Gábor Benedek, Olympic and world champion in modern pentathlon, has become the oldest living Olympic champion in the world at the age of 98. He takes over this position following the death of the previous oldest living Olympic champion, Armenian footballer Nikita Simonyan (1956 Olympic champion with the Soviet team), who passed away on Sunday at the age of 99.
The WCSB Radio station, broadcasting on 89.3 FM in the Cleveland area, operated for nearly fifty years as the student-run and community-based radio of Cleveland State University. Students, volunteers, and local program producers worked together to offer a wide range of musical and cultural content. In many ways, their operation was similar to ours at WJCU. The station played an especially important role for ethnic and national minority communities, including a Hungarian-language program called the “Hungarian Hour,” which aired every Saturday from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM and strengthened the cohesion and identity of the Hungarian community in Cleveland.
The guests of Zsolt Molnár in the Bocskai Radio studio were the former editors of the WCSB “Hungarian Hour”: Elizabeth Papp Taylor, Walt Mahovlich, and Robert Kita. At the beginning of the broadcast, Zsolt congratulates Elizabeth, who received the George Forbes Sister City Architect Award from the organization Global Cleveland, recognizing her decades of work for the Cleveland community and her role in major community-connecting projects (such as the Irish Bend initiative). From here, the discussion leads into the main topic: the sudden transformation of WCSB and the termination of its ethnic programs.
The former editors recount in detail how the WCSB “takeover” happened on October 3, 2025: the student managers were informed in a ten-minute Zoom call that the station would be taken over by Ideastream Public Media, that the format would change immediately, and that listeners would hear smooth jazz without any explanation. The key cards were deactivated instantly, the students and volunteers were no longer allowed into the building, they could not say goodbye to the listeners, and they could not even retrieve their belongings — including the Hungarian records and archival materials collected since 1988. According to the former editors, this was an unprecedented and undignified way to treat a community radio station and its volunteers.
The interview also looks back on the several-decade history of the Hungarian Hour. The program began in 1988 after ethnic broadcasters had previously been removed overnight from another Cleveland radio station. WCSB then opened its doors to Hungarian, German, Slovenian, Polish, and other ethnic programs. Bob Kita took over in 2007 after his predecessor, John Polish, passed away; he regarded the program as a “stewardship,” a kind of heritage preservation. Later, Elizabeth and Walt joined him, modernizing the format with regular community news, “This week in Hungarian history” segments (written by Elizabeth’s husband, Cyrus), book recommendations, and broad musical selections. The program was mostly in English because many Hungarian Americans no longer speak Hungarian fluently but still strongly identify with their Hungarian heritage, music, and traditions.
The financial background of the student radio is also discussed. WCSB operated on donations collected during the yearly Radiothon and on a modest university budget. The editors worked entirely as volunteers. Hungarian listeners regularly supported the station, but the donations went into a general fund; specific ethnic programs did not receive separate funding — the records, books, and equipment were mostly purchased by the volunteer hosts. The former editors emphasize that WCSB was not only invaluable for Hungarians but also for many other communities (Slovenian, German, Arabic, Greek, Chinese, Indian, Macedonian, etc.).
The final part of the conversation focuses on the background of the takeover and the future. According to the guests, neither the university nor ideastream provided a clear explanation for why students and the community were completely removed. Press reports revealed only that months of negotiations had taken place, and the president of Cleveland State University had received a seat on ideastream’s board. The Hungarian and other ethnic communities have expressed strong outrage; some wrote letters withdrawing their support from ideastream. They mention the XCSB initiative, which fights to restore the student rights and the community radio tradition, and they hope that this situation will be only a comma in the history of Cleveland community radio, not a full stop.
At the end of the interview, Elizabeth, Walt, and Bob give personal messages, thanking the Hungarian Hour listeners for their decades of loyalty, love, and support. They emphasize that their commitment to Hungarian music, literature, food, history, and community life did not disappear with the loss of the frequency; preserving Hungarian heritage remains a shared mission. They also express gratitude toward Bocskai Radio for providing “a warm shelter” in this difficult period, and they hope to return soon with better news about the next chapter of Hungarian radio in Cleveland.
Zsolt Molnár
editor chief at Bocskai Rádió the Voice of Hungary at WJCU
Hungarian Language Day is an important occasion to draw attention to the value and richness of our language. The unique features of the Hungarian language have distinguished it from others around the world for centuries.
The utility price cuts have been successfully defended, and Hungary will receive full exemption from US sanctions on Russian energy carriers in the case of the Turkish Stream and Friendship pipelines, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced after talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday.
Hubert Kós won the 200-meter backstroke with a world record on Thursday, the opening day of the third stop of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series in Toronto.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto was once again a guest on Fighters’ Hour, where he and host Balazs Nemeth exposed another round of fake news. During the discussion, the minister stressed that without Donald Trump, there would be no peace in Israel. At the same time, he said Ukraine’s president has completely lost touch with reality.
A small satellite developed by students at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) is about to embark on its journey into space. The satellite, called Hunity, is scheduled to be launched into Earth’s orbit in November as part of the Transporter 15 mission using Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the university announced on its website.
In New York, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his Hungarian counterpart. After the meeting, Peter Szijjarto emphasized that Hungary has always been able to openly discuss every issue with Russia, even in the most difficult times, and that he once again placed the focus on strengthening Hungary’s pro-peace position.
“We will do everything, I will do everything, that I promised,” said Viktor Orban in a video uploaded to his social media page. Hungary’s Prime Minister also gave examples to prove that every commitment eventually becomes reality.
The Home Start Program offers predictability, security, and planning flexibility with a fixed interest rate of 3 percent for up to 25 years.
Attempts at increasingly aggressive external interference are under way in Central Europe. Brussels wants to sweep away pro-peace, patriotic governments, and that is why the countries of the region must stand up even more firmly for their sovereignty,” Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto wrote on his Facebook, on Thursday.
Hungary wants to remain as the top European spot for Chinese investments, as these investments help the economy do well and grow, said Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on Friday in Budapest.
Tibor Kapu revealed what the Carpathian Basin looks like from space. Viktor Orban had an extraordinary conversation with the Hungarian astronaut, who also talked about what food he took with him and whether the war is visible from space.
CPAC Hungary has started in Budapest, the world’s largest gathering of national conservative politics, organized by the Center for Fundamental Rights. The Hungarian Prime Minister delivered the opening keynote speech at the start of the event.
