia is a country that has a rich history of crafts. More than 35 different handicrafts are known in Slovakia. Moreove, they are popular even today. Materials scientists and virologists from the Slovak Academy of Sciences have teamed up to fight pathogens and constructed a prototype of a large-capacity air purifier that destroys viruses and bacteria using hot air. The high-capacity purifier works on the principle of rapidly heating air to high temperatures of up to 150°C.