Slovakia Today, English Language Current Affairs Programme from Slovak Radio

Interview with Andrej Dúbravský, a Slovak artist exhibiting currently in a Tribeca gallery, New York. We bring you a medley of the music from Top albums of 2020 following the alternative public FM_Radio chart.

Since 1937, January 20 has been the Inauguration Day in the USA. With all eyes on the new President assuming office, also our Slovakia Today will focus on the US presidents, who have a connection with Slovakia. Did you know that in 1910 Theodore Roosevelt visited a small vilage on the outskirts of Bratislava? And that for a short time in 1919, Bratislava was supposed to be bearing the name of Woodrow Wilson? All this and much more in today's programme.

The problem of 'brain drain' has long been an issue in Slovakia, especially in the sciences, and programmes offering financial incentives to attract Slovaks back home have met with limited success. The founder of a new private research institute focused on 'intelligent technologies', however, has this problem in her crosshairs and believes her new institute is pursuing the right strategy for improving the situation. Jonathan recently caught up with Mária Bieliková to find out more. A tissue biopsy has long been the preferred method for detecting or monitoring the progress of a cancer disease, but its shortcomings - it's both invasive and restricted to a limited area of tissue - have led to the development of liquid biopsy, based on a simple blood test. Jonathan speaks with Irena Hudecová, a Slovak scientist working in this fast-growing field in cooperation with Cambridge University.

News and Topical issue. How to make doctors embrace a culture of innovation?

Strength and condition coach Milan Bališ discussing the ice hockey summer camp - one of the pioneer complex off season training projects for professional and junior ice hockey players. Slovak student in London Barbara Pulmannová shares her experience with distance learning from Slovakia.

News and Topical Issue. Story of Želmíra Duchajová-Švehlová, first Slovak female artist. On the occasion of the 80th birthday of the world famous songwriter, you can hear once again the feature about her visit in Bratislava.

On the Wednesday show we will discuss the Slovak perspective regarding the agreement on trade and other issues between the UK and the EU, the so-called "Brexit deal". Then we will speak to the popular Rusyn singer and performer Štefan Štec about his love and pride of the Rusyn music and traditions. Also on the show, Romana Grajcarová will introduce a unique architectural project "The 8th Element", which earned international recognition and won 2020 Grand Prix Award for Architecture and Innovation of the Sea.

In many countries struggling with the Covid pandemic, the impact of the virus itself – in most cases a short-term impact on somebody's health – is increasingly being overshadowed by the long-term impacts of the measures themselves that are being imposed to slow the spread of the outbreak. These include not only severe economic impacts but also those on human health itself and on the education of our children, among others. Richard Kollár is a mathematical modeller who has been tracing the course not only of the virus but of these other impacts as well, and has recently formed a special advisory group of experts from a wide variety of disciplines, whose aim it is both to advise the government and inform the public on how best to proceed given the total situation. He discusses with Jonathan the impact this new initiative has been having, the serious epidemiological situation in Slovakia, and the likelihood that schools will be able to reopen sometime soon.

News and Topical issue. Meet one of the pioneers of bone marrow transplanation for children in Slovakia.

News and Topical issue. In the first part of today’s show, we are going to discuss how guide and assistance dogs can help disabled people with Jarmila Virágová, the director of the Training school for guide and assistance dogs. In the second part, Doctor Karol Hornáček will explain how animals can help us to feel better from a physical as well as a mental point of view and Slovak therapist Petra Tomášov will tell us how pets can help their owners to overcome stress and negative emotions linked to isolation due to coronavirus.