In this weekend edition of Czechia in 30 Minutes, Vít Pohanka speaks with Julia Kňažková, a Slovak who has made her home in the picturesque South Bohemian village of Holašovice. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is famed for its perfectly preserved Baroque farmhouses and centuries-old village layout — and for the everyday life that continues behind its painted façades.

CzechTek was a free techno music festival that drew many tens of thousands and culminated two decades ago in clashes between riot police and participants. The annual unauthorised gathering and the culture that spawned it are the subject of a new podcast by Šimon Šafránek, CzechTek: The Story of Czech Rave. I discussed the background to, and fallout of, the events of 2005 and much more with Šafránek, a successful documentary filmmaker whose work regularly explores alternative culture.

News; Karel Zeman’s Journey to the Beginning of Time turns 70 – a Cold War cinema classic; Czechia’s iconic “Knödel Express” not being written off just yet; RPI visits Jihlava Zoo in the Vysočina Region.

Marlene Dietrich at Grebovka, Czech food at EXPO 25 and award-winning Czech writer Marie Dočkalová

Czechs abroad register to vote in elections, after 40 years Prague has a new railway station, brewing beer at home abroad and the story of Silvester Muller.

The International Day of Remembrance for the Roma and Sinti Holocaust is marked on 2 August — the date when over 4,000 Roma were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944. In this weekend edition of Czechia in 30 Minutes, we speak to Michaela Küchler, Secretary General of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, about her family’s Czech roots, her mission to preserve the memory of the Roma genocide, and the tragic history of the Lety camp.

News; Mendel’s microscope now on display at London's Science Museum; Pardubice student fixes potholes with dazzling mosaics; Michael Tate, founder of UK-based Jantar Publishing, on Prague Talk.

Michael Tate runs Jantar Publishing, a UK-based firm that issues works in translation, frequently from Czechia. Among the small publishing house’s best-selling titles are a handsome edition of the classic Kytice by Karel Jaromír Erben and, more recently, Winterberg’s Last Journey by Jaroslav Rudiš. I spoke to Tate about Jantar’s development since he founded it in 2011, but also about his own Czech roots and years in Prague.

On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes show: Czechia defies trend: No recognition of Palestine, yet; Brno unveils Milan Kundera's final resting place; and, in our feature, we look back at Ruth Franková’s interview with Adam Plachetka, one of Czechia’s foremost opera singers, who this year celebrates ten years since his debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Enjoy!