Democracy Without Conscience Can Only Result In ChaosMarch 8, 2017Source: HuffPost / www.huffingtonpost.ca / By Glen Pearson / It’s likely time most of us agreed that we collectively have no idea where democracy is going. And if numerous polls are correct, living in such a situation is creating increased insecurity and tensions among citizens around the world. It’s at …
Like ‘1984,’ these plays take a deep dive into the heart of totalitarianismMarch 1, 2017Source: Miami Herald / www.miamiherald.com / By Christine Dolen / Sales of George Orwell’s chilling dystopian novel “1984” have soared during the early days of the Trump administration, the headlines pouring out of Washington having repositioned a 1949 literary classic as a 21st century cautionary tale. The late Czech president …
Long after the Cold War, have we become our opponents? Václav Havel weighs inMarch 1, 2017Source: Stanford University / The Book Haven / By Cynthia Haven / I have long observed how people become the thing they hate most, so when René Girard described how locked rivals come to resemble each other more and more, it was no surprise to me. Czech writer, dissident, and president …
Václav Havel’s Lessons on How to Create a “Parallel Polis”February 9, 2017Source: The New Yorker / www.newyorker.com / By Pankaj Mishra / The recent political earthquakes have found us intellectually and emotionally underprepared, even helpless. None of our usual categories (left, right, liberal, conservative, progressive, reactionary) and perspectives (class, race, gender) seem able to explain how a compulsive liar and serial …
Bracing for President Trump with thoughts on hope from Vaclav HavelJanuary 20, 2017Source: Chicago Now / www.chicagonow.com / By Kim Z Dale / As we enter the era of President Donald Trump, who I expect will be one of my least favorite world leaders (Go ahead an prove me wrong, DT!), I reflect on a quote from on of my favorite world leaders, …
The Women of CharterJanuary 12, 2017Source: Charter 97 / www.charter97.org / By Natallia Radzina / Czechoslovakian movement Charter 77 was created 40 years ago but even today its ideas still inspire freedom fighters around the world including Belarus. They gave up their own freedom in pursuit of a freer country by signing an illegal document …
Charter 77: Communist Czechoslovakia’s Rock ‘N’ Roll RevolutionJanuary 9, 2017Source: RadioFreeEurope / RadioLiberty / www.rferl.org / Forty years ago this week, the first civic opposition movement in the Eastern Bloc was born, and a rock band was at its heart. After several musicians were arrested on dubious charges, a group of Czechoslovak dissidents drew up a petition — known …
As Russia subverts democracy across Europe, we should remember how the Iron Curtain fellJanuary 7, 2017Source: The Telegraph News / www.telegraph.co.us / By Jan Surotchak / At a time when the establishment is under fire around the world, it’s worth reflecting on a moment when the intellectual elite actually drove democratic change from underground. Today is the 40th anniversary of the Charter 77 Declaration, the foundational …
Ceann Comhairle marks anniversary of Václav HavelDecember 8, 2016Source: House of the Oireachtas / www.oireachtas.ie / Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, TD marked the anniversary of Václav Havel at a short ceremony in Leinster House today, Wednesday, 7 December 2016 which was attended by the Czech Ambassador, former ambassadors of the Czech Republic, members of the Czech community …
Artistic Identity in the Age of FascismDecember 8, 2016(or: You don’t bring nuance to an iron fistfight) This piece, “Artiscit Identity in the Age of Fascism,” by Abbey Fenbert was originally published on HowlRound www.howlround.com, a knowledge commons by and for the theatre community, on December 3, 2016. Writers don’t like protests. My first (and until November 2016, …
Europe Against RopesNovember 25, 2016THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS DAILY / Handelsblatt Global / Monday, November 21, 2016 / CZECH LEGACY / Europe Against the Ropes / ANA PALACIO / Donald Trump and Vaclav Havel: it is hard to imagine more different figures. It is the vision of the latter of a united, peaceful Europe which …
Strategies for surviving a Trump administrationNovember 23, 2016Source: The Washington Post / www.washingtonpost.com / By Daniel W. Drezner / If you think Donald Trump is an abomination and he wins, what should you do? On Tuesday, both a Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll and the staff at FiveThirtyEight continued to freak out close election-watchers with the ever-increasing chance of …
Czech politicians meet Dalai Lama in contrast to pro-China policyOctober 19, 2016Souce: REUTERS / www.reuters.com / By Jan Lopatka and Robert Muller / Editing by Tom Heneghan / Czech ministers and senior parliamentarians held a private meeting with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday, risking upsetting China just as Prague is trying to boost ties with Beijing. By …
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is Given a Rousing Welcome to Prague in Hradcanske SquareOctober 19, 2016Source: EIN NEWSDESK / www.einnews.com / Prague, Czech Republic, 17 October 2016 – The weather was cold and foggy as His Holiness the Dalai Lama left Bratislava this morning. He was delayed briefly at the airport because of fog at Prague, but was then able to complete the flight. He …
Kicking the DoorOctober 11, 2016Source: The New York Review of Books / www.nybooks.com / Václav Havel, translated from the French by Tamar Jacoby Vaclav Havel, the Czech playwright, was one of the three principal spokesmen for the Charter 77 group. Since the signing of the Charter he has been arrested three times. First imprisoned …
Democracy Without Conscience Can Only Result In Chaos March 8, 2017 Source: HuffPost / www.huffingtonpost.ca / By Glen Pearson / It’s likely time most of us agreed that we collectively have no idea where democracy is going. And if numerous polls are correct, living in such a situation is creating increased insecurity and tensions among citizens around the world. It’s at …
Like ‘1984,’ these plays take a deep dive into the heart of totalitarianism March 1, 2017 Source: Miami Herald / www.miamiherald.com / By Christine Dolen / Sales of George Orwell’s chilling dystopian novel “1984” have soared during the early days of the Trump administration, the headlines pouring out of Washington having repositioned a 1949 literary classic as a 21st century cautionary tale. The late Czech president …
Long after the Cold War, have we become our opponents? Václav Havel weighs in March 1, 2017 Source: Stanford University / The Book Haven / By Cynthia Haven / I have long observed how people become the thing they hate most, so when René Girard described how locked rivals come to resemble each other more and more, it was no surprise to me. Czech writer, dissident, and president …
Václav Havel’s Lessons on How to Create a “Parallel Polis” February 9, 2017 Source: The New Yorker / www.newyorker.com / By Pankaj Mishra / The recent political earthquakes have found us intellectually and emotionally underprepared, even helpless. None of our usual categories (left, right, liberal, conservative, progressive, reactionary) and perspectives (class, race, gender) seem able to explain how a compulsive liar and serial …
Bracing for President Trump with thoughts on hope from Vaclav Havel January 20, 2017 Source: Chicago Now / www.chicagonow.com / By Kim Z Dale / As we enter the era of President Donald Trump, who I expect will be one of my least favorite world leaders (Go ahead an prove me wrong, DT!), I reflect on a quote from on of my favorite world leaders, …
The Women of Charter January 12, 2017 Source: Charter 97 / www.charter97.org / By Natallia Radzina / Czechoslovakian movement Charter 77 was created 40 years ago but even today its ideas still inspire freedom fighters around the world including Belarus. They gave up their own freedom in pursuit of a freer country by signing an illegal document …
Charter 77: Communist Czechoslovakia’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Revolution January 9, 2017 Source: RadioFreeEurope / RadioLiberty / www.rferl.org / Forty years ago this week, the first civic opposition movement in the Eastern Bloc was born, and a rock band was at its heart. After several musicians were arrested on dubious charges, a group of Czechoslovak dissidents drew up a petition — known …
As Russia subverts democracy across Europe, we should remember how the Iron Curtain fell January 7, 2017 Source: The Telegraph News / www.telegraph.co.us / By Jan Surotchak / At a time when the establishment is under fire around the world, it’s worth reflecting on a moment when the intellectual elite actually drove democratic change from underground. Today is the 40th anniversary of the Charter 77 Declaration, the foundational …
Ceann Comhairle marks anniversary of Václav Havel December 8, 2016 Source: House of the Oireachtas / www.oireachtas.ie / Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, TD marked the anniversary of Václav Havel at a short ceremony in Leinster House today, Wednesday, 7 December 2016 which was attended by the Czech Ambassador, former ambassadors of the Czech Republic, members of the Czech community …
Artistic Identity in the Age of Fascism December 8, 2016 (or: You don’t bring nuance to an iron fistfight) This piece, “Artiscit Identity in the Age of Fascism,” by Abbey Fenbert was originally published on HowlRound www.howlround.com, a knowledge commons by and for the theatre community, on December 3, 2016. Writers don’t like protests. My first (and until November 2016, …
Europe Against Ropes November 25, 2016 THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS DAILY / Handelsblatt Global / Monday, November 21, 2016 / CZECH LEGACY / Europe Against the Ropes / ANA PALACIO / Donald Trump and Vaclav Havel: it is hard to imagine more different figures. It is the vision of the latter of a united, peaceful Europe which …
Strategies for surviving a Trump administration November 23, 2016 Source: The Washington Post / www.washingtonpost.com / By Daniel W. Drezner / If you think Donald Trump is an abomination and he wins, what should you do? On Tuesday, both a Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll and the staff at FiveThirtyEight continued to freak out close election-watchers with the ever-increasing chance of …
Czech politicians meet Dalai Lama in contrast to pro-China policy October 19, 2016 Souce: REUTERS / www.reuters.com / By Jan Lopatka and Robert Muller / Editing by Tom Heneghan / Czech ministers and senior parliamentarians held a private meeting with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday, risking upsetting China just as Prague is trying to boost ties with Beijing. By …
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is Given a Rousing Welcome to Prague in Hradcanske Square October 19, 2016 Source: EIN NEWSDESK / www.einnews.com / Prague, Czech Republic, 17 October 2016 – The weather was cold and foggy as His Holiness the Dalai Lama left Bratislava this morning. He was delayed briefly at the airport because of fog at Prague, but was then able to complete the flight. He …
Kicking the Door October 11, 2016 Source: The New York Review of Books / www.nybooks.com / Václav Havel, translated from the French by Tamar Jacoby Vaclav Havel, the Czech playwright, was one of the three principal spokesmen for the Charter 77 group. Since the signing of the Charter he has been arrested three times. First imprisoned …