The big news this week is the (unofficial) announcement that Amazon is coming to Poland, so get your credit cards ready. After that, we talk about trams coming back to Florianska street, water trams on the Wisła, a new bridge from Galeria Kazimierz to Zabłocie and more other bridges possibly coming soon, pro- and anti-LGBT sign wars, a huge kidnapping story that quickly, uh, disappeared and a guy you probably don't want to sit next to on the bus.
It's KrakCast Weekend, so it's time to talk about other things than our usual all-Poland-all-the-time format. In this episode we look at the shock result in the recent elections in Ireland. Our very own Dave, whose passport qualifies him as an expert (ok, not really), takes us through the various shades of green in the Irish political landscape while offering his own theories on what happened.
Lots of interesting things in the news this week, starting (eventually) with a new runway at the Krakow airport, a tragedy causes a renewed focus on building codes, a crackdown on VAT fraud, interesting details about the company that checks tickets on Krakow buses and trams, a new campaign to make people "Repect Krakow!", quiet shopping hours at Ikea, President Duda has a psycho fan and MPK is really shitty.
Two of the most controversial and important statesmen of their time, the Józef Piłsudski / Roman Dmowski story is key to understanding the birth and importance of the Second Polish Republic. Listen as we cover the names, places and events behind the story of how Poland reappeared on the map of Europe after 123 years of non-existence and entered an important new chapter in its complex history. To understand what's going on today, you need to know what happened 100 years ago and this episode of The KrakCast is the perfect place to start.
How have we done so many episodes without talking about Pope John Paul II? Probably because it's impossible to discuss everything about his incredible life in less than a hundred hours, which would be a really long show. Listen as we pick the highlights of the life of of arguably the famous Pole of them all. Also, no matter what Dave says, JPII died on April 2, 2005, not April 1.
We start out with some welcome news about a Sunday shopping ban hack brought to you by the forward-thinking tech wizards at...Lewiatan? Then it's on to the rent-a-bikes that disappeared and will reappear, LOT costs aLOT of money, a date for the Presidential election is set, a rambling (even by our standards) update on tensions with the EU, heavy Mittal in Nowa Huta and...Reindeer Man.
We profile the Nobel G.O.A.T. herself, Marie Skłodowska Curie. Her extraordinary scientific achievements, captivating life story and her place in the great pantheon of scientists are the topic of this episode, listen as we desperately try and convey complex Physics and Chemistry history and of course why the hell everyone outside of Poland thinks she is French??!!
1st we cover the Tubby Tax and question whether .70Gr will make people step away from the Sunny Delight, before we change lines and kick the lack of tires on autonomous trams. As Krakow takes it's place in the Top 25 most congested cities in the World we ask why so many people drive in this damn town. Coronavirus panic and of course the ongoing Year of the Boar gets an airing on this jam packed episode of The Krakcast.
You can always find him in Krakow's main square (somewhere he never once found himself) but what do you know about Poland's most famous poet? And Lithuania's most famous poet? And Belarus' most famous poet? It's complicated. Anyway, time to make your day a little more Mickiewicz-y.
Possibly our most boar-ing news ever, as we fail to come up with much beyond the incipient porcine apocalypse rampaging across Central Europe, a jacuzzi, a viaduct and one or two other items of trivia.
Not much news in the...news lately so we had to be a little creative this week. That's why we were forced to talk about things like solar panels in Poland, new street signs in Krakow, a car that magically lost a million km and more. Seriously, did anything really interesting happen this week?
Concert tours of Europe and America, giving away lots of money, growing grapes in California, Prime Minister of Poland, funding the Grunwald monument in Krakow, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (really) and more. Join us for a chat about the amazing life and career of Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
The fight over judicial independence is getting a lot of attention this week and that's our starting point in the News. Then it's on to Auschwitz commemorations without Poland, the latest totally not-shocking delays in local construction projects, hunting in the city limits (wha????), American Airlines gets it wrong again and more.
You've walked by it a million times, but do you know the story of the clock tower in Krakow's Main Square? Listen as we explain the origins of Krakow's development in the late Middle Ages and the establishment of its city government. Not as boring as it sounds—really!
Everybody's talking about "The Witcher", including us. Listen as we discuss the good (no Nicholas Cage), the bad ("Wait, where are we?") and the ugly (the first episode) of Netflix's hit series based on the books or possibly the video game based on the books or maybe none of the above. Toss a coin to KrakCast Reviews!
In our first News of 2020, we start with the latest "no" from the city Conservator, then it's on to impossible retirement promises, idiotic parking rules, a Ukrainian attack on St. Mary's church, bird flu and the Polish poultry industry and more Putin.
Taken from the same recording session as the episode we posted last month about "Pan T.", the film that is NOT about his father (cough), political commentator and analyst Matthew Tyrmand joined us to talk about the current situation in Polish politics. As always, he has strong opinions on pretty much everyone and everything and we tried our best to interrupt where we could. There was so much to talk about we forgot to record a proper introduction—oops...
Fryderyk Chopin's music defines the Romantic era and is closely associated with Poland and its national character. Listen as an actual musician (Josh) explains Chopin's genius while the rest of us (John & Dr. Mike) try not to embarrass ourselves.
In our last News of 2019, we talk about how Poles celebrate New Year's Eve, the enduring and slightly strange popularity of Zakopane, Krakow's latest beach development and Putin's suggestion that Poland started WWII. Happy New Year, everybody!
Earlier this month, the 38th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the communist government in Poland was marked by Martial Law Victims Remembrance Day. Listen as we discuss this controversial chapter of Polish history, the people involved and what measures the communists took to repress the growing forces of reform and opposition.
