Topic Archive Society
Anna Marešová, the designer of award-winning Whoop De Doo sex toys
More than 180 designs by secondary school and university students from
around the Czech Republic competed in the 20th annual National Student
Design Awards that were handed out in Prague last week. The main prize went
to Anna Marešová, a post-graduate student at the UJEP university in
Ústí nad Labem, for a set of vibrators called Whoop De Doo. The sleek,
hypermodern sex toys, complete with chargers, charmed the jury which
appreciated the author’s innovative and daring approach. In this edition
of One on One, Anna Marešová talks about her award-wining Whoop De Doo
vibrators, her inspiration and some of her other work. I first asked her
whether the award came as a big surprise. More
Museum of Communism offers foreign visitors a glimpse of life behind the Iron Curtain
On Prague’s Na Prikope street, in the very heart of the city –right
next to McDonalds – is a Museum of Communism. What comes as a surprise to
many locals and foreign visitors is that this private venture is the work
of an American businessman who owns a number of bars and restaurants in the
Czech capital. Glenn Spicker came to Prague 17 years ago, on a wave of
interest in the post communist world. Unlike others he launched a
successful business venture and stayed. As Glenn gave me a tour of the
museum, he explained what made him branch out so far from his field of
enterprise. More
Prague’s Ladronka park offers something for everybody
In today’s Spotlight we don’t have to travel too far. Just a
forty-five-minute tram ride uphill from the centre of Prague takes us to
one of the largest parks in the city. Not long ago, its greenery was
untended and the historic building in the middle of it was inhabited by a
commune of squatters. But after a recent facelift, Ladronka, as the park is
called, now offers something for everybody. More
Smog woes to continue all week
It’s the worst case of smog in recent memory. From east to west, the
Czech Republic has been under a cloud for the last several days. As up to
four times the permissible limit of pollution is being registered in
various parts of the country, children and the elderly have been advised to
stay indoors and factories have been forced to restrict their production.
The city of Plzeň has even experienced the rare phenomenon of
“industrial snow”. We spoke with Josef Keder of the Czech
Hydrometeorological Institute, who told Radio Prague first of all where the
problems were worst at the moment. More
Three Czech nationals to be tried for spying in Zambia
The fate of three Czech nationals who are awaiting trial in Zambia on
suspicion of spying, remains highly uncertain. The three face 25 years in
prison for having taken photographs of an old plane displayed outside a
military base in Lusaka. The Czech Foreign Ministry has tried in vain to
intervene on their behalf and is now sending a special envoy to the country
to present the case in person.
More
Commonwealth representatives mark Remembrance Day in Prague
The military section of Prague’s Olšany Cemetery filled with foreign
uniforms on Sunday as soldiers of the Commonwealth of Nations marked
Remembrance Day, and commemorated the sacrifices of their countrymen who
lost their lives on Czech territory during the Second World War. More
Saint Martin’s vintage arrives in Prague
In recent years, Saint Martin’s day has become a welcome opportunity for
Czech winemakers to present their young wines. The revived tradition of
Saint Martin’s wines has caught on, and November 11 has become a fixture
in the calendar of Czech wine-lovers. One of the main wine festivals in the
capital is held on Jiřího z Poděbrad Square, in the Vinohrady
neighbourhood. More
Vsetín faces Roma exodus
In late 2006, Jiří Čunek, then mayor of the eastern town of Vsetín and
later Christian Democrat chairman, made a controversial decision to move
several hundred Romany rent-defaulters out of a dilapidated block of flats
in the town centre and relocate them in a complex of portacabins on the
outskirts of Vsetín. Now, five years on, most of them are choosing to move
even further – as far as the United Kingdom. More
Czech pilot repeats pioneer flight
2011 marks one hundred years since Jan Kašpar, a Czech aviation pioneer,
made the first long-distance flight from a town in East Bohemia, to the
famous Chuchle racetrack near Prague. Kašpar covered the 120 kilometres in
a retrofitted single-engine monoplane, bought from Louis Bleriot after the
Frenchman’s successful flight over the English Channel. Kašpar’s own
journey from Pardubice to Chuchle was itself ambitious and when he arrived
he was given a heroes’ welcome. This week, in honour of the original
deed, the feat was repeated by another Czech pilot, Petr Mára. Radio
Prague’s Jan Velinger has the details. More
Love Across Cultures: Relationships between Czechs and Foreigners
In the past 20 years, Prague has attracted a number of foreign
professionals, and many of them settle here permanently. With the Czech
capital growing more international, relationships between locals and
foreigners have also become more common. In this edition of Czech Life, we
speak to some of those intercultural couples about their experiences and
their everyday relationship life. More
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