Brussels Playbook Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 49, sponsored by Barilla Foundation: Nicola Sturgeon — Journalist's revival — Irish vote May 31, 2018

Show notes

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon talks to host Ryan Heath in an interview recorded in front of an audience at POLITICO's Brussels HQ. Sturgeon shares her views on Brexit, the chances of Britain remaining in a customs union with the EU, and another Scottish independence vote.

Our podcast panel discusses a Ukraine WTF — the faked murder of a journalist — and looks back on the Irish referendum that gave women the right to choose an abortion.

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Episode 48: Big tech’s brain hijack — Data protection D-Day — Zuckerberg’s Brussels moment May 24, 2018

Show notes

It’s a tech special this week — but you don’t have to be a geek to understand any of it. Host Ryan Heath talks to Tristan Harris, who spent three years as a design ethicist at Google and has been called “the closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience.” He’s the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, an organization with a bold mission: “to stop technology hijacking our minds.”

Ryan also speaks to Paul Jordan of the International Association of Privacy Professionals about Europe’s new blockbuster data privacy regulation, the GDPR. Paul explains what all those messages clogging up our inboxes mean for governments, companies and individuals.

Switching from tech fact to tech fiction, Ryan chats to Giuseppe Porcaro, author of a new book, Disco Sour, which presents a dystopian view of the future where politics is governed by a Tinder-style app.

And our podcast panelists, Lina Aburous and Alva Finn, debate the big event in Brussels this week: Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance at the European Parliament — and how what should have been an EU Thumbs Up turned into an EU WTF. We also talk about a physical attack on a Greek mayor and the embellished CV of Italy’s likely new prime minister.

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Episode 47: Combating anti-Semitism — Boosting the Balkans — Europe from afar May 17, 2018

Show notes

We dive right in with two interviews — the first with the EU’s coordinator for combatting anti-Semitism, Katharina von Schnurbein. Then we speak to Martina Larkin, who is heading up a World Economic Forum initiative to support the Balkans. And the podcast panel discusses Europe’s black population and how the Continent is seen from afar.

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Episode 46, presented by Grow with Google: Curbing idealism - EESC chief Luca Jahier - Hot mic hell May 10, 2018

Show notes

Host Ryan Heath talks to author Vincent Stuer about his new book, Curb Your Idealism: The European Union as seen from within.
Ryan also chats to Luca Jahier, the new president of the European Economic and Social Committee, who says it's time to rediscover passion for Europe.
In the final part of the podcast, which contains some strong language (originally used by politicians), Ailbhe Finn and Carmen Paun join Ryan to discuss topics as diverse as the dangers of hot mics and menus that prompt serious self-examination.

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Episode 45: Margrethe Vestager — EU budget battle — Whistleblower protection May 03, 2018

Show notes

Ryan Heath hits the road with Europe’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager — darling of Emmanuel Macron and foe of tax cheats and tech giants — to learn about how one Belgian city went from wasteland to strength in diversity. Sound like a campaign trip? Listen to find out how Vestager is handling the pressure to run to be European Commission president in 2019. She talks to EU Confidential about the 2019 election, her political heroes, how she thinks rule of law can be delivered across Europe, and why she never likes to be told what to do.

POLITICO’s EU budget reporter Lili Bayer analyzes the newly proposed €1.28 trillion blueprint for 2021-2027. We discuss the winners and losers, and whether the European Commission’s plan to cut funds to countries like Hungary and Poland (if they fail to uphold rule of law to EU standards) has any chance at all of becoming a reality.

We’ll also hear from our Brussels Brains Trust — this week it’s Alva Finn and Carmen Paun in the hot seat, debating Holocaust rappers, Daily Mail hypocrisy and the Michelle Wolf/Sarah Sanders furore. And we give a thumbs up to new EU whistleblower protection plans.

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Episode 44, presented by Grow with Google: EU's energy future – Spencer Dale – Macron & Trump Apr 26, 2018

Show notes

Spencer Dale, the former chief economist at the Bank of England who now holds the same position at energy giant BP, is our main guest this week. He looks into Europe’s energy future and discusses the dangers of groupthink in both his current and former jobs. To set the scene, POLITICO reporter Kalina Oroschakoff sketches out the controversies around the EU's energy policies.

Ryan Heath hosts the podcast from Washington and links up with regular panelists, Lina Aburous and Alva Finn, to talk about Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the U.S. capital, the political theater over a speck of dandruff, Britain’s migration bungles, and a heartwarming story that links Europe and Australia. We also have — for a change — a positive Dear POLITICO dilemma.

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Episode 43, presented by Grow with Google: Cécile Kyenge — Harassment investigation — Winking Macron Apr 19, 2018

Show notes

Cécile Kyenge, one of the few black members of the European Parliament, talks to Ryan Heath about the obstacles and abuse she’s faced in her career — and what she wants the EU institutions to do to foster more diversity in their ranks.

We also talk to our regular podcast panelists, Lina Aburous and Ailbhe Finn, about Emmanuel Macron’s big moment at the European Parliament, the European Commission giving the green light for membership talks to two more countries and the EU’s role (or lack of it) in the Syrian crisis.

And to kick off the podcast, POLITICO reporter Ginger Hervey gives us the inside story on her investigation into sexual harassment at one of the last places you would expect to find it — the EU’s gender equality agency. You can read that story here: https://www.politico.eu/article/sexual-harassment-eu-gender-equality-agency/

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Episode 42: The Orbán effect — Mr. Data Protection — Harassment at EU gender equality agency Apr 12, 2018

Show notes

Kati Marton, a veteran reporter and author now with the Committee to Protect Journalists, talks to host Ryan Heath about how the reelection of Victor Orbán in Hungary will impact media freedom in Europe.

Jan Philipp Albrecht, also known as Mr. Data Protection for his role in the GDPR legislation being enacted in May, chats to Ryan about his work in Parliament. Albrecht also tells us about the dream job he is set to begin soon.

The Brussels brains trust, Ailbhe Finn and Lina Aburous, is shell-shocked by a story of sexual harassment in the most unexpected EU institution. They also tackle comments by the U.K.'s Brexit minister David Davis.

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Episode 41: Bill Gates — Judging junkets — Greek MEPs' special stopover Apr 05, 2018

Show notes

Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist, is this week’s main guest. He talks to Ryan Heath about the work of his foundations, the next EU budget and the Oxfam scandal.

And we talk to Politico health reporter Carmen Paun about how Gates has shaken up the world of public health — not without criticism.

In our Dear Politico advice session, we hear from an assistant to a member of the European Parliament, who says their MEP is using their job to get trips to exotic locations at taxpayers’ expense.

We also say EU WTF! about an Italian mayor’s plan to host a Nazi re-enactment and a Greek airline’s special stopover for MEPs — and give a big EU Thumbs Up to the Iberian lynx.

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Episode 40, presented by Edelman and PAC: Brexit Countdown — Guy Verhofstadt — Brussels Press Revue Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

With a year to go until Brexit, we take stock of where things stand and what lies ahead.

The European Parliament's Brexit Coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, talks to EU Confidential's executive producer, Andrew Gray, about the biggest Brexit challenges and how the Parliament is dealing with them.

Verhofstadt talks about his plan to avoid a "Swiss nightmare" of too many post-Brexit agreements with the U.K. and warns the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland may still prove the toughest issue to solve.

We also take a peek into Brussels' British expat community to get a sense of their feelings about Brexit, expressed on-stage through the skits, songs and gags of the Brussels Press Revue. The annual show, performed mainly by Brits, has been called the "EU nerd-prom."

And the "Dear Politico" advice section helps a listener facing discrimination in the Brussels bubble.

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