{"podcast":{"title":"Brussels Playbook Podcast","slug":"brussels-playbook-podcast-730322","podcast_index_feed_id":730322,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/ASD6061651607","website_url":"https://www.politico.eu/eu-confidential-podcast/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/457b396e-5e02-11ef-9ea9-13174c9e6348/image/51c7306a884c9c73a7da2290ebca2b8d.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"POLITICO","episode_count":640,"summary":"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.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-18T10:19:02.663938+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322"},"episode":{"title":"Week Ender — Searing Contradiction: Wildfires and climate politics","slug":"week-ender-searing-contradiction-wildfires-and-climate-politics","published_at":"2026-07-31T02:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322/week-ender-searing-contradiction-wildfires-and-climate-politics","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322","url":"https://www.politico.eu/podcast/eu-confidential/","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/POLL9057383800.mp3","summary":"Wildfires may sound remote — something that happens deep in a forest or on an empty mountainside. But in Europe, there’s often very little distance between nature and major population centers. That’s why the fires near Bordeaux and Madrid have been so frightening: they’re not burning somewhere far away, but threatening homes, businesses and entire urban regions. European countries are responding by sending planes, helicopters and hundreds of firefighters to help one another. But while Europe has built an effective system for reacting once the flames are raging, it’s still struggling with the less dramatic work of prevention. POLITICO senior climate reporter Zia Weise joins host Sarah Wheaton, sustainability reporter Marianne Gros and Agnes Rønberg from the agriculture team to examine how abandoned land, poorly managed forests and disappearing livestock are making fires harder to control. They also unpack the growing bill for homes, farms and businesses — and how the costs eventually spread to insurers and cash-strapped governments — while asking whether Brussels can prepare Europe for worsening climate disasters as it rolls back parts of the Green Deal. To contact us, send us a voice note or a message on WhatsApp here, or at +32 491 05 06 29. You can also email us at podcast@politico.eu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"Wildfires may sound remote — something that happens deep in a forest or on an empty mountainside. But in Europe, there’s often very little distance betwee…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1546,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322/episodes/week-ender-searing-contradiction-wildfires-and-climate-politics/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322/week-ender-searing-contradiction-wildfires-and-climate-politics.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}