Brussels Playbook Podcast
POLITICO’s daily audio briefing on what’s moving Brussels — and why it matters.
The Brussels Playbook Podcast is the audio extension of the Brussels Playbook newsletter. Hosted by POLITICO's chief EU correspondent, Zoya Sheftalovich, the podcast runs Monday through Thursday, offering a clear, reporting-driven guide to EU politics in under 15 minutes. It’s a perfect companion for your morning coffee.
Each episode takes listeners inside the decisions, power shifts and debates shaping the day in Brussels — and explains how they connect to national capitals across Europe.
Clear, conversational and shaped by reporting from the heart of the EU, the Brussels Playbook Podcast brings context to EU politics as your day begins.
On Fridays, the same feed features a longer episode that goes deeper into the week’s biggest themes, offering context and analysis beyond the daily news cycle — with Sarah Wheaton behind the mic.
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Episode 88: Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand Prime M...
In a week of geopolitical ping-pong we take a break to dive deeper into the politics of well-being and what it takes to be a great political communicator, with the 38-year-old prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, who joined Ryan Heath in front o
34 min
427
Episode 87 — Richard Grenell and Miroslav Lajčá...
This week’s podcast focuses on the Munich Security Conference, one of the big events on the global political calendar. It features two interviews from POLITICO’s chief Europe correspondent Matt Karnitschnig, who sat down with Rick Grenell, the outspoken U
29 min
428
Episode 86: Jeremy Hunt, UK Foreign Secretary
U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt talks to POLITICO's Ryan Heath in this extra edition of our podcast.Hunt once took heavy fire from Brussels for making a comparison that invoked the EU and the Soviet Union. But he's been much more diplomatic lately in
26 min
429
Episode 85: UK Labour's John McDonnell — Is Str...
This week's feature interview is a 15-minute highlight reel from John McDonnell's already famous interview with POLITICO's London Playbook editor Jack Blanchard. In addition to discussing Brexit next steps and Labour's anti-Semitism challenges, the U.K. s
32 min
430
Episode 84: The Bellingcat team — Marietje Scha...
This week we bring you the revenge of the geeks! Bellingcat is the world's most surprising and one of its most successful journalism ventures. Founder Eliot Higgins and senior investigator Christiaan Triebert explain what open source investigation is, and
39 min
431
Episode 83: Facebook's Nick Clegg
Facebook's new global head of public affairs gives his first public interview since starting the job to Ryan Heath. Clegg addresses a growing number of Facebook controversies and outlines the company's plan to win back trust and contribute to democracy. T
32 min
432
Episode 82, presented by BP: Wopke Hoekstra — S...
POLITICO's Ryan Heath brings you two podcasts in one from the World Economic Forum — our final daily Davos Confidential show also doubles as your regular weekly EU Confidential. (Check out the other Davos Confidential shows wherever you found this podcast
34 min
433
Davos Confidential 2019: Ep 3 - Amnesty's Kumi ...
Kumi Naidoo, secretary-general of Amnesty International, talks to POLITICO's Ryan Heath in our latest pop-up podcast from the World Economic Forum.Ryan also sums up his impressions of the WEF so far and talks to World Health Organization chief Tedros Adh
20 min
434
Davos Confidential 2019: Ep 2 - Helle Thorning-...
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former Danish prime minister and current head of Save the Children International, is our main guest in today’s pop-up podcast from the World Economic Forum.Speaking before an audience at a live taping of the podcast in Davos,
25 min
435
Davos Confidential 2019: Ep 1 - Setting the sce...
POLITICO’s Ryan Heath is back with another series of daily podcasts from the World Economic Forum.In our first episode of the 2019 edition, Ryan asks Huffpost international director Louise Roug if all the chatter about tackling inequality will amount to
14 min
436
Episode 81: Historian Felix Klos — Divided Euro...
As the winds of right-wing populism sweep through the world's biggest democracies, from India to the United States, and Brazil to the European Union, and the United Kingdom continues to tear itself apart, we take a step back in this week's podcast to cons
34 min
437
Episode 80: Netflix's David Hyman
Netflix plans 153 original shows in Europe in 2019, worrying local broadcasters and delighting consumers. That level of ambition also leaves the company burning through billions in cash. The week's featured guest is David Hyman, general counsel at Netflix
27 min
438
Episode 79: Gayle Smith — New Year's resolution...
Gayle Smith, a former journalist and now campaigner against extreme poverty, is our main guest. In our podcast panel, Alva Finn and Lina Aburous discuss the U.K. policy of making victims of forced marriages pay for their own flights home if they are rescu
27 min
439
Episode 78: Carles Puigdemont — Ai Weiwei — Taj...
Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei are our main guests, interviewed live on stage by POLITICO's Ryan Heath.Also, panelists Alva Finn and Lina Aburous join Ryan to look back on 2018 and bestow EU Confidential's prestig
36 min
440
Episode 77: EU presidential contender Frans Tim...
Double-header this week: socialist candidate for European Commission president Frans Timmermans and the European Commissioner for sport, education and culture, Tibor Navracsics. The panel debates Britain's mid-life crisis a.k.a Brexit
34 min
441
Episode 76, presented by Ericsson: Carlos Moeda...
We talk to Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for innovation, research and science, about his passion for zero-emission cities, artificial intelligence and blockchain. The panel debates the Yellow Jackets eco-tax protest movement in France, and Denmark’
40 min
442
Episode 75, presented by Google: Debating Diver...
We return to the theme of diversity in Brussels, a year after POLITICO’s Brussels So White article series, which looked at racial diversity and related themes in the EU’s de facto capital. The interview guests are two high-ranking lobbyists and public r
40 min
443
Episode 74 presented by Tetra Pak: The Green ep...
Greens are riding high as they gather in Berlin this weekend for their co-candidates for European Commission president in 2019. A string of national and regional electoral successes in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg are the reason for the positive mood.
31 min
444
Episode 73, presented by Future Europe Podcast:...
Rose Gottemoeller, NATO's deputy-secretary general, is our main guest this week. She's the highest-ranking female official in the history of the military alliance — or, as Gottemoeller herself puts it, "the first deputy secretary-general of NATO who happ
33 min
445
Episode 72, presented by EFPIA: Bill Browder & ...
Our main guest is Bill Browder, once the largest foreign investor in Russia but now a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin. He’s the driving force behind the Magnitsky Act — legislation designed to impose severe financial and travel sanctions on human rights a
34 min
446
Episode 71, presented by Google: Malin Björk & ...
With Europe's eyes glued to Berlin this week as the effects of Angela Merkel's partial retirement are digested, this podcast episode looks at what happens now that she has more time to devote to EU-level challenges and reforms, but less political capital
31 min
447
Episode 70, presented by Thai Union: Special Oc...
First up Justine Maillot from the Surfrider Foundation, a group of activists pushing for healthy oceans from the bottom-up. Then we speak to Davide Magnana who is trying to build an industry based on wave and tidal power, and Werner Hoyer, president of th
42 min
448
Episode 69, presented by Corteva Agriscience: B...
Bill Gates — billionaire tech founder turned philanthropist — is the main guest on this week's podcasts. We focus on why Europe is an aid superpower, what support Africa needs to cope with its exploding population, and why there's reason to believe the wo
34 min
449
Episode 68, presented by UNESDA: Manfred Weber ...
In a wide-ranging interview Weber says Brussels is a "black box" that is disconnected from most Europeans (though he leads its biggest party in the European Parliament). His campaign pitch puts a premium on changing how the job of European Commission pres
33 min
450
Episode 67, Alexander Stubb on why he should be...
Alexander Stubb lays out his pitch for the European Commission presidency in this week's episode. Stubb is competing with Manfred Weber to be the European Peoples Party's candidate for the post in 2019.Stubb is leaning on his experience as a former prim
27 min