In the very last episode of Stories of The Eastern West as you knew it, we’re taking you to Estonia, 1989. A group of people there made 2 million others hold hands and create a human chain of unprecedented size and significance.

The Baltic countries had a truly turbulent 20th century. They went from regaining their independence to losing it to the USSR and becoming subject to a ruthless policy of Russification. Unsurprisingly, they needed something big to jump on the bandwagon of the 1989 peaceful revolutions that liberated several countries from the USSR’s influence. 

What they came up with was a human chain linking Tallinn with Riga and Vilnius. This huge event is something hard to wrap one’s head around nowadays when we think about the scanty means of communication the organisers had. 

Our producer Wojciech went to Estonia and got a chance to talk to several people who co-organised or participated in the event. How was it at all possible? Why wasn’t it thwarted by the communist regime? How do people remember such a defining moment in their lives over 30 years later?

Further listening

• KAIE / our episode from our mini-series The Final Curtain about ‘The Singing Revolution’ that Adam mentions in the show

Further reading

• The Longest Unbroken Human Chain In History / an article on estonianworld.com
• All the human chains in one place / an article on wikipedia.org

Further watching

• The Inimitable Baltic Way / a Lithuanian documentary

Thanks

• Ivi Gubinska, Reet Villig, Eve Sildnik, Andres Tarand and Lukas Hioo for taking the time to discuss this incredible event with us.
• Keiu Telve and Maia-Liisa Anton for connecting us with Baltic Way participants and their thoughtful discussions about the meaning of the event. 

Credits

Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak
Edited by Adam Zulawski & Nitzan Reisner
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Get to know Piotr Szkopiak, a London-based film and TV director who’s spent a good portion of his life pondering the nature of his identity.

Piotr Szkopiak was born in the United Kingdom but into a Polish family. As he grew up, he learned that his parents and neighbours were all World War II prisoners of war who had escaped the USSR but couldn't go back to Poland after the war ended. His mother told him how she had travelled from the depths of the Soviet Union through Persia and southern Europe to the UK, and how after the war this is the place that she had to learn to call home.

But first and foremost, his parents talked to him in Polish, signed him up for a Polish weekend school, and raised him as a person with a double identity: Polish and British. This in-betweenness has been something that strongly influenced his life and he reflects on it all in an interview he gave to Karolina Jackowiak, who on behalf of the Poles in South London organisation, was working on the Local Heroes Archive oral history project. We, at SFTEW, liked the story so much that we decided to turn it into one of our episodes.

Click here to get the transcript

Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter!

Further listening

• ORPHANS // the SFTEW episode we mention in the podcast: how 700 Polish children made an unlikely journey from the depths of Siberia to the New Zealand countryside.
• BEAR // an even more unlikely tale from us at SFTEW: the bear who fought in World War II alongside Anders’ Army.

Further reading

• Artists In Arms // the incredible odyssey of Anders’ Army, told through a multimedia guide from Culture.pl
• Soldiers, Artists: The Exhibitions of Anders’ Army // on Culture.pl
• Piotr Szkopiak // Piotr's IMDB profile
• Cultivating Polish Folk Dance in 1970s South London // another story from the Local Heroes Archive project
• Memories of South London’s Polish Music Scene // another story from the Local Heroes Archive project
• Poles in South London // the community’s official website

Thanks

Piotr Szkopiak // for letting us turn his story into a podcast episode.

Poles in South London // especially Marta Sordyl and Łukasz Wołągiewicz from the organisation, for reaching out and offering this incredible story to us.

Credits

Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak
Edited by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Nicolaus Copernicus, born in 1473, was the orphaned son of a copper merchant in Toruń. Thanks to his bishop uncle, he obtained a first class education at the Kraków Academy and then in Italy, where he became an avid observer of the night sky – even though he was supposed to be preparing for a church career.

His day job as a church canon, diplomat and doctor in Frombork – when he wasn't defending castles against the Teutonic Knights – meant that it took him over 30 years to finish his book 'On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres' in which he presented an Earth-shattering new idea – that maybe it wasn't actually at the centre of the universe as everyone believed, but in fact revolved around the Sun.

Although it would take another century until Galileo was able to prove Copernicus right inarguably using the later invention of the telescope, Copernicus's book, published in 1543 in Nuremberg, would mark the beginning of a very real revolution in science and our understanding of the universe.

Listen to the episode to find out how he came to this unexpected conclusion, and what happened next.

Click here to get the transcript

Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter!

Further reading

• Copernicus: Revelations about the Renaissance Man // on Culture.pl
• Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God – Jan Matejko // on Culture.pl
• A Quiz About Copernicus: More Than a Great Astronomer! // on Culture.pl

Further watching

• Copernicus, by Jan Matejko // video by Waldemar Januszczak on YouTube.com

Further visiting

• Nicolaus Copernicus Museum // in Frombork, Northern Poland

Thanks

Małgorzata Czupajło // Educator at the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork.

Dava Sobel // Science history writer and author of A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos.

Prof. Karl Galle // Science historian at the American University in Cairo, currently working on a book delving into Copernicus's life in Warmia, including his roles as a church administrator, diplomat, cartographer and doctor.

Lastly, a special thank you to the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork for their help in making this episode possible.

Credits

Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko
Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Vera Chytilová was the most important woman director of the Czechoslovak New Wave – although she remains relatively unknown outside of Central Europe. As the first female student of the prestigious FAMU film school in Prague, she had to fight in order to do things her own way. During the creative explosion of the Czechoslovak New Wave, she made her most well known film ‘Daisies’ (1966) – a surrealist pop-art comedy, about two young women who set their minds on creating humorous destruction around them. The 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of her country stopped Chytilová’s promising career dead in its tracks, but unlike Miloś Forman (‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’, 1975) and others, she refused to emigrate, despite the huge personal cost. After seven years of professional exile, she was allowed to return to filmmaking in the late 1970s, once again finding critical success. After the privatisation of the Czech film industry in the 1990s, she was one of the first to adapt with ‘The Inheritance’ (1992) – a scathing satire on the effect free-for-all capitalism was having on her fellow citizens. Having never compromised on her beliefs, she remained a moral authority in her country until her death in 2014, and continues to inspire those lucky enough to come across her films for the first time. Listen to the episode to hear her fascinating story.

Click here to get the transcript

Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter!

Further reading

• Vera Chytilova Dies at 85; Made Daring Films in Czech New Wave // on nytimes.com
• "It's still revolutionary' : Věra Chytilová’s Daisies comes sixth in BBC poll of films by women // on Czech Radio.cz
• The Cinematic Gems of the Czechoslovak New Wave // on Hyperallergic.com
• Poles Conquer Czech Cinema // on Culture.pl
• The Most Powerful Films From Beyond the Iron Curtain // on Culture.pl

Further watching

• Naughty Young People: Chytilová, Kučera, Krumbachova (2012) // documentary at Vimeo.com

Thanks

Tereza Kučerova // set designer and visual artist, for talking to us about her mother, and her childhood memories of the dramatic events of 1968.

Anička Hanáková // for helping translate our conversation and sharing her own memories of her grandmother.

Dr. Michal Bregant // director of the National Film Archive in Prague, for sharing his experience of working with Chytilová in the 1980s.

Professor Jan Bernard // for talking about his former teaching colleague at at FAMU.

Dr. Jindřiška Bláhová // Assistant Film Studies Professor at Charles University, for sharing her knowledge of Chytilová's life and work.

Jakub Felcman // filmmaker and former student of Chytilová at FAMU, for talking to us about the Czech director as a teacher and mentor.

Lastly, a special thanks to Barbora Lochmanová from the Czech Film Center and Jitka Rohanova from the Polish Institute in Prague for their help in making the episode possible.

Credits

Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko
Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Stanisław Lem was a science-fiction writer whose works, abilities and quirky sense of humor convinced Phillip K. Dick that he was too brilliant to exist and must have actually been a committee of people! Indeed his rare gift for blending philosophy with technology and action made him an instantaneously recognisable voice in the European sci-fi world and elevated him to the heights of popularity and critical acclaim.

But Lem’s life was far from a textbook success story. Throughout his life, he struggled with traumatic wartime memories, distorted identities, and the communist system. But somehow, he was able to turn all the hardships and obstacles into elements of the incredible universes he created in his novels.

In this episode, our hosts Nitzan and Adam will try to unravel some of the most confusing mysteries surrounding Lem: why did he choose to abandon his pre-war identity? How on Earth did he foresee the Internet in the 1960s? Is it true that he learned English from a dictionary in a week?

Like our show? Get our newsletter!

Further reading

• Stanisław Lem // bio on Culture.pl
• Stanisław Lem: Did the Holocaust Shape His Sci-Fi World? // on Culture.pl
• 13 Things Lem Predicted About The Future We Live In // on Culture.pl
• Phillip K. Dick: Stanisław Lem is a Communist Committee // on Culture.pl
• Lem Vs. Tarkovsky: The Fight Over ‘Solaris’ // on Culture.pl
• The Many Masks & Faces of Stanisław Lem // on Culture.pl
• Humorous Horrors: How Lem Taught His Nephew to Write Flawlessly // on Culture.pl
• 8 Science Fiction Films Adapted from Lem // on Culture.pl

Further watching

• The Adventures of the Blindworm: An Orthographic Short Story by Stanisław Lem // on Culture.pl

Thanks

Agnieszka Gajewska // professor of literary studies, author of ‘Holocaust and the Stars: The Past in the Prose of Stanisław Lem’ (available in English from November 2021) and ‘Hasło: Feminizm’.

Wojciech Orliński // a Polish journalist, writer, and blogger, author of the best-selling Lem biography ‘Lem: Życie Nie z tej Ziemi’ (Lem: A Life Out of This World). You can enjoy his incredible sense of humour on his blog (which he writes in Polish).

Wiktor Jaźniewicz // Belarus’s premier ‘lemologist’, and owner of a ‘lemologic cabinet’ that you can see for yourself here.

Credits

Written & produced by Wojciech Oleksiak
Edited by Adam Zulawski
Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

This year we have more great stories for you! There's going to be a bit of sci-fi, a pinch of socialist realism, a good portion of astronomy, and some old-fashioned moving testimonies from a region that never sleeps!

Stay tuned: the first episode drops September 7th!

Like our show? Get our newsletter!

Like most Polish jazz musicians, Zbigniew Namysłowski learned the basics of jazz listening to Willis Conover’s “Jazz Hour”. Originally starting his musical career playing piano, cello and trombone, Namysłowski became infatuated with the saxophone after meeting composer Krzysztof Komeda, who happened to be carrying an alto saxophone with him, on a train. During that chance encounter, Namysłowski gave the instrument a try and hasn’t stopped playing the saxophone ever since. His original experiments mixing jazz and folk quickly caught people’s attention and in 1962, Willis Conover himself invited Namysłowski and his band to the US to play at the Newport Jazz Festival. This incredible opportunity marked the eve of Namysłowski’s brilliant international career.

Time stamps

[01:00] Jazz and communism
[02:00] Sopot festivals
[04:30] The alto saxophone
[06:06] The Voice of America jazz lessons
[10:02]The American tour
[12:23] Jazz Jamboree
[13:40] Folk
[17:17] Komeda
[18:52] Favorites
[23:28] The passport
[26:24] Polish-American jazz
[27:00] Young talents

Music from the episode

[11:00]  Composition:  Kalatówki ‘59 
Artist: The Wreckers
Album: At the last moment

[14:15]  Composition: Piątawka 
Artist: Zbigniew Namysłowski Quartet
Album: Lola

[19:47]  Composition: Winobranie / Jak nie ma szmalu to jest łaź  
Artist: Zbigniew Namysłowski
Album: Winobranie 

Further reading

• Zbigniew Namysłowski // on Culture.pl

• Interview with Zbigniew Namysłowski // on londonjazznews.com

Further watching

• Zbigniew Namysłowski performing in 2021

• Zbigniew Namysłowski performing “Kujawiak goes Funky” in 1997 

• Zbigniew Namysłowski performing with folk musians during Jazz Jamboree in 1994

Credits

This episode of Rebel Spirits was hosted by Paweł Brodowski. The show is brought to you by Culture.pl, the flagship brand of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Written by Wojciech Oleksiak & Monika Proba
Produced by Move Me Media
Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak
Proofread by Adam Żuławski
Translated by Mateusz Schmidt
Design by Dawid Ryski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Copyrights

The publisher would like to thank all copyright owners for their kind permission to reproduce their material. Should, despite our intensive research, any person entitled to rights have been overlooked, legitimate claims shall be compensated within the usual provisions.

Adam Makowicz grew up in a house where a piano was the centre of the home. His mother had long planned for him to become a classical virtuoso, but a meeting with a musician who introduced him to jazz changed this path completely. Adam packed his bags and left for Kraków, where he moved into a jazz nightclub and immediately became part of the city’s jazz scene. It was here where his thorough classical education and incredible talent led him to create his unique virtuoso style, one that merged the technique associated with classical music with the vibrance of jazz. In this episode, this standout Polish jazz pianist talks about freedom, beauty and interpretation in jazz music.

Time stamps:

[01:06] The centre of our home
[02:03] Art Tatum
[02:59] Radio
[04:40] Rebel
[05:09] Under the piano
[06:49] Duo with Urszula Dudziak
[09:30] John Hammond
[11:06] Freedom
[13:23] The first polish jazz virtuoso
[14:04] Solo
[15:10] Beauty 
[15:58] New York
[17:34] Martial Law
[19:51] Chopin
[22:20] Home

Read the transcript of this episode

Music from this episode

[07:00] Composition: Darkness and Newborn Light
Artist: Urszula Dudziak and Adam Makowicz
Album: Newborn Light 

[10:08] Composition: Chopin's Willows
Artist Adam Makowicz
Album: Adam 

[20:44] Composition: Prelude No. 24 In D Minor
Artist: Adam Makowicz, Leszek Możdżer
Album: Możdżer vs. Makowicz at the Carnegie Hall 

Further Reading 

• Adam Makowicz // on Culture.pl

• Willis Conover: The American Godfather of Polish Jazz // on Culture.pl

• Interview with Willis Conover // on memory.loc.gov

Further Watching

• Adam Makowicz performing in 1986

• Adam Makowicz performing with Leszek Możdżer

• Unit // Full album

Credits

This episode of Rebel Spirits was hosted by Paweł Brodowski. The show is brought to you by Culture.pl, the flagship brand of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Written by Wojciech Oleksiak & Monika Proba
Produced by Move Me Media
Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak
Proofread by Adam Żuławski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Copyrights

The publisher would like to thank all copyright owners for their kind permission to reproduce their material. Should, despite our intensive research, any person entitled to rights have been overlooked, legitimate claims shall be compensated within the usual provisions.

“Polish jazz group - 100$ a night”

Displayed on the posters in Michał Urbaniak’s band’s van while playing across Europe in the 60s, this hippy traveling player was soon to become one of the most innovative Polish jazz musicians in history. Though his  European career was quickly evolving,  the old continent simply didn’t feel like enough. From a very young age, Michał knew at heart that he was a New Yorker, eventually jumping at the first chance he got to move to the world’s jazz capital and signing with the legendary Columbia Records. The rest is history.

Time stamps

[01:11]  The Boys of America
[02:29]  An Introduction to Miles
[03:22]  New Yorker at heart
[07:52]  100$ a night
[09:55]  The violin
[11:23] New York
[12:14]  Columbia
[13:19]  Folk
[16:16]  The impossible deal
[19:08]  Young talents
[19:52]  Meeting Miles
[23:15]  Poetry & jazz
[27:22]  Young musicians

Music from the episode

[07:33] Composition: Bengal
Artist: Super Constellation
Album editions: Super Constellation / Fusion I

[14:13] Composition: New York Baca
Artist: Michał Urbaniak/Michał Urbaniak’s Fusion
Album: Atma

[20:34] Composition: Don’t Lose Your Mind
Artist: Miles Davis
Album: Tutu

[25:44] Composition: Square Park Sunday
Artist: Urbanator
Album: Urbanator

Further reading

• Michał Urbaniak // on Culture.pl

• Interview with Michał Urbaniak // on Culture.pl

• Michał Urbaniak’s web page

Further watching

•  “New Yorker by Choice” // documentary film about Michał Urbaniak

• "Chameleon" by Urbanator // Music video

• Michał Urbaniak performing with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Credits

This episode of Rebel Spirits was hosted by Paweł Brodowski. The show is brought to you by Culture.pl, the flagship brand of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Written by Wojciech Oleksiak & Monika Proba
Produced by Move Me Media
Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak
Proofread by Adam Żuławski
Design by Dawid Ryski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Copyrights

The publisher would like to thank all copyright owners for their kind permission to reproduce their material. Should, despite our intensive research, any person entitled to rights have been overlooked, legitimate claims shall be compensated within the usual provisions.

The project was carried out thanks to the cooperation with Polskie Nagrania / Warner Music Poland, Sony Music Publishing Poland Sp. z o.o and Urbaniak.com Foundation.

It may be hard to believe, but when Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski started playing music, jazz was censored in Poland. As a result of Stalin’s cultural politics that governed what kinds of art and culture could be consumed in the country,  anything that may have been associated with western imperialism was formally excluded from public life. However, these rigid policies only made jazz more appealing, leading many young people across the country, like Ptaszyn, to fall in love with it. After Stalin’s death in 1953, Ptaszyn entered the newly re-born jazz scene with a bang and quickly became the epitome of the genre. Not only one of Polish jazz’s most brilliant musicians, Ptaszyn is also seen by many as its voice. For over 50 years he’s hosted  “45 Minutes of Jazz” a Polish radio show dedicated to jazz that continues to inspire several new generations of musicians and jazz aficionados.

Time stamps

[01:11] Outlawed music
[03:36] Forbidden love
[04:21] Willis Conover
[06:53] First jazz events
[09:19] Sopot Jazz Festival
[12:54] Warsaw - Newport
[17:26] Polish Jazz records
[20:01] What is Polish jazz?
[21:03] Polish Jazz Quartet
[22:37] The Polish Radio Jazz Studio Orchestra
[24:48] 45 minutes of jazz
[26:28] Cruise ships
[28:05] The end of the communist regime
[28:43] The nineties

Music from the episode

[06:53] Composition: Memory of Bach
Artist: Sextet Komedy
Album: Jazz 56. I Ogólnopolski Festiwal muzyki jazzowej 

[19:42] Composition: One Step Nearer You
Artist: Kurylewicz Quintet
Album: Go Right

[28:33] Composition: Czarownica  
Artist: Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski Sextet
Album: Komeda. Moja słodka europejska ojczyzna

Further reading

• Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski // on Culture.pl

• 'Birds Of A Feather...' The Godfather Of Polish Jazz, Jan 'Birdman' Wroblewski, At Birdland // on top40-charts.com

Watch more

• Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski performing in Poland in 1981 Jan Ptaszyn

• Wróblewski performing at the Sibiu Jazz Festival in 2009

Credits

This episode of Rebel Spirits was hosted by Paweł Brodowski. The show is brought to you by Culture.pl, the flagship brand of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Written by Bartosz Borowiec & Jan Burzyński
Produced by Move Me Media
Hosted by Paweł Brodowski
Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak
Proofread by Adam Żuławski
Translated by Mateusz Schmidt
Design by Dawid Ryski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Copyrights

The publisher would like to thank all copyright owners for their kind permission to reproduce their material. Should, despite our intensive research, any person entitled to rights have been overlooked, legitimate claims shall be compensated within the usual provisions.Meet the godfather and voice of Polish jazz.

Urszula’s love for unruly musical experiments got her kicked out from music school when she was a young girl. A few years later, like many young Poles, she stumbled upon The Voice of America - a radio station meant to bring American culture and censorship-free news to people locked up behind the Iron Curtain. This program is where Urszula heard jazz for the first time. Blown away by the uniqueness of the music, one of the voices she heard marked her particularly - the voice of Ella Fitzgerald. Hearing Ella made her realize the extent of creative freedom jazz could offer, specifically, her understanding that people's voices can serve as musical instruments. From then on, Urszula started developing her distinctive style of wordless vocalisation that can transport listeners to another dimension.

Time stamps

[01:55] The accordion
[02:44] Trouble in school 
[03:21] The Voice of America
[04:44] Ella Fitzgerald
[07:09] American jazz
[08:35] Krzysztof Komeda
[10:44] Love
[11:29] Scandinavian restaurants
[13:33] All that smoke
[15:02] Discovering electronics
[16:30] Duo with Adam Makowicz
[19:16] New York
[22:33] Papaya 
[29:24] The best age

Click here to read the transcript for this episode

Music from the episode

[14:08] Composition: Bengal
Artist: Super Constellation 
Album editions: Super Constellation / Fusion I 

[17:37] Composition: Darkness and Newborn Light
Artist: Urszula Dudziak and Adam Makowicz
Album: Newborn Light 

[22:33] Composition: Papaya 
Artist: Urszula Dudziak
Album: Urszula

[26:18] Composition: Kama Ula
Artist: Michał Urbaniak/Michał Urbaniak’s Fusion
Album: Atma

Further reading

• Urszula Dudziak // on Culture.pl

• A Foreigners Guide to Polish Jazz // on Culture.pl

• Willis Conover: The American Godfather of Polish Jazz // on Culture.pl

• From bop to żal: how jazz became the voice of freedom in Poland // on Guardian.com

Further Watching

• Urszula performing in 1973

• Urszula performing in 1998

• Filipino soldiers dancing the Papaya dance

Credits

This episode of Rebel Spirits was hosted by Paweł Brodowski. The show is brought to you by Culture.pl, the flagship brand of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Written by Wojciech Oleksiak & Monika Proba
Produced by Move Me Media
Hosted by Paweł Brodowski
Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak
Proofread by Adam Żuławski
Translated by Mateusz Schmidt
Design by Dawid Ryski
Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

Copyrights

The publisher would like to thank all copyright owners for their kind permission to reproduce their material. Should, despite our intensive research, any person entitled to rights have been overlooked, legitimate claims shall be compensated within the usual provisions.