The KrakCast

After a review of Halloween in Poland, we jump into supermarkets limiting their hours due to energy costs, Poland chooses a foreign partner for its first nuclear power plant, overrated New Year's Eve celebrations Krakow's main square, LOT and their new 737 (not so) Max, Poland quietly builds a wall, the people want a bigger army but don't want to pay for it and more. 

Isn't reading census data fun? Ok, it isn't but we did it so you don't have to. Listen as we discuss some of the insights into Polish society provided by last year's census, including religious beliefs, divorce, the urban / rural divide and more. 

The news this week includes weird Polish privacy laws, a new runway at Krakow's airport (eventually), Poland is #1 in something good, the worst mascot ever, a Wisla stadium update and IMAX (kind of) returns to Krakow. 

UJ can't pay their heating bill, U.S. nukes in Poland (or not), discussions of iodine distribution, an urgent toilet renovation update, unfair money exchange rates at the airport and more on this week's news! 

William Shaw is a trained, experienced psychologist with a practice here in Krakow. He joined us to talk about the kind of mental health issues that are common among foreign residents here, the growing acceptance of the importance of mental health awareness and answered various dumb questions from us. Listen and learn what it's like to help people deal with life's problems as a psychologist. 
 
Learn more about him at https://william-shaw.com/ 

The two sides in this story tell different versions of what happened but the result is the same - Roger Waters will not play in Krakow in April of next as originally planned. Did the city force him to cancel? Did Roger Waters just decide on his own? Listen as we discuss what happened and if it was the right thing to do (whatever "it" was...). 

We start with a super non-sexy but important topic before moving on to Netlflix filming again in Krakow, new ideas about what to do about the plague of electric scooters, yet another bike sharing program starts (with 30 bikes...), preschool/playschool/kindergarten drama and Happy Birthday to Galeria Krakowska!

Dari, the most widely spoken language in Afghanistan, is essentially the same language as Persian, also known as Farsi, spoken next door in Iran. It's complicated. Our guest today is a native speaker of Dari and takes us through all the essentials, including the complex issue of calling someone "a dog". Listen as we learn about language and life in Afghanistan along with some great insights into the current situation there from someone who had to flee to safety in Poland. 

After a sports update, this week's news covers Krakow's new train station, the infrastructure issue that will not die is back, vegetarian restaurants in Krakow, signs going up where they shouldn't, noise at night in Kazimierz and our newest "naked in public" story. 

This year's observations of the anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland were spiced up by demands from the Law & Justice party for reparations from Germany in excess of a trillion Euros. Should Germany pay? Does Poland have a good case for reparations? Listen as we discuss these and other issues related to this controversial topic. 

The long national nightmare is over. We are back from vacation and serving up the news, including anatomically correct waffles, Krakow Plaza-Galeria Plaza-Whatever It's Called is disappearing, Donald Tusk says you must support abortion rights or else we reveal the REAL low-price leader in supermarkets and more. 

Kuba Widlarz was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome as a teenager. He joined us to talk about what it means to have Asperger's and gave us some insights into many aspects of the disorder that you might not be familiar with. Join us and listen to Kuba's story and learn more about this increasingly common diagnosis on the Autism spectrum. 

The news is back and so is the beach at Hotel Forum (next year), little dragons are almost ready to go, murder in the center of town, universal basic income comes to Poland, the Polish Senate welcomes Sweden & Finland to NATO and more. 

There are some places and things that are part of any conversation about Poles and the holidays they take. Join us as we go down the list of cliches that define Polish habits when it comes to enjoying a week or two off and add "parawan" to your list of must-know Polish words. 

After a review of Hungarian profanity, we move on to Poles and their strange relationship with water, Zakzrowek will be open...next year, "Free Ukraine Square" in Krakow, scams take advantage of old people and more. 

Poles REALLY support U.S. troops in Poland, pass rates for the Matura, Papa Smurf makes the rules in Krakow, reaction to attempts to catch ticket-cheaters, the Krakow Airport apologizes, Krakow has amazing Spanish restaurant we've never heard of and more. 

We start with more proof that any story is better with "naked" in it and a story about sex on a bench. After that, it's no more cheating on buses and trams, penalties for the people who drive them, ugly signs come down, what to do with Hotel Forum and OMG THE RABBIT CAFE IS COMING!!!!

Anyone who lives in Krakow has seen them many times — groups of Israeli high school kids on trips to visit various places associated with Jewish history. After being suspended in 2020 because of Covid, these trips were supposed to resume this summer but have been canceled by the Israelis after a dispute over some of the details of how the trips are organized. Listen as we discuss what the argument is all about and if there is a solution going forward. 

Our first news of official summertime covers locks disappearing on one bridge and an insane design on another, skateboarders like the Grunwalk monument for their own reasons, death on an electric scooter, strip clubs finally get, uh, busted and a rare example of "good" graffiti disappears. 

Hungarian is a strange language but we love it anyway. Join us as TWO experts guide us through the unique sounds, absurdly long alphabet and references to horse anatomy that make this Europe's most mysterious national language. And, yes, as usual, we include some seriously bad words.