In Episode 73 - you will hear: Interviews: • The risk is obvious, but it doesn’t matter The pandemic as experienced by someone who risks her life every day, a front line worker. • Polish Easter At the beginning of March, long before we realized the full scope of what was going on around us, I recorded a conversation with Maria Różanska of Just Be Cooking about Polish Easter traditions.
Our world has changed completely. POLcast has now been transformed to COVID-19 themed podcast and will be released more frequently that once a month - every two (or three) weeks, depending on how much strength I will have to produce it. In Episode 72 you will hear one interview only: Facts and myths about COVID-19 and how we can all beat it This is a conversation with Dr. Rafal Kustra, Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto....
In Episode 71 you will hear: Interviews: • “Memory is Our Homeland” – a tribute to those whose story was never told • Canada’s dark past resonates with Poles in Poland • Pączki – Just Be Cooking Maria Rozynska is talking about the International Pączki Day and the magic od pączki making. To attend the Just Be Cooking Pączki event and other evets, see HERE...
In Episode 70 you will hear: Interviews: • A no-barrier approach to Polishness It’s fantastic that children of emigrants, Poles who settled in other countries such as Canada, even though they were often born and educated here, are interetsed in their roots, cultural heritage and want to incorporate their Polishness into their identity. There are a few Polish Canadian youth organizations, including the one and only Quo Vadis movement , which we have featured on POLcast. A Polish Canadian young pr...
This is POLcast Christmas Episode. WESOŁYCH ŚWIĄT i WSPANIAŁEGO NOWEGO ROKU! In Episode 69 you will hear: Interviews: • "Music has been my lifeline": when cancer hits Arthur Lewinowicz, a 27-year-old violin and viola player, composer and teacher, whose life mission is to help kids with various disabilities and special needs learn to play the violin and enjoy music, has been fighting cancer since August. • Living like any other person who can see Marta Hanyżkiewicz, born in Poland, is a student o...
In Episode 68 you will hear: Interviews: • How young Polish Canadians stirred up Polish youth around the world - 10 years of Quo Vadis On September 20-22, 2019 delegates from all over the world came to Toronto to celebrate 10 years of Quo Vadis, a unique youth movement, one and only in the world. POLcast talks to Ania Barycka, the conference spiritus movens, organizer and veteran. • An Australian Quo Vadis organizer's experience with polishness While at the 10th QV conference in Toronto, I met a...
In Episode 67 you will hear: Interviews: • Was it worth it? A story of an immigrant's journey Liliana Arkuszewski lives in Ottawa. Her book about her immigration journey written in Polish has now been translated to English and recently published. • A true hero who risked his life to save others Mr. Franciszek Paslawski, who just passed away in September 2019, was the last Righteous Among Nations still living in Canada. This is his story and the story of those who owe him their lives. • In love w...
In Episode 65 you will hear: Interviews: • Murder, cover up and forced silence - the war was not over for Poles Wanda Kościa talks to Piotr Szkopiak, British writer/director and his most recent film “The Last Witness”, a thriller which talks about the Katyn 1940 monumental masacre, in itself a tragedy, but also about another tragic aspect of it - the coverup by the Allies, who didn’t want to reveal the Soviet guilt, ascribing it to the Germans. The film also shows the fate of Polish refugees aft...
In Episode 64 you will hear: Interviews: • Polish language, literature and culture lovers at a North American university Why is it that not only people with Polish roots but also people who have no Polish blood in them study Polish literature, culture and language in countries outside Poland such as Canada? • The land of mosquitos and Poles in Ontario (Part 2) Kaszuby, an area in northern Ontario, about 200 kilometres west of Ottawa, named after the part of northern Poland from which the first s...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • From building capitalism in Poland to writing books and helping others Agnieszka Dydycz tells her story of the very beginning of capitalism in Poland and her role in creating capital markets at the national level, her interactions with the biggest institutional global investors, and then... her life as a writer and her charity work. • Polished ice - curling in Poland Adela Walczak lives in Poland, a country without any curling traditions and without a...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • Polish art in Indian palaces Poland’s connections with many geographically distant countries are a fascinating topic. This story of a famous pre-war Polish painter whose art decorates many palaces in India is told by a Canadian POLcast listener born in India. He had just come back to Canada after visiting his home country and was fascinated with artist Stefan Norblin’s contribution to India’s culture. • Basia’s love line Basia lives in a small town in...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • If you cannot buy it – make it yourself: a story of Kannuk vodka Imagine that you go to a store and want to buy something special as a gift – well, you cannot because it’s simply not available. 99.9 per cent of people would simply leave saying: “too bad. I wish they produced it” and go buy something else. But not Adam Szymkow… • The world’s largest orchestra “plays” for sick kids This year for the 27th time, Poland’s largest fundraising campaign – the...
This is our special Christmas Episode so we would like to wish you WESOŁYCH ŚWIĄT i SZCZĘŚLIWEGO NOWEGO ROKU! In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • Art helps people in a remote African village For six years Ted Dawson has travelled every fall to rural Tanzania, an area next door to Kilimanjaro, to help local people build and modernize infrastructure. In November, for the first time, he took with him Ewa Henry, a Polish Canadian artist, who opened an art program there, empowering local you...
We are releasing this episode on a very special day - today, on 11 November 2018, Poland and Poles around the world are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence. After 123 years of partitions, on 11 November 1918, the dream of generations of Poles came true: the Polish state was reborn and Poland reappeared on the maps of Europe. In this episode you will hear: The story of 100 years of Poland's independence Special gift to Poland on its 100th anniversary of independ...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • A ticking piece of Poland with a charity twist Robin Devine makes beautiful watches which she donates as gifts to hundreds of veterans, at the same time providing significant support for many charities (over 22 years around half a million dollars have been donated to numerous charitable causes). Now on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Poland's independence, she created an exquisite Polish Eagle Watch to celebrate this special occasion. • It st...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • Poles and Jews meet through their common music Olga Avigail Mieleszczuk , born in Poland, is a singer, accordion player and researcher of Eastern European musical folklore. Since the very beginning of her creative work, she has been focusing on Jewish music of Ashkenazi roots. She converted into Judaism and now lives and works in Jerusalem. She performed at Toronto’s Lula Lounge at the 2018 Ashkenaz Festival with her three Polish musicians. • The Thin...
In this episode you will hear: A childhood dream that came true Maple syrup, Leonard Cohen, hockey – these are Canadian icons. There is one more, very special – Anne of Green Gables, the red-haired orphan whose life in Avonlea in Prince Edward Island was described by author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Bernadeta Milewski is a Pole living in the US, whose life has been influenced by Anne of Green Gables in many ways. The money is on the road – a study of immorality After the successul premiere of hs fea...
This is a special episode of POLcast, recorded during my visit to Poland in June, where Margaret received the prestigious journalistic Maciej Plazynski Award for her work on POLcast. In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • And the M. Plazynski award for POLcast was granted by…. Jarosław Włodarczyk is the president of the Press Club Polska. This organization is the founder of the annual Maciej Płażyński award together with Jakub Plazynski, a son of the late Maciej Plazynski. This year’s awar...
In this episode: • The eye - where the microscope and the paintbrush meet Eva Henry (Toronto) is an artist and Dorota Skowrońska Krawczyk(California) is a scientist who work together to create VISIONS. • Looking for love stories across Canada Monika Grzelak, a photographer from Toronto, drove across Canada to find and photograph couples in love. • The teacher taking his students far away from the classroom There are special teachers - Marcin Zarod is one of them. Also in this episode: Coś z Pols...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • MozART Group - string virtuosos with appetite for fun There are four of them, most accomplished virtuoso string players (two violins, a viola and a cello), graduates of prestigious music Academies in Warsaw and Łódź. They have been playing together since 1995, when they began to create their own style - classical music with humour - their own unique musical cabaret. Now the award winning MozART Group is admired all over the world, their DVDs fly off t...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • A mission to give voices to those who are not heard Art gives a voice, empowers, returns dignity and changes lives. This is what Anna Rak and the acting school she graduated from in New York believe in. Anna is a Polish actress there who works with inmates - her work has also changed her life. She also aims to give a voice to art communities in New York who have so much to offer and are not heard enough. • A Polish-Canadian athlete wins gold for Canad...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • Polish folk music - the multicultural way Polky Village Band was created by ethnomusiologist, musician and singer from Poland Ewelina Ferenc and consists of Canadian musicians of various ethnic backgrounds. They charm Canadian audiences with Polish fold music and dances. • Polish-Canadian-Japanese artist's help for Laos, India, and Uganda Sylvia Beauchain lives in Japan, with which she feels very close spiritual connection, and has devoted her life to...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • An orchestra which saves lives Since 1993 the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, a non-governmental charity in Poland, has been working tirelessly with one goal in mind "Health Protection and Saving Children's Lives through Providing Medical Equipment to Public Hospitals". It was created by Jurek Owsiak and had millions of followers all over the world. It has recently played in Canada. • North America's only mayor with Polish roots Bonnie (Bozena) ...
In this episode you will hear: Our POLcast's third award - granted to us by CEMA (Canadian Ethnic Media Association). Interviews: • Great Poles - a project by young history buffs A group of ambitious high school students from Poland (and not only) worked for months to create a website called greatpoles.pl which has just been launched. It’s a beautifully prepared English language website featuring great Poles from the past and those who make Poland known around the world today. Stanislaw Borawski...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • A legend that needed to exist Dariusz Rosiak, a renowned Polish press and radio journalist and author, has just published his 6th book “Biało-czerwony. Tajemnica Sat Okha” (White and red. The secret of Sat Okh). Sat Okh , Long Feather (c. 1920 – July 3, 2003), was supposedly born to a Polish woman and a native Canadian Shawnee chief, then returned to Poland, where he fought in WW2, worked in the navy and then started his career of informing Poles and ...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • Poppies on Canadian graves in Poland Nancy Campbell - a Canadian teacher (an great fan of Poland) who initiated an international collaboration between an elementary school in Poland and an organization out of Edmonton called No Stone Left Alone. She recently visited Krakow to attend an event - the result of this unique partnership between Poland and Canada • A child's journey from the Arctic to the Equator - Part 2 Irene Tomaszewski - an Ottawa-based ...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • An eye-opening experience of the world of the blind Monika Dybiel - a blind guide from Warsaw's "Invisible Exhibition" talks about this special place and the lives of people who are blind and visually impaired • "Creative" is the word Filip Terlecki - a Toronto-based filmmaker - director and screenplay writer, founder of a multi-platform production company, talks about his most recent film and working in advertising. Also in this episode: • How to pis...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • A hero from zero (part 2) Marek Probosz - a Polish success story in Hollywood, where he came for a short visit in 1987 as a big Easter European star - film, television and stage actor in his native Poland with more than 50 starring roles and numerous awards, known across Eastern Europe as the “De Niro of Poland”(part 2 of the interview), • Polish-Jewish roots turned life mission Peter Jassem - the head of the Polish-Jewish Heritage Foundation, a dynam...
In this episode you will hear: Interviews: • Marek Probosz - a Polish success story in Hollywood, where he came for a short visit in 1987 as a big Easter European star - film, television and stage actor in his native Poland with more than 50 starring roles and numerous awards, known across Eastern Europe as the “De Niro of Poland”(part 1 of the interview), • John Godson - the first black man in Polish Parliament. He moved from Nigeria to Poland in 1993 and in 2001 received Polish citizenship. A ...
