The Debrief

Readers of The First News might have seen a recent article on the revival of this Silesian city in the south of Poland.

But while this gem of a city has undergone a groundbreakingly modern revitalisation, is the city also going through an identity crisis?

Host John Beauchamp speaks to Dr Irma Kozina, an urban activist as well as art and architecture historian now at Katowice’s Academy of Fine Art. 

In this week’s review:

• Masks should still be worn indoors - Health minister
• Polish man held on charges of espionage for Russia
• EC calls on Poland to correct air pollution laws
• Poland's Monetary Policy Council leaves all interest rates unchanged

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

In this episode of The Debrief, host John Beauchamp speaks to National Gallery curator Christopher Riopelle on the long-awaited exhibition of Matejko’s Copernicus in London.

Initially planned for last year but postponed because of the pandemic, the exhibition is the National Gallery’s first presentation of a painting by a Polish artist, so you can imagine it’s a big deal.

In this week’s review:

• Over 7 million Poles fully vaccinated
• Poland starts issuing Covid certificates
• LOT plane held at St Petersburg airport for arrest of Russian dissident

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

Host John Beauchamp speaks to Michał Rusinek, whose day job is teaching rhetoric at the Jagiellonian University but who is also an active writer and translator, and who is perhaps best known in Poland for being the secretary of Nobel prize laureate Wisława Szymborska.

And while we could get all serious and ask Dr Rusinek all sorts of things on weighty subjects, we’ll be talking about the wonderful world of children’s books.

In this week’s review:

• Poland bans Belarusian planes from its airspace
• MoD says Turkish drones will help ensure Poland’s security
• Inflation expectation management crucial after pandemic - monetary council

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

In this episode of the programme John Beauchamp speaks to Roman Pawłowski, theatre critic and programme director of the acclaimed TR Warszawa theatre about its new production of a Russian classic, Chekhov’s Three Sisters (stylised as 3STRS), and how the play reflects the isolation we feel in times of lockdown.

In this week’s review:

• Poland to have Covid green certificates by June 25 – dep health minister
• Sale of Fairtrade products in Poland sets record
• Matejko becomes first ever Polish artist exhibited at London’s National Gallery

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

Art galleries and museums have now reopened to the public in line with Covid lockdown easing, but the pandemic may have permanently changed the way we engage with art.

Host John Beauchamp speaks to Natalia Sielewicz, a curator at the MSN, Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art, about the way museums and galleries have had to find new ways of presenting arts and culture.

Are we set to start interacting with cultural instutions in a new way now that the pandemic has introduced new ways of engagement?

In this week’s review:

• European Commission raises Poland’s 2021 GDP growth forecast to 4%
• Negotiations start to buy Marie Skłodowska-Curie’s French retreat
• Warsaw to run shelter for LGBT+ people

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

May 5 marked the 200th anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte’s death.

Following the partitions of Poland in the late 18th century, Poles saw Napoleon as a possible saviour of the Polish nation. In 1807 Napoleon created the Duchy of Warsaw, a client state of France, and gave it a modern constitution, while a year later the Napoleonic Code also was instated.

Host John Beauchamp speaks to Marta Tomczak, PhD candidate from Warsaw University, about Napoleon’s lasting legacy in Poland.

In this week’s review:

• Polish president declares support for Ukraine’s EU ambitions
• Poland sees first Brazilian Covid-19 mutations
• Facemasks outdoors no longer required from May 15

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

Poland, according to official figures, is made up of around 95% ethnic Poles. Yet the country wasn’t always just Polish – it was also Jewish, Tatar, German, Armenian, Ukrainian… and the list goes on.

Host John Beauchamp talks to Michał Laszczkowski from the Cultural Heritage Foundation about its activities across Poland and beyond.

In this week’s review:

• Lockdown restrictions to be eased throughout May (more info below)
• New apartment sales up by 40% q/q in Poland – report
• Szczecin scientist creates ice cream that delays ageing process

COVID LOCKDOWN EASING DATES IN POLAND

1 MAY – Outdoor and indoor sport activities allowed (with certain limitations)

4 MAY – Shopping malls, art galleries, museums, construction and furniture stores reopen

4 MAY – Grades 1-3 return to school, with hybrid tuition for remaining grades

8 MAY – Hotels reopen (50% capacity only)

15 MAY – Facemasks no longer need ot be worn in public

15 MAY – Restuarants and cafés reopen with outside seating only, while weddings may have 25 guests

29 MAY – All grades go back to school

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

A while back earlier in 2021 there was a story on TFN which reported that the southern Polish city of Kraków was the fifth greenest city in a global ranking on urban space. And if you check your show notes you’ll see a link to the story.

In this first of a series of interviews on the changing face of Polish cities, we how do cities become green and what can be done to make them more open to nature.

Host John Beauchamp speaks to Dorota Leśniak-Rychlak, architecture critic and Editor-in-Chief of the Autoportet Quarterly on urban space, as well as Dr Kasper Jakubowski, an expert on the urban jungle and initiator of Dzieci w Naturę, or the ‘Kids Go Nature’ Foundation.

In this week’s review:

• Situation of Poles in Belarus extremely difficult - ambassador
• Stats office reaffirms Poland’s 2020 GDP decline at 2.7%
• Poland footballing legend named UEFA deputy head

Is there anything you want to hear or read about? Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

Astronomers have created the most detailed map of the universe providing important new insights into stars, galaxies and black holes through the use of low radio frequencies.

In this episode, host John Beauchamp stargazes with Dr Katarzyna Małek and Dr William Pearson from the National Centre for Nuclear Research.

In this week’s review:

• Poland and NATO discuss withdrawal from Afghanistan
• Global payments possible thanks to a revolutionary Polish hand implant
• Magical ‘now and then’ photos of Warsaw reveal beauty of a city that once was

Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!

A geological landscape park, with rock formations dating back 400 million years, has been awarded a UNESCO Geopark Label following a four year campaign to have its status recognised.

The Holy Cross Mountains Geopark is the second Geopark in Poland to receive the UNESCO label, the first being Muskau Bend Landscape Park in Western Poland, which received the distinction in 2011.

Host John Beauchamp talks to Michał Poros and Witold Wesołowski from the Holy Cross Geopark.

In this week’s review:

• PM to press EU for more vaccines
• Poland among China’s main EU investment sites
• Polish tennis player claims Masters 1000 title in Miami

Why not drop me a line? You can get in touch with the show by writing to [email protected], and please remember to share, like and subscribe to The Debrief!