As Czechs are slowly digesting the shocking case of the Social Democrat politician David Rath, more details emerge about his arrest and the crime he allegedly committed. The opposition MP and governor of Central Bohemia was arrested on Monday with seven million crowns in his possession. While Mr Rath maintains his innocence, he has been charged with corruption, and remains in detention.

An international meeting of Czech language and literature experts, among them teachers and translators, kicked off at Prager Literaturhaus, a Czech institute that promotes Prague’s German literary heritage. For the next four days, lovers of the Czech language will be discussing their field of expertise and exchanging their findings in a number of seminars, panel discussions and lectures.

Not many people would give up the salary, status and security of a job as a high-flying European lawyer for all the uncertainties of being a full time writer. But this is exactly what Blanka Čechová has done. After several years working for international institutions that seemed to feed on their own bureaucracy, she became disillusioned, and instead has taken her experiences as an inspiration for her writing.

In this edition of Magazine: a security guard hand-cuffs himself by accident; a man is arrested after failing to notice that his passport contains an inconceivable expiry date and Brno tests a pissoir for dogs.

Welcome to SoundCzech our long-running language series in which you can learn Czech idioms through song lyrics. Today’s final edition looks at the expression vypadnout z týhle díry – to get out of this hole. The expression features in a song by Mňága a Žďorp a very popular alternative rock band from Valašské Meziříčí, called Ve 4 ráno – At four in the morning.

South Moravia is well-known for its wine, which has been produced there at least since thirsty Roman soldiers far from home began doing so in the 2nd century. Move forward a thousand years or so, to the 13th century, and wine trading had become one of the most profitable businesses in the region. Those are the days that our destination for today stretches back to.

Pavel Kohout is an economist who seems seldom out of the media. He recently created a stir when he announced he was leaving the government’s advisory committee, NERV, and criticised government willingness to tackle multi-billion crown corruption in public tenders. That furore appears to have blown over and Mr. Kohout seems on course to give further advice to the government and the new political party, Public Affairs.

The Czech Foreign Minister has announced a wide ranging review of foreign policy to take account both of changes in the Czech Republic and those in the wider world. The review comes with the jury still out on whether a more streamlined EU foreign policy can deliver, the outcome of Afghanistan still unclear and questions still up in the air about relations with Russia.

Over the last couple of years, art sales in the Czech Republic have seen a decline. But this year is different, and it’s not just the record sale of a František Kupka painting that did the trick. The market now attracts collectors who are ready to look beyond the well-established segment of modern art that has topped sales so far.

With mushroom season in full swing, our guest in this edition of One on One is Jan Borovička, a leading member of the Czech Mycological Society, who combines a very Czech hobby of mushroom picking with his profession of geochemist at the Czech Academy of Sciences. How has the internet changed mushroom picking? Why are mushrooms safe to eat even after Chernobyl and Fukushima? And, most importantly, where are the best spots to find them?

In Sports News: Liberec win Czech football title; Arsenal, with Czech midfielder Tomáš Rosický, have secured a spot in next year’s Champions League; Chimsa, Kiprop win Prague International Marathon while legendary footballer Pavel Nedvěd also takes part; the Czech national hockey team wins over Italy but loses to Russia in group stage action at the World Championship in ice hockey; Czech tennis player Berdych loses to Federer in Madrid final.

In this edition of the Sunday Music Show: conversation with, as well as new music from, jazz legend Laco Deczi.

In the 1970s the Cold War was fought on many fronts. One of them was Northern Ireland, where the tension and violence that raged throughout the decade also became part of the propaganda war between East and West. At the time, Czechoslovak Radio’s correspondent in London was Karel Kvapil, who had entered the radio after the wave of sackings following the 1968 Soviet-led invasion, and later went on to become its last communist era general director.

In this month’s edition of Science Journal: A team of Czech researchers may have found the answer to a question that has puzzled veterinarians, horse breeders and biologists for decades – why such a high percentage of pregnancies in mares end in natural, chemically triggered abortions. A recent study released by a Czech scientist suggests the answer may be that keeping pregnant mares close to stallions at their home stable makes them more likely to abort.

In this week’s business news: the Greek ambassador to the Czech Republic has said that Greece must remain in Eurozone, the daily Lidové noviny writes that ČEZ may loose up to ten billion Czech crowns due to investments into Albania’s power grid, Russia’s oil delivery to Czech Republic is likely to fall short of target in May, the Finance Ministry is selling state bonds, and Czech Railways expands its fleet.

In 2004, Jiří Mádl, who at the time was all about playing hockey and had little ambitions to become an actor, shot to fame overnight with his lead role in the box-office hit Snowboarďáci, or Snowboarders. While he was mostly cast for teen comedies following his first big success, his more recent films show a shift towards serious roles. In his latest movie, Four Suns or Čtyři Slunce, directed by the acclaimed Bohdan Sláma, Mádl plays bad-boy Jerry.