Polcast

The Ornate and the Minimalist: Stories from Warsaw’s Cultural Core Step into the very heart of Warsaw, where two strikingly different buildings—one steeped in ornate socialist grandeur, the other a beacon of minimalist modernity—stand side by side: the Palace of Culture and the Museum of Modern Art's new exhibit. Listen to an exclusive interview with curator Natalia Sielewicz, offering an insider’s perspective on the museum’s vision and collection. Stay tuned until the end for a special surprise: a song about the Palace of Culture—written and performed especially for this episode. Think you can guess who the artist is? Contact me at mbonikowska@rogers.com.

Listen to some stories from my visit to Warsaw: • 10th birthday of POLIN - an award winning museum in Warsaw which tells the story of the Jewish community in Poland. • An artist's art in Yiddish. • A Trinidadian in Poland. • A multiethnic oasis in Warsaw. • A Warsaw unique church. • Enjoying live Chopin music in the iconic park in Warsaw - a 65-year-old tradition.

Today I will take you on a trip to two continents and to two places almost 10,000 km apart. • The first one is in Poland. It’s the city of Sopot, on the Baltic Sea coast. You will meet Canadian Polish photographer and film personality Ela Kinowska • My second POLcast guest is a black musician/composer whom I heard playing Chopin's music on his keyboard north of San Diego, California.  Also, you will learn about a Polish inventor Stefan Kudelski, whose work truly revolutionized Hollywood!  And finally, the linguist in me always loves to give you something about the Polish language. Visit POLcast website - https://www.mypolcast.com.

What a long way it has been since the idea to create POLcast was born 9 years ago! It started in 2015 and Episode #1 was released on March 15, 2016. This anniversary calls for memories and summaries. In its 8 years POLcast has released 100 episodes. I have interviewed well over 200 hundred people and brought you stories from all the continents (well, except for Antarctica, but weather- or climate-wise we did reach far north - Alaska and the Canadian Yukon).  In this special episode I walk you through the idea and history of POLcast. Many people and stories are mentioned and acknowledged. My sincere thanks to all of them: POLcast collaborators, partners, interviewees, and - most of all - to YOU, our loyal POLcast listeners from over 100 countries all over the world and to our invaluable sponsors-donors. Thank you for all the awards and distinctions granted to POLcast! In this episode you will hear many voices - people from many countries talking about POLcast. Thank you for all these kind words. Changes to POL

May 2024 - the very first Polish Heritage Month in Canada. I’m talking to Irek Kuśmierczyk, liberal MP of Polish descent, representing a dynamic city of Windsor since 2019. How did it happen? Katy Carr’s song “Polonia” ends the episode.

In this episode you will meet two celebrities - one human and one animal: Tomek Borkowy, a renowned Polish actor, who has lived in Scotland since the early 1980s, and Wojtek the Bear, a four-legged WW2 hero, who had no idea he wasn’t human because he was adopted as a cub and raised by the Polish soldiers, himself acting as one. What a story! All that with love for Scotland. Also, Poland has won the top prize in the 2024 European Tree of the Year.  A lot of information and links at www.mypolcast.com  

This is a conversation I had during my visit to Kraków with Michael Rubenfeld, a Canadian Jewish theatre artist: writer, director, actor, and producer, who moved to Poland 8 years ago. There aren’t many Jewish Canadians who settle in Poland for good. Michael talks about how this happened and why, how life in Poland differs from Canada, what it’s like to do theatre in Poland. He also talks about his presence on social media, which has become a valuable source of knowledge about Poland for him.

This is the last episode before Christmas and in the year 2023. Both stories in this episode come from Canada - from the city of Edmonton in Alberta: • Albertans United for the Children of Gaza - conversation with Thomas Lukaszuk • Music in Edmonton - conversation with Joanna Ciapka-Sangster. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! PEACE!  

In this episode “Canada in Poland” you will hear three interviews: • With Canada’s ambassador to Poland Catherine Godin, • With the Head of the Canadian Studies programme at the University of Warsaw  Dr. Ewa Luczak, • With three students of the programme. Music by Polky, a Canadian folk band.

In this episode, you will hear three stories: 1. Moses McCormick, a super polyglot who knew 50 languages and loved Polish; 2. Maple Corner about Canadian pop culture, a Polish language blog produced by Joanna Boguslawska in Poland. 3. A secret place in Poland which has just gone through the third major transformation since WWII. 

Meet Marajke Slomka from Brussels, a polyglot born in Poland. And a story of Gacek the cat, the tourist attraction in Szczecin.

In this Christmas episode, the last one in 2022, you will hear two interviews: • UCL Leaders -  a great annual conference initiated by Polish students • A WWII puzzle solved - new thriller “Who Has Buried The Dead” and • Christmas music. WESOŁYCH ŚWIĄT! 

In this episode you will hear about: Poland’s and Canada’s November 11th Canada Study Tour program for Polish hight school students and Alina Deja’s love for Canada EKRAN Toronto Polish Film Festival #13 A stolen Stradivarius and other unknown stories from POLcast Facebook

“Fight With Art” is the largest online charity auction in the world to offer humanitarian aid for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People. POLcast is talking to Michael Rubenfeld, its organizer, a Canadian performance maker, cultural producer, playwright and actor, who now lives in Cracow, Poland.

From 1940 Kazachstan to 2022 Canada Today I am speaking to two women whom I have interviewed before: • ALICJA EDWARDS (born in 1924) Alicja Edwards is a 98-year-old writer, painter, pianist and antique expert and dealer. She lives in Eureka, Montana. Her paintings showing the traumatic years in Kazachstan in the 1940’s are now telling this incredible story of survival as part of Alicja Edwards exhibit at the Muzeum Pamieci Sybiru (The Sybir Memorial Museum) in Bialystok, Poland.  • Louiza Szacon from KONEKT A Polish Canadian professionals’ organization, whose launch we celebrated on POLcast in 2018 - Konekt has been growing and expanding. I’m talking to Louiza Szacon again to find out how Konekt has evolved and where it’s going now. ____________________________________ MUSIC “Ukrainian Village” composed and played by Derek and Brandon Fiechter, identical twins from Indiana.  

Mississauga Polish Day 2022. I will take you on a trip to Mississauga, a city neighbouring Toronto, to experience a colourful, joyful Mississauga Polish Day 2022 - celebration of Poland, polishness and Ontario’s Polish community. May 2022 was the first Polish Heritage Month in Ontario.

This is my second special POLcast Episode - a tribute to Ukraine, to our Ukrainian sisters and brothers who are fighting heroically to defend their country against Putin's army. This episode is about Canadian-Polish help for Ukraine. • Toronto artists for Ukraine This huge concert “With Ukraine” was organized in Toronto by local artists to show their solidarity and love for Ukraine and to raise money for Ukraine. The idea came from two Polish folk singers from the renowned group Polky. • "United for Ukraine" - gigantic aid campaign in Edmonton "United for Ukraine" is the brainchild of of two former politicians from the Canadian province of Alberta. Nobody has ever done anything like this.   

This is a special POLcast Episode - a tribute to Ukraine, to our Ukrainian sisters and brothers who are fighting heroically to defend their country against Putin's army. We stand with Ukraine and will do all we can to help and support you. This episode shows many faces of this support - in Poland, Canada, and England.

In this episode: • Interview with Ewa Stachniak, a Polish Canadian writer  * Christmas music by Joanna Ciapka-Sangster and Magda Papierz, Ola Turkiewcz and Vocal Ensemble of MAVO Academy of Arts and Music MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!    

In this episode I’d like you to meet my two guests: Anna Paluch from Ottawa, Canada, and Piotr Surmaczynski from London, UK. We talk about indigenous culture, art, and history, about identity, Polishness, emigration and more. Visit POLcast at www.mypolcast.com