Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

In this part of our series about the significant rose breeder, we ask experts in Europa Rosarium, Sangerhausen, Germany, Rosenkultivarium in Baden, Austria, and Technical University in Zvolen, how to identify the origin of the rose.

On the Wednesday show we speak to Canadian photographer and filmmaker Pat Marrow, who was member of the international jury at this year's Hory a mesto/Mountains and city festival. He appreciated very much the new movie by the Slovak documentary filmmaker Pavol Barabáš about the Czechoslovak mountaineers in the Himalayas. What was the life ouf mountain enthusiasts like back in 1980s? And how important is visual side of mountain experience? Pat Marrow talks about his experience and memories. On the show we also rerun 5th round of "Once there was a castle..." competition.

'Misinformation' is a hot topic these days, with social media platforms being accused both of helping to spread it and of doing too much to stop it. But who decides what is misinformation, and how does one distinguish it from what is merely an unfamiliar idea or unpopular opinion that might be true after all? Are social media platforms shutting down important discussion by labelling plausible theories as misinformation? Should free speech protections apply to social media sites? Jonathan speaks with AI researcher and misinformation specialist Robert Moro of the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies, about just these questions. Plus – Latin America during Covid, as seen through the eyes of a Slovak.

News and Topical issue. How stable is the Slovak financial sector a year and a half into the pandemic?

Ján Gordulič and Jakub Ťapák of Silné Reči, the largest stand-up comedy formation in Slovakia, told us how the pandemic lockdowns looked for them. Later on the show, Romana Grajcarová will speak about the cleaning of Slovak rivers.

The May/June edition of Konvergencie/Convergence music festival in 2021 is dedicated to tango nuevo live and online. Two great personalities of Slovak music passed away in May 2021.

On the Wednesday programming of RSI we speak to Hanka Gregušová, also known as Hanka G, a Slovak jazz singer, who brought traditional folk tunes from her homeland to NYC. During the pandemic months she was able to engage in an exceptional musical cooperation and produce a new album.

Scientists have long believed that other planets or moons within our solar system might be capable of supporting some form of life, but until very recently they thought this was possible only within a very limited region called the “habitable zone” – roughly between Venus and the asteroid belt beyond Mars. All this has changed with the discovery of so-called “water worlds”, bodies such as moons and dwarf planets well beyond the asteroid belt that are unexpectedly showing signs that they can, at least in principle, support life. Jonathan speaks with astrobiologist Tomaš Paulech of the Modra Observatory about these intriguing discoveries. Also, Romana Grajcarová investigates the life and work of Slovak-born, London-based artist Arthur Fleischmann.

News and Topical issue. Quo vadis Slovak oncology? patients organisations ask again. Second year of Eco Alarm project organised by NGO Živica aims to teach students of primary and secondary Slovak schools to recycle and produce less waste

News and Topical issue. In the first story, we are going to discuss the potential of the Danube in terms of transport and recreation. Then we will look at some green measures that the Government office plans to adopt. We will also visit a town of Partizánske and look at their project of transforming waste into fuel. And finally, you will hear a rerun of a story about vermicomposting.