Brussels Playbook Podcast

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.

Episodes

Can the EU decouple from Trump's America?

February 5, 2026 • 38 mins
Can the European Union really decouple from Donald Trump’s America — economically, politically, and strategically? In this episode of EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Mateusz Morawiecki, former Polish prime minister and president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) party about his call for an “Economic NATO,” an even stronger economic and political alliance between the EU, the U.S. and others as count...
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Introducing: The Brussels Playbook Podcast

February 2, 2026 • 2 mins
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 the 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 th...
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The Anxious Continent: Social media bans and boozy trade deals

January 29, 2026 • 40 mins
Europe is testing how far it’s willing to go — at home and abroad. In this episode of EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton talks to Jonathan Haidt, author of the best-selling "The Anxious Generation." His research is inspiring social media bans for kids in countries including France and Australia, even as tech companies and some researchers strongly contest his conclusions. Alongside him is MEP Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová and POLI...
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What really happened after Trump blinked

January 22, 2026 • 25 mins
What a week! Tariff threats, Greenland brinkmanship and a dramatic Trump U-turn in Davos: EU leaders gathered in Brussels for an emergency summit meant to pick up the pieces of the shattered transatlantic relationship and figure out what to do next. In this episode of EU Confidential, we’re on the ground, right next to the European Council meeting as it unfolds. Unpacking how Europe can move forward after Trump escalated fast, re...
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BONUS EPISODE: At Davos, the twist in Trump's Greenland tale. So what does Europe do next? 

January 22, 2026 • 33 mins
Donald Trump loomed large over the World Economic Forum’s annual get-together in the Swiss Alps — even before he touched down for his big speech.  In this special episode from Davos, host Anne McElvoy talks to influential European and North American voices about President Trump’s intention to take over Greenland and the consequences for Europe and NATO. Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen tells Anne that America must decid...
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Trump bites. Europe grasps for an antidote.

January 15, 2026 • 35 mins
“A little less conversation, a little more action.” That line from an old Elvis Presley song could double as a critique of Europe’s position right now — and as a prescription. On this episode of EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton speaks with former Spanish foreign minister, Arancha González-Laya, about how Europe should operate at a moment when power is exercised more bluntly and patience for rules is wearing thin. Her core argu...
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Whose world is it now? Trump, power and Europe

January 8, 2026 • 36 mins
Europe had barely switched off its out-of-office replies before geopolitics came roaring back. In the first days of January, events in Caracas — and rhetoric from Washington — jolted Brussels out of its post-holiday slumber and straight back into crisis mode. A U.S. special forces operation captured Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and left more than 100 people dead, reopening old questions about power, sovereignty and just ...
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Von der Leyen vs. Trump: Europe answers back

December 11, 2025 • 39 mins
He’s not even European — yet Donald Trump has topped POLITICO’s annual P28 ranking of the most powerful people who will shape Europe in 2026. EU Confidential host Sarah Wheaton takes you inside the gala in Brussels — where commissioners, MEPs, diplomats, lobbyists and journalists packed into a glittering room, even as the mood underneath the sparkle felt unusually tense. At the event, Ursula von der Leyen sat down with Carrie Bud...
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Notes on a scandal — will a fraud probe upend the EU?

December 4, 2025 • 42 mins
Brussels was jolted this week by dawn raids and an alleged fraud probe involving current and former senior EU diplomats. Host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Zoya Sheftalovich — a longtime Brussels Playbook editor who has just returned from Australia to begin her new role as POLITICO’s chief EU correspondent — and with Max Griera, our European Parliament reporter, to unpack what we know so far, what’s at stake for Ursula von der Leyen, ...
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Peace plan panic: Does the EU still have a say in Ukraine’s future?

November 27, 2025 • 40 mins
Washington–Moscow peace maneuvers caught Europe off guard this week — raising questions about the EU’s continued relevance and readiness at a pivotal moment for Ukraine.Nick Vinocur, one of our regular guests, takes the host seat this time to speak with Veronika Melkozerova in Kyiv about how these peace talks look from inside a country still under attack.Then POLITICO’s finance reporter Bjarke Smith-Meyer and Wouter Verschelden, au...
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Inside Europe’s far right — going pro and going strong

November 20, 2025 • 32 mins
When Europe’s biggest political family crosses the aisle to vote with the far right, something fundamental shifts in Brussels. In this episode, host Sarah Wheaton unpacks the vote that cracked the European Parliament’s cordon sanitaire — and what a newly disciplined, image-polished far right means for Ursula von der Leyen’s shaky centrist alliance. POLITICO’s Marianne Gros and Max Griera take us inside the omnibus showdown; Tim R...
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Growing pains: Can the EU handle enlargement?

November 13, 2025 • 42 mins
Russia’s war in Ukraine has given new momentum to EU enlargement — and raised a bigger question: Is the bloc itself ready to grow?  This week, host Sarah Wheaton examines the EU’s growing pains — not just the politics and geopolitics of enlargement, but also the cultural and emotional questions of identity and belonging.   She speaks with Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, head of Europa Nostra, about why Europe won’t feel complete unt...
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Pornography, children and privacy: Europe's digital dilemma

November 6, 2025 • 33 mins
Europe faces a growing dilemma: how to protect children online without breaking digital privacy for everyone.  A new report from the Internet Watch Foundation found that 62 percent of all child sexual abuse material discovered online last year was hosted on EU servers. It’s a shocking statistic that has left Brussels locked in a heated debate over how far new regulations should go — and whether scanning encrypted messages could be...
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How to lose a Dutch election — and still win one

October 30, 2025 • 35 mins
Is it enough to come first in an election? In the Netherlands, you hear that centrist Rob Jetten won big and Geert Wilders’ far right lost a lot — even though either one could still turn out to be No. 1 when all the votes are counted. Eva Hartog breaks down the results of the Dutch election with host Sarah Wheaton, and Max Griera reflects on what Frans Timmermans’ defeat means for social democrats all over Europe.Then, our Berlaymo...
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How about them assets — making Russia pay for Ukraine

October 23, 2025 • 34 mins
The EU wants to lend €140 billion in cash from frozen Russian funds to Ukraine; Belgium is afraid it will be the one on the hook for paying it back. That’s just one of the tough topics EU leaders discussed as they gathered in Brussels at a meeting devoted to fighting the external threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin — and the internal threat from the far right.  POLITICO’s Gregorio Sorgi breaks down why lending Russian fro...
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How to go from hero to zero, with Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel 

October 16, 2025 • 37 mins
French President Emmanuel Macron has gone from “Mr. Europe” eight years ago to the solitary man by the Seine. At the same time, ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s legacy is also going through a sudden and sharp downgrade. How did these centrist pillars of Europe tank so quickly? With parties on the far right and far left rising up in their place, are citizens actually becoming more extreme — or are they just fed up? To discuss t...
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How not to fall: Behind von der Leyen’s fightback and Macron’s meltdown

October 9, 2025 • 47 mins
While the French government collapses in Paris, Ursula von der Leyen stands unshaken in Strasbourg. It’s been a week of political tremors — some performative, others seismic. Just three months after facing her first motion of censure, the European Commission president was hit with not one but two new attempts to topple her — and once again held firm. Host Sarah Wheaton talks with Sophia Russack of the Centre for European Policy St...
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Humiliating Europe: Trump’s culture war and the EU’s response

October 2, 2025 • 37 mins
What do Donald Trump’s culture war, Moldova’s EU ambitions, and Czechia’s upcoming parliamentary election have in common? They all reveal how Europe is being tested — and sometimes humiliated. In this episode of EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Paweł Zerka, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, about his new report. It argues that Trump is waging a deliberate culture war against Europe —...
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Escalating trouble – Trump takes on the UN and Europe

September 25, 2025 • 33 mins
Trump says Ukraine can win — but should Europe believe him? At a hectic U.N. General Assembly in New York, U.S. President Donald Trump stunned world leaders with a dramatic rhetorical reversal on the war in Ukraine, mocking Russia as a “paper tiger” and urging NATO allies to shoot down Russian aircraft. Host Sarah Wheaton unpacks what this means with POLITICO’s Clea Caulcutt and Nick Vinocur, reporting from Manhattan — and asks wh...
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Jourová’s secrets and Putin’s drone tests

September 18, 2025 • 42 mins
From rule of law battles to inside stories, Věra Jourová looks back on a decade in the Berlaymont. The former European Commission vice president recalls her clashes and alliances in Brussels — from sparring with Frans Timmermans to discovering that Thierry Breton never laughed at her jokes. Now back in Prague as vice rector of Charles University and adviser to President Petr Pavel, she reflects on Czech politics, Europe’s future, a...
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