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One on OneGordon Lovitt – an English director of programming at one of the main Czech TV stations
Gordon Lovitt has an unusual position in that he is an Englishman who is
director of programming at one of the Czech Republic’s four main TV
channels, the commercial station Prima. A decade ago he held the same post
at state broadcaster Czech Television. And before that he was a
professional actor; indeed, a visit to Zlín (or Gottwaldov as it was in
those communist times) with a student drama group in the 1980s was Gordon
Lovitt’s first experience of the country he now calls home.
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One on OneNancy Bishop - a Prague-based casting director
My guest today is Nancy Bishop, an American-born woman who works as a
casting director in Prague. Apart from this, she also teaches potential
actors how to become more “castable,” has written a book on casting
and
also found the time to make a feature-length low-budget film called
“Rex-patriates” about why expats find it so difficult to leave Prague.
Nancy Bishop was born in New England and studied acting and theatre in
Michigan before working in Chicago. She now resides in the Czech Republic.
I began the interview by asking Nancy how she came to be in the Czech
Republic: More
Current AffairsLong election night for Americans in Prague
The whole world was watching on Tuesday night as American voters cast their
ballots in one of the most heated US presidential campaigns – including
Prague’s American expat community. Several election night parties were
held around the city where supporters of both camps stayed up all night,
awaiting the results.
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One on OneErik Best – Founder of The Fleet Sheet and Final Word
My guest in One on One this week is respected Prague-based journalist Erik
Best. Erik came to Prague from the US in the early 90s after completing
degrees in foreign relations, the Russian language and business. Shortly
after his arrival, he founded the Fleet Sheet – a serious daily bulletin
published by him and his staff highlighting important business and
political stories for subscribers. Later, he added Final Word - a
widely-read, often pointedly witty but also critical opinion piece. Both
are discussed in our interview. But first, we began by talking a little
about Erik Best’s initial decision to settle in Prague.
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PanoramaIn search of "Forefather Czech" - DNA tests disclose remote ancestors
One of the first things Czech children learn at school is that Czechs are
the descendants of Slavic tribes and they speak a Western Slavonic
language. The Slavs came to these parts of Europe some time in the 6th
century AD. But since then waves of migration as well as foreign invaders
coming from the East, West and North have left their genetic marks on the
population. The Prague-based biotech company Genomac has recently started
providing commercial DNA tests to those who would like to trace their
earliest ancestors in a continuous paternal or maternal line.
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Current AffairsGenealogy course helping Czechs with family tree "detective work"
Some years ago, Madeleleine Albright, the Czech-born American Secretary of
State, learned that although she had been raised Catholic, all four of her
grandparents were Jewish. Not every Czech family tree contains such a big
surprise, of course, but almost any Czech who digs into their family
history will learn things they did not know or expect. To help them, the
Czech Genealogy and Heraldry Society in Prague has just launched a new
course.
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Current AffairsBohemian royal Premyslid dynasty died out 700 years ago
Exactly 700 years have passed since the last male member of the Bohemian
royal dynasty, the Premyslids, died. On August 4, 1306, king Wenceslas
III. was murdered in the town of Olomouc at the age of just 16. The death
of the young king marked the end of a 450-year Premyslid rule in Bohemia.
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Letter from PragueTracing my family tree
The topic of my Letter from Prague today has appeared in a number of our
programmes over the last weeks. It is genealogy and tracing one's roots.
By sheer coincidence that topic has recently found its way into my life as
well.
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PanoramaBack to the 'homeland' and straight to the Archives
Founded nearly twenty years ago in a Sokol community hall in America's
heartland, the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International now boasts
close to four thousand members, from all fifty states in the Union and
around the globe. For the first time in its history, this society of
amateur and professional genealogists held its biannual congress in
"the homeland." More
