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 66, presented by Qualcomm: OSCE chief —...
Ukraine, the Balkans, MEPs' expenses, fake news and fallout from the Salzburg summit are all on the menu this week. Our main guests are Thomas Greminger, head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srd
33 min
452
Episode 65, presented by Google: Emily O'Reilly...
EU watchdog Emily O'Reilly is our main guest this week. Before heading off to get married, regular host Ryan Heath sat down for a candid chat with the European ombudsman in Strasbourg.Among the many topics covered: the Irish former journalist's investi
34 min
453
Episode 64, presented by Qualcomm: Lyor Cohen —...
This week, a bona fide music mogul. Lyor Cohen has been in the business for 37 years, working with musicians who define memories and eras — think the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Public Enemy, all signed by his iconic Def Jam label.These days, Cohen is You
29 min
454
Episode 63, presented by Qualcomm: Dimitris Avr...
Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, sets out how the Commission plans to fighting back against populist attempts to hijack the migration agenda.Avramopoulos outlines controversial tactics: working with hardliners to achieve on
33 min
455
Episode 62 — Inside Europe's right-wing extremi...
This week's episode revolves around two political hot topics: how Europe should manage the growth of far-right politics across the continent, and whether to support redrawing the borders of Serbia and Kosovo along ethnic lines.Julia Ebner, author of The
45 min
456
Episode 61: Brexit scenarios unpacked — Headsca...
This week we hit peak Barnier — the height of the EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier's influence — and the U.K. published its Brexit no-deal contingency plans. We run through the dangers and the dramas ahead with Jill Rutter and Joe Owen from the Institu
31 min
457
Episode 60: Summer stories — Tattoos to potatoe...
This week, we mix the format up: not one guest, but many. We've asked POLITICO reporters to talk us through stand-out stories they've produced this summer.Ginger Hervey and Jillian Deutsch talk about the EU getting under the skin of the tattoo industry,
36 min
458
Episode 59: Inside the House of European History
This week's interview is with Constanze Itzel, the director of the EU museum, the House of European History, in Brussels.Listen to hear her views on fake memory, conscious distortion of history, and her battle with people who think the museum is too crit
23 min
459
Episode 58: Labor market secrets — EU school ru...
In this week's main interview, we hear from Sue Duke, the global head of public policy for LinkedIn. She reveals the labor market lessons to be learned from data on the company's 167 million users in Europe.We also talk about how to handle — and how not
35 min
460
Episode 57: Johannes Hahn — Western Balkans — T...
Johannes Hahn, European commissioner for enlargement negotiations and neighborhood policy, talks us through the Western Balkans. It's a region whose countries desperately want into the EU club, but which still has a lot of work to do in overcoming the leg
39 min
461
Episode 56: Phil Hogan — Amélie de Montchalin (...
Amélie de Montchalin, a French member of Parliament with Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche party explains why its undemocratic to finalise the EU’s next seven-year budget ahead of the 2019 EU election. European agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan talks about ho
36 min
462
Episode 55, presented by Raytheon: Inside the N...
A special defense-themed episode take you inside this week’s tense NATO summit and discusses the new specialism of 24/7 POTUS management. The stellar line-up includes United States Ambassadors Alexander Vershbow and Daniel Fried; Beatrice Fihn who leads I
31 min
463
Episode 54: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg — Polis...
A bumper episode featuring NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg who’s got a present for Donald Trump ahead of next week’s NATO summit in Brussels, and Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who has presided of the sacking of 27 Polish judges this we
37 min
464
Episode 53, presented by Google: Wolfgang Schäu...
It’s summit week: crammed with migration and Trump and eurozone and Brexit and will-Merkel-stay-or-go drama.One man who could benefit greatly from Merkel going is Wolfgang Schäuble, her long-time rival and finance minister, now president of the Bundesta
43 min
465
Episode 52, presented by Martens Centre: Women ...
This week’s theme is Women Rule! Our feature interview is with Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of U.N. Women, who’s got passionate views about violence, #MeToo and more.Mlambo-Ngcuka spoke to POLITICO reporter Ginger Hervey, who joins us to
36 min
466
Episode 51: Helle Thorning-Schmidt — European P...
Helle Thorning Schmidt, the former Danish PM who's now head of Save the Children International, is our main guest. Host Ryan Heath asks her about tackling populism and who should lead Europe.Ryan also talks to Jaume Duch, who runs communications for the
36 min
467
Episode 50, presented by Google: How NGOs lobby...
A blockbuster episode, our 50th, in which three guests from the world of NGOs talk about the joys of their work and their frustrations at dealing with the EU and national governments.Our first 50 episodes featured nine current national leaders, eight Eur
47 min
468
Episode 49, sponsored by Barilla Foundation: Ni...
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 anothe
49 min
469
Episode 48: Big tech’s brain hijack — Data prot...
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 conscienc
34 min
470
Episode 47: Combating anti-Semitism — Boosting ...
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
42 min
471
Episode 46, presented by Grow with Google: Curb...
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
41 min
472
Episode 45: Margrethe Vestager — EU budget batt...
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
37 min
473
Episode 44, presented by Grow with Google: EU's...
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 jo
40 min
474
Episode 43, presented by Grow with Google: Céci...
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 o
35 min
475
Episode 42: The Orbán effect — Mr. Data Protect...
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 Prot
32 min