Go ahead, pick a card (any card) and enjoy our great chat with the two magicians behind one of Krakow's most entertaining live shows, Michał Skubida and Michał Kulik. After describing their first experiences in the world of magic, they tell us what makes a great trick, who their favorite magicians are and we learn about the benefits of throwing up on stage in the middle of your act. We at The KrakCast can't recommend their show enough, so definitely try to catch them when you can. It's the "Krakow" Magic Show but they travel around the country quite a bit—keep an eye on their Facebook page to learn more about their next appearance here in Krakow. Go ahead and give them a "like" now! And by the way, they easily guessed the card you chose at the beginning. 

https://www.facebook.com/krkmagicshow/?ref=br_rs

From the crowds of Galeria Krakowska to the, um, peace and quiet of Galeria Plaza, Krakow has a mall to suit every taste. In this episode, we talk about the major shopping options available here to anyone who likes their groceries, shoes, KFC, electronics and cinema all under one roof. 

Wisła Krakow was once again in the news for all the wrong reasons recently due to their problems with paying the city government for the use of their stadium. In today's episode of The KrakCast, we look at the history of the new stadiums of both Krakow clubs and wonder how it's possible that one of the biggest, most famous clubs in Poland doesn't seem to have enough money to pay for the keys to its own facility.  

This week we start with reason to cheer for more days full of smog if you ride a lot of buses and trams. After that it's an update on the soap opera known as the Polish Consitutional Court and a discussion of an article from the Guardian—linked below and given the laziest, most cliched headline ever—about what to do with the one hundred million monuments left behind by the Communists in Poland. Before signing off, there's an update on the rules regarding the ban on Sunday shopping, which, like just about everyone else, we still don't understand. 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/13/poles-apart-the-bitter-conflict-over-a-nations-history-poland-monuments-communism-soviet-union

Toastmasters chapters around the world have been helping people to improve their public speaking skills for decades. Gabor Halmai of Toastmasters Krakow joined us for a conversation that starts out with a discussion about why people are afraid of public speaking and then turns to how his organization can help, even with extremely difficult things like saying "thirty-three" (listen and you will understand). If you're thinking about improving your speaking skills for professional reasons or just looking for a new challenge, Gabor has some tips on how you can finish your next speech with the ultimate mic drop. 

Learn more about Toastmasters here:

http://symba05.ayz.pl/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toastmasters_International

This week we're joined by Professor Patrick Vaughan of Jagiellonian University, the official biographer of former U.S. National Security Advisor and trusted confidant to multiple Presidents, Zbigniew Brzezinski. Don't worry—to make things easier on everyone, we shorten his name to "Zbig" but we still manage to mess that up too. Before a discussion of "Zbig" and his fight against the spread of Communism, we start with a quick history of Professor Vaughan's fights in a West Virginia Toughman Contest and his very respectable performance before being let down by contact lenses that just weren't tough enough. After that, it's masterclass in the post-World War II political landscape and how "Zbig" came to have the ear of the most powerful man in the world. 

Being a bit of a Renaissance Man, Patrick has also produced a very interesting series of videos exploring topics at the intersection of history and culture—take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwwJ8kZ1Cj-0cBCcLg2907w

Also, any students thinking about making trouble in Professor Vaughan's class better watch this first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ikgy0V_Jvw

What better way to bring our series of Judaism-themed episodes to a close than a conversation with a Rabbi? We were extremely fortunate to welcome Rabbi Avi Baumol to our studio for a chat that covered a long list of subjects and left us hopeful for a return visit as soon as possible. Rabbi Baumol starts off by explaining the denomination of Judaism he's associated with ("Cool Judaism"), his sports affiliations (poorly chosen) and later answers the question that's been bothering us at The KrakCast for two weeks, "Can Jews Get Tattoos?" ("No"). In between all this, he takes us on a fascinating history lesson while answering questions about Jewish doctrine and traditions. 

When not serving the Jewish community both here in Krakow and in Israel, Rabbi Baumol writes a fantastic blog for the Times of Israel. 

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/avi-baumol/