MCC Brussels Podcast
Discussions, event recordings, and updates from the team at MCC Brussels – the home for genuine policy deliberation about the EU and an in-depth exploration of the key issues facing Europeans.
Episodes
121 episodes
France Wants Marine Le Pen on a Leash I MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode host Jacob Reynolds is joined by MCC Brussels research fellow Richard Schenk and Carl Deconinck of Brussels Signal to discuss the growing struggle over democracy, surveillance and political opposition in Europe.First, the...
Europe’s War on the Car I MCC Brussels Deep Dive
For more than a century, the car has expanded personal freedom, economic opportunity and independence. Yet across Europe, policymakers increasingly treat driving itself as a problem to be managed away.In this MCC Brussels Deep Dive, John...
Aircon: the new political divide? I MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode, why has air conditioning suddenly become a political dividing line in Europe? Will Ireland’s EU presidency push Brussels further into NGO funding, speech regulation and woke priorities? And is the crisis at Volkswagen a warning...
Brussels Is Expanding Its War on Free Speech I MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode: Is the Democracy Shield really about protecting elections from foreign interference, or about policing dissent at home? Ten years after Brexit, did the EU learn from Britain’s revolt, or double down on the federalist habits tha...
Hungary’s New Government Launches Its Anti-Orbán Purge I MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode: is Péter Magyar restoring Hungarian democracy, or using constitutional power to remove his main rival? Does the export controls and shutdown of Anthropic’s Mythos model show how desperately far behind the EU is on cutting-edge ...
Europe’s Energy Delusion: Can Brussels Keep the Lights On? I MCC Brussels Deep Dive
In this MCC Brussels Deep Dive, John O’Brien speaks to Professor Samuele Furfari, one of Europe’s most experienced voices on energy policy.Furfari spent decades inside the European Commission working on energy and sustainable development...
Riots, Migration and Crime: Belgium’s Crisis Is a Warning to Europe I MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode, is Belgium becoming a warning sign for the rest of Europe? Has the EU’s obsession with digital regulation made Europeans technologically weaker? And are American conservatives right to call out Europe’s migration crisis, or is ...
The End of the Western Alliance? I MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode: Is Trump’s 4 July deadline a tariff threat, or a demand for reciprocity from Brussels? Can “remigration” be defined as lawful return policy without sliding into something more dangerous? And do the Paris riots after PSG’s Champ...
Can Belgium Be Fixed? I MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode: is Bart de Wever’s Belgium a genuine model for reform, or a warning about how difficult reform has become? Has Europe really shifted right on migration, deportations and return hubs? And as Brussels demands more money for defen...
Why The Establishment Fears Populism
Britain’s political class thought populism could be contained through censorship, speaker bans and moral blackmail. Instead, the revolt is spreading.In this episode, host John O’Brien is joined by Frank Furedi and Richard Schenk to exami...
The Brexit Revolt Is Back I MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode: Has Reform UK’s surge shattered Britain’s old Labour-Conservative order? Are the UN and EU using migration policy to weaken national control over borders? And has Eurovision become yet another stage for anti-Israel politics?
Germany Is Becoming Ungovernable I MCC Brussels Podcast
Germany’s governing centre is cracking, Europe’s energy follies are becoming impossible to ignore, and Brussels is spending millions telling citizens it protects democracy.In this episode, we ask whether Friedrich Merz survive Germany’s ...
Can Anyone Stop the EU Commission? I MCC Brussels Podcast
The European Commission has mutated from a body of cooperation into a monster that even its own founders no longer recognise.Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by Carl Deconinck of the Brussels Signal and MCC Brussels’ Richard Schenk...
Child access to trans ideology: The EU’s new “right"
The European Court of Justice has issued a first-of-its-kind ruling against Hungary, declaring its child-protection laws in breach of “fundamental EU values”. Celebrated in Brussels as progress, it raises a more troubling question: has the Cour...
The EU’s plans for Hungary after Orbán I MCC Brussels Podcast
Viktor Orbán’s 16-year tenure with a landslide victory. While the Berlaymont and the European mainstream celebrate the fall of their favourite villain, the MCC Brussels team digs into the uncomfortable reality of what this means for the Europea...
How Patriots Forced Deportations Back onto the EU Agenda I MCC Brussels Podcast
Brussels does not change course lightly. When it does, it is usually forced. This week, something shifted. Jacob Reynolds is joined by Marieke Ehlers MEP and Agnieszka Kołek to dissect a rare moment where the European Parliament mo...
Why Social Democracy Is Dying Across Europe I MCC Brussels Podcast
Europe’s old parties are losing their voters, free speech is coming under pressure, and trust in the media is collapsing.In this episode, we look at three fault lines running through European politics. Why are the old social democratic ...
The Hollow Flag: Why No One Will Die for Brussels | Deep Dive
While the Brussels machine churns out endless reports on "Strategic Autonomy," the reality on the ground different. Professor Bill Durodié joins us to expose the cavernous gap between EU security rhetoric and the stark reality of a continent th...
Don’t blame Iran war for Europe’s energy disaster I MCC Brussels Podcast
The war in Iran didn’t create Europe’s energy crisis, it hit a continent already drowning in Green energy chaos and sky-high taxes. This week on the podcast, John O'Brien sits down with Rebecca Mistereggen and Richard Schenk to discuss the ener...
The EU Commission’s War on Hungary I MCC Bussels Deep Dive
Brussels is terrified of a nation it cannot control. While the Euro-elites plot to unseat Viktor Orbán through legal warfare and funded proxies, Professor Werner Patzelt joins Richard Schenk to reveal the truth behind the "Brussels vs. Budapest...
Brussels’ Dirty Tricks Campaign Against Hungary I MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode, we talk about the EU’s unprecedented digital interference in the Hungarian election, the undemocratic "Cordon Sanitaire" rigging French local politics, and the shameful rise of anti-Semitic violence in Belgium and the Netherlan...
Ireland: Europe’s capital of Woke Authoritarianism I MCC Brussels Deep Dive
The Ireland you remember- high-trust, community-led, and fiercely independent - is being systematically dismantled. Dr Eoin Lenihan joins John O'Brien to expose the "vandalism" of a nation by an elite class that never asked for the public’s per...
What’s the Endgame in Iran? | MCC Brussels Podcast
In this episode, we dissect the "asymmetric mayhem" of the Iranian conflict, the erratic "geopolitical" flip-flopping of Ursula von der Leyen, and the disturbing attempt to institutionalise the Cordon Sanitaire in Belgium. ...