Best Ukrainian Language Podcasts (2025)

Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, August 2025 On November 25, Bloomberg published an explosive report containing transcripts of two phone calls: one between top Kremlin advisers Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, and another between Ushakov and U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff. The leak revealed that Witkoff coached Ushakov on how to co…

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Russian neurotechnology company says it can steer pigeon flocks with implanted brain chips

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The Russian neurotechnology company Neiry claims to have begun field testing a flock of pigeons with chips implanted in their brains, allowing researchers to steer the birds from the laboratory into the wild and back. According to reporting by Forbes Russia, Neiry says its operators can upload flight patterns to pigeons by stimulating specific area…

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Leaked calls between Steve Witkoff and Putin’s advisers raise new questions about Trump’s ‘peace plan.’ Here’s how the world is reacting.

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Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff meet in Moscow on August 6, 2025, as Yuri Ushakov stands in the background On November 25, Bloomberg published transcripts of two phone calls involving Yuri Ushakov, a top aide to the Russian president — one with Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and another with Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmi…

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Russian prosecutors seeking 25-year prison sentence for physicist who donated to Ukrainian charities

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A 34-year-old Russian physicist is facing 25 years in prison after authorities accused him of preparing a DDoS attack, planning a sabotage operation, and committing treason. The first two charges are based on circumstantial evidence, while the treason charge is in connection with donations he made to Ukrainian charity organizations. Here’s what we …

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Screening programme tackling addiction, German heritage funding in Sudetenland, Vyšehrad Cemetery 26:50

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New screening programme targets addiction risks, Funding announced to preserve German heritage of the Czech borderlands, A stroll through Vyšehrad Cemetery.

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Leaked recordings show Witkoff coached Kremlin advisers on how to approach Trump over Ukraine — Bloomberg

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U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff suggested to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov in October that Washington and Moscow work together on a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine, according to Bloomberg. On November 25, the outlet published a detailed report based on a transcript of a phone call between Witkoff and Ushakov held on October…

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15 minutes a day 20:21

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Thanks for listening. My inbox is open if you ever have language learning questions: https://azrenthelanguagenerd.com/contact

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Why hasn’t the biggest corruption scandal of Zelensky’s presidency forced him into political or diplomatic concessions?

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Earlier this month, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) uncovered an embezzlement scheme at Energoatom, the state-owned operator of the country’s nuclear power plants. It is the most serious corruption scandal of Volodymyr Zelensky’s six-year presidency, and the case was announced 10 days before the Trump administration surprised Kyiv …

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New investigation reveals the Russian Red Cross is expanding operations in occupied Ukraine as its international funding grows

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In 2024, Meduza published a joint investigation as part of the Kremlin Leaks project that revealed the activities of the Russian Red Cross (RRC) in Ukraine’s occupied territories. Among other findings, we learned that individuals claiming to be Red Cross employees had abused prisoners of war at a prison facility in the Donetsk region. In a follow-u…

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Russian foreign minister suggests Moscow could reject Trump’s updated peace plan

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested on Tuesday that Moscow could reject the latest U.S. proposal to end the war in Ukraine if it diverges from the terms Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed at their meeting in Alaska earlier this year. Speaking at a press conference, Lavrov said Russia had “welcome…

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Czech-Polish presidential meeting, Archeological finds in Třebíč, How babies learn multiple languages 29:19

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Czech-Polish presidential meeting overshadowed by security concerns. Rare gold-decorated shoe among artefacts from 12th-century Třebíč excavation. Czech psycholinguist Nikola Paillereau on how bilingual babies learn languages.

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‘There is no such thing as a just peace’: Meduza’s Russian-language readers react to Trump’s Ukraine–Russia peace plan

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The Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine. Kyiv. November 24, 2025. Last week, we asked our Russian-language readers what they think of the new peace plan proposed by the Trump administration to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. Hundreds of letters have come in since, ranging from relief at the prospect of ending the war to outrage over the…

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Russia is remaking occupied Ukraine’s monuments to legitimize the invasion and propagate a shared history

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The memorial on Ostraya Mohyla in Luhansk after its restoration in 2023 In occupied parts of Ukraine, Russia has been busy creating, rebuilding, and demolishing a large number of monuments. According to Ukrainian historian Yurii Latysh, this activity fits a clear ideological pattern. Meduza examines Latysh’s findings, which he presented in a recent…

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17-year-old college student gives birth in bathroom stall and leaves baby wrapped on floor. Hospitals in her region of Russia have stopped offering abortions.

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Students at a teachers’ college dormitory in Russia’s Zabaykalsky Krai found a newborn baby on the floor of a bathroom stall this weekend. The child’s mother, a 17-year-old pupil at the school, had given birth in the bathroom and left the baby wrapped in a jacket. The mother and child were later taken to the hospital, and the two are now together u…

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Journalist Farida Rustamova explains how Russia’s elites went from dreading war to fearing peace

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Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual state-of-the-nation address at the Gostiny Dvor conference center in central Moscow. February 29, 2024. In his 2024 state-of-the-nation address, Vladimir Putin declared that the word “elite” had lost much of its credibility. “Those who have done nothing for society and consider themselves a caste…

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U.S. push for a Russia–Ukraine deal shows progress as Thanksgiving deadline nears: the latest on Trump’s ‘peace plan’

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U.S. and Ukrainian delegations meet in Geneva. November 23, 2025. In the days since the Trump administration’s controversial “peace plan” for Russia and Ukraine surfaced last week, the proposal has undergone revisions, stirred debate over who wrote it, and prompted a counterproposal from several European allies. According to the Financial Times, ne…

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Russia’s new state dictionary calls authoritarianism the ‘most effective’ form of government and bans the word ‘ass’

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St. Petersburg State University rector Nikolay Kropachev presents the new Explanatory Dictionary of the State Language of the Russian Federation In April, Russia introduced a new Explanatory Dictionary of the State Language of the Russian Federation, compiled at St. Petersburg State University and immediately added to the official list of normative…

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The Pavel–Babiš clash, Prague bell made from Ukrainian war weapons, Petr Novotný, the Czech rescuer in Taiwan 29:23

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The Pavel–Babiš clash in context: echoes of past power struggles at Prague Castle, Bell forged from Russian weapons used in Ukraine now sounds above Prague: “May it awaken those who sleep”, “Finding dead bodies is never easy”, says Petr Novotný, the Czech rescuer in Taiwanese mountains

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What does Trump’s peace plan mean for Putin? It’s ‘a reward to a dictator,’ says Free Russia Foundation’s Natalia Arno.

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U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, accompanied by Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev and Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, enters a hall before a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow. April 25, 2025. Members of the Trump administration are sending mixed messages about the new, 28-point peace plan draft…

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Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith explains why Trump’s Ukraine–Russia peace plan is a test for the transatlantic alliance

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U.S. President Donald J Trump shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte as they meet in the Oval Office in Washington, DC. October 22, 2025. The Trump administration’s new plan to end Russia’s war against Ukraine contains four points concerning NATO, even though the alliance played no part in drafting it. In addition to ruling out members…

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Meeting Ukrainian soldiers and amputees in Ukraine, Fifth of Czechs affected by poverty 29:27

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On today's Czechia in 30 Minutes show, we bring you an exclusive feature from a Radio Prague trip to Ukraine, when we were able to meet a number of Ukrainian soldiers and amputees who were at the frontline and are now in rehabilitation centers. The feature also details the trip we made with a group of international journalists to the Kyiv Economic …

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Trump wants Russia to surrender its frozen assets. Here’s why Putin likely won’t do it — and why he just might.

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Trump’s plan On November 20, Axios published the draft text of the Trump administration’s latest plan to end the Russian–Ukrainian war. One of the most detailed sections of the document is point 14, which outlines how the White House intends to use Russia’s frozen assets. Here’s what the draft agreement says: 14) Frozen funds will be used as follow…

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Promises of housing and stability are luring Russia’s orphans into the war in Ukraine

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A mural on the wall of an orphanage in Velsk dedicated to former resident Kirill Nikitinsky, who was killed in the war in Ukraine Thousands of Russia’s orphans have been sent to fight in Ukraine, many drawn in by promises of finally receiving the housing they were already entitled to. While officials won’t say how many have been killed, journalists…

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In his first public comments, Putin says Trump’s 28-point peace plan wasn’t discussed ‘substantively’ with Moscow but could serve as ‘basis for a final peace settlement’

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In his first public comments on the Trump administration’s 28-point peace plan for the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said on Friday that an early version of the White House’s proposals was part of discussions ahead of his meeting with the U.S. president in Alaska in August 2025. “During the discussions, the Americans asked us to accept certain com…

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‘Legions of devils in the details’: The world reacts to Trump’s full Russia–Ukraine ‘peace plan’

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov visit the command post of Russia’s “West” grouping Over the past few days, media outlets around the world have been focused on a new plan to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine. First, it emerged that the plan was being prepared in secret by envoys of Donald Trump and Vlad…

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Smart T-shirt, Czechs' Engligh language skills under spotlight, new book with photos of St. Vitus 29:11

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Smart T-shirt monitors stress, Czechs' English language skills improving, new book of photographs of St. Vitus Cathedral

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815: Your Thanksgiving meal with Deb Perelman and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt & Desi Bakes with Hetal Vasavada 49:09

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We are a week away from Thanksgiving, and this week, Award-winning authors J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Deb Perelman give us the best advice on making the perfect Thanksgiving spread. From gravy hot takes to best brining practices and the ideal way to cook a perfect turkey we have you covered. J. Kenji López-Alt and Deb Perelman are co-hosts of "The Reci…

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A friendly reminder: Trump’s new Ukraine peace plan is the work of two diplomatic amateurs, Kirill Dmitriev and Steve Witkoff

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Kirill Dmitriev and Steve Witkoff On November 19, reports surfaced that Russia and the United States were quietly drafting a new plan to end the war in Ukraine. Later that day, several of the plan’s details became public, indicating that the proposal largely repeats demands Vladimir Putin has made of Kyiv since the start of the conflict. The new pl…

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In nearly four years of full-scale war, these are the major initiatives to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including Trump’s latest peace plan

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Kyiv, October 22, 2025 U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled a new plan to end Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. In fits and starts, Trump has been negotiating for a ceasefire or peace treaty between Moscow and Kyiv since he returned to the White House in January. Let’s review the timeline of various proposals over the years and compare t…

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‘Outright capitulation’: Reactions to Trump’s new ‘peace plan’ for Russia and Ukraine are in — and they’re mostly negative

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On November 19, several Western media outlets published details of a new “peace plan” quietly drafted by U.S. and Russian officials. The 28-point document, which was drawn up without input from Ukraine or the European Union, largely echoes the Kremlin’s maximalist demands. And it appears that almost no one in Ukraine, the West, or even in Russia co…

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How the Ukrainian blogger photographed in the aftermath of Russia’s Mariupol maternity hospital strike became a pro-Putin propagandist

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In March 2022, Ukrainian beauty blogger Marianna Vyshemirskaya was photographed by Associated Press journalists Mstyslav Chernov and Yevgeny Maloletka as they documented the aftermath of a Russian strike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol. The photographers’ shots of her became some of the most widely shared and resonant images of Moscow’s assault…

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How Swarovski Optik is still sending sniper scopes to Russia, despite Austria’s policy of ‘permanent neutrality’

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Despite Austria’s declared neutrality and its refusal to send weapons to Kyiv, the country’s Swarovski Optik has continued supplying high-end rifle scopes to Russia throughout the full-scale war, according to a new investigation by iStories. Customs records show dozens of scopes — the kind used by elite Russian units — entering the country via inte…

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News, Nuremberg trials, "Shoebox“ Christmas gift collection, Bohemian Switzerland Ridge Trail, 28:29

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News, Nuremberg trials anniversary,“Shoebox“ Christmas gift collection, Bohemian Switzerland Ridge Trail, Malešice Botanical Garden

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‘Life matters more than your wallet’: Meduza takes a look at the Kremlin’s new media guidelines for spinning Russia’s tax hikes

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Russia’s new budget includes tax hikes that the Kremlin knows will anger the public. So the Putin administration has issued detailed instructions to state-run and pro-government media on how to frame the unpopular measures — from pinning the blame on the West to insisting that security and social programs matter more than a bit of personal financia…

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Stephen King’s ‘It’ disappears from Russian bookstores and online retailers

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The American author Stephen King’s horror novel “It” has been pulled from sale at Russian bookstores and on online marketplaces like Ozon and Wildberries, according to state media. Local media previously reported that “It” had disappeared from store shelves in the Novosibirsk region. “Our boss said that there had been an order to remove King’s nove…

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The Trump administration has another peace plan for Russia and Ukraine. One side will likely welcome it far more than the other.

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A view of Pokrovsk — a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that has been battered by shelling and fighting, and that Russian forces have been trying to capture for several months. October 7, 2025. A new plan from the Trump administration to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would reportedly require Kyiv to surrender the territory of the Donetsk region,…

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As the battle for Pokrovsk continues, Meduza’s military analysts weigh the costs for Ukraine on other fronts

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Like our earlier reports on the combat situation in Ukraine, this article takes stock of the recent developments on the battlefield based on open-source information. Meduza has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the very start, and our detailed military analyses are part of our commitment to objective reporting on a war we firmly oppose. O…

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Video analysis identifies X-101 cruise missile in Russia’s deadly Ternopil strike

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In the early hours of November 19, Russia carried out another large-scale air assault on Ukraine using drones and cruise missiles. The worst devastation was inflicted on the city of Ternopil, where Russian missiles and drones partially destroyed two high-rise residential buildings. By the afternoon of November 19, at least 25 people had been killed…

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3D prining in architecture, Prague Comedy Festival, Max Diesing 29:02

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3D prining reshaping Czech architecture, Prague Comedy Festival underway, PT with Max Diesing

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Memory of Nations awards, Czech boats for Hollywood productions, Maya Kvetny 28:53

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Memory of Nations awards, Czech company builds boats for famous Hollywood productions, Czech scientists reveal why some birds fear humans more than others. Interview with casting director Maya Kvetny.

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Broadcast in English - 11/17/2025 29:33

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Broadcast in English - 11/17/2025

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Zlín and the Baťa Principle: inside the city that changed global shoemaking 28:02

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In this Weekend Edition of Czechia in 30 Minutes, we visit Zlín, the birthplace of the Baťa shoe company and one of Czechia’s most distinctive modernist cities. Inside a former factory hall, the exhibition The Baťa Principle shows how a local workshop expanded into a global brand. Join us to hear excerpts from the museum and learn how one Moravian …

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100 years of Čechie–Böhmerland, Scientists how liver regenerates, Jim Potts in Prague 27:32

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Today on Czechia in 30 Minutes: 100 years of Čechie–Böhmerland: the world’s longest motorcycles on display in Prague; scientists in Czechia uncover how the liver regenerates in “one of the most significant discoveries”; and later we meet British writer Jim Potts who recalls his years in Prague.

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838: Our All-American Thanksgiving with Padma Lakshmi and Dorie Greenspan 49:23

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This week, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving and looking at the way this American holiday and its food tell our stories. First, we talk with Padma Lakshmi about her new cookbook, Padma’s All American, a celebration of the immigrant dishes and regional traditions that make up our country’s culinary landscape. Padma talks about what she’s learned from y…

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It's so easy to learn a language 34:30

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I never thought 2 years of research would start to point me in this direction. Learning a language actually might be so easy that boredom is the main problem to overcome. We've been tricked into thinking that it's hard. Thanks for listening to the episode! To work with me, visit https://azrenthelanguagenerd.com…

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Aussie & Kiwi Film Fest, Michelin-star plaques from Brno, Earth from Space, new Czech folk song database 29:12

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The Aussie & Kiwi Film Fest kicks off in Prague tomorrow. A look inside the Brno company that manufactures plaques for Michelin-starred restaurants. A new exhibition in Prague's Planetarium, and a new digital archive of Czech folk songs - Písňovna.

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Your progress isn't their top priority 24:42

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Thanks for listening! To work with me or a tutor on my team directly to reach your language learning goals, visit my website.

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New play ‘Kyoto’ looks at the global agreement that first aimed to curb greenhouse gas emissions

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Hurricane Melissa devastated Jamaica and Cuba two weeks ago, bringing with it a short but deadly storm to New York City that killed two people in flash floods. With the world seeing stronger and more frequent weather events 28 years after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol — a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — many crucial questi…