In Slovakia, political polarization seeps into everything. Disinformation emanating from Russia and spread by Slovak "alternative media" platforms has transformed the information landscape. This creates enormous challenges for media organizations in the country. How do you continue to focus on what really matters when faced with actors whose aim is to loosen people's grip on reality and make them question the truth of everything?
​ ⠀

Seven years after investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, were murdered in cold blood, journalists in Slovakia continue to expose corruption and shed light on the troubling links between politicians and powerful oligarchs. They do so in spite of the risks they know this work carries, because in any democracy the media plays a vital role keeping the public informed and holding power accountable.
​ ⠀

In this episode, we go behind the scenes at Sme—one of the country’s most important papers, founded during the first month of Slovak independence—to meet two veteran journalists doing this essential work. Join me as we explore what it's like reporting in a country fighting a rising tide of disinformation, where the government itself traffics in half-truths, untruths, and outright lies.
​ ⠀

Episode breakdown:

• Intro segment: A double-murder that shook the nation and holding power to account at Sme
• Guest 1: Village life, the main divisions in Slovak society, and living in parallel information universes, with Michaela Terenzani, head of the news desk at Sme, in Bratislava
• Interlude: Dispatch from Bratislava Pride and an unexpected encounter
• Guest 2: The stress of working as a journalist and reporting on the front lines of disinformation, with Jakub Filo, deputy editor-in-chief at Sme, in Bratislava
• Michaela, part ii: Confronting Russian propaganda and the end of history no more

Episode soundtrack: "Rusínska" by the Slovak group Folk&Bass Orchestra, who make music that is both beautiful and makes me wanna dance. A special thanks to the group for generously lending their music to this episode and for the art they create. ​ ⠀

I encourage you to check out the episode page on the show’s website, where you will find photo galleries of the places I traveled for this episode so you can visualize where we’ve gone and see who we’ve met.
​ ⠀

As always, you can reach me with questions, comments or just to say "ahoj" by emailing jeff@centraleuropematters.eu.

This episode was mastered and produced by Dávid Pál. It was written, hosted, and executive produced by me, Jeff Lugowe.
​ ⠀
If you like what I'm doing, please click follow and consider leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts.

It is hard work confronting the darker chapters of our shared past. When faced with horrors like those that occurred on Slovak soil during the Second World War, it is easier to look away. To try to forget.
⠀

Others still never learn about the crimes committed by the wartime Slovak regime against citizens of the country. About what neighbors did to neighbors.
⠀

Yet in what Hana Kubatová – who you will meet in the second main interview of this week's episode – calls the spirit of historian Tony Judt, nations and people can never move on from the misdeeds of our past if we do not acknowledge and remember. There is no other way forward.
⠀

So, as hard as it might be, I invite you to join me on another journey around Slovakia. I invite you – as the band Besna put it when speaking about their 2025 album Krásno, from which this episode's soundtrack is drawn – to face the darkness head-on, rather than averting your gaze.
⠀

• Intro segment: A case study of history concealed during a way across the main square of Banská Bystrica
• Slovak-language interlude #1: Empty spaces, with Zuzana Janíčková in Banská Bystrica
• Segment 1: Remembrance work and reclaiming lost history, with Veronika Fishbone Vlčková in Bratislava
• Slovak-language interlude #2: Bringing history alive and connecting it to the present, with Lubomir Morbacher in Bratislava
• Two minutes about: The Slovak language, with Lucia Hasbach and Tomáš Polesensky, somewhere between Martin and Banská Bystrica
• Segment 2: We can feel shame and we can feel pride, with Hana Kubatová in Prague
• Slovak-language interlude: They felt relieved only when they tore down the synagogue, with Eva Paulechová in Čadca

⠀
Episode soundtrack: Zmráka sa by the Slovak post-metal band Besna, the opening track from the album Krásno. A special thanks to the band for agreeing to lend their music to this episode and for their support of the podcast more generally.

⠀
As always, you can reach me with questions, comments or just to say "ahoj" by emailing jeff@centraleuropematters.eu.

⠀
This episode was produced and mastered by Dávid Pál, and hosted and executive produced by me, Jeff Lugowe
⠀
If you like what I'm doing, please share the podcast with a friend.

Hey listener! I accidentally published the first draft of this episode earlier today. Sorry about that! This represents the final version of the episode. I hope you like it.

Why did I quit my secure job in Oslo in early 2025 so that I could dedicate myself full-time to starting a podcast, this podcast?
⠀
In the first three episodes of the podcast, you've met people from all across Slovakia who have shared their fears, hopes and visions for a better country. They have demonstrated openness and vulnerability during our conversations and for that I am grateful to them.
⠀
Now it's my turn to be open and vulnerable. Why am I doing this work? Why do I consider Central Europe Matters a mission as much as a podcast?
⠀
I owe a great debt to the Bratislava-based post-metal band Besna, whose song Ocean práchu (Ocean of Dust) is the soundtrack to this episode. This episode truly wouldn't have been possible without this hauntingly beautiful track.
⠀
Please let me know what you think of the episode by emailing me at jeff@centraleuropematters.eu. I'd also be grateful if you'd share this podcast with a friend who feels overwhelmed by the current direction of travel in Europe and the world.
⠀
I also want to thank my producer Dávid Pál for the beautiful work he did mastering this episode.
⠀
You will have a "regular" episode in your feed next Wednesday.
⠀
Finally, if you're located in or near Oslo, please join me for the official podcast launch event Tuesday, September 8th from 4:30pm until 6:30pm at Kulturhuset.

This episode was executive produced and hosted by me, Jeff Lugowe. Why did I quit my secure job in Oslo in early 2025 so that I could dedicate myself full-time to starting a podcast, this podcast?

⠀
In the first three episodes of the podcast, you've met people from all across Slovakia who have shared their fears, hopes and visions for a better country. They have demonstrated openness and vulnerability during our conversations and for that I am grateful to them.
⠀
Now it's my turn to be open and vulnerable. Why am I doing this work? Why do I consider Central Europe Matters a mission as much as a podcast?
⠀
I owe a great debt to the Bratislava-based post-metal band Besna, whose song Ocean práchu (Ocean of Dust) is the soundtrack to this episode. This episode truly wouldn't have been possible without this hauntingly beautiful track.
⠀
Please let me know what you think of the episode by emailing me at jeff@centraleuropematters.eu. I'd also be grateful if you'd share this podcast with a friend who feels overwhelmed by the current direction of travel in Europe and the world.
⠀
I also want to thank my producer Dávid Pál for the beautiful work he did mastering this episode.
⠀
You will have a "regular" episode in your feed next Wednesday.
⠀
Finally, if you're located in or near Oslo, please join me for the official podcast launch event Tuesday, September 8th from 4:30pm until 6:30pm at Kulturhuset.

This episode was executive produced and hosted by me, Jeff Lugowe.