Explore every episode of the podcast Brussels Unplugged!

Jeroen Reijnen has spent nearly 30 years in Brussels, currently in the Commission, but previously in Parliament with the liberals and Guy Verhofstadt. Building upon his experiences and network, he authored Big in Brussels, his reflection and advice on breaching the city's walls and how to remain within them. Of course, he also tells us how he unplugs!

Bruegel's Rebecca Christie joins me to chat about the possible expansion of ESG to include defence and dual-use technology, and living in Europe as an American. Of course, we also dive into transatlantic relations and how she unplugs.

Suriname's Ambassador to the EU, Gilbêrt van Lierop, joins us to chat about the rich cultural heritage of Suriname, the state of global affairs, the impact of technology on society, the importance of environmental sustainability, and how he unplugs by detoxing from tech 🍻

Fidias just joined the European Parliament, and being 25 he is one of our youngest representatives. He's bringing young life to a bureaucratic institution with his digital native approach. He's also Cypriot and adamant about helping his people - how does he do it? What's the day-to-day in Cyprus? And which cuisine is better, Italian or Cypriot?

Tune in, unplug, and let us know what you think!

For this episode we sat down with Phil Herd, Editor in Chief of "The Brussels Times" the only daily publication in English that covers news in the capital of Belgium.

Phil has over 20 years of experience as correspondent at BBC and with him we talked about Brussels, its safety problems and how the public administration (doesn't) deal with it.

Next, we analyze the core of the Brussels Time journalism and why it is important to connect the city with the many layers of the expat community.

David Timis is an AI expert who focuses on upskilling and re-skilling workers of the most vulnerable sectors. AI has brought disruption and opportunities, together with David we unpack what this means for jobs, education, and organisations.

Don't miss the Brussels Unplugged recommendations for a beer in the Bubble!

Sabina Maria Ciofu is the perfect example of an extraordinary Brussels life. She started her career in the European Parliament, and after many years, she joined the private sector, representing tech companies. Her Brussels life means often being on a plane escaping the city, but it also means canvassing for the local elections, founding the association of senior professionals in digital policy and...running marathons!

Don't miss this very chill and interesting conversation to kick off the new year of Brussels Unplugged!

Brussels Unplugged likes to surprise its listeners and take some unexpected detours from our publishing schedule (and nature). Following the episode with Yanis Varoufakis, we have the pleasure to release another special episode, this time with VOLT/Greens MEP Reinier Van Lanschot.

Our host Pietro sat down with Reinier in the European Parliament to discuss the nature of VOLT, probably the one and only European political party with a revolutionary concept behind.

Don't miss this engaging and interesting conversation!

A diplomat turned entrepeneur. That's the story of Hugo Ortiz Dubon, a blend of El Salvador and Sweden into the personality of the El Salvador Ambassador to the EU, until... he decided to quit his job and follow his entrepreneurial path. He has built and runs the Ambassador Program series for The Brussels Times.

With Hugo we talked about his diplomacy journey, what he likes about Brussels, his passion for art and much more!

In this episode we chat with Serena di Luccio from Positive Money (https://positivemoney.org/eu) an NGO that does advocacy actitivity to raise awareness about money, its use, how it works.

From the use of cash to how Central Banks work, up the ladder till digital euro: with Serena we delve into a series of interesting and insightful topics.

Brussels Unplugged releases a very special episode with Greece Former Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis. An eclectic thinker, a disruptive economist and theorist of the techno-feudalism. Together we've walked down the memory lane, talking about the European Union financial crisis back in 2011, and what is left of the economic decisions took back then.

On this episode our special guest is Bruno Pani, founder and CEO of the Brussels-based club "The Merode".

We discover more about his career path, and then we dive into the current state of affairs in poltiics, economy and geo-politics.

In this episode we discover Brussels Art Nouveau with Dorka Demeter, the founder of the successful Instagram accounts "magic of art nouveau", "Brussels art nouveau", and "beyond the bubble". She tells her journey of how her passion for art has turned into a lively Instagram community that engages with her content.

Together, we discover what Brussels has to offer in terms of art and exhibitions. Don't miss it!

In this month's episode the two hosts discuss their holidays and their return to Brussels in August. Brussels Unplugged will host a special guest for the episode of September. Art nouveau will be the focus of discussion, as it was for the special flower carpet laid out in the Grand Place in August.

On our second episode of Brussels Unplugged we sit down with Georgia Brooks, founder and CEO of the women's club "The Nine" and included in the POLITICO Power 40 Brussels class of 2023.

In our first episode of Brussels Unplugged we take you to the main topic of discussion in the EU bubble this month: the outcome of the European elections and the negotiations for the Top Jobs. Pietro tells us his experience of a Brussels party he attended to and we give you our recommendations for a book and a tv series.

What is the Brussels Unplugged podcast about? In this introductory episode we explain, in a nutshell, the idea behind the podcast and the plans for the fuure